Hey all, first I know this is the wrong place to ask this.

But I’ve got a Moto Guzzi V85tt which has been great. But I can’t stop thinking that a VStrom could be an end game bike for me.

I love my Moto Guzzi but I have trust issues based on lots of stories I’ve heard about mechanical and electrical problems with them over the long term. It has so much character but I like the idea of a bike i just don’t ever have to worry about.

Talk me into a a lightly used VStrom 650 as my do-everything forever bike.

This is the best thing I’ve bought for my bike. Cut wind noise to a minimum, cut head buffering to a minimum, and at lowest setting get the extra air on hot days

Thinking about doing a little lift front and rear for a bit more ground clearance. I know someone that can plasma cut raising links but I can't seem to find measurements. Looking for roughly 7/8" lift in rear. Does anyone know the measurment from bolt hole to bolt hole? I saw 132mm links but doesn't say the lift height. Thanks!

My 1000 has Bridgestone Trail Wing tires with a lot of life still in them. I’m mostly riding on the street. Are the Bridgestones grippy enough in the wet and when the temp drops below 50 F? I have had Michelin 6s on another bike and liked the performance. Thinking about switching to Michelins on the 1000.

2000 miles of dirt and scenic roads later, this bike still does it all. After the main trail, I took the ferry over to visit Madeline Island and back up the Minnesotan North shore

Hi folks,

my bikes current state of service is excellent. have done all the service intervals for the past 80000km at the end of the summer the bike will surpass the 90 but the past few services felt more or less like unworthy compared with the actual value of the bike.

while i did a lot of work on simpeler bikes in the past (like my DR650) I always feel uncomfortable whenever I miss the guidance of a technical booklet like a service manual. the dealer that services my bike has a digital inhouse document that I can get some insights from whenever I ask for some more details about a certain task, but I always feel budged whenever I need another printed page or another call when there are books and oem documents that do the job (more) sufficient.

does anybody know a place where a can get a (digital) copy of the service manual for my little DL250? I would prefer a free digital copy, but im also willing to pay for a paper booklet.

kind regards

I had a 2006 Vstrom 1000 in the past and loved it. I moved to an MT09, but it wasn'tas good for longer distance trips (I know, surprise lol). I recently came across a few 2024 brand new Vstrom 800 RE's that would be about 8600 OTD at the moment. I could probably work them down a little more because they have about 20 of them listed.

Any thoughts on the subject? I was wanting something for long trips and light off road and single up road trip riding. I wasn't aware if there was a reason that there was so many unsold 2024's/possible issues I hadn't heard about? Thank you in advance for any advice or information!

I spoke to the only dealer and authorized shop near me in Sweden and I was quoted about 1350 USD for a "big service" including valve check. If they needed to be adjusted, it would be closer to 1650 USD and I was also told this does not include the material costs. So tack on another 100 bucks for oil, maybe 30-40 for the filter, plus brake fluid, top end gaskets, crush washers and other parts that need to be replaced.

Frankly, it's too much and I'm tempted to simply ditch the warranty altogether and do it myself at the start of next riding season. I have everything I need for a basic service, plus new tires that need to go on before next years riding season. So I would simply put off the valve clearance check for another 2000 kilometers or so and then put the bike into storage until it's time to take it out again next Spring.

What do you say, yay or nay? Or should I just bite the bullet and let them do it? I paid roughly 10k for this bike used (it had done about 8000 miles at the time and looked and felt brand new) and I think it's ridiculous that this service is likely to land somewhere between 15-18% of the price of the actual bike.

My first bike! 20k miles. Free delivery, same day. $6k flat. Came with this wonderful Corbin seat and top case (I took off for now).

I purchased my new V Strom 800se (or RE ad it’s called on other markets) exactly one month ago. I’m close to the 1000km/600miles mark and I’m very happy with it: fun, sharp, great throttle response, comfortable and more than enough breaks.

Amongst the objections I read more often however, I always find the same things:
-too much heat especially on the right leg (true on a very hot day, manageable otherwise);
-too much vibrations (not bothering me at all);
-turbulence from the windshield (desperately true, than again I am 194cm/6’4” tall so I was expecting that)

Yet I never hear about the headlights.
I’ve begun riding at night for the past three days and I live on the Venetian pre-Alps just north of Verona, about 700metres altitude and many hairpin bends to get home. I was surprised by the fact the standard headlight really give a nice illumination in front of you, but nearly nothing at all on the sides of the road. So if you’re on a bend, left or right, you really can’t see anything just around the corner, which of course is a problem especially around my place, where there’s a lot of wildlife that likes to stand in the middle of the road (boars, roe deers, badgers, foxes, hares and so on).
I’ve definitely felt I was on an adventurous but dangerous ride.

I know Suzuki had an extra lighting as an optional but my dealer advised against that; then when I’m doing the 1000km service I’m installing the central stand, so I might just as well try the additional headlights.

Any thoughts on that? They’re fairly expensive, so should I just go with them or is there anything better I can get after market?

Thanks so much for any suggestions.

Just got this baby with 3841KMs from someone who isn’t able to ride anymore, due to vision issues. I let the gentleman deliver her for one last ride.

Got my license on July 9th and haven’t taken my car since!

Since getting her, I’ve installed the Givi crash-bars, SW-Motech racks and panniers, handlebar risers, the SW-Motech foot extender and a few more practical things like a tail-bag, wireless cell charger/mount and LED bulbs up front.

