What bike is better or equal to a V-Strom 650?

When Rider magazine tested the 2012 V-strom , one of the testers bought that bike. I suppose you've heard of "putting you money where your mouth is" ?

I have had my 07 Wee since new and can't think of anything I would replace it with except the S10. That said, after a few adjustments to the wee, it really can't be trumped. Fork springs, intiminators or emulators, fork brace, a new shock and some choice tires make the bike phenomenal. No major reengineering necessary. I wish it would clean itself. That is it.

Yeah, if you eliminate all the competitors then the Wee is the only choice. Why is that fun?
I replaced my TDM850 with a Versys in the spring of 2010. Short wheelbase, sporty suspension, and punchy power delivery all conspire to make it a really fun bike. Not that you can't have fun on a Wee, but that's not the first adjective to jump to mind. It's virtues are more, um, practical. Like a center stand.

i have had my '08 strom for 18 months and put 32k on it.
wondeful bike.
i have had a 955i tiger and still think the BRG green tiger is the best looking bike i have ever owned.
the things that made me sell it were: upgrade in fuel (89 or 91)
gas mileage - usually about 42mpg
me- no self control

it's hard to think of a bike that will do all the strom does as efficently.
regular gas
53-63mpg
good wind protection
and a comfy (russle) seat

when the bike gets 100k i think i will look around again, and probubly get a 2014 vstrom 650

It's mostly the tyres. Wee still comes with crappy old B-stones, why is totally beyond me. They're not dangerous as some say, but they're not good either. But I got rid of them right away on my 2012, put Michelin pilot road 3's on (full street tyre), and couldn't be happier. I say it now gets very close to a Versys in handling.

The tires shorten the wheelbase 6 inches, raises the CG, and sharpens the steering geometry? That is amazing.

No, but the DL is taller and has wider bars, so there's more ability to force the bike to do what you want - which compensates for the longer wheelbase to SOME extent.

As for the geometry, just hit the front brake hard before turning the suspension dive will fix that for yer :eek1


Pete

And it won't do that for the other bike? Quite some physical miracles happening here ...

You havn't ridden a stock pre-2012 Strom then ?.
You'll have to trust me on this, the dive under braking on those was 'special' - i.e. the Versys doesn't have enough travel to match that

Pete

No. I said it gets very close to a Versys. So probably the tires shortened the wheelbase about 5.5 inches

Seriously though, PilotRoad3 on 2012 Wee made a big difference. I have ridden a 2012 demo bike with OEM tires enough to know they suck just as bad as they ever did.

I'm subscribed here because I'm leaning toward a new 650 V-Strom in the near future. Does anybody actually want those OEM tires for reason enough that they'll sell if you jerk them (for good touring tires) from a new V-strom?

Equal? Nothing, similar? only the new wee strom.

Here in Spain too much users have changing yours Kx for the new K12 or L2, like is your official name.

If you make too much tracks, other good bikes maybe can be the new BMW F700GS, the 800GS is very expensive but your front wheel of 21" is much better for this use. Is the better in fuel administration with one and half litre (metric system) less than other similar bike. In BMW you have too the "new" F650GS Sertao, but your wind protection is more less, and is a monocylindre

The Tenere 660, is too an great bike, more similar to wee strom, the front wheel is too 21", but....is too an mono.

The Tiger 800 is a superior step, is more expensive, you can choose between asphalt version an off road version. It have an serious problem with the hot expel of engine in the legs, maybe you no have problem because Canada is a few cold than Spain

I think that if your wee Strom go good, the better change is for other wee

And..I be the proud owner of one K4 wee Strom, I hope for long, long time... Ay¡ maldita crisis

I owned a DL650 for about eight months. Wouldn't buy another. Great for money, pretty cheaply made overall. No comparison to other bikes I like. Cheap bolts and fasteners, rims as soft as butter, cheap plastics, bad seat foam, stupid layout for adventure touring, all the weight very high, cooler at a weird place, shitty fairing, too wide ass, really crappy suspension.

The engine is a total gem though. I'd like to see that one in a nicely designed, higher quality bike.

"rims as soft as butter"

My experience is quite the opposite, when me&my GF went halfway around the planet on a K7, loaded with luggage for two people for six months plus spare tyres. Early on I lost count, how many really bad potholes, corrugations and speed humps I'd hit without being able to slow down. I was really surprised that the rims took it all. I did run a bit higher pressure for the load, though. Have dented many cast wheels on my previous bikes rather easily, and I've heard that "soft as butter"-line before, although never on this bike. Surely they are breakable, but as far as cast wheels go, they seem pretty much up to the job. I would not want to try hitting those same potholes with that much load on many other bikes, almost guaranteed to get trouble. So I basically disagree with that statement.

My wife rode that bike, had a super slow speed get off. Nothing dramatic, maybe 5mph or so. Front rim completely out of whack. She hit nothing, slid out on gravel on the side of the road.

It might be angle how you hit it or so, but I had never had a bike that was so easily broken as the Wee. Not from usage. From misuse, agreed, but it was a very fragile bike overall.

Well, if I were to do a round the world type of trip two-up again, I'd choose the Wee again, because it offers for me the best combination of purchase price, capability heavily loaded 2-up, fuel economy, and reliability/ability to do maintenance by yourself, when your nearest workshop is thousands of miles away. Can't really agree on that fragile thing either, but that's just my opinion of course. I do understand you did not like the bike, and have no problem with that.

It's fairly interesting. I actually did like riding it when we had it. But given the comparisons I have now, I wouldn't buy it again.

Btw: with fragile I mainly meant that it doesn't take drops very well. At least ours didn't. Might have been bad luck. Also the whole fairing assembly is not what I would like.

And again: I'd soooooo love to see that engine in something more interesting for me. Like give it a 20L tank, pulled low over the sides of the engine to get weight down, put it on a decent enough suspension (comparable to Tiger XC), put on properly sized forks, all in a main frame with bolted on steel subframe, narrow exhaust and no plastics standing out on the rear, very narrow fairing or just a good, adjustable windshield. That would be an awesome contender in the market. It just couldn't compete on price anymore (clarification: it wouldn't be several thousand dollars cheaper anymore than bikes in the same class). And I'm not certain people would buy a higher priced Suzuki.

I know that the Wee is super reliable and if I were to commute on a bike, I would consider one again. Just not with my current situation in life. I just want a bit more quality feel when wrenching and riding. And the Wee (2006 model) didn't give that to me. I could have kept it and be happy riding it around, but I just have so much more fun on other bikes. And given the little spare time I have, "quality" of fun is important.

Remember, one of the original requirements of the OP was the price had to be comparable (+- 10%) to the Wee. As far as I know, the majority of the "better" bikes discussed do not fall into that price category.

Agreed. The Wee is cheap. Not just in price. It's a great and reliable bike and if the price is one of the main points, go for one. But be aware that you're getting budget components all over the bike in places you might or might not expect.

More budget than another $8500 bike that has similar capabilities? I mean, if all you have to compare it to are 12-13k bikes then yeah, it might seem a bit cheap in some areas. (Of course if we're talking full price, we should be talking 2012+ dl650, too)

It is damn hard to find another bike that splits the difference between loaded up distance, fuel efficiency, and twisties like the strom, especially at its pricepoint - I know, I've been trying for months (and I am even willing to spend more). Frankly, I think the strom threads belong in road warriors, but I am apparently alone on that point :)

If you don't have the money (or are just into the whole austerity thing) you can do a lot worse than a dl650.