[PersonalTriumph]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of adding a WeeStrom to the stable and hVe been stalking the forums for the past few weeks.

I've been riding Triumphs ever since I first got my m class license in 2008, first the America and then the Rocket III. Here's my question : on the various Triumph forums, almost all the chatter is about performance mods such as changing the air intake (upgrading filters, removing airboxes, removing secondaries, etc.), changing jetting on carbeurated models, or the never ending search for the perfect aftermarket pipes, monkeying with the suspension, or for the really ambitious porting and polishing the heads (I'm not sure what this means but it gets that next few hp out of the engine) and the like.

There is very little of this kind of chatter here on Stromtroopers. None of the used bikes I've seen listed mention any performance mods. Lots of chatter about farkles but very little about performance oriented stuff. Why is this? Is it a cultural thing that Brit bike guys are more experimentive? Are the Stroms less flexible than Triumphs? Or are Stroms just perfect out of the box.

Just curious.

Joe

 

[greywolf]

I think people looking for high performance choose other bikes. V-Stroms do not push the envelope for power. They are jack of all trades bikes. They do most things pretty well, reliably and for not a lot of money. There aren't a lot of performance items made for them. With 600cc bikes pushing 100hp and liter bikes 150hp, mid 60s and 90s aren't attracting power junkies. Most Strom buyers choose 650s. It's unusual to even get a lot of questions about power mods. The usual answer to a question about more power is to get a different bike.

 

[ockerstrom]

In spite of what Pat mentioned, the 650 is by no means under powered.
They perform exceptionally well and are super reliable.
Cheap to buy/run/maintain.

They are very versatile in what they can do, commuting-touring, tar and dirt (even some level of off-road riding in capable hands).

The reason people are not continually tinkering looking for performance mods is because the bike doesn't need it for what people buy them for.

We are all to busy spending our time and money riding them and enjoying the trouble free pleasure of owning them.

People add "farkles" to suit what they do with the bike, not spend time and money trying to find an extra 2-3hp to try and keep up with the racing wannabe's (and we still out ride them in the twisty stuff :jawdrop:

 

[PersonalTriumph]

Thanks that's kinda what I thought. And the reason I'm feeling the v-lust. After 4 years of constantly feeling like I needed to tweak my bike at considerable investment of money and time (mainly cause the folks on the Triumph forums were doing it and it seemed like the thing to do), I want something I can put in the garage, ride when I want to, and fill up with gas every 200 or so miles.

I did a comparo today at a dealership of the Strom, the Versys, and the BMW 650 and the Strom was the winner hands down.

 

[kiwi_outdoors]

Versys

would you mind listing of few of the Versys negatives (as I had been thinking one one a few months ago)

 

[PersonalTriumph]

There were things I liked about the Versys - it seemed to have a little more grunt and it definitely had the best exhaust note. But I'm 6'2 and it just wasn't a comfortable bike for me to ride. I felt very cramped on it. But at the same time, there were moments when I came to a stop sign when I had to stand on tiptoes to reach the ground. The geometry of the bike just didn't work for me. I had the same exact complaint about the BMW - it just wasn't a comfortable ride for me. The Versys also seemed to run a little hot - it was the only bike that I noticed the heat from the engine (it was a pretty hot day.)

 

[PersonalTriumph]

One other thing. A few years ago I rode the Blue Ridge Parkway with some friends. One night we stayed at a motorcycles-only campground in VA just north of the NC border called "Willville". A truly great place.

One of the guys I was riding with asked the owner (named Will, of course) what he rides. When he replied "A Suzuki Vstrom 650" the confusion and disappointment on the face of the Harley guys was palpable. In the back of my mind, I was thinking, "That must be a great bike. This guy could ride anything he wants and he picked a VStrom 650." I think that was when my Vstrom interest first started.

 

[ukiboy]

The above posts say it all about the vstrom. I traded my honda cbf1000 for my 650 vstrom (and lost about 30hp) but i'm happy with my wee. My bike is my sole mode of transport, gets used year round, in all weather and in heavy inner city London traffic and for that purpose the wee is far cheaper to run and maintain than the big honda was. Even more fun too! The vstrom's are seriously underrated bikes which is obvious when you consider suzuki have only just got round to updating it after 7 years..

 

[PTRider]

Blair (svracingparts.com) made a recent posting about putting certain SV650 cams into a strom to give it more power. That is one of the few things that actually do some good, and that probably takes power away from the low end that would be missed for those who get off the pavement and those doing stop & go city driving. Just about all the other modifications have been tried by someone with little benefit, if any, and very little benefit for the money. Now, if you have the engine torn down farther than just the valve covers, Blair, the SV650 racer, knows what to change inside the engine, but that's beyond the efforts of most catalog-page-flipping modifiers. And again, not worth the money unless you need to buy new parts anyway. And, there is little reason to go inside these engines. There is one thread here about 200,000 miles on a strom engine without engine work.

 

[greywolf]

suzuki have only just got round to updating it after 7 years..

I think I'll never get used to that convention. In the UK, companies are treated as plural nouns and in the USA they are treated as singular. Watching "Top Gear" et al has gotten "fitted", "sorted" and even "bit of kit" into my vocabulary but "Suzuki have" just feels wrong.

 

[ukiboy]

Apologies. Suzuki has only just got around to updating the vstrom.. atriot:
Incidentally, i'm not too keen on 'Top Gear' - that Jeremy Clarkson is very anti motorcycle. And I don't like that!! :furious:

 

[greywolf]

Jeremy is just jealous. We can do 0-60 in under four seconds in a vehicle that costs less than the cheapest car. He doesn't have the coordination required. Richard Hammond is an avid rider.

 

[ukiboy]

Jeremy is just jealous. We can do 0-60 in under four seconds in a vehicle that costs less than the cheapest car. He doesn't have the coordination required. Richard Hammond is an avid rider.

Yes, and so is James May.. Unfortunately it seems Clarkson holds the reins at Top Gear hence the lack of motorcycle reviews :headbang: