and just wind on the throttle. The brakes
are also surprisingly good, able to slow the
bike considerably with just a touch.
On the rounded stones of the river bed, however,
the DL definitely had the disadvantage. The
weight of the bike played against it when
traversing the rocks and water crossings, and
the 19-inch front wheel just doesn’t have the
offroad chops of the DR’s 21-incher. Don’t
get me wrong, it did all that was asked of it,
and a more skilled rider than me, with the
good set of more knobbly tyres, would have
been able to keep up with the pack on an
extended adventure ride, but the DL is clearly
more at home a gravel or tarmac road.
Surprisingly, one of the areas where I thought
the DL would excel over the DR was in the
Wellington rush hour commute. But I think the
44 KIWI RIDER
bike’s width, weight and slow speed stability
plays against it. In comparison to the lean and
lithe DR, the V-Strom feels a little cumbersome,
and forced me to stick in traffic instead of
lane splitting and filtering, as I would usually
do. I found I was holding back instead of
squeezing through a gap, which I might have
been able to get through with ease on the DR.
I wouldn’t have picked it, but I reckon the DR
is the better commuter in a busy rush hour.
On the Wainuiomata hill road however, the
suspension package of the DL is absolutely
stellar. I’ve never ridden a bike over this
piece of road that feels quite so planted,
smooth and eager to go. Most bikes I ride
on this piece of road struggle to inspire
confidence at the 80km/h speed limit. The
V-Strom takes it in its stride at 80km/h
with ease… and begs to go faster.