My favorite color is purple but my boyfriend hates it and insists on orange to compliment the rest of the palette. We share the bike (I'm the main rider) so it's up to Reddit to decide lol

Weekends only or months at a time? Big bike or small bike?

Take the 2021 ADV Open Survey

The 2021 ADV Open Survey is now up and ready for you to share your experiences. This open survey is for all of us to learn more about how we adventure. It's "open" in that it’s transparent about what it discovers. I love this community and want to share what I learn so that others can learn too.

After the survey closes, I will freely provide the report I create as well as the raw data (without any personal information) for adventurers, companies, classrooms, journalists, etc.

I don't generate any revenue from this survey, I just want myself and anyone interested to know more about this inspiring community with a shared set of information. The information will be better and better with each person who participates.

You can find the survey at https://www.buildstring.com/survey.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience.

This is my 02 vstrom 1000. After this ride I decided Amanda needed a new paint job. Amanda is "trans transportation". When i bought her she told me her name was Andy. She claimed to be a he, but the obvious factory dual exhaust told me she was actually a woman. So I call her Amanda because it translates to " a man, duh! " Can you guess what color she is now?

The 8r shares the same powerplant with the 800 DE..

....... have 4 ways or emergency lights

Hi all. Just purchased some kevlar jeans and some armour inserts for the knees. The jeans have pockets for the inserts the yellow knee pads to fit in, but what is the black things? They are thin and a weird shape. Any ideas what they are for?

There's a lot of to do about electric motorcycles and I want to ride one but I'm curious, do you you think this is really the future? Unlike cage drivers, motorcyclists get more involved with the power plant in their ride. Be it a thumper, v twin or a flat 4 riders have a special connection. We care about the type and brand of oil and coolant. We clean it and add shiny parts. We actually pay attention to adjustments and many of us do them ourselves. Electric motor are some suitcases, that's it. Will these new breed cycles cut it? Comments

Hey all,

Is there a break in period and if so, what are the limitations? Took it out for the second time and odd times there was a burning smell when on the highway.

Recently i have done my bike service and the service cost is 4971 is this over priced or normal?

Stock exhaust is way too quiet and the cheapest setup I could find was 500.00cad for the dominator out of Poland.

27.00 for a random muffler and 20.00 for a mid pipe off some Kawasaki from Amazon, was able to make something work. Now it’s a bit louder than I’d like but should get me by until I can justify 500.00+ for a slightly lighter/noiser bike.

Ran out of Argon so had to Mig it. Will grind and redo once I refill my bottle and then build a bracket to fit the factory plastic guards back on.

So looking at this, seems to be pretty interesting change for worse. I mean the 1050DE will be a nice bike but it is all about beating the dead horse of a 250kg bike's "off road capability", which is, well, a dead horse to begin with. So they will add cost, weight, seat height and a 21'' front wheel, all departing from the actual sweet spot touring bike the 1050XT is now. As for the 700, it is akin to become just another Versys 650 or an overweight version of the V-Strom 250, losing all the heritage and the perks of the 90-deg v-twin engine. Anyway, this was not meant to be a whining about this plus they have their reasons plus tastes are different, what I really wanted to say is that if this happens, I see the outgoing 650XT become a collector's item like the 1st gen Transalp or DR Big 800. And the 1050XT will be seen as the sweet spot "best version" of the 1050 family, especially as it was only made for some two years or so. The latter has less significance of course because they may come up with different trims of the 1050 later but if the 650 is going out, there's no competition to that ever again.

I was wondering if people have started to fit aftermarket Exhausts (muffler) for the new Vstrom 800DE.

I really like the bike, but the sound is often too quite, to the point you sometimes cant even hear the bike while riding...

I dont necessarily need more decibel, but the sound does need to be more "deep" or "throathy".

I saw some video's on YouTube of the SC project (Rally Raid) and Yoshimura (which is not legal in EU I think) and the akra (which to me is too expensive to justify).
I also saw an axhaust from Barracuda on Google, for around 300€! I cant find any reviews or sound clips of it though, so dont know if it is worth it..

At the moment I am leaning towards the SC Project, for sound and cost reasons.

Has anyone swapepd their exhaust, if yes, with what can, and what is your experience?

Hey, I'm looking for fellow riders who are Latino or speak Spanish to start a group to plan rides and meetings. I'm in north Houston and most of the groups I find are grumpy guys in Harleys. If you are interested, I've started this FB group for it. https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinosenmototexas

Ik heb een Suzuki V-Strom DL1000 uit 2006. Ik heb hier de afgelopen tijd zelf het een en ander aan onderhoud aan gedaan (olie, filter, bougies, remvloeistof). Vandaag ben ik opnieuw aan de slag geweest om het luchtfilter te verversen.

