2011 V strom 650, fuel injected fun!
- Thread starter Cody1771
- Start date
Cody1771
Explorer
they are that easy to damage when they are cheap suzuki TRAX knockoffs, paper thin, dent easy, and as i found out crush easy. i'm going to try and fix them when i get home from sea, im cheap and would rather spend the $450 to replace it on other things... like put it towards a proper dirt bike so i don't have to do this to my strom 
Cody1771
Explorer
Figured i would Cross post this from the Vstrom forum i frequent. some might find it intresting if they are intrested in an adventure touring bike;
Ill start off by saying I could have put a lot more km's than 5k this year, despite the time I'm only home for half the year and that I ensure it through the winter.
I love this bike! it would be nice if I had a bit more power, the 1000 peaks my interest but I'm not willing to go there for the added weight. I Ride this thing HARD, I want to see how it did and I know feel I have a very good idea on its limitations and reliability, if you don't believe me go to YouTube and look me up, cmcmillan22.
I bought it brand new in Sept 2011 with the Suzuki Adventure package; in hindsight I would rather have got the base model one and upgrade it myself. most of the gear is a knockoff from SW Motech and imho is cheaply done, the box's are made of very thin STEEL that's been powder coated black, it dents remarkable easily and had one of them totally crush on a fall that I felt wasn't even that bad. I am replacing them with the Pelican Kit.
the Luggage rack is good quality except that it has no brace on the back of it, I have bent it twice to date. I will be modifying that when my new luggage comes in this month.
I have hammered out the skid plate on numerous occasions, it dents very easily but is easily fixed. I will be upgrading to the Touratec skid plate with oil cooler relocation kit this year if all goes to plans. I have bent the piss out of the bar that holds the back of the skid plate, mind you I would rather the plate and mounts get beat up than end up with a busted crank case.
I have 0 complaints about the crash bars, they do there job very well and take a beating.
the bike has more than enough power to keep up with bigger bikes in the twisties totally loaded up with camping gear. and feels great on gravel roads.
I am in the market for a new seat, after about 3 hours in the saddle I start hating life. how is the zuki Gel seat? they seem like a good deal and can be had for about $180 on Amazon.
as far as technical specs go I have had 0 breakdowns, 0 breakages, no funny noises, SES lights or even minor glitches on the bike. been averaging somewhere around 55-65MPG for normal riding, I think the worst mileage I got was about 40 and that was a day of mud, sand, and a whole lot of 1st and 2nd. I went up one tooth on the front sprocket to make it a little more reasonable at slow speeds and am considering going up another tooth when I do the chain and gears next.
Just thought I would share my experience as a new strom owner, I bought this bike before I had my license, so its my first street bike and I couldn't be happier.
Hopefully doing Baja and Mexico 2013, and Central America noth in 2014 on this bike if i have anything to say about it!
Ill start off by saying I could have put a lot more km's than 5k this year, despite the time I'm only home for half the year and that I ensure it through the winter.
I love this bike! it would be nice if I had a bit more power, the 1000 peaks my interest but I'm not willing to go there for the added weight. I Ride this thing HARD, I want to see how it did and I know feel I have a very good idea on its limitations and reliability, if you don't believe me go to YouTube and look me up, cmcmillan22.
I bought it brand new in Sept 2011 with the Suzuki Adventure package; in hindsight I would rather have got the base model one and upgrade it myself. most of the gear is a knockoff from SW Motech and imho is cheaply done, the box's are made of very thin STEEL that's been powder coated black, it dents remarkable easily and had one of them totally crush on a fall that I felt wasn't even that bad. I am replacing them with the Pelican Kit.
the Luggage rack is good quality except that it has no brace on the back of it, I have bent it twice to date. I will be modifying that when my new luggage comes in this month.
I have hammered out the skid plate on numerous occasions, it dents very easily but is easily fixed. I will be upgrading to the Touratec skid plate with oil cooler relocation kit this year if all goes to plans. I have bent the piss out of the bar that holds the back of the skid plate, mind you I would rather the plate and mounts get beat up than end up with a busted crank case.
