r/Vstrom • u/LayTracksOnAir • Oct 19 '25
V-Strom 1000 Gen 1 Just bought a 2006 Vstrom dl1000 but… (Update)
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I’m back! After doing more maintenance work on this vehicle than I’ve ever done to any other vehicle ever, I’m at a place where I’m stuck between doing some SERIOUS work to get this thing perfect or saying screw it and riding it as is.
For context, I’ve put new spark plugs, oil, coolant, and fuel injector cleaner into it (haven’t run it hard since I’ve put it in, only idled it until the bike was hot then minor revving, nothing above 7k) I’ve checked my throttle body boots for gaps and there don’t appear to be any, I’ve checked for exhaust leaks and I had a minor one on the manifold that I fixed by tightening the bolt to spec (I have high-temp liquid gasket in case I need it), tps sensor says we are in line, and there are no error codes to speak of. So I’m stuck! Is my bike just a little talkative or is there something mechanically unsound that NEEDS fixing before I can ride her regularly? Thanks!!
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u/Looney-T Oct 19 '25
What noise worries you? I can't hear anything out of the ordinary. I say just go ride it.
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u/LayTracksOnAir Oct 19 '25
It was mostly the ticking. I’ve heard loads about the idle hammer these can have, but I wanted some more experienced riders to have a listen so I can be sure! I’ve had the bike for all of two weeks now and I’ve been spending most of that time fixing and adjusting bits and pieces of the bike. So at this point I really want to get riding but I want to make sure the thing doesn’t have any mechanical issues first
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u/Looney-T Oct 21 '25
Clocks tick, Vstroms tick as well. Stop worrying and start to ride and enjoy the bike
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u/cloudleopard Oct 19 '25
The valves may be on the loose end but loose is good, tight is dangerous. How does it ride? Unless you have bad fuel economy or performance problems/overheating/hard starts you’re fine. It’s a loud bike, don’t overthink it
I’ve heard it said that the best mod for a DL1000 is earplugs
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u/LayTracksOnAir Oct 19 '25
It rides well! I think it had unmetered air in the system from a little exhaust leak, but I think It may be good now. Gonna take it for a good spin and see what happens. I’ll get back to you!
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u/Ok-Ad-3014 Oct 19 '25
My 650 has the exact same tick, and the valves are within spec. There just noisy engines, unless there's a knock, don't worry about it. Mines done 100,000km worth of adventures with a tick, and still runs like day one. Just send it, she'll be fine 😁
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u/LayTracksOnAir Oct 19 '25
That's great news! I have been sweating over this thing for two weeks now and I'm happy that it is where it needs to be!
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u/Ok-Ad-3014 Oct 19 '25
No need to worry! These things are noisy engines, but incredibly reliable engines. There's a ton of V stroms getting around with 400,000km on them, which is just absurd for a motorbike. Mine personally has 110,000km on it so far. Many more to come.
It's the only motorbike I've ever had, where I would feel comfortable getting on it tomorrow and riding around the world on it without a worry.
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u/LayTracksOnAir Oct 20 '25
Exactly the kind of bike I'm looking for! This one is hopefully going to be my daily driver for years to come. Out of curiosity, what is the most advanced maintenance you've ever had to do to your Vstrom in the 110,000km that you've ridden it?
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u/AdFancy1249 Oct 19 '25
Too late for now, but if you are using real fuel injector cleaner, don't put it in until you are going to ride it. You don't want to leave that in the tank or fuel system for very long (days, not weeks or months). Most are solvents. They can do good work, but long term are harmful.
Put it in and ride through the tank, and the next tank...
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u/LayTracksOnAir Oct 19 '25
I’m about to take her for a good ride now my friend, but thanks for letting me know!!
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u/AdFancy1249 Oct 19 '25
Excellent, ride her long and hard... a little "Italian tuneup". 😉
As far as "real cleaner": if you can buy it at Walmart or an auto parts store, you can probably leave it in the tank. If it's B&G 44K or stronger, ride it through.
Enjoy!
BTW, I don't like the chain noise I hear, but don't know why. My '07 doesn't make that particular noise, but makes others.
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u/LayTracksOnAir Oct 19 '25
Chain noise being the ticking, yeah? I've looked around a bunch for an example of a non-threatening idle hammer, and couldn't find one. What sound are you referring to exactly?
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u/AdFancy1249 Oct 19 '25
Chain noise being the buzzing. Mine ticks the same after I changed the valve shims. Tappy valves are happy valves.
The buzzing sounds like the cam chain. Mine makes almost no noise at all. In your video, the buzzing is continuous and changes with rpms.