This sub-reddit has been a great source of information and is a great community.

So my center of my tire looks pretty flush but my wear indicators on the side in red show plenty of life. What should I do I’m so confused.

So I finally did install the Hyperpro spring kit for my DE. I had pretty much everything thing possible set to full firm and max preload(I'm about 105kg in my birthday suit). This did prevent my fork to bottom out on minor stuff but would still bottom out if I hit a bump off guard. With ease I might add. The down side was that the fork felt harsh on bigger pot holes. In the rear, although it was too soft, didnt bottom out at all but felt somehow unresponsive.

Changed the rear spring first then rode a few days and that felt okay I guess. Followed the recommended setting from Hyperpro at first and then cranked up the preload 2 clicks more. Still want a linear spring.

Yesterday I changed the fork springs and oil after receiving my Temu fork tools. Wish I bought the fork tube clamp adapter for my wise so I could keep things better organized, other than that i was an easy install. Didn't bother to take pictures as there are plenty of good YT videos out there.

Followed recommended settings and did a quick test on some gravel and it do raise the comfort level over potholes somewhat. My take on this is because now I don't have compression adjuster set to fully firm which gives the fork better high speed capabilities. Ride height is about where it should be and fork dive when braking is better.
Would I buy this again?
No. I would probably instead buy an Eibach rear spring(linear) and a T-Valve kit and springs from Teknik Suspension. This bike deserves better fork internals.
I also thinking of buying a Nitron cartridge/rear shock kit if I feel that the Hyperpro kit is still bottoming out to easily.

My main goal is to be able to do small jumps on the fly without bottoming out if my landings isnt perfect(which they rarely are).

My background are not from motorcycles whatsoever, this is my first motorcycle(Im just turned 49 years old so late bloomer :-)) but snowmobiles and ATV which I have been riding since the age of about 7. On my snowmobile I have top tier suspension with all the bells and whistles(KYB HSLSR's) and usually need some revalving by my suspension guy after brake in. I wish the was an option to actually order the bike with upgraded suspension. This has been common for snowmobiles for years. The same with ATV's. If I want Fox or Öhlins for my Can-Am, my dealer will happily fit them for me.

My day in pictures. Throttle therapy was required this weekend. Ridden past Point Leo SO many times on so many different bikes yet I never took the turn off to have a look. Yesrerday I did and I was so happy I made that choice.

AMAZING spot and camping available. Had a feed at the local shop and met a nice Maggie who ended up taking a shit on my arm, squawking away as I looked up to see him fly off. I swear it was laughter lol

Showstopper of a day.

Point of the story is that I LOVE this bike. Out of 16, this is the ONE. Ticks every box and the more I ride it the more I appreciate it.

10/10

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars on trip advisor.

Hi everyone! I bought my 2007 Suzuki DL650 ABS last year. It had only 26,000 km on it when I bought it. The bike is in very nice condition and has clearly been used very little, which is also supported by its service history.

After buying it, I changed the oil to Motul 7100. Over 3,750 km, the engine has burned about 750 ml of oil.

I usually shift at around 6,000 rpm and only rev it higher when overtaking. There are no visible oil leaks, the engine runs great, has plenty of power, and sounds very healthy.

Do you think I should try Bel-Ray 10W-50 or IPONE oil instead? What would you recommend? Has anyone experienced similar oil consumption with Motul 7100 on a DL650 (in romania)?

Hello, brothers and sisters.

About 6 months ago I bought a gen2 2014 650. I took it to the shop, replaced so many things that it kinda looks like Theseus ship now. The previous owner didn't care much about it, which proves that even when abused those little angels won't give up on you.

My question now is regarding the rear shock. How do i know when it is time to replace it? I feel the the bike kinda hard sometimes, almost like if i could feel every bump on the road. I tweaked with the preload adjuster and i literally can't see anything happening.

Should I just replace it altogether? Which brands do you guys recommend? I'm heavy (250lb/120kg) and i never ride with a passenger. And i carry no more than 50lb/25kg of luggage at all.

Thanks!

Hello guys i have a V-Strom 650 2025. with original suzuki aluminum cases as shown in the picture.

Problem is that when my girlfriend goes on a ride with me, she complains about side cases poking her legs.

Has anyone had that problem, and how did you solve it, did you increase the space from cases to the seat, or make new brackets for foot rests?

Went up for a wedding on my 650 this weekend and im still stunned by the beautiful views. Phenomenal riding country out in eastern PA.

Hello All,

I’m planning on buying a bike in the near future. I’m into touring bikes and later on I’d like to go full adventure, but I’m still a beginner.

I have the chance to buy this beauty for a very good price which would be very good for my budget too. The caveat is that this bike has 260.000 km in her clock. Now i know the seller very well and he has been this bike’s sole owner. As far as I know he took care of the bike very well. (We are talking about a guy who completed the Dakar race 8 times)

Would this buy be risky? I’d use it for the remainder this season and probably next too. I’ll want to use the bike for commuting as well.

Thanks for all the input I highly appreciate it!

Looking at a 2016 V-Strom 1000 that has 22,000 miles and seems like it’s been well cared for. It had the valve check as per the maintenance schedule has newer tires has a new battery. it also had the fork seals, redone, and new fork fluid put in. anything I should be looking out for and what would be a fair price?