Stroms - long post!
NoBBy said:
I am after a Big Trailie as well as my Bird. Will be used for road work 2 up and country lanes etc. Would like some advice about any problems, weekness and the good points and any advice you have on what to look for.
Short list is
Honda Varadero
Triumph Tiger 955i
Suzuki V-Strom 1000
Hi mate,
I have a 1000 Strom as well as a couple of other bikes, and I'd love to be able to say that everything has been great, but sadly it hasn't.
However, as Dozz has written:-
My engine casings were like an Areo bar, crumbling away
quick rust (no one knows how to build a bike like Honda)
engine spluttering and farting, its a joke, wont hold a steady throttle unless over 4,250 revs (on a twin, thats half the rev range gone) whatever happened to bottom end grunt?
windblast, read the pages of trouble these guys have and no one has found the perfect screen
weaves like a fooker @ 85 +
I can't agree with all of those comments.
I've no corrosion on my bike, and it stands outside all the time, including the past two, and current, german winters (the bike is based in germany). Maybe I'm lucky with this aspect.
The engine spluttering and farting can be sorted one of two ways, either by fitting a Power Commander, which apparently transforms the bike, or (the way I went), get the thing setup and have the injectors balanced properly (BSD in Peterborough did mine), and check the throttle cables for correct adjustment.
Mine runs a treat now, and I can tootle along in third at revs as low as 2000, and then crack the throttles, and she goes like a scalded cat.
There is plenty of grunt, but higher up the rev range than most twins, after all it is a sport bike derived motor, took me a while to get my head round this aspect of the bike. As for 4250 being halfway through the rev range.... mine redlines at 10000 rpm. :dunno:
Windblast can be a problem for some riders, especially if you are tall, I'm not, so the standard screen does fine, so I can't really comment on that aspect.
Weaving? on stock suspension settings in a cross wind she can be a bit "wayward" easily and simply cured by lowering the yokes by 12mm down the forks, puts more weight over the front end, improves the handling into a different league, and if you only running on tarmac, fit Bridgestone 020's, and you'll have a bike that will keep with most things.
Below I've cut and pasted a couple of "articles" that I've posted on another forum, not the rapidforum that Dozz quoted, although my bike is "featured" there as having the exploding engine(s)
.
Article #1 was written after about 6 months of ownership, and things were not going well, as will be revealed if you read on .....
article#1
Well, in a (big) nutshell, I've had all the usual problems that seem to affect the V-Stroms, although to be fair, my biggest problem has been my supplying dealer.
I live in germany for a large part of my time, near Hamburg, (as my partner is german), so when we were looking to go touring we bought a V-Strom from our local dealer. Unfortunately his attitude seems to be "got yer money now fook off", and as such has been unwilling to rectify many of the little niggles that have afflicted my bike. He says that any warranty work will only be done in the winter, cos that's when the workshop is quiet and he has the time to spare, so he generally chucked a set of loan bike keys in my direction and told me to come back in the winter. Only problem is with that is my Strom has all the factory fitted hard luggage and the 600 bandit or the Hayabusa didn't! So not exactly good service.
The bike:
Well after I had run the bike in for 1500 kms, the rear piston failed and trashed the engine. Quick fix - new engine.
Sorted.
Not.
Second engine siezed after 135 kms, but we think this was due to some oil containmation problem.
Again new engine, on my third now. Now this engine has done 11000 kms without breaking down, most of which has been two-up with lots of luggage fitted, so not all bad news.
However, after about 500 kms, the engine developed a pronounced knocking at idle, especially when it is hot after a fast run. Dealer says "they are all like that", but they are not, even his own demonstrator don't knock.
Also we found that when accelerating hard, and believe me, these bikes don't hang around, the noise from the bottom of the engine was awful. Despite several attempts at convincing the dealer to sort the thing out, i eventually brought the bike to the UK and asked for help from Suzuki UK. Now my bike is german registered and supplied, and Suzuki UK have been brilliant.
They booked my bike into Stamford Superbikes, who diagnosed some of noises as being a failing clutch basket, common on the -02 and -03 models. So whilst the parts were ordered up, I was still using the bike, then the slave cylinder went belly up, leaving me stranded by the side of the road. Both the slave cylinder and clutch basket were replaced at the same time, and have cured most of the horrible noises coming from the engine.