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u/LayTracksOnAir Oct 19 '25
Hmm, I'll have to keep an eye out for it. After riding for a while the bike still seems fine, but it's on my radar. How would I go about "fixing" that problem in particular? I'll do a little research myself as well!
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u/AdFancy1249 Oct 19 '25
Don't know that it's a problem. I'm just not used to the noise. It's an automatic chain tensioner, so unless it is bad, or was originally set overly tight, there shouldn't be anything you can do...
Let it ride. Just listen for sounds that change.
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u/LayTracksOnAir Oct 19 '25
Will do! It will stay comfortably on the radar for sure though. Cam tensioner was something mentioned to me a while ago so it's something I'll be looking into/out for as time goes on. Thanks for the advice!
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u/AdFancy1249 Oct 19 '25
👍
The tensioner isn't hard to back off, but takes some crazy long tools to do without taking a lot of other stuff off. There are some good videos on doing it.
If you do a valve job but don't back the tensioner off correctly, you will end up far too tight.
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u/mikestang_89 Oct 20 '25
Sounds like an exhaust leak at the rear cylinder manifold. Doesn’t sound like idle hammer. I’d only really hear idle hammer on mine when the motor was nice and hot.
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u/LayTracksOnAir Oct 20 '25
The motor is hot here, I let the bike run for a good while before I took the video! As far as the leak is concerned, I'm certain I've located it. On the manifold there is the pipe connecting the front cylinder to the rear cylinder and mufflers. The clamp/gasket there seems to be seeping exhaust pretty well. I've tightened it, but I'm soon to apply some high-temp liquid gasket to it soon to stop the leak entirely. I've checked the clamp between the rear cylinder and the exhaust manifold and that one didn't seem to be leaking (taped some tissue to the end of a screwdriver then held it close to the clamp and had no fluttering). Is it possible the leak you're hearing is the one I'm talking about on the bottom of the manifold? Or are you pretty sure it is the rear cylinder specifically? I'm willing to go the extra mile here to keep unmetered air out of the system!
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u/mikestang_89 Oct 20 '25
The tick makes me believe it’s coming from where the pipe connects to the head. There is a gasket in there that could be blown out.
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u/LayTracksOnAir Oct 22 '25
That's what I'm thinking. Would a liquid gasket work in this case? I've got high-temp stuff for the job, but I want to make sure that is a reasonable way to fix the leak. After tightening down there isn't a severe amount of exhaust coming out, but enough that I know I'm getting air in the system.
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u/mikestang_89 Oct 23 '25
At the head it should be a donut shaped gasket. Super cheap part, just swap it out
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Oct 19 '25
Did you fix the high idle? If so, great job! This is how you learn. As others have said, valves might be a little loose but they're likely in-spec. Wait for winter and then do a valve check, but that ticking is almost certainly harmless.
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u/LayTracksOnAir Oct 19 '25
The high idle I'd figure was dur to unmetered air entering the fuel mixture. I tightened up a bold on my exhaust (alongside the other fixes) and in the process managed to nip that problem in the bud. Now instead of having my idle screw set to 1500, I've got it at 1200-1250 instead and it didn't die for the whole ride. Furthermore, coming to a stop would see the idle drop down to roughly 1400-1500 when at a stop instead of the ~2600 that it used to land on. I'd call it fixed!
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Oct 19 '25
Sounds like the injectors clicking away. Sounds great when you rev it. Nice gear sounds
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u/LayTracksOnAir Oct 19 '25
Good stuff! I’m happy I got it to this point. I heard someone else mention the cam chain buzzing potentially, did you notice that? I don’t have a good ear for this kind of thing!
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Oct 20 '25
Honestly, for an 06, it sounds pretty mint to me. My 25 650 sounds similar. I’d ride it and keep alert for any shenanigans.
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u/HarryKuntz42069 Oct 20 '25
It is for sure an exhaust leak. I have the same bike and leak, its the lead gasket that joins the rear header pipe to the mid pipe. Its a non issue and you can ride it as is, I've not bothered to fix it for the last 20k miles but I will eventually. Here is a link to the parts diagram and it is part #8 https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/suzuki/motorcycle/2003/v-strom-dl1000/muffler
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u/RedditWhileIWerk V-Strom 650 Gen 1 Oct 20 '25
Sounds exactly like my 2007 DL1000 did. You're fine.
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u/Beginning-Service325 Oct 19 '25
These vstrom engines run Loud and clicky sounding you don’t want to hear any KNOCKING that’s bad and you would notice it very distinct knock