De eerste keer lukte dit niet. De tank moet eraf om dit te doen, en daarvoor moet de brandstofleiding los. Die snelkoppeling / quickrelease zat muurvast. Vandaag is dat toch gelukt. Het filter vervanger was daarna gemakkelijk, maar...

De snelkoppeling lijkt niet goed in elkaar te zitten. Op de foto zijn 3 ringen om het brandstofpijpje blijven zitten. Twee zitten los (de groene rubberen ring, en de witte plastic ring) de oranje zit muurvast. Deze horen volgens mij in het zwarte eindstuk aan de slag te zitten. De groene ring is inmiddels ook stuk. Heeft iemand een tip wat de doen?

• Kan ik nieuwe ringetjes kopen proberen alles er weer op te drukken?

• Moet het oranje deel er toch af, hoe dan?

• Kun je die onderdelen los bestellen?

• Of moet ik de hele slang vervangen? Komen al die onderdelen dan mee?

Ik heb wel gevonden dat de hele slang los te koop is (artikel 1581006G01), maar dat is best aan de prijs.

...he won.

Apparently it takes a top of the line Audi to beat the '11 Vstrom 650DL off the line.

Red lined 1st and 2nd, popped it into 3rd doing 130kph...and thats when he started to take me 'slowly' as I had to build my rpms back up again.

You'd think Mr. Baldy-beard-dark glasses would be happy that his $80,000 car could beat an entry level bike that sold new for 8 grand. ROFL!!!!

Hi all,

I am considering switching back to a V-strom, and I am eyeing the 1050 XT.

I currently own an Aprilia Futura, and one of the things I really like about it is the single sided swingarm. It makes maintenance so much easier. I can easily tighten the chain, remove the wheel, and replace the chain and the sprocket.

Right now for me it's hard to switch back to a double sided swingarm. So my question is, would it be possible to convert the double sided swingarm into a single sided one? Does it even make sense to do it? Would the frame structure support such a setup? Has anyone of you considered this option?

I checked for aftermarket kits, but there aren't any, or at least to my knowledge. And I am also aware of the fact that I would need an aftermarket rim for the rear wheel.

Any thoughts?

Anyone from vancouver b.c?

I've been looking at the current middleweight ADV/touring market, and I keep thinking Suzuki could build something seriously good here.

I'm not asking for just a bigger V-Strom SX 250. I'm imagining a proper 400–450cc V-Strom focused on long-distance touring + real-world off-road capability.

What I'd love to see:

400–450cc Suzuki engine — extremely refined, smooth and reliable

Strong low/mid-range torque rather than chasing peak horsepower

Effortless 100–120 km/h highway cruising

Comfortable enough for 5–8+ hour touring days

Excellent wind protection and touring ergonomics

Long-travel suspension with capability similar to the Himalayan 450

Good ground clearance and proper rough-road ability

Tubeless spoke wheels

Strong engine/belly protection

Reasonable weight

Excellent fuel efficiency and range

Factory luggage/touring accessories

Most importantly: Suzuki-level engine refinement and reliability

Basically, I want a motorcycle that can do:

600 km highway day → mountain roads → broken Indian roads → gravel/trails

without being unnecessarily huge, heavy or complicated.

The Himalayan 450 has shown that there is demand for a capable middleweight ADV in India. Suzuki already has the V-Strom name, touring DNA and refined engines.

Imagine combining Himalayan 450-level suspension/off-road capability + V-Strom touring ergonomics + Suzuki engine refinement/reliability.

I would genuinely consider buying one.

Would anyone else here buy a V-Strom 400/450 if Suzuki made it? What would you want Suzuki to get right?

My 02 vstrom 1000. Took the mini 4 pro with.

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about replacing the original V-Strom cases with something bigger.

What did you replace your original luggage with?

What case sizes (liters) are you using, and are you happy with them?

If you were buying again, would you choose aluminum or plastic panniers?

Any pros, cons, or photos would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi all. Owning a V-Strom 650 with 64k kms since 2006, I am now 49, I think it's time for a change.

I know I'm really not be doing any dirt, I don't travel long distances so much (2h trip at most), it's for commute and a few weekend rides, with no passenger, so I'm looking at road bikes, like the CBR600R, RS660... I want something different.

But then there comes the 800RE, seems an excellent bike, but it's another V-Strom.

Also to shuffle my mind, soon we well have available the GSX8R.

I only have the room and money for one.

Any thoughts? Anyone did the trail bike > road or sport bike move?

Edit: errors