The Sabre is ... a little on the tall side .... and doesn't exactly have a low center of gravity (particularly with a full tank) so getting down to a very slow crawl and stopping without putting a foot down has taken a while to perfect.

How is the Wee in this regard...

Not much different. Can you take a test ride on one?

 

Thanks, Wish I could, dealers around here are kinda stingy about that. I've tried asking 'em though.

 

It's not the bike, it's the operator.

If you drag your back brake, keep the revs up, feather the clutch and keep your head up, you'll be surpeised at how slow you can go.

If you still have the Honda, try it out in a vacant parking lot.

 

It's not the bike, it's the operator.

If you drag your back brake, keep the revs up, feather the clutch and keep your head up, you'll be surpeised at how slow you can go.

This is all true.

 

This method allows me to stop for several seconds without putting a foot down while on the wee. Slight spurts of throttle/clutch and brake will allow a rider to move ever so slightly (an inch or so) at a time and remain tucked up in the riding position. Add this to your personal practice sessions in an empty parking lot. Try it on a bicycle. It is the same theory and much easier. I can do it all day long on a bicycle. Trials guys take this to a whole new level.

 

Last summer a DL1000 won a slow speed competition around here at a Harley meet. Evidently he trounced the Harley guys severely.

Of course, it comes down to the rider more than anything, but I have never understood how a low center of gravity helps you in any way at very slow speeds. I can see it mighting you when picking up a fallen bike, or make it easier to balance when stopped or almost falling. But wouldn't a taller center of gravity make it slower to fall over and therefore make the bike easier to keep up?

..Tom

 

Thanks very much for the info, Gents.

True, and I'm also well versed in the rear brake / clutch slipping method, and actually since I live not very far from the local DMV office, I make a point to go down there at least once a month and do a little "gymkhana" style workout on their motorcycle test course (they're kind enough to leave their cones out on Sundays, and we get an interesting mix of folks out there who are either new riders practicing for their upcoming test, or just keeping their skills up like me). Lotta fun working a cruiser through the little cone slalom, etc (and rear braking is essential for that).

And since we can't lane split here in VA but we have HOV (carpool) lanes we can ride in, it's not uncommon to get 2-3 or more bikes grouped up on the commute. When traffic eventually bunches up and we're creeping or start/stopping, I make a little personal contest out of it to see who can put their feet down last. Help passes the time.

The seating position of the Wee is higher and since I'm a very significant portion of the higher CG (6'1 235 lbs) this is why I was interested in comparisons or feedback of the Wee in this respect.

V-Tom...good question and my own "feel" to the relevance of CG height is that should you be just a tad "off" in your balance or approach to a perfectly vertical or straight stop, the higher CG would naturally amplify a tendency to lean one way or the other. Just what my own gut tends to make it feel like.

Thanks very much, again, and please let me say I am extremely impressed with the great attitude and expertise among you folks, from all the reading I've been doing here. Breath of fresh air.

 

Just remember how top heavy and tall the Stroms are, that poses allot of issues for folks. This bike is really hard to keep from falling, when it decides it wants to. I am not an advocate for lowering the Stroms, I feel they are made to be tall and long for a reason. If you have any dirtbike experience, you will probably love how the Stroms feel and handle. I think it is a great choice for city riding, the suspension travel and torquey engines are huge fun factors.

 

I'm fairly new to riding, only 3000kms on a very low and easy to handle startersbike. I'm 205cm or 6.7 feet. I've got about 700kms on the 650 now, and it is a tall bike, but I don't feel it. It is a heavy bike, but I don't feel it.

I am planning to do all the driving test-techniques very soon when the weather gets better, like practising U-Turns and so on.

2 days ago I went thru a very nice curvy bit. I wanted to ride it again. So I slowed down, and did a U-Turn. And if it was hard, I didn't feel it.

The bike is very maneuverable! Get one, you won't regret it

 

If you are tall, near perfect. It may be a bit rough until broken in, but upping the idle a little should get you through that.

The bike has a lot of torque, in really bad stop/go traffic I've been known to just leave it in second and forget about gear changes for 10 minutes or so at a time.

