change?

jags

feckin amatuer
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ok, at 71 yrs of age i feel the gs is getting a bit heavy for me. had a 2hr demo run on a 650 vstrom yesterday. great engine although there is a fair bit of vibes at 65+, a lot of noise on my helmet off the screen and the brakes just middling. the bike handled ok for me but the ride is a bit rough on the dual carraigeway but coped with big bumps better.
all in all a good experience and i thought i would be quite happy to get back on the gs for the run home. never before have i felt the weight of the gs as much before and although the gs was better at cruising the main road it felt very unweildy in town compred to the wee.
so guys and girls, how do you find your v's, what is warranty and dealer support like as well as reliability? i must say i am sorely tempted.
i don't want to spend a ton of money on farkles as i may not live long enough to benefit.:D i would value your opinions, tia. jags.
 
Tried a Yamaha Tracer?

Cracking bike for the money and pulls as well as a GS. Wears panniers well.

Plenty of cheap S/H ones around I'm sure.

Triumph Tiger 800 also impresses me.

Al
 
yes, i have tried a tracer and the triumph. i just can't seem to get on with the trumpet although brother has one and swears by it. it has certainly been more reliable than my gs, in fact nothing has gone wrong with the same miles as my gs. i seem to find it too top heavy. the tracer i liked better than the triumph but it looks less well put together than the triumph or the suzuki. opinions vary obviously. i feel the suzi is powerful enough for me nowadays but i covered the ground just as quickly as i do with my gs. jags.
 
I moved from GSA to XR last year, but still look at the R1200r and think: "That's an absolute cracking bike"

Lower Than the GS, and I believe - lighter.

A possibility?

Al
 
I moved from GSA to XR last year, but still look at the R1200r and think: "That's an absolute cracking bike"

Lower Than the GS, and I believe - lighter.

A possibility?

Al
had crossed my mind but don't think i want to spend that kind of money even s/h. the wee strom comes with 3yr warranty, so could get a new one for less than a s/h beemer. not the quality of bike?:eyebrow . my mind isn't made up yet. i did wonder about a f800gt but need the legroom and i had a f800s previously and it was like a bag of spanners.
 
Same sort of situation as your self and I went down the tracer route and am very happy with it. But the wee was in the mix and was for me a toss up between the two.
 
Love my 2014 650. Done three Spain trips fully loaded two up. Haven’t really missed my 1100 GS. Very economical if you don’t rev the nuts off it, which you tend not to do anyway due to the nature of the engine. I averaged 67mpg in Spain this year. Far and away the most spacious of the mid size bikes. Fit a Givi Airflow screen. I bought mine 18 months ago as an ex demo with 2.5K for 4 grand. Unbelievable value! Build quality is better than the price tag would suggest.
 
Love my 2014 650. Done three Spain trips fully loaded two up. Haven’t really missed my 1100 GS. Very economical if you don’t rev the nuts off it, which you tend not to do anyway due to the nature of the engine. I averaged 67mpg in Spain this year. Far and away the most spacious of the mid size bikes. Fit a Givi Airflow screen. I bought mine 18 months ago as an ex demo with 2.5K for 4 grand. Unbelievable value! Build quality is better than the price tag would suggest.

i can see that your bike is not a lightweight now with all the farkles.;) i had an airflow on my gs until it got broken,:blast. now have a puig flip on top of the oem screen and with a new helmet the result is just as good. however the noise from the standard vstrom screen was quite bad. what seat is that on yours. cheers. jags.
 
I've just sold my 650 'strom after an enjoyable 2+ yrs. They are brill bike with lots of positives but also a few annoying niggles, some of which are easily rectified.

I found the stock seat, seating position and headlight brilliant, brilliant fuel economy & tank range - I deliberately ran it out once at 325 miles to 20ltr, albeit fairly gentle riding although they do drink a bit when the speed goes up, work on 70mpg pootling about, 63mpg was typical, 55 when tramping on.

