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Suzuki V-Strom 650 XT new bike day and future adventures
Suzuki V-Strom 650XT! What a brilliant bit of kit. The day after riding her back from
Haslemere motorcycles 9 hours of riding in all sorts of conditions, roads and horrific traffic. Very happy with my Purchase to be honest it ticks all the boxes from my personal perspective. Superb on road handling, slick gearbox, braking and most of all an engine with a willingness to rev and a terrific sound did I mention the sound!! Now I've had the following adv bikes Bmw 1200 GSA 2014 TE, Vstrom 1000xt f800gs and the T100. I've also had lots of superbikes as well over the years from gsxrs to Fireblades an plenty of classics. For me the Suzuki is a perfect blend of the above bikes mixed in with some GSXRness and that brilliant Suzuki DNA that has had me buy 5 Suzukis up to now. What would I like to change? Well first up is the seat I do quite fancy something that's a bit more comfortable I can manage about 2 hours at a time on the stock one before I get figity lol so that oh and a screen at the moment I'm torn between a Givi airflow or a Puig anyone over 6'2 used one :) apart from that I really love her. Anyone my height riding one what seats an screens do you recommend? Has anyone had the official suzuki accessory one? My ancient phone finally uploaded my video on collecting My Suzuki V-Strom 650XT from Haslemere Suzuki an the 9 hour or so ride back. Ended up fitting my Garmin Nav in the car park. Just need to get the correct sumitomo accessory plug to make it switched. Exciting times a few small things I want to do to her screen an a seat but apart from that I'm over the moon with it exactly what I hoped she would be like. Considering the list of adv bikes that I've had that shes following high praise for the Suzuki indeed looking forward to doing some much bigger rides over the next year and into the future. Has anyone had the seat concepts or Sargent seats Thanks in advance :) So first two three trips will be Wales, Scotland an Devon then I'm looking at doing Norway on her. https://i.ibb.co/wNpPDDx/20210813-132103-02.jpg https://i.ibb.co/RyRBPRW/FB-IMG-1628878281488-01.jpg Video to the ride https://youtu.be/rnQP4CbHx_M |
Congratulations
Congratulations to an excellent choice.
Seat: I added an air seat on mine. Wild Ass (similar to Air Hawk) https://www.handelsboden.com/ovrigt/wild-ass-sittdyna I have used mine for 27 000 km. (during 3 years) All maintenance has been oil and filter changing+ chain lubrication. It works perfect for all roads. But it is not an off road bike. The suspension and ground clearence is not up Enduro bikes. But with correct tyres, it works perfect on dirt roads. I ride a lot of dirt roads, with pleasure. And it has no problems touring highways also. A real around bike. So I fitted alround tyres (Mitas E07, Continental TKC 70) Those tyres matches the bike and the type of driving that the bike is good for. And that I do. I am sure that you will have a lot of nice trips on this bike. = I have a post about my modifications on this forum https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...ed-trip-101810 |
Thanks for taking the time to reply thats awesome :) I'll check one of those out a few people have mentioned them now and ill check your thread out sounds cool.
Itching to get out on some adventures with her. |
Agree
So first two three trips will be Wales, Scotland an Devon then I'm looking at doing Norway on her.
I agree with all the comments. I have had mine for 4 years in November from new and no problems whatsoever apart from a sticking steering lock. It's a low key good bike. Stay safe and take care. James |
Air Seat
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Sorry, on the border from out of topic.
But some old school stuff for the kids. That came to my mind when thinking about seats.... I am an old man. I have been riding choppers, and I am still doing that from time to time. Rigid frames ("hard tail, not "soft tail") On hard seats. => Mashed Kidneys and painful back. And a sore button. But we had a soultion to improve the cushion of the seat. Most common for the passanger sitting more or less on the rear fender. We took took the tube from the wheel from a wheelbarrow. 4" tube. And used it to improve the cushion. Believe or not. I have puncture on my air seat from Wild Ass. I thougth of the old school method. So, as a temporary solution. I put an 4" inner tube inside the Wild Ass cover... Pictures before it got into the cover.... |
Thanks really appreciate the replies :)
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Lovely machine. Rented one for five days on holiday, absolutely loved it.
