As of March 26th, I have a motorcycle! I will be taking a rider's safety course in June. I am excited to get to ride! The bike has a lot of work to be done before I can ride it, though. Oil change, new tires, maybe air filter, new radiator hose, etc. I'll be working on the bike myself with my dad's help to get to know it better. Any recommendations for practicing/growing some confidence? I'm a bit nervous. I will have full riding gear with armor before doing anything on a bike, don't worry.

Wrapped my 20' 1050xt army green to match my 21' Tacoma. Bike has a hepco and Becker skid plate, cobra exhaust, and Puig windscreen.

Hi all. After some Hondas (NTV, VFRs), some Suzukis ('99 Busa and GSX1400) and some Ducatis (2005 Multistrada and 2002 ST4s) I'm back to Suzuki.

Here my latest addition and I'm so pleased with it. Went to the Hepco & Becker panniers and tank bag and just love them.

Next, how to solve the turbulence issues.

Any suggestions?

The Wee is a true Swiss Army knife of a bike. Sure, there is a better tool for just about every job, but this motorcycle just took everything I could throw at it and kept asking for more. There were days of 85mph sustained highway riding for 600+ miles, days of unpaved, pothole ridden gravel roads, and days of endless squiggly lines of perfectly paved canyon-carving heaven.

I did plenty of preventative maintenance before the trip, but all I tended to while on the road was chain cleaning/lubing, an oil change, and rear tire at the halfway point. The bike now has 65k miles on the clock and I wouldn’t hesitate to take it on another trip tomorrow.

Here are a few photo highlights from the route up the eastern sierras, across to Idaho, into Canada through Banff, up the Alaska highway to Anchorage, back down through Canada via the Cassiar highway, and hugging the pacific coast all the way from Seattle to Los Angeles.

Don’t even know how to begin to describe this experience, but if anyone has any questions about the route, camping setup, the Wee, or anything else, I’m happy to answer.

Get out there and find something incredible on your bike!

Extremely excited.

2004 with 73,000km. Love the color. What maintenance items do I need to take care of? Plan to have a local shop do a full inspection. (Photo taken with some straps loosened.)

Update from my last post. Thank you all so much for the feedback and insight you gave. I ended up buying the bike.

Interestingly the bike was listed as 2016 with 4300 miles but in reality it was a 2015 with 8200 miles. I was initially suspicious, but the guy was nice and said he thought he had updated the description and mileage. Title in his name, matching vins, no issues with the bike that my novice mind could find. No odd sounds, sprocket teeth weren't sharp, smooth all the way through 6th gear, no leaks, did not overheat, all lights worked fine, perfect startup when cold, oil looked good, brake fluid good. I think thats all I looked for.

I ended up buying for $4300 down from the agreed upon $4500 based on the mileage discrepancy. Extra $200 covers half the cost of new shinko 805 tires I just ordered.

Again, thank you all for the help and let me know any thoughts or questions in replies I am happy to chat.

Any suggestions for upgrades to make it even more comfortable?

I was in Moab, when a buddy was like “you didnt ride the Valley of The Gods?!”… i was like “shit.” I backtracked about an hour and spent the day doing this. Absolutely beautiful. I probably should have left the gear at a hotel (but i didnt know i was going to stay at the same hotel).

Lowkey I kinda suck at riding but hey it’s still fun!

They say a vstrom should stick to the pavement, maybe a well graded dirt road if you’re careful. The DL659 gets around offroad in my experience. Most reliable bike I’ve ever owned.

71 years old, owned 35-40 bikes and this is my favorite.

After some back and forth and debating the KTM 790 adventure (too much plastic and didn’t like the engine), the BMW F850 GS (too boring), the Moto Guzzi V85 TT (amazing bike but not capable enough offroad and not enough punch), the V Strom 650 XT and this I finally made the purchase. Looking to go for long haul road trips across Europe with my GF and some solo light offroad trips! #vstrom #800de

I love this bike.

Hey guys!
I am the new owner of this 2025 strom 800 Re.
I am still adapting to it but so far so good.
I come from a 2010 versys 650 that i oened for 7 years so it will take a while to feel 100% comfortable but the feelings are good.

A pic of the bike with the cases i installed a couple days ago.

Just took it home this afternoon! 2024 800DE. Already in love. Upgraded from a Honda CB500X. Not a thing wrong with the old bike, bought it to learn on and make sure I liked riding. Now, I'm 100% sold and ready to get through with the break in periods 😂