My wife currently rides a Bandit 650, and the Vstrom 650 would be her second choice. Before she bought the Bandit, she test rode several bikes, including the BMW 650 and the Vstrom 650, and she personally preferred the Strom over the BMWs. However, the BMW 650 has both a low chassis and low seat option, which makes it the ideal choice for those with shorter legs.

We also talked with several Lady riders who initially bought Vstrom 650s, who switched to the BMW 650 because they found that, even though they could sit comfortably on a Vstrom, WITH A FULL TANK OF GAS, the Strom was too heavy for them at slow speeds ...they simply didn't have the UPPER body strength to muscle the Strom around easily. After dropping their brand new Vstroms a few times, mostly at zero or very low speeds, they went to a BMW 650. Lowering the Vstrom suspension with links will help control on the road some what, but in any slow/tight/rough stuff, the already minimal Vstrom ground clearance will be compromised even further than with a stock suspension. I ripped an aftermarket skid plate off me Strom 650 trying to ride in some serious technical stuff ... and that was with the stock links.

PS: I personally ride a Vstrom 1000, with the 1" lower Vstrom 650 seat, and this works for me [ 29 1/2" inseam ]. But even at 240 lbs, with fairly good upper body strength, The VEE is a handful for me on tight slow stuff ... but still better than my previous dual sport ride, a BMW 1150 GS.
YPMMV
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