Performance is again superb - I was never found wanting, even when playing out with the boys, I reckon on a par with my Vara 1k albeit without the torque/kick up the arse grunt that you get with bigger bikes, a nice tractable engine but just a tad on/off when slow filtering (compared to a nice carb'd bike).
General diy maintenance/access was pretty good, especially for a more modern bike, with a pleasant bit of storage under the seat.
Stock, I found a bit of buzziness as you say, dunno why but after fitting a 16t front sprocket to raise the gearing, never noticed it & theres plenty of performance to pull the higher gearing (which incidentally makes the speedo read correct but mpg & odo will read low).
The clocks were again brill, a nice clear, easily understood display with enough real world info (without being over cluttered).
Build and finish was good & on a par with recent Honda's (IMHO) with a few of Suzuki's penny pinching howlers thrown in.....

There are a bunch of multi connectors above the rad that are open to the elements & not waterproof or protected in any way.... easily treated with a bit of spray grease & a bit of foam stuffed above the rad to keep the weather out but are the source of many electrical issues as the bikes age/get commuted etc, a few other connectors can also weather prematurely., the wheel bearings don't have seals on the inner side, moisture can find it's way in leading to premature failure.
Neither of these are biggies, and easily rectified - if you know about it/care!

I struggled getting a suitable screen which became an annoyance over time as I seem to do more & more motorway miles....

Ride and handling...
Generally ok, the forks are a bit soft/basic yet at the same time seem quite harsh & they do tend to transmit every little lump & ripple, moreso once away from the oe fitment tyres.
Handling is generally ok, with the occasional tendency to give the odd squirm, understeer or run wide a bit particularly when pressing on.
A fork brace does help.

If it wasn't for the turbulence/windnoise and ride quality which over time became more and more of an issue (as I'd become 'tuned' into it) I may have kept it (but ultimately other personal circumstances dictated a step down the biking ladder).

There have been 2 recent (wordwide) recalls, a replacement stator & valve clearance check as a tiny number of bikes had contamination at the factory leading to possible cam/bucket wear - good on Suzuki, it must have cost them a fortune!
Some of the service intervals are archaic (7.5k miles to change iridium plugs, 3750 oil change (albeit doubled on later models))

Mine was a 12-16 model, so not sure how much is relevant to the new model.
A great all round bike and brilliant value (around 4k should get you a little used 'as new' one) but with just a bit more effort/development from Suzuki , they could be absolutely fantastic.
Albeit a bit 'white goods' & lack a bit of character, which is not helped (IMHO) by the overly muted exhaust note.

8e6d46116ee9aa50fbffc12677cc4a57.jpg


Phil

Sent from my SM-A320FL using Tapatalk
 
if it was a bmw he could fly home on his broomstick when it breaks down. :D. having said that my gs hasn't lat me down yet.
It's Suzuki, no breakdowns to report.

Sent from my SM-A320FL using Tapatalk
 
Here is a very finely crafted custom made luggage rack, hewn from the finest materials known to man...

It took a weeks worth of camping gear round France on my luggage unfriendly NC30 back in 2012
b4d31d1b33b9889829690eaea63dc16e.jpg


I think it was made by Pooratech

Sent from my SM-A320FL using Tapatalk
 
Have a look at Triumph Tiger 800 very good bike.
Light, good seating position, quite nippy and comes with plenty of stuff as standard

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 
Have a look at Triumph Tiger 800 very good bike.
Light, good seating position, quite nippy and comes with plenty of stuff as standard

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

I'm a big fan of the 800, and reckon it is a better-biult bike than the GS800. That said - you can't argue with the V-Strom for VFM
 
decision made, a vstrom 650 ordered yesterday. a black one with heated grips, crash bars, lower cowl, tank pad and centre stand. happy with the deal, and think the dealer is too. pick it up in november.:thumby: thanks for the points of view, don't expect photos as i' not computer litterate.
 


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