Looking at Suzuki V-Strom 650

jkam

nomadic man
The Wee Strom has become popular enough to be kind of expensive now.
Especially the fancy versions of it.
In 04, I paid $5400 out the door for mine, the first year for the 650.
Now, they have one that's over $10,000.
 

Tswhit15

Member
A little late to the thread but I will second the vstrom 650 as well. Is it good for single track? No definitely not. But it's great on the road and doesn't leave you lacking for power to pass people fully loaded on the highway. With all liquids it's right around 450 or so which isn't bad compared to some other dualsport bikes. I personally like the lower seat height because I'm shorter. They are super easy to work on and good on gas. They also have a 4.5+ gallon gas tank depending on the year you get which is very helpful for those long treks like the translabrador highway or dempster highway. I've owned two of them now. Many people claim it's far too big to go on dirt but just look at all the people who take BMW 1200s on the TAT and the BDRs.
 

otis24

Observer
I've been riding an '09 vstrom for about 2.5 years. I've put 21,000 miles on it. I commute on it and got on road trips as well. I hit up forest service roads in CA from time to time. It's a fantastic bike.

I got t-boned by a car on the highway going 60mph. It got pretty mangled but I was able to fix it for cheap via used ebay parts. My body was a little more expensive but the bike worked out just fine.

I've gone to Baja a few times but not on the vstrom. For that I take my friend's extra KTM 640 Adventure. That thing is a beast in wide open desert. It's far better than the vstrom for that kind of riding. I'd still pick the Vstrom over the KTM 640 for owning just one bike. I think the real solution is to own multiple bikes.
 

Pacific Northwest yetti

Expedition Medic
I am headed to look at a 2008 650 this weekend, ( vstrom). We will see, i was working between a Honda Africa Twin, or the V strom. So far undecided, yes i am aware of the vast differences between the two bikes.
 

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