Easy to use; complete package;
cracking motor
No ABS off switch; non-adjust-
able forks
back on a sunny Sunday afternoon by main roads,
back roads and a smattering of gravel roads, and
found the thing very comfortable and amazingly
parsimonious - almost 500km on the 20-litre tank!
This motor is also legendary for reliability, a quick
‘squiz’ at the Adventure and V-Strom websites
threw up plenty of stories of these engines
reaching up to 200,000km with no problems.
So, the V-Strom 650 has a nice engine, comfort,
all the gizmos and great fuel economy. Honestly,
what more could you want? For myself, I’d probably
do some slightly silly things with it, you know - the
roads less travelled (or the road not really existing),
so I’d want spoked wheels and a bash plate. This
is not a problem, as there are two version of the
wee ‘Strom. The one I rode has a retail price of
$13,995, and the DL650X is $14,995 and comes
with spoked wheels and engine protection.
This version of the Strom is way more than
adequate, it’s an all-round long distance
tourer for any of our diverse NZ roads,
and even some of its off roads.
KIWI RIDER 51