However I still have this pronounced knocking, (since the new clutch is a lot quieter than the old one, it lets the sound out more) and Suzuki UK are still investigating this now. It sounds like a big end bearing failure (just to give you an idea of the sound) and is loudest when the bike is hot and in an upright position, e.g. sitting at a set of lights. put the bike on the sidestand, and the noise all but disappears, which is why Suzuki think it may be a crankshaft endfloat problem, (on the TL1000 s and R models, this is adjusted with a thrust washer, but strangely DL1000 don't have this washer ). As I said, this is still under investigation, but Suzuki say it is definitley not normal, no shit sherlock!
Other things:
The bike ran like a pig from new, regardless of which engine, misfiring, snatching at low rpm low speed, all of which was improved when I took the bike to BSD to have it checked out for fuelling. It would appear that the original dealer filled the fooker with petrol and handed over the keys, without actually doing a pre-delivery inspection. It is much better now, and as an aside, these bikes are sensitive to correct chain tension, too much slack and the throttle response is very snatchy.
Over heating:
the bike runs very hot all the time, much hotter than other V-Stroms I've ridden, but we suspect it may be simply a temp sender unit giving a false reading. Course then the fan cuts in and that is hitting something under the cowl, so makes a racket, but that will be sorted when the bike goes into the dealer again next week.
Coolant leaks:
Most Stroms leak water from every hose clip, and is easily fixed by giving the clips a quick half turn, after that no problems.
Other fings:
Dealer induced front wheel replacement, after a service, the twat left the "R" clip out of the front right brake caliper, pad retaining pin, so the pin came out (on these bikes they come out towards the wheel, not outboard) and proceeded to carve a slot in the spokes of the front wheel. We noticed it as we were leaving Donnington this year. The pin was also not fitted through the pad themselves, so the pads could have fallen out at any time. Don't bear thinking about. New front wheel (following a threat of prosecution) sorted that out.
Side stand fell off whilst at lights, obviously the screws hadn't been tightened after a service or sumfink.
It all sounds a lot, but on the upside, it is a fun bike to ride, bloody quick for a trailie styled bike, very good for touring i.e. comfy, econmical, handles very well (relatively I know), carries luggage easily, is distinctive to look at (subjective I know, some think it is ugly).
Once I get the knocking sorted, even if Suzuki come back and say it is nothing to worry about and won't cause a failure, then I'll be a very happy bunny. I like the bike generally, and I think if I'd bought the bike from a UK dealer, then none of the dealer induced crap would have happened.
I'll probably keep it for another year and then replace it with a TDM 900 or an FJR1300.
So, that's my experience of the Strom so far, and not all good.
But, and it's a big BUT, I've still got the bike, enjoy riding it, indeed, just spent a bit of dosh getting all the luggage racks powder coated, cos the panniers had rubbed some of the original finish off.
Don't be put off by my experiences, but do try one before you buy, and I don't mean a quick 10 minute zip up the road and back, get a weekend if you can.
Article #2 (this was written after the bike was in the UK for some warranty work, and the forum asked owners to rate their bikes on a number of points, by now I'd had the bike some time) .....
I had more than my fair share of niggles when I first got the bike, but I do believe that most of them were avoidable had my supplying dealer been a little more interested from the outset. As it was, he wasn't, so me and the Strom suffered as a result.
I am first to take the piss outta my bike, but that's just the way I am, and I have also said here and on other forums, that I hate the thing, but to be perfectly frank, my opinion has changed with the ever increasing length of ownership. A supportive new dealer (Stamford Superbikes), has helped tremendously in this area.
Cutting to the chase, I've done nearly 15000 kms on the thing in about 16 months, so it cannot be all bad. It has let me down by the side of the road just once, but here I have a confession to make. Yes the clutch slave cylinder did fail, but I could have ridden the bike home using clutchless changes and sorted the problem myself, but as I needed Suzuki UK to get involved with the other clutch issue (noisy basket problem) it was to my advantage to have the bike recovered direct to a dealer and then ask "as it's here, can you also have a look at the basket aswell".
The ongoing investigation into the "knocking" sound that a lot of V Strom owners are hearing, has revealed nothing of major concern, no main bearing failures, no crank failures etc etc. Suzuki believe that the most likely cause is build tolerances of various components, and when running together, sometimes they give a large, but acceptable, backlash on the primary drive to the clutch basket assembly, hence the noise some of us are hearing.
