stability
Hi guys, I'm new here, planning to buy a V-Strom soon, and found this site doing research. First, this is a GREAT site, apparently with a lot of great guys/gals.
As for stability, a MAJOR factor that contributes to a bike's behavior at speed is rider weight, and/or load weight. The weight of a rider is significant with regard to the curb. Comparing it to a car, a 200lb rider on a V-Strom would be analagous to a 4500lb "rider" in the average bloato-SUV--imagine what THAT would do for stability. When it comes to bikes and stability, heavier riders have the advantage. ALL bikes have some inherent "wobble" (the tendency for the front wheel to oscillate side to side at a given frequency) at some speed. "Bad" bikes have an inherent tendency to "weave" (the entire bike tends to oscillate side to side "around" the steering axis), and this is pretty much a non-recoverable situation once initiated. Within normal parameters, the mere pressure of human hands holding the bars acts to dampen wobble forces--often sensed as a momentary shudder during accel/decel. Trail has a LOT to do with how prone a bike is to "head shake", as well as front end loading, and again, rider weight.
I've been laboring along with an '03 H-D Sportster (we're all dumb sometimes) for a year and a half and interestingly have discovered that while the ride is damned near atrocious one-up, above 65mph (the bike feels unplanted, bumpy, and top-heavy--not to mention vibration that makes your eyeballs jitter), when I've ridden two-up with my wife, her added weight improves riding characteristics across the entire spectrum...suddenly it feels solid, "planted", vibration is heavily dampened, and I can run 70mph pretty easily (this ain't no V-Strom).
A lighter rider, one-up, is likely to have a magnified sensation of any handling anomolies, while a heavier person; two-up, or well-packed touring rig (barring cross-wind effect), is likely to find the bike well-planted and sure at speed.
Back to the V-Strom; sliding the fork tubes up about 15mm in the triple-trees can help because it shifts the bike's weight forward and down relative to the front axle, thus loading the front tire more, resulting in more contact patch area...not only does this help offset acceleration forces, but it also aids transitioning through sweepers.
Just my 2-cents worth...personally, I'm already SOLD on the "Big-V", and will soon have one in my driveway. Just remember; Suzuki has the bike thing pretty well dialed-in..."testers" tend to push bikes well beyond where the normal rider is likely too--and they "need" to find critisisms...riding any bike is a highly subjective experience--your mileage may vary. IMHO, the V-Strom probably represents the best merger of sport, touring, cruiser, and utility of any bike today, and the value for price is incomparable. BTW, my local dealer has two '03s--brand new, one for $7800, the other, fitted with panniers and trunk, $8500...now if only it's still there in another week or so....
on second thought no,i'll get smoked at the mini-motard and dirt track races in the formula 150 4-stroke class for sure.
