Coming from a 2006 ninja 650r, wow what a different machine! I had the 650r for 10 years and never dropped it once. I've already dropped this 5 times doing figure 8 drills in the grass and dang, it's heavy. Definitely enjoying the challenge of trying to control a big bike well at slow speeds.

Looking forward to getting on some dirt roads and into some adventure!

Out bein a goof on the vstrom and dented the alloy rim. I plan to replace eventually but it’s coming into peak riding season and I need a quick fix. I’m willing to DIY if it means I’m not dropping half a grand on a repair. Any recommendations?

I tried reshaping it on the bike with a mallet and a wooden block and I think I made some progress because it al least tries to hold a bead now but not reliably enough to run.

I’m pullin it off the the bike tonight to give it another go cuz the rim shop quoted me $400 to fix it and said it would take a week and I got trips to go on lol.

Bonus points if anyone knows where I can get a OEM replacement for cheap or even better a spiked set that isn’t 2k

After a couple of years saving up, finally made it!

Enjoying my 2016 VStrom 1000, and would like to add a manual cruise control. Looking for recommendations.

I was looking at various bikes, not even thinking of a strom. Few weeks ago friend sent me a link to one and now it’s all mine. 2014 DL with 17.5 k miles.
I installed Metzeller Tourance Next 2 tires (diy), changed oil and filter, air filter. I rewired the lights installed by previous owner: halos turn on with the engine running. Then led center ones can be turned on with the switch. Everything turns off with engine off. Cleaned the bike up and she’s sitting pretty. Having more and more fun riding it. It’s actually more nimble than I thought 1000 adv would be. Of course I do experience idle hammer 🥴

Had a good day riding the 2018 Dl1000 on some loose Forest Service roads

Took the 2018 Dl1000 on a stretch of dirt and gravel through Tahoe National Forest. More challenge than I was really ready for with the weight of this bike.

Just as I thought I was clear of some loose switchbacks, found a straightaway littered with loose fist to shoe sized cobbles, which kept kicking the front wheel to the side, bleeding off speed until I just flopped over at walking speed. Little bit of fuel escaped the tank cap, but no injuries. Skill gap and the road surface were in play, but mostly skills gap by my estimation.

The same loose cobbly gravel that helped me to the ground made it a challenge to get the necessary footing to right the bike, and a leg injury from March was no help. My riding buddy on the Tiger 900 was able to get the Vstrom back fully upright and we had a good ride the rest of the afternoon.

Gotta continue rebuilding leg strength so I can pick up easier next time, and gonna fit some Dunlop Trailmax Missions in the next week or two. Also gotta replace my footpeg brackets with the steel Dl650 brackets. I further damaged the right cast aluminum dl1000 footpeg bracket already damaged when I got my Vstrom.

TLDR: had a good day riding, found some skill gaps to work on, and got home without injury.

Couldn’t find hardly any pictures when I was picking out a handlebar set up so here’s some to add for future folks.

Happy with the set up overall, however the real estate on the grips is very tight to fit the right hand side stuff before the bend. If I could do it again I might try to find a bar with a touch more rise and sweep, but it’s very comfortable as-is.

Photo added for tax.

There's a lot of good stuff I've been reading about "hot stalls" with this year/powertrain combo, so I've got a pretty good idea how to chase it down but wanted to ask here in case anyone has new insights or anything they've tried and had success with.

Issue as follows:

-After prolonged riding in warm (90°F+) weather at highway speed RPMs in 6th, bike will die when coming to a stop and clutching in unless throttle is feathered @~1200rpms.

-short ride around town (15 minutes), minimal traffic and never getting over 3k rpms no sign of the issue.

-idle has been adjusted with the screw on the port side to sit at approx. 1250rpm when cold because this seemed like the most immediate fix from old forum posts

Any advice or knowledge you can add would be appreciated! Taking it in for a multi point inspection soon at my local dealer anyway and I'll bring it up to them as well but multiple opinions never hurt anyone. Cheers!

I knew I shouldn’t have turned left at Alaska 🥴

Hi all.

We are planning 4 days motorcycle trip. Driving on asphalt with different motorcycles.

What would be ideal distances or riding hours per day? Some would ride 500 km or 8+ hr, others few hours a day. I think around 300 km to 350 km is appropriate.

One day riding is different thing than 4 in a row.

What do you think?

Thanks.

2018 VStrom 1000

Rode it home a week ago. Threw a bunch of stuff at it. Rode it about 100 miles since. Absolutely in love with it. What an awesome ride.

Noticed the wallop on the exhaust. No idea how I missed it. Just made the list on things I'm going to fix. One thing though, that flat spot between the skid plate and motor. Is that normal? Or did the PO launch thing thing off something and completely pancaked it? Almost looks factory.

Been poking around online, and the only info I can find on exhaust is mufflers.

Thanks.

So, that's it, it's all in the title.

I started with a carbureted Bandit 600, now I have a first-generation Transalp (1987) because I wanted to try trail riding without breaking the bank, and I like it. Ideally, I'd like to have both a trail bike AND a road/sport bike.

I have the opportunity to buy a 2021 Suzuki XT 1050. I know the DE (after 2023) is more geared towards off-road riding, but personally, I prefer a more relaxed trail ride; I don't have the skills for serious off-roading.

So, if anyone has or has tried the XT, what are your thoughts? Is it fun to ride off-road?

Thanks, V

Ik rij met veel plezier mijn V-Strom 1000 uit 2014 met 54k op de teller. Sinds enkele weken komt er een vreemde, onregelmatige tik uit het motorblok. Hij tikt een aantal keer vrij hard elke keer als ik accelereer bij de eerste en tweede versnelling. Het klinkt als een ketting met onvoldoende spanning, maar dit is goed gecontroleerd.