So, to the numbers for the list, and taking all the pisstaking out of the equation, I'm hoping that these numbers will give a better indication of what the Suzuki DL1000 V-Strom is really like.....
Off Road:
1 - Rugged Dropability: not dropped mine, but others who have and reported on the V Strom Forum report that they crash well (i.e. little or no damage at 20 mph) and Givi crash bars save almost everything at that speed. so a 4
2 - Obstacles: Enduro course? on BT 020's? don't think so somehow, but then again, no idea personally, but others have done some extreme riding on theirs and have reported favourably, but a bit heavy, so call it a 3
On Road: (The V Strom's natural habitat)
3 - Cruising ability: with a 24 litre, long legged 6th gear, a 300 km+ fuel tank range, the ability to sit at 180 kph all day two-up (I know, I've done it), the lazy power of the motor, lack of vibration above 3500rpm, excellent legroom and eronomics, this bike can cruise all day, and every day, so a 5++
4 - Handling and Day to Day :lofty riding postion, light controls, make for easy town work, fit BT020's, drop the yokes by 12mm, fit braided hoses and EBC HH pads, forget 6th gear and use the revs, then the sports bikes will need to keep up with you, only a relativly soft front suspension stops this getting another 5, so call it a 4+
Adventure:
5 - Long Term : Rectified Clutch issues, and early failure of my original engine aside, I have done nearly 10000 miles, almost all of it two-up with lots of luggage. Can't give it a 5, cos of the problems I had early on, but I think this is justified, so a 4
6 - Long Distance and Luggage Capacity: Lake Garda (Italy) to Hamburg in one day (approx 775 miles on our route), two-up, with 45 kilos of luggage in the three hard cases, plus a fully extended tank bag, plus other stuff under cargo nets on top of the panniers, stopping only for fuel and toilets, proved to me that this bike will tour with the best, and then beat most of 'em. We are planning a run across Europe again for our summer holidays, down to the south of France/Northern Spain area, and I have no doubts at the ability of the bike to do this. Got to be a 5.
so there you go, probably a more balanced view of the V Strom than you've seen me post previously.
I'll try to be more "constructive" in my comments about it in the future, but that won't stop me takin' the piss outta of it (or any other bike for that matter!)
*************************
OK, back to now again!
Unfortunately, just after the second article was written, the bad news kicked in again, and again it was dealer induced.
In a nutshell, during the refit of the new clutch assembly, someone at Stamford misaligned the oil pump gears and once everything was tightened up, it cracked the crankcases, resulting in another new engine in everything but name, i.e. the crankcases were replaced, which obviously meant that everything was stripped to allow these to be replaced.
Since then the bike has run well, and after the inital running in again, a setup at BSD sorted out any minor outstanding issues and we went off touring Southern France and Northern Spain.
The bike never missed a beat, we covered over 4000 miles in two weeks, and we were well loaded, over 45kgs of luggage, two peeps etc etc.
It returned 45 mpg average throughout the trip, we had some very fast sections, including a sprint along the river running into Freiburg against a couple of locals on Bandit 1200's, and they were well upset that we not only stayed with them, but whupped them in the twisties!
To summarize then, the Strom can be a great ride, but it isn't to everyones' taste, so a LONG test ride is important.
Mine has unfortunately had more than it's fair share of woes, the majority caused by dealers. Now the bike is out of warranty, I do my own work on it, and not a thing has gone wrong with it, I guess it comes down to pride of ownership.
I haven't done any intentional off roading, cos I'm not very tall, and the Strom is, so dabbing down would present me with problems.
I've done some inadvertant off roading
, but lived to tell the tale!
Despite all that I've been through with this bike, and its predessor which was a Bird of dubious history, I've grown to like the bike.
As a long haul tourer, it is impressive, as an off roader, no idea. It is not a KTM rival, more a Varadero rival, less than a GS1200, more than a TDM900.
As a country road scratcher, it is brilliant, it's mid range grunt allows you to punch out of bends hard, use only the first 5 gears, 6th is a pure overdrive.
It is comfortable, economical, and distinctive (read:ugly!). Also has that rarity value.
Go for a later model, i.e. 2005 onwards if possible, as most of the minor niggles found on the early bikes have been sorted.
If you want any more pointers, drop me a PM, and I'll point you in the right direction.
Hope you are still awake at this point!!!!
regards
mike