I have 0 complaints about the crash bars, they do there job very well and take a beating.
the bike has more than enough power to keep up with bigger bikes in the twisties totally loaded up with camping gear. and feels great on gravel roads.
I am in the market for a new seat, after about 3 hours in the saddle I start hating life. how is the zuki Gel seat? they seem like a good deal and can be had for about $180 on Amazon.
as far as technical specs go I have had 0 breakdowns, 0 breakages, no funny noises, SES lights or even minor glitches on the bike. been averaging somewhere around 55-65MPG for normal riding, I think the worst mileage I got was about 40 and that was a day of mud, sand, and a whole lot of 1st and 2nd. I went up one tooth on the front sprocket to make it a little more reasonable at slow speeds and am considering going up another tooth when I do the chain and gears next.
Just thought I would share my experience as a new strom owner, I bought this bike before I had my license, so its my first street bike and I couldn't be happier.
Hopefully doing Baja and Mexico 2013, and Central America noth in 2014 on this bike if i have anything to say about it!
VanIsle_Greg
I think I need a bigger truck!
This is good news...
Cody1771
Explorer
Good god only 2 more watches on this boat then its adventure time! 3 big trips planned comeing up! well 4 sorta but ones not overlanding.
This coming weekend hopping on the bike for a 4 day trip out to Bamfield for Fishing
The weekend after Spectyr is coming over and we are heading to Nitinat!
two weekends after that, the BCBATR! its an annual ADVrider ride spanning 3 days and close to 700km of backroads;
Day 1;
Day 2;
Day 3;
Also my wife has a week off work prior to the BCBATR so we will be going somewhere in the X5, we where thinking a winery tour in the interior... i think i am going to have a few trip reports to write up!
This coming weekend hopping on the bike for a 4 day trip out to Bamfield for Fishing
The weekend after Spectyr is coming over and we are heading to Nitinat!
two weekends after that, the BCBATR! its an annual ADVrider ride spanning 3 days and close to 700km of backroads;
Day 1;
Day 2;
Day 3;
Also my wife has a week off work prior to the BCBATR so we will be going somewhere in the X5, we where thinking a winery tour in the interior... i think i am going to have a few trip reports to write up!
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Scott Brady
Founder
Looks like you are having fun with the bike. We just picked-up a 2012 650 V-Strom Adventure and have started riding it and doing a few modifications. Most important, a skid plate (wow, that oil filter is vulnerable). We decided to go with the Touratech skid.
I am enjoying riding it, what a smooth and comfortable bike. Pretty refined for its price too.
We are going to take it on a more difficult trail run and overnighter this weekend. Looking forward to a little adventure on the moto.
I am enjoying riding it, what a smooth and comfortable bike. Pretty refined for its price too.
We are going to take it on a more difficult trail run and overnighter this weekend. Looking forward to a little adventure on the moto.
sandalscout
Adventurer
That was the most striking thing to me about the 650 that I rode. Two friends each have one, one is a 650, the other a 1000. I rode the 1000 first (and I was pretty new to riding, so a big chunk of the difference I perceived could have simply been me) and it seemed heavy, non-responsive and clunky (shifting and power application). The owner is a meticulous bike maintenance guy, so I suspect it was actually the bike, not the owner that led to it being what it was.
I really really wanted to like the Vstrom a lot, but it just didn't talk to me. Fast forward several months, and I finally got to ride a Wee. LOVED IT! It was a little newer and had significantly less miles, but it was smooth, clean, and a blast to ride. It was really slated to be my next bike until the need for a slightly bigger (than my 250) more dirt friendly bike became extremely obvious and I got a killer deal on my KLR.
I don't know that I will ever end up with a DL650, but it's definitely on my radar. I really like my KLR is all of it's super ugly simplicity, and I have done far more to it than I ever should have, making it a little more of a backcountry tourer that I always have seen the DL as, so the VStrom and my KLR are pretty overlapping in their tasks at this point.
Anyway, Keep the info coming Cody, I do enjoy reading your posts.
Cody1771
Explorer
Looks like you are having fun with the bike. We just picked-up a 2012 650 V-Strom Adventure and have started riding it and doing a few modifications. Most important, a skid plate (wow, that oil filter is vulnerable). We decided to go with the Touratech skid.
