Trade Vstrom for a KLR for 2 year SA trip?

[sserebrennikov78]

Hello travelers,

I am planning a 2 year South America trip leaving from NY summer of 2012. I bought a new DL650 this winter and fully equipped it for the trip. I then took it for a 6000 miles dry run around Trans Labrador hwy, Quebec, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Maine, etc... On that ride I started having doubts about my choice of bike. I am seriously considering selling the Wee and getting a KLR instead. Some of the issues are below. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Rough road handling. Forget gravel, I suffered through 1000 miles of Trans Labrador Hwy gravel and sand. But it seems that it can't handle bad pavement as well. Like paved road full of small potholes or hard chipseal washboard road after a greider. Every small imperfection in the road is transferred to the chassis. I could only travel about 30mp/h on such roads swerving around potholes, while other bikes (KLRs, BMWs) just went through everything without problem at much higher speeds. Granted, it feels at home on the freeway. But how much freeway should I expect roaming around SA? Question for the travelers: Should I expect majority of roads in SA to be bad paved roads? I know that bad sections of Trans Lab would be considered VIP highways in Russia, making them painful to ride on the VStrom even at slower speeds. I am not preparing for a Dakar type ride, but I keep hearing that everywhere else in the world average speed is around 50 mp/h is that true?

Maintenance and dealer network. Every little maintenance job is more painful than on other bikes. Mounting rear wheel is an adventure of its own. There are 5 different parts to align while holding rear wheel above ground. Interesting job to do single handed. I need to remove the tank to clean air filter. Same for replacing plugs. Fuel filter is located inside the fuel pump and cannot be cleaned at all. I know that KLR is easier to maintain and more mechanics are familiar with it. I also know that many travelers prefer thumpers over twins. Are there more Kawasaki dealers in SA than Suzuki dealers to get parts if you need them? In general do you see a lot of Vstroms on the road in other parts of the world? Surprisingly a gas stating attendant in Port Hope Simpson, Labrador told me that he has been seeing a lot of Vstroms passing through there, but it is their common playground.

Tires. Vstrom has a 19 inch front and 17 inch rear tubeless tires and cast aluminum wheels. Can I expect to find these sizes of tubeless tires easily available in most places, or would KLRs 21 front and 17 rear be easier to find? Are tube tires generally easier to find than tubeless? I don't plan to run knobbies, but if I did, the only knobbies I can get for the Strom are TKC80 which are expensive as hell and don't last much. (I am running Shinko 705 now).

Reliability. Vstrom is fuel injected. That means a fuel pump and more electronics. I need to synch throttle bodies every once in a while (remove tank again, or install tube extensions and pray that they don't vibrate loose), and need to carry special tool. It also means that it cannot be push started and needs a plenty of juice to run. Even jump starting it on a dead battery will not work. From what I understand KLR can be bump started. KLR has a metal frame that can be welded, while Vstrom's frame is cast aluminum. It seems that I can't get a folding shift lever for the Strom anymore. There used to be one made by Studebekker and sold by Vstroma, but it has been on back order forever. Stock shifter is cast aluminum and many Strom riders have had theirs broken during dirt naps or from a rock. Shifter is not simple and consists of several parts that cannot be easily substitued from other bikes. I can get Touratech folding rear brake lever (over $100).

Vstrom is definitely a more comfortable bike on nicely paved US roads and roadside assistance, but made me think about getting a KLR instead. In Russia, we called these things "Parquet SUVs".

Any advice is appreciated.

Sergey.