Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

i've recently heard some good stuff about the 650 V-Strom's off road capabilities (once fitted with knobblies), and was just wandering whether anyone here's ridden one in this way?

i'm not talking motocross tracks, more things like tar roads with serious potholes, gravel roads, a bit of dirt riding, etc.

Re: Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

Nope. IIRC Bike took one off roading a while back (with knobblies fitted), I think it was Martin Fitz-Gibbons. He said it performed well. You can take most bikes off road, so long as the ground is hard (IE mud is dry rather than wet) and you don't try to go too fast.

Re: Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

Look in Beasts on www.advrider.com should sort you out. Remember though fire roads etc are v diff to 'off road' as we know it which is often just mud. The yanks have some great unsurfaced-road off-road what the big traillies were made for.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=5

Re: Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

Sorry just re-read, yes seems an excellent machine for this.

Re: Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

cheers for the link - I haven't come across that site before. The guys on the site are certainly DL crazy, so it sounds like it might be the bike i'm looking for. Just struggling to get over the pig ugly looks though! :roll: what am i thinking chopping in my beautiful gixer for that... ](*,)

actually i can't believe how cheap they're going for over in the states at the moment - $6100 brand new from a dealer with some extras, that's c. £3K! More like £5K here...

Re: Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

I think I'd sooner ride a naked SV than a V-strom offroad tbh... Though I have to admit that a de-faired V-strom would interest me a lot.

Re: Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

I was thinking that too, I was also looking at this caponard parked outside my house and thinking the same.

Re: Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

why the SV over the V-Strom? (apart from the obvious looks issue!)

Re: Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

Ness - if you really feel the need to replace your Gixxer with this type of bike then you might want to consider 2 other options :-

Suzuki DL 1000 V-Strom - normally only about 600 quid more than the 650 - & (via a quick Google) George White have an offer at the moment £6299 with top box & panniers; hand guards & centre stand.

BMW F800GS - available from Sept/Oct I believe - same basic looks as the 1200 with the exception of the drive system - belt as opposed to shaft (I think) - no idea on pricing yet - but you can guarantee that whatever it's retail price it'll hold it's value far better than any Japanese or Italian bike.

Re: Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

I nearly bought a DL650, then realised as Vox says the thou wasnt much more, then realised at the time the Capo was the same price. The Capo is a fine looking machine. I did feel it was a little top heavy in comparison to the GS tho but at the time big traillies were new to me.

NW, the yanks latest DL craze seems to be nakedising DLs.

Re: Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

cheers for the suggestions, i didn't know they were bringing out a F800GS - would have been a possiblity, but i think it will be out of my price range.

you're probably right about bigger being better. however, as was demonstrated by my inability to touch the floor when sitting on Supervox's bike, I need something a bit shorter & lighter for my er, dainty self to heave up off the floor if it goes over!

essentially i'm planning an overland trip through to Nepal :D and the original options were lighter/more dirt orientated stuff like the XT660 or TT600. However fuel injection + a bit more power seems a better option given the amount of tar riding and the altitude, hence the V-Strom idea. And in fact taking the fairings off would be a good plan, cos i was just wandering whether i really want to be riding in 40 degree temps with a faired bike...

Re: Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

For offroad? It's lighter, fair bit in fact, and you can see what you're about to ride over, plus there's less stuff to break when you drop it. The ground clearance wouldn't be an issue on the sort of offroading most people will do on these anyway, so it's really only the big wheel and softer engine that'd benefit, and the riding position. Though those'd be very nice.

RandyO'd be a good man for this thread, he's taken his SV further offroad than most people would take a proper dirt bike, and now he owns a DL thou.

How did they arrive at thin-strom, Dr Rich? That's just awful...

Re: Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

I'd go on advrider and horizons unlimited HUBB (although I cant ever find my way around there) and ask there. No disrespect to anyone here but thats a kettle of fish a trip like that. I don't know what I would go for for a trip like that maybe KLR or a bigger DR or maybe an XT660 or possibly an F650GS. I'm not sure I would take an Aprillia, a later model GS, or a big twin KTM. Maybe the DL isnt such a bad choice. Or email Wildbill as he will have considered all these things.

Re: Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

I actually went to the Horizons annual meet recently, and picked up some really useful info. The DL's still a fairly new entity for overland travellers though, so not much info on them as yet, which is why the ADVrider site is looking useful

cheers for the ideas :thumbsup:

Re: Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

Ness, look here http://forums.sv650.org/showpost.php...08&postcount=5 just take the Gixer! :D

Re: Anyone ever taken a V-Strom off road?
 

hey that looks suspiciously like my ride to work today!!