77, 65 bikes 63 years riding, the Vstrom 650 is a dream. you young people want cars but motorbikes. quick shifter on my Street triple is never used, on a bike I would never ever want nor use cruise control, wind screens are plentyful. this is the perfect bike as every one is a compromise in some sense or other.
My mate's got one of these. It's the bike that he doesn't talk about. It's also the one that he rides one heck of a lot and when you quiz him on it, he won't stop singing praises of the machine. I'm looking forward to taking it for a spin one day to see what all the secrecy is about.
It has to be the wolf in the sheep's clothing thing, it's so understated yet that 90 degree v twin engine is a beast. It would be a forever bike for me if it was capable on the trails. Take a look at the video below, one of the first generation Vstrom 650s but only the plastics have really changed. Thanks for replying. Ride safe ✌️ th-cam.com/video/Rfs0A3XqFeQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=mKMj-EDE2abdrY-4
I have the same model, 2018 XT, yellow, but it came with no luggage or crash bars. It was my first bike after not riding for several decades. As you state, it's a great all-rounder, extremely comfortable, and very reliable. I've made mine a little more dirt-oriented, adding bark-buster hand guards, a real skid plate, crash bars, a switch to turn off ABS, and Michelin Anakee tires. I found myself riding it places that I probably shouldn't at my age and skill level, and got a 2nd bike last year, a Kawasaki KLX 300 dual sport, for more hard-core off-roading. But the Vstrom is still a great all-around bike that can do mild-to-moderate difficulty dirt roads. It is definitely top-heavy, although I wonder how much of that is the gas tank; it's huge and gives phenomenal range with the 70 mpg fuel efficiency. If I could only have 1 bike, I'd consider selling both bikes for a Tuareg 650, but, with the KLX 300 for real off-road riding, the VStrom is more than enough for me for what I need it to do.
That sounds like you have a good fit with your two bikes, I had thought about going down the Michelin tyre route myself. But a big consideration was our local roads, which in any direction for 20 km are badly potholed. Although the suspension handles them somewhat, it's quite rough with a pillion on the back. My old Himalayan with it's softer suspension and 21 inch front wheel glided over the rough stuff. Like I said in the video, I might end up keeping the Vstrom it's a super bike. With the mods you have made and a front suspension upgrade it would probably be much better. Thanks for the comments, ride safe. ✌️
I bought a 2020 model like yours with 8.5k miles on it in November last year,mine has the cast Alu wheels,it has the oem guard over the front of the engine,Givi crash bars and SWmotech hand guards. Weather has been very wet here in the UK so I've only managed to put 3k miles on it but I'm suitably impressed,when out for the day I tend ride between 200 and 250miles,overall 60 to 90 of which is motorway which it's great for at 70/75mph,in the twisties it handles very well and due to the lwb handles very well at very slow 3mph feet up riding.Your mpg figure is adout same as mine 70/73 and build quality is great.The only negative I've found as a 70year old is it's a lump to move around when off it. The bike's a keeper and I can understand your reluctance to part with yours,like it a lot😊
Thanks for commenting, yes it’s a nice bike, like we both think it’s a bit too heavy when pushing it around. But a great all rounder of a bike. Ride safe hopefully the good weather will be with you soon. ✌🏻
I'll just say something about the side cases: I've got them and honestly I regret them! They're huge, yet not so spacious. My XL GT-Air II fits only BARELY, and that's only because of weird internal cutouts, and that's ok-ish, but what's not ok is that it's not able to fit a regular tabletop game sized box because the square edges don't match up with the rounded shape, so much space goes to waste inside these bags, always! Also I hate putting them on, they're always a bit of a struggle to properly lock in, and the key gets often stuck in needing a bit of fiddling to unstuck. So in general I would discourage those bags. Especially on a V-Strom where the 3P system doesn't really add anything: it's good to look better on thin and sportier bikes, on the Vstrom you've got nothing to lose, it already looks like a workhorse, give it the full 4 point bags.
Great review..... extremely informative. Im considering as a bike mainly for country lanes and back roads (often rough surfaced) which are not ideally suited to ny BMW K1600gt (or Honda Blackbird which will likely have to finally find a new home). A smaller bike might be a better option, but Im around 6 foot and not exactly slim so the Vstrom maybe ticks the boxes.
The Vstrom is quite a leggy bike, the riding position seems much less cramped than my DSX 900. It's a lovely all round bike. Smooth v twin engine and a great gearbox combined with unbelievable longevity and build quality. ✌️
buen video, me encanta esa motocicleta, espero poder comprarla, considero el lo mejor y lo suficiente paa viajar a cualquier lugar. saludos desde Colombia.
![[TH] VCT Masters Shanghai Playoffs - Grand Finals // GEN vs TH](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HL-hhLrtctw/mqdefault.jpg)
77, 65 bikes 63 years riding, the Vstrom 650 is a dream. you young people want cars but motorbikes. quick shifter on my Street triple is never used, on a bike I would never ever want nor use cruise control, wind screens are plentyful. this is the perfect bike as every one is a compromise in some sense or other.
