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.

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.

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

Originally Posted by Fizzy Fish

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

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

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! 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...

[northwind]

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.

Originally Posted by northwind

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.

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

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

[Supervox]

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.

Originally Posted by Grinch

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

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.