[Grimlock]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Now I wonder, how have Suzuki VStrom 250 owners (barring your friend, that is) not complained about this issue?

I feel that the SX is also likely to run into this same issue, Neil. The initial reviews from a few of the big houses that say the bike is vibey upwards of 6k rpm similar to what you've faced here.

I felt an annoying vibration on the SX that i could not get rid of at any speed on the LHS footpeg of the bike.

Usually, giving the bike some beans tends to reduce the vibes a little but it did little to nothing on the SX. I thought it would get better after a break, but no. It only became normal the next day.

There is a mention about this in the below link where the host has gathered a few owners to share their experience so far - this is at around 27:50 and 34:20s about this (Not English)

https://youtu.be/csAPtzDmAS4

[b16h22]

Originally Posted by Grimlock

I feel that the SX is also likely to run into this same issue, Neil. The initial reviews from a few of the big houses that say the bike is vibey upwards of 6k rpm similar to what you've faced here.

I felt an annoying vibration on the SX that i could not get rid of at any speed on the LHS footpeg of the bike.

Usually, giving the bike some beans tends to reduce the vibes a little but it did little to nothing on the SX. I thought it would get better after a break, but no. It only became normal the next day.

Sagar was particularly critical about the vibes of the Strom in his review. I thought he was over exaggerating the issue. It could also be a random thing among the bikes. Some may have it and some don't. And Strom is a relatively recent entrant so most of them haven't really racked up high miles.

I haven't watched the video completely but the left pulling issue seems a lot more rampant than I thought. I felt my used Gixxer's front end had a tweak in it. The forks felt like they were twisted a little in the clamps. Bike pulled ever so slightly to the left if you took the hands off. There was noticeable stiction in the front forks so they wont sag automatically when you sit down on it. I have tried to correct it by loosening the triple clamp bolts and axle pinch bolts and its a lot better now. The bike has zero signs of a fall.

In fact, when my friend took delivery of his Strom 250, his bike had the same issue from the factory. It took them more than a month to fix it. He had to spend quite a lot of time and effort to make them understand that there was an issue in the first place. Eventually they did a fork reset and a handle bar replacement and the issue was fixed. This was an all new bike

Not sure if its an issue with their production line or something that happens in the transport between factory and dealer. I have seen two more cases in Gixxer 250 Facebook group

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

This is an interesting theory. I checked with a friend of mine who runs a motorcycle garage. He felt that the problems are not likely to arise from out of specification valves. There is nothing wrong with checking it, of course, but I doubt that it will sort things out.

As engines rack up miles, the valves eat into the valve seats and the clearances generally tend to get tighter. It might be borderline when cold but when the engine gets hot, everything expands and the clearances get tighter. Often resulting in the valves not fully closing and valves transfer the heat through the contact with valve seats and thereby the head. Tighter clearances means overheating valves. Valves that don't close fully also reduces compression and efficiency. I'm not saying it is the cause but it could be very well be a factor. I'm particularly paranoid about valve clearances coming from a KTM motor. Some engines are finicky when it comes to valves. 250s are a relatively unknown motor.

For some reason the tractability of my 250 goes for a toss when it gets hot. It complains when you ride away from low rpms in even lower gears. It is so weird. The engine feels so tractable when it is not overheating. Wish this thing came with screw type adjusters. Opening the valve cover, measuring clearances and then ordering the shims from Suzuki only to wait an eternity is not ideal.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Now I wonder, how have Suzuki VStrom 250 owners (barring your friend, that is) not complained about this issue?

They are only a year old right. I think things might change as they run more miles. I hope Suzuki did improve something internally and they don't have the same issue as ours

[abhi9044]

Guys, is this problem of excessive vibration limited to BS6 versions? Or do the BS4 bikes suffer from it too?

[Sebring]

Looks like they did something for the sake of doing. I mean, what does a handlebar replacement achieve?

Originally Posted by b16h22

Eventually they did a handle bar replacement and the issue was fixed. This was an all new bike

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by Grimlock

I feel that the SX is also likely to run into this same issue, Neil. The initial reviews from a few of the big houses that say the bike is vibey upwards of 6k rpm similar to what you've faced here.

I too suspect that the bikes will run into the same issue. Thankfully, we have a bunch of VStrom 250 owners here on the forum. So, we can count on their unbiased long term feedback on the VStrom 250.

Originally Posted by b16h22

Sagar was particularly critical about the vibes of the Strom in his review. I thought he was over exaggerating the issue. It could also be a random thing among the bikes. Some may have it and some don't. And Strom is a relatively recent entrant so most of them haven't really racked up high miles.

