Opinions on V-Stroms

[TheIglu]

Discovered last night that as far as rough stuff, it is no KLR. Not even close.

Really fun on the rough pavement, great on standard dirt roads, out of it's element once it gets 1st gear rough. That's ok, I have a dirtbike for that.

[Puppet]

That sounds about right.

I definitely agree with your approach of "shock first". That was the single biggest improvement to my Wee

[nhbubba]

Clayton, I couldn't agree more. I'm no dirt rider, but I figure I own something called an 'adventure' bike, might as well try to act the part now and then. I have recently tried to venture down a class 6 road or two and almost immediately found myself over my head. I cannot navigate ruts to save my life on this thing. Both times I wound up turning back within sight of the graded stuff.

[markbvt]

Yeah, my Wee-Strom was a whole lot less composed on the Trans-Lab's gravel than my XR650L was. On the XR I quickly found that it stabilized and handled well if I kept the speed up around 60; on the Wee I never did find a speed it was happy at. Pretty much white-knuckled it for 700 miles.

--mark

[nhbubba]

Never been to the Trans-lab. But the wee really does eat up crappy New England roads, even well graded dirt ones. And I'm running a factory rear damper with over 200-lbs in the saddle.

I was in 7th heaven on 113 up in Evan's notch a few weekends back. Ditto for Tripoli Road last year.

If that's your kind of 'adventure', then the wee does just fine.

Way too heavy for the class 6's 'round here though.

[RandyO]

Discovered last night that as far as rough stuff, it is no KLR. Not even close.

Really fun on the rough pavement, great on standard dirt roads, out of it's element once it gets 1st gear rough. That's ok, I have a dirtbike for that.

its not even as good as a SV650 off road

[Garandman]

Discovered last night that as far as rough stuff, it is no KLR. Not even close.

Really fun on the rough pavement, great on standard dirt roads, out of it's element once it gets 1st gear rough. That's ok, I have a dirtbike for that.

81 page thread of V-Stroms off road. All better men than I, but here's my favorite:


I very quickly learned that Trail Wings and mud were a bad combination......


And that Tourances were better, but only a little.

[TheIglu]

I have tourances on there now.

All those pictures are fairly typical of my commute every day. What I was talking about was a pretty nasty rocky wet hill.

[Garandman]

KLR has a lot more ground clearance, for sure. But isn't fun to pick up, either.

[nhbubba]

See, this is the stuff I just can't handle. Lack of skill, lack of strength, lack of balls... I dunno which, but I just can't handle those ruts.

[Garandman]

When the trail-wide puddles were over my boot-tops, the "road" [Tunnel Road, Rowe, MA] started downhill, and I realized I was alone, had no cell service, and no one knew were I was, I turned around as well - back through the damned puddles.

The DL650 is just a really good all-around bike, without being particularly good at anything. OTOH it's not particularly bad at anything, they're ultra reliable, tons of aftermarket support, and they have plenty of range and load capacity.

Middleweights are inevitably damned with faint praise.....

[Stromper]

They were just taking a nap

[TheIglu]

Update:

Madstad installed. Adjusted to the default position.

Just with that, the bike is nearly silent at 60mph. Love it.

Waiting on Rox Risers to get the bars just a little closer to me.

[nhbubba]

'Default' position?

Edit: Twisted carries it. I really need to go to the open house, don't I?

[TheIglu]

The position that the Madstad manual specifies as the "initial" position to try.

[nhbubba]

That's cool. I thought it was continuously variable like. Did not realize it had fixed positions.

Rode to some appointments today. I really love this bike. Buncha fun on the roads 'round here.

Fuck $1000 project bikes, I think I'm going to save for an Elka.

[TheIglu]

400 miles on it yesterday. Everything about the bike just rules minus the seat. Might have a Russell made up for me.

Elka is on a short list of mods!

[Garandman]

The DL650 seat is cut down in front to try to accommodate shorter riders.

If you know anyone with a DL1000, try that first - it's about an inch thicker in front. There is also a Suzuki Gel Seat for about $200, and a lot of taller riders like me are using the Tall Touring saddle, which is about 1.5" higher.

DL650 front, TTouring back.

[Garandman]

The DL650 seat is cut down in front to try to accommodate shorter riders.

If you know anyone with a DL1000, try that first - it's about an inch thicker in front. There is also a Suzuki Gel Seat for about $200, and a lot of taller riders like me are using the Tall Touring saddle, which is about 1.5" higher.

DL650 front, TTouring back.

[nhbubba]

Yeah, the seat does suck. $230 for that tall seat doesn't seem so bad compared to the custom ones.

[TheIglu]

$230 does suck if it isn't right for my posterior.

I have no reservations about dropping twice that for something that will make me enjoy this bike to the maximum.


That's what is nice about buying used. I can toss in an Elka, a $500 Russell and a few other Carlie's and still be under $5k including sales tax and registration.

[nhbubba]

Yeah, I'd have to add it up. But even including the maintenance bits-tires being the biggie-I think I'm still under what a new '11 woulda cost. But in the missus' eyes, that does not equate to available budget.

Half tempted to tear into the seat myself. Maybe give something like the calsci kit a shot.

The real thing is the swamp ass in the summer, especially geared up. I hate to admit I've considered the beat seat cover thing... but I have.

[gregp]

I have a "Standard Firmness" Seat Concepts kit on my DR650, and it is night and day better than the stock seat. They have a kit for the DL's as well:
http://seatconcepts.com/products#ecw...roduct=7866939
They also offer soft, standard, and extra firm foam at no extra cost. This is the most cost effective fix I could find. I have never bought a seat for a motorcycle, until this one. The stock DR seat was pretty bad. The seat on my old DRZ400 was horrible as well, but I sold that bike before addressing the problem.

[Garandman]

$230 does suck if it isn't right for my posterior.

I have no reservations about dropping twice that for something that will make me enjoy this bike to the maximum./

You can "test sit" mine sometime if you like.

Many owners sell the stock DL650 seat to help offset the coast. I sold mine to a shorter rider of a DL1000 for $100.

[TheIglu]

You can "test sit" mine sometime if you like.

Many owners sell the stock DL650 seat to help offset the coast. I sold mine to a shorter rider of a DL1000 for $100.

Going to MM tonight?

I'm planning on it if the weather holds.

Put on the Rox Risers this morning. Elbows now have bend again. More relaxed and feel more in control since my arms aren't at full extension.