My mate's got one of these. It's the bike that he doesn't talk about. It's also the one that he rides one heck of a lot and when you quiz him on it, he won't stop singing praises of the machine.
I'm looking forward to taking it for a spin one day to see what all the secrecy is about.
It has to be the wolf in the sheep's clothing thing, it's so understated yet that 90 degree v twin engine is a beast. It would be a forever bike for me if it was capable on the trails. Take a look at the video below, one of the first generation Vstrom 650s but only the plastics have really changed. Thanks for replying. Ride safe ✌️
th-cam.com/video/Rfs0A3XqFeQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=mKMj-EDE2abdrY-4
So i did keep, the Vstrom. Check out my original thoughts 2 years ago
th-cam.com/video/MPYhAlzohLU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=fhWLLu9NEvUgYDNw
I have the same model, 2018 XT, yellow, but it came with no luggage or crash bars. It was my first bike after not riding for several decades. As you state, it's a great all-rounder, extremely comfortable, and very reliable.
I've made mine a little more dirt-oriented, adding bark-buster hand guards, a real skid plate, crash bars, a switch to turn off ABS, and Michelin Anakee tires.
I found myself riding it places that I probably shouldn't at my age and skill level, and got a 2nd bike last year, a Kawasaki KLX 300 dual sport, for more hard-core off-roading. But the Vstrom is still a great all-around bike that can do mild-to-moderate difficulty dirt roads. It is definitely top-heavy, although I wonder how much of that is the gas tank; it's huge and gives phenomenal range with the 70 mpg fuel efficiency.
If I could only have 1 bike, I'd consider selling both bikes for a Tuareg 650, but, with the KLX 300 for real off-road riding, the VStrom is more than enough for me for what I need it to do.
That sounds like you have a good fit with your two bikes, I had thought about going down the Michelin tyre route myself. But a big consideration was our local roads, which in any direction for 20 km are badly potholed. Although the suspension handles them somewhat, it's quite rough with a pillion on the back. My old Himalayan with it's softer suspension and 21 inch front wheel glided over the rough stuff. Like I said in the video, I might end up keeping the Vstrom it's a super bike. With the mods you have made and a front suspension upgrade it would probably be much better. Thanks for the comments, ride safe. ✌️
I bought a 2020 model like yours with 8.5k miles on it in November last year,mine has the cast Alu wheels,it has the oem guard over the front of the engine,Givi crash bars and SWmotech hand guards.
Weather has been very wet here in the UK so I've only managed to put 3k miles on it but I'm suitably impressed,when out for the day I tend ride between 200 and 250miles,overall 60 to 90 of which is motorway which it's great for at 70/75mph,in the twisties it handles very well and due to the lwb handles very well at very slow 3mph feet up riding.Your mpg figure is adout same as mine 70/73 and build quality is great.The only negative I've found as a 70year old is it's a lump to move around when off it.
The bike's a keeper and I can understand your reluctance to part with yours,like it a lot😊
Thanks for commenting, yes it’s a nice bike, like we both think it’s a bit too heavy when pushing it around. But a great all rounder of a bike. Ride safe hopefully the good weather will be with you soon. ✌🏻
I'll just say something about the side cases: I've got them and honestly I regret them! They're huge, yet not so spacious. My XL GT-Air II fits only BARELY, and that's only because of weird internal cutouts, and that's ok-ish, but what's not ok is that it's not able to fit a regular tabletop game sized box because the square edges don't match up with the rounded shape, so much space goes to waste inside these bags, always!
Also I hate putting them on, they're always a bit of a struggle to properly lock in, and the key gets often stuck in needing a bit of fiddling to unstuck.
So in general I would discourage those bags. Especially on a V-Strom where the 3P system doesn't really add anything: it's good to look better on thin and sportier bikes, on the Vstrom you've got nothing to lose, it already looks like a workhorse, give it the full 4 point bags.
Great review..... extremely informative. Im considering as a bike mainly for country lanes and back roads (often rough surfaced) which are not ideally suited to ny BMW K1600gt (or Honda Blackbird which will likely have to finally find a new home). A smaller bike might be a better option, but Im around 6 foot and not exactly slim so the Vstrom maybe ticks the boxes.
The Vstrom is quite a leggy bike, the riding position seems much less cramped than my DSX 900. It's a lovely all round bike. Smooth v twin engine and a great gearbox combined with unbelievable longevity and build quality. ✌️
@@motechRevolution Thanks....really useful info. It's definitely on my shortlist 👍🏼
Hi. Good video. How often do you do the valve clearances please?
Book says every 15 thousand miles or there about but most do first check at 30 thousand kilometers or about 20,000 miles.
buen video, me encanta esa motocicleta, espero poder comprarla, considero el lo mejor y lo suficiente paa viajar a cualquier lugar. saludos desde Colombia.
De nada, gracias por su comentarios ✌️