[keetmanaa]

Rider magazine arrived today and there, on the front cover, is the 2012 V-Strom. Inside a full test of the new model. Quite favorable.

 

[Prime]

Rider magazine arrived today,

Same thing happened here at my house. Always a good day when the mailbox has that months motorcycle magazines. :thumbup:

 

[trkcpa]

Well, any more info?

 

[BrianTRice]

The article appears to be online:
2012 Suzuki V-Strom 650 ABS First Ride | Rider Magazine

It's hard to believe the mileage claims. I never get mileage that low on my existing V-Strom except at high altitude with crappy fuel and high speeds. So sure I could believe that a 90mph range is lower, but I don't care if the 60mph range is the same and if around town or dirt track mileage is higher.

 

[sakebato]

The article appears to be online:
2012 Suzuki V-Strom 650 ABS First Ride | Rider Magazine

It's hard to believe the mileage claims. I never get mileage that low on my existing V-Strom except at high altitude with crappy fuel and high speeds. So sure I could believe that a 90mph range is lower, but I don't care if the 60mph range is the same and if around town or dirt track mileage is higher.

Ya thats kind of disappointing. Sounds more like Vee milage without the Vee power.

 

[PeteW]

The article appears to be online:
2012 Suzuki V-Strom 650 ABS First Ride | Rider Magazine

It's hard to believe the mileage claims. I never get mileage that low on my existing V-Strom except at high altitude with crappy fuel and high speeds. So sure I could believe that a 90mph range is lower, but I don't care if the 60mph range is the same and if around town or dirt track mileage is higher.

I reliably got ~20km/l on my K6, maybe 22 on a long haul at legal speeds. Absolute best ~23 on cold night rides when speeds were well down.

My 2012 - still running in, is getting at least 23km/l - that's from the display on the dash. Calculating based on refill/distance instead it's getting more like 24.5km/l.
My K6 during breakin got around 18km/l.

Basically, I'm getting > 15% better milage over a K6 and it may well improve after the first service.

Surprisingly, it's doing proportionately better in comuting conditions where I'd expect the time spent idling to eat a lot of the difference. High error margin, but my only 'mostly commute' run so far I put 6.11 l in for 168km. (Remember +/- 0.5 l error here in how much fuel I jammed in).

Power - it's improved, hard to tell by how much since it's waiting for it's first service, but I'd be prepared to believe something like the +10HP the Gladius engine should deliver - it's a lot better handling and faster accelerating for sure, even short shifting to keep the rpm's down during breakin it's noticeably faster than the K6.

It's not DL 1000 power, but at near legal speeds I suspect the on road performance difference would be pretty minimal now.

I'd guess the magazine figures are poor because they are really caning the bikes , the superb handling certainly invites that.

Cheers
Pete

 

[pneumatic]

I am getting way better mileage on the 2012. I suspect they were flogging the guts out of the new bike. More power = more fuel used under full throttle.

Normal riding the new bike is more fuel efficient and has a better range despite the smaller tank.

I averaged 4.5L/100km on the old vstrom.

I am averaging 3.9L/100km on the new vstrom.

 

[Byronw]

I always read the magazine mpg figures and expect I'll do better, I know full well I don't ride like these road racers. These guys are on the test bikes for a matter of hours, and surely don't replicate my style of commuting on city streets, a weekend 350 mile day to the coast for fish and chips, and a summer trip through Idaho while I enjoy the scenery. Even my 07 Vee got up to 48 mpg on some of those trips if I stayed in 6th gear for most of the day. All the riding I've done through western states with gas stations scattered far and wide, even the 200 + mile range of my DL1000 kept me from worrying, the new bike will have better range than most of my riding friends, and last longer than my but will, on any seat, so to argue 266 miles, or 245 miles is a waste of my time. Can't wait till it gets delivered, and we can start seeing even more examples of owner experience on mpg and range.

 

[RichDesmond]

They're saying 47-49, which is pretty much what I average on my '07.

 

[campsitepoacher]

One question I have is: Have they fixed the speedometer? Is it still about 10 percent under the true speed?

 

[greywolf]

One question I have is: Have they fixed the speedometer? Is it still about 10 percent under the true speed?

K1W1 said it is still inaccurate.

 

[PeteW]

K1W1 said it is still inaccurate.

Still 7% out yeah. But it's digital now - it's exactly 7% out

Pete

 

[pneumatic]

My old one was 9% out, the new strom is 7% out. They do it on purpose.

 

[BrownMichael]

I see the alternator output has not been improved.

 

[antinym]

I'm looking for to getting on one myself. I can't trust random journalists on how a bike feels, but I do use their articles as a reference.