Not a trials bike though , the only low speed vice it has is a relatively wide turning circle - that's only been a problem for me on dirt roads -followed real dirt bikes into dead ends, and it's taken a bit of back and forwards to get out again.

Pete

 

70% of the time I can do a stop sign stop with out a foot down, I'm working on getting better.
Slow speed is good, short turn arounds, I'm getting better.

 

california stops

the v strom is great at california stops , too the point of it being a hard bad habit too break , i hardly ever put a foot down at sop signs

 

Thanks all!

I jumped in and picked up my Wabs this weekend, and although I've been slammed with work and chores since picking it up and haven't had much time to ride it, the 27-mile ride home and a couple jaunts around town have been enough that I see exactly what you mean. Which is great since - stupidly perhaps - I pulled the trigger without a test ride first. On the other hand, I've been lurking here for about 2 months plus reading every review I could find, and almost felt like I knew the bike intimately when I picked it up. A friend told me that in the first 30 seconds I'd realize what a perfect-feeling bike it is, but he was wrong....it took only 20!

To answer a point in a previous post, yep I started off on dirtbikes and the Wee feels absolutely natural and comfy to me. Absolutely what I was looking to have in every way so far. Low speed and almost-stopped handling is excellent, haven't had time to take it down to the local DMV obstacle course and run it through some paces but I'm looking forward to it, that'll be this coming Sunday.

The height has only been noticeable when moving it around in the garage but it's still 100lbs lighter than my cruiser so it all evens out. Couldn't be happier!

 

congrats on getting what's probably the best all around bike built since the 80s. we love ours, and you'll love yours too. what colour did you get?

Thanks SittingDuck, I got a gray & black ABS model, pic below, and it's a real sweetheart just like y'all say. Thanks for all the advice, only 60 miles in thanks to weather, work and distractions, but I'm hooked!

You know....funny what you say about best bike built since the 80's.....I got back into riding about 4 years ago after leaving bikes in that exact decade, and what I really wanted was something close to my beloved old '73 Honda CL450K (scrambler model, street and light off-road use, very much like the V-Strom's mission profile). I was absolutely confounded at what had happened to bikes in the time that's elapsed, a much greater divide it seems between the various niches, and so hard to find a good general-purpose jack-of-all-trades competent motorcycle. THIS bike is exactly what I was looking for all along.

(not my pic, but same bike, year, and color as mine.....kinda similar in purpose, nowhere near similar in capabilities and technology though!)

 

I love those silver wheels, great looking bike, but don't you wish that suzuki would put about 15 more warning labels on the thing. Let the farkling begin!!!

 

handle


the wee does like slower speeds but vee. once i rode it for few weeks they both do well in slow traffic . though the wee is a little better.its all in the rider . when i first got mine read a guys review. said he had droped it like 8 times in his first year . then put crash bars on it. droped mine on myself once as the kick stand was not all the way out. it fell on my leg some how not a scratch

 

OK well the question has been answered - with a vengeance - as I achieved complete feet-up "oneness" with my Wee just a couple days ago!

I don't know why it happened but I pulled up behind a car at a light and just stopped, at hung there, straight up, feet on the pegs, bone still, for several seconds. NEVER had that happen before, I always have to stick a foot out.

It was like I was levitating or something, I finally got completely weirded out by it after a few seconds and put my left foot out and on the ground. But, definitely, assimilation has been achieved and the "Wee Chi" is flowing!

Hooyah!

 

For many years, my practice was to not put a foot down for a brief stop. However, a friend once commented that a LEO may see you stopping without touching down and decide you ran the Stop sign! Granted, it might take a pretty nasty trooper (or one who is behind on his quotas, or just having a bad day) to nail you for that, but, you just never know. Since then, I have been trying to change my well-ingrained habit - not easy! But, neither is paying a ticket or more insurance.

BTW, it you really start to feel excess of "Wee Chi" whilst doing this little trick, perhaps you should check your tire pressure - ridin' on the rims just ain't good style!