thinking of a DL650 as a winter hack

The Other PaulG

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Afternoon all.

I have the opportunity to pick up a 5 year old 650 strom for a good price and am very tempted as a winter bike.

I have always suspected that the 650 v-twin is an entertaining motor so I am fundamentally interested in this bike.

The thing is, it's not just needed for commuting, I need it to be able to do longer trips (back home to Yorkshire is 200 miles each way) plus some Euro stuff when
I see an attractive rugby fixture in Castres... all in poor winter weather.

So the questions are
- how is the weather protection?
- I don't like to hang around, how suitable is the bike for 80-90mph days?
- Anything I need to particularly look out for with this model?

I am not a precious biker, a bit of pain is fine, but I'd rather have a bike that's not revving its nuts off and begging for another gear at highway speeds..

Any advice very gratefully received. :thumb

the other PaulG
 
Givi Airflow screen and an airhawk seat cushion should do it. I have no problem sitting at 85 on mine for long hauls. If it is a 2012 I guess it will be the same model as mine i.e. with the more powerful Gladius motor. Make sure the recalls have been done. One for potential cam issue, the other for stator replacement.
 
I had one for a few years. Like most bikes with a windshield there's those who hate the screen and those that don't. A Givi Airflow screen seems to get a positive review from most people. A popular mod is to replace the 15T front sprocket with a 16T one, which lowers the RPM's a bit and makes the speedo almost fully accurate. I'd guess it'll handle faster speeds ok as it was happy enough doing a GPS 75mph two up with full luggage down to Croatia.

My DL650's were new ones and I don't recall having any problems with them, though IIRC the stator can be a weak point on them.
 
Thanks Mark and John.

Given the number of SV650s they sold, I'd expect any motor wrinkles to have been ironed out by now so that all sounds good. I will watch for signs of stator failure.

Good advice re the front sprocket. I far prefer bikes to be overgeared rather than undergeared.

cheers!
 
Hang on there's a point.

I am assuming the DL and SV650s have an identical engine. Is that correct? Is the DL tuned differently?

Paul
 


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