I am enjoying riding it, what a smooth and comfortable bike. Pretty refined for its price too.
We are going to take it on a more difficult trail run and overnighter this weekend. Looking forward to a little adventure on the moto.
Hey Scott, the 2012's are nice bikes! glad you went with the touratec, they really are far superior for the Wee, im assuming you did a oil cooler relocation as well? have fun on it, a good rider can take them anywhere a big GS can go.
when you decide to change out the tires i can't say enough good things about the Heidenau K60 scout, the tire is amazing, if your going to be doing much sand or mud the TKC80's are the way to go though, they will be my next set of tires if i ever wear out thies K60's lol. maybe some day we will get a chance to ride.
Oh yeah, and if your looking for more ground clearance there is a guy on Stromtrooper who runs a shop called Enduro Guardian, he makes a 1" lift kit for the rear of the bike, it does the same as dropping the front forks increasing handeling of the bike. there is also a guy who writes an awsome article on how to get another 30MM of TRAVEL out of the front fork (not just a lame lift) since the front fork really is the weak point of these bikes only having 5" of travel. a nice set of progressive springs and emulators really help to.
The rear shock really depends on your personal feel, you can change the spring rate fairly cheaply with aftermarket progressive springs or you can have sasquatch overhaul it (lots of people like there work) or Elka makes an ultra reliable progressive shock for RTW type trips, or anything long, and rough.
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Cody1771
Explorer
yup i know the feeling, the 1000 didnt apeal to me eather, they have a rough point between 2500 and 3k RPM and i found there shifting a bit clunky, my Wee is far more refined and has plenty of power for what im doing. i have heard lots of guys going with a power comander with a leaned out fuel Map making the 1k a little better. far to heavy for what i like to do though.
Have fun on your KLR and ride the piss out of it!
Cody1771
Explorer
hmm thanks for the info... will definatly look into it.
Scott Brady
Founder
They are better on the dirt that you would think. . . we had some fun with the 650 VStrom this weekend.
jkam
nomadic man
I had a 2004 wee storm that I put 86,000 miles on. It went anywhere I pointed it, sometimes not liking it much but still went there. The main mod was different handle bars, the stock ones had too much back sweep for me.
Stock seat, stock windshield and stock suspension were fine for me, sure the suspension was shot after so many miles of hard riding but it still handled well enough and I rode that thing hard.
I actually bought it as an experiment to see how little I could do to it maintainence wise and was amazed how well it did in the 3 years and 86,000 I had it. Oil changes whenever, at least 6000 miles between, never changed the air filter just cleaned it. Valves never needed adjustment.
I tried like hell to kill it but it refused.
Stock seat, stock windshield and stock suspension were fine for me, sure the suspension was shot after so many miles of hard riding but it still handled well enough and I rode that thing hard.
I actually bought it as an experiment to see how little I could do to it maintainence wise and was amazed how well it did in the 3 years and 86,000 I had it. Oil changes whenever, at least 6000 miles between, never changed the air filter just cleaned it. Valves never needed adjustment.
I tried like hell to kill it but it refused.
Cody1771
Explorer
Good weekend, Rode my bike out from Victoria through Cowichan out to Bamfield for a weekend of fishing;
did really well, got our limit for springs, got a 25 and a 30 pounder double header in the last few minutes of the last day!
who wants to come over for a BBQ?
also got some new toys in the mail today! i ordered a Kappa Tank Bag and a Gearz Tail bag for my bike, the tank bag fits my tablet perfectly and the tail bag is 51 liters!
also got a tire plug set, some spare levers and an USB electrical kit to wire into the tank bag. now im set! i was able to pound out my side cases so they are good for a little more abuse.
did really well, got our limit for springs, got a 25 and a 30 pounder double header in the last few minutes of the last day!
who wants to come over for a BBQ?
also got some new toys in the mail today! i ordered a Kappa Tank Bag and a Gearz Tail bag for my bike, the tank bag fits my tablet perfectly and the tail bag is 51 liters!
also got a tire plug set, some spare levers and an USB electrical kit to wire into the tank bag. now im set! i was able to pound out my side cases so they are good for a little more abuse.