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What maintenance/mods/farkles did you do to your Strom today?

682K views 6K replies 1K participants last post by  Oliver1979 
#1 ·
- I cleaned and lubed the chain.

- Installed my new mirror extenders.
 
#3,589 ·
^^looks very nice!

A few months ago I picked up a low mileage 2010 DL650 and have been transferring all the goodies off my high mileage 2011 DL650 and returning that bike to stock.
Recently bought an Elka 3way shock for this new bike and finally had some time to install it. Haven't had time to ride it yet, but just walking the bike off my lift felt quite different.
Last item to buy and install is a new Datel voltmeter.
 
#3,590 ·
Replaced the front tyre. Have found the Metzler tourance next to wear well with good grip in dry and wet. Surprised me with its ability on unsealed surfaces. Not into rock climbing!

Took the opportunity to fit a sw motec center stand. Very easy operation.

Had to replace lo beam H7 bulb. Found hi beam not much chop at night after blowing lo beam while on a trip with mates. Must remember to add a spare ready for my next trip.

The DL650 has proven to be a great tourer. 40000 klms in 2 years with only the light globe and tyres.

Bruce
 
#3,591 ·
Since I can't resist tinkering, I just replaced my brake lamps (1157 bulbs) with these LED replacements:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RSHZVYJ/

Looking good so far. They do flash on brake application as advertised. They seem at least as bright as, if not brighter than, the 1157 bulbs they replaced. Certainly they draw less power.

That was mostly why I did it. Heated gear draws a lot of power, so freeing up ~40W helps.

I'd post pics, but you can't really tell the difference in the pictures. It's hard to get a good photo of bright lights, at least with my camera.
 
#3,592 ·
Couple days late but boy was I busy over the weekend... the good kinda busy! New rear brakes... new ContiRoad Attack 3s... new BarkBusters... new Oxford heated grips... G2 Throttle Tammer... and the most important, wait for it... Adventure Tech mirror extenders! Ha! Now all I need to finish my Christmas gifts are the Adventure Tech lights, the heated seat, and AT dash board self. Life is good! Rides like a Cadillac!
Safe travels in your journey gentleman. Have a great week.
 
#3,593 ·
Installed an FJ09 beak.
Got the idea off a Vstrom board on Facebook.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
#3,594 ·
I'm not a beak fan, but that actually looks decent, can you get some pics from further back with the full bike?
 
#3,596 ·
You know that stupid fuel leak that always eventually happens on that stupid little connector hose between the stupid throttle bodies.

I fixed this some number of years ago with fresh fuel injection hose and fuel injection hose clamps.


Anyway, the fuel leak came back during the first cold snap. Guess the rubber contracts a bit over time.

Anyway, off with the tupperware, tank, and airbox, dammit. After 80,000+ miles on this bike and working on several others, it goes quickly and I honestly think I could strip a Gen1 V-Strom blindfolded. It's just tedious, y'know?

Replaced the air filter since I was in there and I'm not planning to go back in for a long, long time.

Tightened the clamps, reassembled and all is well and un-unleaded scented.



All the turn signals are duct taped (one broke in an oopsy, two just fell apart from age as they do, and one is pre-emptively duct taped) and look like absolute crap. That's probably the next thing I'll deal with once I get bored enough this winter.

They work fine, and I can't see the fronts from the saddle, so it doesn't bug me all that much. However, wonky signals do detract from the overall parking lot feng shui of the thing, y'know?

Battle scars are sort of cool, but for some reason busted turn signals just look trashy.
 
#3,598 ·
...
All the turn signals are duct taped (one broke in an oopsy, two just fell apart from age as they do, and one is pre-emptively duct taped) and look like absolute crap. That's probably the next thing I'll deal with once I get bored enough this winter.

They work fine, and I can't see the fronts from the saddle, so it doesn't bug me all that much. However, wonky signals do detract from the overall parking lot feng shui of the thing, y'know?

Battle scars are sort of cool, but for some reason busted turn signals just look trashy.
Oh joy. I just did my fuel hose a few weeks ago; can't wait for it to start leaking. At least it'll be easily-fixable.

As for the turn signals - I'm a fan of the "Savage" brand Chinesium turn signal kits you can find on eBay etc.

Assuming your OEM stalks aren't trashed, you can swap enough parts from the Savage signals to fix all 4 signals. Total cost is less than a single OEM signal assembly, and you get "free" bulbs in the bargain.

So far, I haven't found any downsides to the Savages, apart from the fact that the stalks are useless (as they don't fit at all).
 
#3,602 ·
After touching (bashing) the center stand arm down a few times on a "spirited" Sunday ride. I was rewarded with said arm breaking off when I attempted to engage the center when I got home.
I got to put on my Fab hat and booger weld it all back together. A bit of Side grinder and rattle can action to hide the boogers tonight. PIA not having a center stand.
 
#3,605 ·
I installed two LED tail light bulbs to save a few watts. Here they are - https://www.amazon.ca/Extremely-Non...NFYV8C6S5BM&psc=1&refRID=N1J3F816HNFYV8C6S5BM . Wow! That's a humdinger of a link! Anyway, those bulbs are WAY brighter than the regular 1157 27/8W bulbs. The tail light function is way brighter, but the brake light function REALLY BLOODY BRIGHT!

