Reviews

2004 Suzuki DL1000 V-strom

Everything they say about this thing being a great general purpose, user friendly bike are true. Strangely, it reminds me very much of my very much missed R90/6. Maybe it's the 19" front wheel. This bike isn't fast, and it's even slower after I dropped the gearing a little, but it's fast enough for commuting and medium distance touring. With the lower gearing (one tooth down both fore and aft) it gives a reliable and honest 50 mpg. After much experimentation, found a windshield and mount combination that gives pretty good protection. The Corbin saddle is really comfy, but is really heavy and high. I use a recovered saddle with a gel insert around town these days.

Dropped the front forks 1/2" in the tripple clamps, and installed lowering links to drop 1/2" in the rear. Changed the front fork springs to Progressives, and that helped a lot. Installed a Hyperpro shock in the rear, and I'm pretty happy with it.

Installed Givi saddle bags, but they are really wide and these days I use only the left one, since the exhaust pipe is on the right side. Installed SW-Motech crash bars and bash plate, plus their center stand, which all connect together. Bash plate mounts could be more robust, since one tab did snap off.

Noticed I could use more leverage after going down Route 1, so I installed Renthal aluminum handlebars with Rox risers.

This is the bike you would use for reliable transportation.

Last Update: 27 December, 2007
Web Author: Doug Ikemi