Joined
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724 Posts
Background:
17 years of riding.
Last bike: Suzuki Bandit 1200 'naked', bought brand new when I graduated college, was love/hate from day 1
Liked: The power, the price, the looks, the handling.. oh, that power! Chicks dug wheelies when I was in my 20's, at least I thought they did
Disliked: No wind protection, vibes in the bars, bitch to work on (big engine tight in frame), air-cooled cold-bloodedness, balancing quad carbs is not for me, not a lot of luggage options back when I bought it, ate tires (probably my fault), introduced me to lots of LEOs (also me), scared the bejezus out of my missus (pattern detected?)
Where do I ride: 100% street. Daily commute is 60-miles each way on the Interstate. Speeds averaging 70MPH over crappy New England pavement. Weekends spent tooling around on back roads trying to stay out of trouble. Lots of odd runs to hardware store, friends' house. Occasional day runs to coastal Maine, the NH lakes region.
I recently sold my Bandit after it sat in the storage for 2-3 years, then got fixed up 2 years ago.. aaaand.. sat in the garage some more! The Bandit sucked on the Interstate, and so was not a commuting option. The missus won't ride with me on that thing anymore, so it wasn't weekend transportation either.
Now suddenly I'm having toy car/bike withdrawal and need something fun to tinker with. My plan was to pick up a beat SV650. The SV suffers many of the same issues I had with the Bandit: poor ergos, minimal/no wind protection, etc. However it is pretty cheap used, and the newer ones are fuel-injected! Ooooh, fuel injection. An SV would be exclusively for weekend solo fun.
If money were no object, I'd probably have a stable full of toys and commute on an ST1300 or FJR. Sadly, money is an object.
Then recently I became acquainted with the V-Stroms.
I hear the SV/V-Strom twins are pretty smooth at speed and just this side of bullet proof. I hear twin carbs/fuel-bodies are easier to sync than quads. I hear SV/V-strom valves are not a DIY thing, but they only need a peek every ~15k miles.
My line of thinking is that the V-Strom can be equipped as a mini sport-tourer. Advantages over a real, heavy tourer is that it is better on fuel, better on gas, easier/cheaper to maintain, and cheaper to buy. Am I near the mark?
My plan is to buy a V-Strom, toss on a throttle lock, a taller aftermarket screen, a fork brace, and some hard-side bags and ride it ~120 mi/day to work 10-15 days a month, May through October. Then on the weekend I will take off for solo rides to de-compress by myself, bopping around New England back-roads trying not to be noticed.
Is a V-Strom an SV, plus a nicer fairing, more upright ergos, and better light touring manners?
Will it handle my M-F commute without leaving me knackered?
Will it give me some grins on the weekends?
My budget is $4k for a bike + $800-1000 for toys. (I believe this community calls them 'farkles'?!) Although I could stretch that for the perfect example.
Am I delusional? My missus says I am, can't believe I'm looking at another bike "after you just sold the one you never rode"!
Looking for enablers here!
17 years of riding.
Last bike: Suzuki Bandit 1200 'naked', bought brand new when I graduated college, was love/hate from day 1
Liked: The power, the price, the looks, the handling.. oh, that power! Chicks dug wheelies when I was in my 20's, at least I thought they did
Disliked: No wind protection, vibes in the bars, bitch to work on (big engine tight in frame), air-cooled cold-bloodedness, balancing quad carbs is not for me, not a lot of luggage options back when I bought it, ate tires (probably my fault), introduced me to lots of LEOs (also me), scared the bejezus out of my missus (pattern detected?)
Where do I ride: 100% street. Daily commute is 60-miles each way on the Interstate. Speeds averaging 70MPH over crappy New England pavement. Weekends spent tooling around on back roads trying to stay out of trouble. Lots of odd runs to hardware store, friends' house. Occasional day runs to coastal Maine, the NH lakes region.
I recently sold my Bandit after it sat in the storage for 2-3 years, then got fixed up 2 years ago.. aaaand.. sat in the garage some more! The Bandit sucked on the Interstate, and so was not a commuting option. The missus won't ride with me on that thing anymore, so it wasn't weekend transportation either.
Now suddenly I'm having toy car/bike withdrawal and need something fun to tinker with. My plan was to pick up a beat SV650. The SV suffers many of the same issues I had with the Bandit: poor ergos, minimal/no wind protection, etc. However it is pretty cheap used, and the newer ones are fuel-injected! Ooooh, fuel injection. An SV would be exclusively for weekend solo fun.
If money were no object, I'd probably have a stable full of toys and commute on an ST1300 or FJR. Sadly, money is an object.
Then recently I became acquainted with the V-Stroms.
I hear the SV/V-Strom twins are pretty smooth at speed and just this side of bullet proof. I hear twin carbs/fuel-bodies are easier to sync than quads. I hear SV/V-strom valves are not a DIY thing, but they only need a peek every ~15k miles.
My line of thinking is that the V-Strom can be equipped as a mini sport-tourer. Advantages over a real, heavy tourer is that it is better on fuel, better on gas, easier/cheaper to maintain, and cheaper to buy. Am I near the mark?
My plan is to buy a V-Strom, toss on a throttle lock, a taller aftermarket screen, a fork brace, and some hard-side bags and ride it ~120 mi/day to work 10-15 days a month, May through October. Then on the weekend I will take off for solo rides to de-compress by myself, bopping around New England back-roads trying not to be noticed.
Is a V-Strom an SV, plus a nicer fairing, more upright ergos, and better light touring manners?
Will it handle my M-F commute without leaving me knackered?
Will it give me some grins on the weekends?
My budget is $4k for a bike + $800-1000 for toys. (I believe this community calls them 'farkles'?!) Although I could stretch that for the perfect example.
Am I delusional? My missus says I am, can't believe I'm looking at another bike "after you just sold the one you never rode"!
Looking for enablers here!