I'm glad I did it in the garage, though. One bulb holder came out with no problem at all. The other one, though, put up a hell of a fight. I wouldn't have got it done on the side of the road. I needed pliers to turn it. Yeah, I know, there are pliers in the toolkit. Still, you know what I mean.

Then I had to take it for a test drive (any excuse for a ride!). The temp was -4C with a windchill of -12C. It was up to -2C by the time I got home 60 kms later. Now, though, the heated glove liners don't have any impact on the running voltage. The 10 watts saved do make a difference.

Cheers,
Glenn
 
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#3,606 ·
If you haven't' already I suggest you add LED turn signals.

Bright lights can act as camouflage and with super bright tail and brake lights it may be difficult for a car driver to see you signalling. If you add led turn signals you will need a relay that can handle them and the old trick of putting aluminum tape in the signal light housing works very well.

..Tom
 
#3,610 ·
#3,611 ·
This also came in the package with the tail light bulbs. No, I didn't actually do anything with her today except ride her. However, I HAVE been making a plan for where to put the fuse box and how do do all the wiring for it and the headlight relays.
 

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#3,614 ·
@slovcan

It doesn't look like any Strom signals I've seen but I haven't paid attention to the 2002 DL1000's.

..Tom
 
#3,615 ·
Thanks Tom. Colour me lucky, I guess, whether they're OEM (I'm sure they are) or tasteful aftermarket.

Cheers,
Glenn
 
#3,617 ·
Thanks. #12 is the weird 10 watt bulb - certainly not common. I may put a couple of 27 watt 1156 bulbs in the front, too. That will be an extra 34 watts during flashing (72 watts if/when I get the hazards working). Hopefully the original flasher can survive that.

Cheers,
Glenn
 
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#3,620 ·
Purchased and installed today this brand new Engine cowl cover From Suzuki dealer.

Same as what you find on the XT models. $189 shipped.
 

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#3,621 ·
I took her for a ride yesterday for a coffee with a friend - 250 kms all told. I was trying out a fuel map I tweaked. She's very smooth from about 2600-2800 gentle acceleration, super smooth with an easy freewheeling sort of feeling at highway RPM and big power all the way up from 3000. It got 42 mpg Imperial (38 US) and that was about 90% at 4500-5000 RPM. I think I can do a bit better and have another tweaked version ready to put in. I'm looking for a consistent 300 kms per tank (320 kms = 200 miles). I bet I could do that now if I stopped enjoying the power and kept the speed at 100-110 km/h, but where's the fun in that???

Cheers,
Glenn
 
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#3,623 ·
Not sure how a 2002 behaves, but my 2007 Vee will start flashing the "Low Fuel" indication with about 3 gal remaining, then "WE'RE ALMOST OUT OF GAS!" when there's still a good 1.5 gallons in the tank.

It's therefore impossible to tell whether I'm actually down to my last 0.5 gal, or it's just the weird shape of the tank + inherent inaccuracy of the fuel gage.

That's why I'm reluctant to push 'er past 160-180 miles between fillups. Usually I am doing better than 30 mpg, but it's a conservative number for planning fuel stops.
 
#3,628 ·
I did some riding running errands yesterday and noticed some slight rubbing noises from the front calipers/pads - maybe a bit more than I noticed before - when moving it around parking spaces. When I got home I took off one caliper at a time to see if one or the other was more guilty. Nope, about the same. I had taken one off and spread the pads in both when I changed the tires a week or so ago. Anyway, I did what I should have done then - I took out the slider pins and cleaned, polished and greased them with copper anti-seize grease (high temp). They were pretty (really) grungy. This should be done at least every season - more if you ride a lot and in less than ideal weather.

Now I think it's time to make the Trophy the full time ride for the winter (full fairing with integrated lowers and a tall, wide windshield). The V-Strom will go on the lift for maintenance and electrical work (auxiliary fuse box and headlight relays).

Cheers,
Glenn
 
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#3,630 ·
Just finished cleaning slave cylinder and slam forgot to take photos of the finished product. Smart phone laying rite there on that new Shad Seat I'm so happy about too! I looked for my glasses for about 20 minutes. Found them in my shirt pocket. Now I'm thinking about it, I may need to go back out there and take everything apart just in case I forgot something. :LOL:
Auto part Tire Automotive tire Wheel Automotive wheel system
 
#3,631 ·
I got started installing the auxiliary fusebox. The first step was to plan where it and the relays would go and think about wire routing. The PC III USB is sitting in the space just in front of the tool kit. The cubby in front of the seat latches has the Owners Manual & papers. The fusebox will fit there and still leave room for the manual & docs on top. There is just enough space in front of that cubby for the 3 extra relays (fusebox, low beam & high beam) between the cubby and the ECU. I stripped a cm of insulation off the brown tail light wire just behind the R/R and soldered a brown trigger wire for the fusebox relay, drilled a few holes in the walls of the cubby for the relay mounting screws and to put the wires through for the fusebox. I'll continue after Christmas.
 

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