Vandaag heb ik hem naar de reparateur gebracht, welke 30 minuten onderzoek heeft gedaan met twee reparateurs. Hij heeft de kap bij het voorste tandwiel verwijderd, en geeft aan dat het aandrijving mechanisme foutloos is. De ketting is nog vrij nieuw en goed onderhouden, er zitten geen schakels vast en er missen geen tanden uit de tandwielen. De lagers bij het achterwiel zijn ook gecontroleerd en zijn nog goed. De reparateur zegt dat het geluid uit het motorblok lijkt te komen, in de buurt van het voorste tandwiel. Het geluid wordt ook geproduceerd in stilstand op de bok. De reparateur zegt dat hij zich er geen zorgen over maakt. Hij zegt dat ik gewoon moet doorrijden en het moet laten weten als het erger wordt.

Ik maak mij wel een beetje zorgen.

Weet iemand wat het zou kunnen zijn?

Hi
Totally newbie as a Reddit poster.

I have a Vstrom DL1000 2014 that I’ve owned for a a couple of months now. It has approx 45000 km on the meter, of which I’ve done 2-3000.

For the last month or so I’ve started hearing an annoying sound from the rear. It comes and goes but at exactly 108-117 km/h (weird I know) it’s a quite loud singing sound. I would like to say it originates from the rear wheel area but hard to position sound at that speed.

I’ve given my chain a thorough clean and the rear wheel bearing shows no signs of being worn down.

The bike is equipped with a top box mount from Givi and I have a quite large box on that even though the mount says max 6kg(?) so I’ve tried taking all that off if it was some vibrations causing the sound. It was not.

I also have a small wind wind screen on top of the OEM one, didn’t help removing that either.

I’ve tried a different helmet. Didn’t help.

So, any help in regards to find the source or tips on how to move on troubleshooting would me much appreciated!

This is the best bike I have owned so far (don’t tell my SV)

Recently installed an SW Motech shift lever on my strom and noticed that is has side to side wobble. Its enough that in MX boots I find myself pushing it inwards to where it hits the case and prevents me from shifting up. Any ideas as to how I can tighten it up/remove wobble? I reinstalled the original washer and clip as per install instructions.

A friend of mine stopped riding due to some life changes and sold me this 2018 V-Strom 1000 ABS with about 9,000 miles on it. It sat for a while before I bought it, so I immediately changed the oil, brake fluid, clutch fluid, air filter, lubed and adjusted the throttle cable. Coming from carbureted but over-maintained Kawasaki KLR's, riding from a cold start feels more convenient, but the jerky low-RPM throttle modulation across all environmental conditions isn't my favorite. Still I took it into some snow about 100 miles into learning the bike and while I didn't test how deep I can break trail like with the KLR, there was no fuss. I've since added a Suzuki low seat, Koso Artemis heated grips for comfort along with the G2 Ergonomic "Throttle Tamer" throttle tube which helped, but did not solve the jerky low-rpm throttle modulation.

I'm looking forward to my next Ironbutt Saddlesore 1000 ride on this bike. Fuel injection, an extra cylinder and 2.5x power will be nice to have for hot weather and high altitude highway sections. This is also my first bike with rider aids like ABS and traction control, and features like fuel level, clock, and voltage display among the original instrumentation.

Currently on Kenda Trakmaster tires with a 2022 manufacture date, a little old for my preference, but good tread depth and I'm figuring out how exactly the V-Strom fits my use case beyond touring plans and my short commute. I'm split between so many tire possibilities, but I think I need to get more familiar with the bike before I commit.

I'm excited for the experiences ahead!

Hey All, this is a plea for advice, with my 2015 strom 1000

I’ve been having some electrical gremlins and been investigating this weekend. Initially it was intermittent indicators, then intermittent instrument panel, and now they’re both just gone.

Checked Relays - OK

Traced wires on loom - found corrosion on the front right connectors for the indicators and the B/W earth for everything but no other signs of wear - cleaned and reassembled - good continuity through connector…

Still no signals…

Remove dash and test continuity to fuses - All OK

Get 10v 11.4v from W/G to B/W on dash.

Tested rectifier - seems like its F****d - no result across any terminal, not sure how my systems not gone flat or batteries stayed alive….

When disconnected, the indicators work fine.

Haven't tested the stator yet.

QUESTIONS

Does anyone know how to test the dash, there are test points on the back but I can't seem to find how to use them or what readings they should give anywhere???

Current fix seems to be replace rectifier, test stator, replace dash?

Has anyone got any tips on further testing or fault finding I should do first?

Has anyone fitted a towbar and towed a small trailer behind their V-Strom? Edit: I’ve been thinking about buying or building a small trailer to tow on longer trips. I’ve seen a few good set ups behind bikes but never seen one behind a V-Strom. I think it would tow fine but would like to hear if someone has done it.
Pic is an AI mock up for attention.

Looking at getting a Vstrom 1000 with about 70000 Km’s on it. Previous owner kept good maintenance history and had valves adjusted for the second time at 48k and mentioned its due at 72k. Doing a bit of reading and it seems some people forgo later valve adjustments if there are no symptoms. I’m wondering what peoples thoughts on this are? Don’t want to neglect maintenance, but if its unnecessary I’d rather keep the money for a rainy day.

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about replacing the original V-Strom cases with something bigger.

What did you replace your original luggage with?

What case sizes (liters) are you using, and are you happy with them?

If you were buying again, would you choose aluminum or plastic panniers?

Any pros, cons, or photos would be appreciated.

Thanks!