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Hi everyone hope we are all well :)
On Wednesday I had a terrific 600 mile ride from Cheshire up around the borders of Scotland and back found some awesome roads after the ones I wanted to do were shut so ended up wandering around and finding a few little gems, utterly superb some stretches where I didn't see another vehicle for over an hour bliss! Felt crazy busy when I got back on the m60 really realised how hemmed in we are down here! The petrol prices ouch! Used 50 quid of fuel on 99 ron for 450 miles of the trip which worked out at. Fuel stop 1 no receipt so ignore that. From Fuel stop 2 -4 =450 miles. Fuel stop 2 8.24l @ 1.789l =14.74 Fuel stop 3 12.06l @ 1.789l = 21.58 Fuel stop 4 9.34l @ 1.799l = 16.80 450 miles = 68.19 mpg Not got a receipt for the first stop unfortunately. Fuel economy has been a bit of a concern lately as I'm out of work currently so trying to make funds stretch. Next time Ill try the e10 stuff now I've got a good base line. Thoughts on the 650 after the ride really superb can't fault it took everything in its stride very smooth n easy to tour on adventure around on tiny lanes, yet when the mood takes a revvy sportsbike engine to. Never felt like I was missing my 2014 1200gsa or 2017 1000xt. To be honest I'm still quite curious about the Himmys my entire riding perspective has changed since I've been riding the 1927 Norton 16H which is the most fun I've had on a bike 4.9hp and 252lbs keeps up and passes modern traffic when needs be which is always funny makes me think marques are missing a trick not chasing light weight rather than tech it's crazy to think in 1927 they had cable operated cruise control in the format of a throttle lever rather than twist grip anyways I digress back to the V-strom. Seat is my only criticism of it after 150- 200 miles (again the 60s Norton seats are bliss in comparison) you start to feel it and maybe a better bash plate to. Hoping to move to either Scotland or Devon in the summer once the house is advertised so next trip will be up to Fort William for an overnight stop in a few weeks to check it out as I've never been past Moffat. Hope you all enjoy the pictures and my thought's on the bike just waiting for the video to process on youtube then I can share it with you all. Few mobile pics from when I was stopped. https://i.ibb.co/bJdYtz9/20220323-15...1-02-01-01.jpg https://i.ibb.co/MPypxfC/20220323-120609-01-01-01.jpg https://i.ibb.co/sgMv4MW/20220323-145941-02-01-01.jpg https://i.ibb.co/RQ5Y2W3/20220323-151241-01-01-01.jpg https://i.ibb.co/Srn97bd/20220323-151219-01-01-01.jpg https://i.ibb.co/syBfRkM/20220323-142151-02-01-01.jpg |
Ride video and review thoughts on the bike is finally uploaded hope you all enjoy sorry about the low camera angle gonna buy a helmet mount for on the V-Strom :)
https://youtu.be/orKQBmK-dS0 |
light weight rather than tech
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It is nice to read that you enjoy the DL 650.
= makes me think marques are missing a trick not chasing light weight rather than tech it's crazy = I have the same thoughts. Even if some tech would not increase the weight, but the complexity. So I am now using using a Honda NX 4, 2003 150 kg, 400 cc, all around bike ("dual purpose").... (Not for highways, but the is not where I drive) 150 kg is so easy to handle. Ad still it has a comfortable seat and not to high seat No EFI => Carbs No ABS No LED panels => analogue clocks No LED lamps => H4 No warranty => No service need at dealer. Easy design => Easy maintenance. Air filter changed in 4 minutes. Oil filter in minutes. 2 bolts. Spark plug open. https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/mo...da_nx4_02.html I still have my Suziki DL, and I will keep it. As well as my WL 750. That is real low tech. And requires something from the rider. Foot clutch, hand gear switch, manual control of ignition timing (left hand) Adventure !! With a big smile !! = Smaller bikes ? Ready this topic by your countrymen https://adventurebikerider.com/forum...p?f=23&t=47487 |
Thanks for taking the time to share Erik that's what I love with my 1927 Norton 16H Flat Tanker Handshift, throttle lever manual advance etc so much fun!
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Hi everyone hope we are all well took a ride out to Jodrell Bank last night to pull up and do a full review of my 2020 Suzuki V-Strom 650XT and cover the reasons why I bought it :) for my current Adventure/Overlanding usage and compare it to one of my previous bikes on a few points and discuss briefly why I'm starting to think of lightweight ADV bikes and a whole new approach feel like I'm a bit late to that but you never stop learning! I'll be covering my change in thoughts in the follow up video along with anything anyone wants to know that I've Missed on the VStrom if I've missed anything it's the Start of my V Strom journey but she's already impressing after a 600 mile in a day ride :) as some who follow my adventures with the Nortons will know I hurt an old shoulder/neck injury so couldn't do to much riding last year so was a relief to be able to do the 600 mile day ride pain free.
Through the video you will find the different chapters I covered many different things from my thoughts on what I like about the VStrom 650 XT, what I'd improve and thoughts about other bikes that I'm considering. the Husqvarna 701, Honda CRF 300 Rally etc what I'd like to do next and finally the sound of the VStrom with some onboard I mainly focused for 9 or so of the ten mins on talking about the bike. Sorry if the editing isn't perfect as I'm doing it on an old mobile :) I hope you enjoy the video and hopefully I'll have a new mic setup for the next video seemed to come out alot better though with a change of setting if you are using a helmet video with the GoPro Hero 6 what are you using mic wise? https://youtu.be/2Pjmr6WRoOQ |
Had an awesome terrific ride out on the V-Strom 650XT to Winnat's pass
Testing out my new Mic Setup which means I've finally got good audio yay! Took a while to save up for. I decided to film some of my thought's while riding chatting about why I'm possibly considering a change of bike towards a lighter ADV setup and tried to explain my methodology behind those thoughts. As it's a choice between bringing in a 2nd Vstrom 650XT for my dad or two much lighter bikes with thoughts on the 300 Rally. It's a tricky choice for sure. I also covered my thoughts on why I like the Strom an think it's such a brilliant compromise spec wise an often gets overlooked in favour of the Cb500X https://i.ibb.co/rd1vjML/20220424-182645-01-01.jpg https://i.ibb.co/dK8W3fK/20220424-182723-01-01.jpg https://i.ibb.co/x84TmzR/20220424-182656-01-01.jpg https://i.ibb.co/9YM320s/20220424-184403-01-01-04.jpg https://youtu.be/jr7D-uGZuCY |
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