I recently bought a 22k mile 2006 version. Just changed the oil at 3000 miles. Zero oil consumption. Steady 50-55 mpg on 87. Slightly snatch throttle off idle, but not out of the ordinary for the era. Gearbox is a bit notch, but works fine. Very neutral handling. Ok on dirt roads, but the steering geometry and weight distribution is pure road bike. This ain’t no off road machine. Very easy to push the ft end on fire roads, but ridden sensibly it’ll happily gobble up lots of gravel road miles. Not particularly fast. 60-ish hp. Wants to rev but remains very tractable down to as low as 2000 rpm’s. This is very useful for chugging along on loose gravel roads. Suspension is quite basic. Damper rod forks are a bit harsh on fast hits but the low speed dampening is remarkably well sorted, imo. As are the spring rates. I see zero reason to change anything in the suspension. Brakes are basic components, but perfectly adequate and totally linear. I find the stopping characteristics well matched to the bike’s mission in life. Which brings me to a summary: the 650 Vstrom is a very well engineered bike. It actually reminds me a bit of my old vfr.
Yeah, its a bit of an odd mix. The old "Jack of all trades. Master of none!" Its for sale. Here's what I wrote in the ad: SUMMARY: Fabulous "do anything" bike with 110/80 19" front and 150/70 17" rear tubeless Michelin Adventure Touring tires, riding on light-alloy “stay straight” no maintenance wheels, this aluminum-framed vStrom model was not the best dual-sport off-road (a bit heavy for that) but its fabulous on gravel highways, dirt roads, old logging roads, and soaking up pot-holes in the city. Its also not the best canyon-carving sport-bike or mile-munching touring machine, but its more than 9/10ths there, in stock form. Equipped with Suzuki’s “quick on/off” 3-piece hard/locking luggage by the first owner, and then a “tall comfort” seat (from an Idaho company who make nothing but motorcycle seats) for day-long-riding comfort for both rider and passenger (I added that just before CV lockdowns) combined with the “tried and true” standard riding position of a vintage Triumph Bonneville, or Honda CB, its truly a pleasure to ride! Though the seat is taller than “standard bikes” by a bit. When it debuted in 2004 (and this is the debut model), MotorcycleUSA.com invented a new category of bikes: the “sport enduro tourer” just for Suzuki’s V Strom 650. And in bike-crazy England, London’s “The Telegraph” said "taking everything into account - price, comfort, fuel range, general ability, you could argue it was the bike of the year." The editor of the Motorcycle Section of The Telegragh, David Ash, promptly bought one, and after riding it as his “daily rider” for a year, the paper declared the DL650 is the "best bike you can buy." Another year after that, Cycle World magazine wrote "the DL650 may just be the most shockingly competent machine in the world today."
But I'm glad that you're enjoying it. One source claimed that the DL-650 outsold all of the DL-1000, DL-800/850?, and the DL-250 combined! After riding a DL-1000 that I bought new, for 10 years, I was a bit shocked switching to the 650. Its so much smoother. So refined. I haven't taken an SV-650 for a ride, have you? I suspect that the vStrom's handling borrows a lot from the SV. So, street biased, exactly as you said. But nothing that knobbier tires can't cure ;)
I recently bought a 22k mile 2006 version. Just changed the oil at 3000 miles. Zero oil consumption. Steady 50-55 mpg on 87. Slightly snatch throttle off idle, but not out of the ordinary for the era. Gearbox is a bit notch, but works fine. Very neutral handling. Ok on dirt roads, but the steering geometry and weight distribution is pure road bike. This ain’t no off road machine. Very easy to push the ft end on fire roads, but ridden sensibly it’ll happily gobble up lots of gravel road miles. Not particularly fast. 60-ish hp. Wants to rev but remains very tractable down to as low as 2000 rpm’s. This is very useful for chugging along on loose gravel roads. Suspension is quite basic. Damper rod forks are a bit harsh on fast hits but the low speed dampening is remarkably well sorted, imo. As are the spring rates. I see zero reason to change anything in the suspension. Brakes are basic components, but perfectly adequate and totally linear. I find the stopping characteristics well matched to the bike’s mission in life. Which brings me to a summary: the 650 Vstrom is a very well engineered bike. It actually reminds me a bit of my old vfr.
Yeah, its a bit of an odd mix. The old "Jack of all trades. Master of none!"
Its for sale. Here's what I wrote in the ad:
SUMMARY: Fabulous "do anything" bike with 110/80 19" front and 150/70 17" rear tubeless Michelin Adventure Touring tires, riding on light-alloy “stay straight” no maintenance wheels, this aluminum-framed vStrom model was not the best dual-sport off-road (a bit heavy for that) but its fabulous on gravel highways, dirt roads, old logging roads, and soaking up pot-holes in the city. Its also not the best canyon-carving sport-bike or mile-munching touring machine, but its more than 9/10ths there, in stock form. Equipped with Suzuki’s “quick on/off” 3-piece hard/locking luggage by the first owner, and then a “tall comfort” seat (from an Idaho company who make nothing but motorcycle seats) for day-long-riding comfort for both rider and passenger (I added that just before CV lockdowns) combined with the “tried and true” standard riding position of a vintage Triumph Bonneville, or Honda CB, its truly a pleasure to ride!
Though the seat is taller than “standard bikes” by a bit.
When it debuted in 2004 (and this is the debut model), MotorcycleUSA.com invented a new category of bikes: the “sport enduro tourer” just for Suzuki’s V Strom 650.
And in bike-crazy England, London’s “The Telegraph” said "taking everything into account - price, comfort, fuel range, general ability, you could argue it was the bike of the year."
The editor of the Motorcycle Section of The Telegragh, David Ash, promptly bought one, and after riding it as his “daily rider” for a year, the paper declared the DL650 is the "best bike you can buy."
Another year after that, Cycle World magazine wrote "the DL650 may just be the most shockingly competent machine in the world today."
But I'm glad that you're enjoying it. One source claimed that the DL-650 outsold all of the DL-1000, DL-800/850?, and the DL-250 combined!
After riding a DL-1000 that I bought new, for 10 years, I was a bit shocked switching to the 650. Its so much smoother. So refined.
I haven't taken an SV-650 for a ride, have you? I suspect that the vStrom's handling borrows a lot from the SV. So, street biased, exactly as you said.
But nothing that knobbier tires can't cure ;)