I went back and skimmed through his video. At the start, he mentions that the engine is exactly the same as the Gixxer / SF 250. And yes, he does mention excess vibrations from the footpegs at around the 6,000 RPM mark. On the SF 250, pre balancer replacement, the vibes are evident everywhere, not just the footpegs.

The valves of the KTM engines are rather notorious! As you rightly mentioned, this 250 engine isnt as well understood as many others, so how the valves behave in the long term, is a question mark. Are you hearing any of the typical clatter that is associated with a valve issue?

On the tractability front, do try out an injector cleaner. Since I do a lot of touring, I add a bit of STP injector cleaner on my bikes once every 6 months. I have felt the difference on my Triumph Street Triple 675, after using it. To avoid the problem of bad fuel, I try to fill up from COCO IOCL bunks. However, while touring, they may not always be available when we need them.

Originally Posted by abhi9044

Guys, is this problem of excessive vibration limited to BS6 versions? Or do the BS4 bikes suffer from it too?

The problem is across the board.

[b16h22]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Looks like they did something for the sake of doing. I mean, what does a handlebar replacement achieve?

They did a complete fork alignment first and a handle bar change later as the parts availability was not great. He had pain in his left hand and it is fine now. Doesn't seem like an isolated incident. Did a google search and these came up



I don't think this is the right thread to discuss the matter as we are going a little OT here

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

I went back and skimmed through his video. At the start, he mentions that the engine is exactly the same as the Gixxer / SF 250. And yes, he does mention excess vibrations from the footpegs at around the 6,000 RPM mark. On the SF 250, pre balancer replacement, the vibes are evident everywhere, not just the footpegs.

My Gixxer has vibes everywhere when it is hot. The Burgman windscreen the previous owner has mounted is a great vibration gauge

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

The valves of the KTM engines are rather notorious! As you rightly mentioned, this 250 engine isnt as well understood as many others, so how the valves behave in the long term, is a question mark. Are you hearing any of the typical clatter that is associated with a valve issue?

I can certainly hear some clatter from head region. Like I said, I'm not 100% sure until I can do a clearance check. Found a gixxer 250/SF Service manual in Spanish with relevant info. Google translate was of great help. It has all the info about available shim sizes.

With some clever searching using Spanish keywords, I found a video from a Mexican or Colombian guy (I think) with the valve clearance procedure for the 250s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzHYLV-6eg4

In the meantime, I'll try some fuel system cleaners to cure the hesitation

[sagarpadaki]

Neil, can you try with a good 50 grade oil and see if the engine behavior improves when hot?

I would suggest the Valvoline 20w50 if you can procure it

[b16h22]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

On the tractability front, do try out an injector cleaner. Since I do a lot of touring, I add a bit of STP injector cleaner on my bikes once every 6 months. I have felt the difference on my Triumph Street Triple 675, after using it. To avoid the problem of bad fuel, I try to fill up from COCO IOCL bunks. However, while touring, they may not always be available when we need them.

The throttle hesitation, snatchy fuelling and overall poor running of the engine in the low to mid revs turned out to be a really clogged air filter. I did an inspection after engine feeling somehow choked. And it did that regardless of the ambient temp. The filter looked like it was never cleaned in last 10k at least. Suzuki recommends inspection and cleaning every 5k and replacement at 15k afaik. I'll personally replace it much earlier. It had so much sand in it and a lot of unwanted stuff stuck in it along with a fuse layout sticker that got sucked in from a fuse box near the airbox opening Did some decent cleaning and the difference was massive. It finally felt like a bike again and not a diesel generator with a throttle.

Wonder what these Service centers even do in the name of a routine service. It was serviced just 1k ago according to the records. It looked like nobody has even opened the airbox in recent times. I'll be replacing the filter next week

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Neil, can you try with a good 50 grade oil and see if the engine behavior improves when hot?

I would suggest the Valvoline 20w50 if you can procure it

I'll be a doing an experiment with Motul 7100 20W50. Have good experience with 7100. Already got the oil, just needs to procure the oil filter and air filter.

[b16h22]

Zigwheels mentions vibes on their long term V Strom that has done 5000kms.

https://www.zigwheels.com/reviews-ad...islikes/49622/

Quoted from the article

1, NOT, A Smooth Operator

This 250cc powerplant is a familiar engine as we have seen on the other 250s from the Suzuki portfolio. It makes a good amount of power and offers sprightly acceleration, but the engine feels gruff, and you can feel vibes especially at low speeds under 4,500rpm. Also, there is too much engine noise and the exhaust note isn’t going to win you many fans. Having said that, this engine can cruise and you can hold speeds around 120kmph with a bit of vibes in the background.

They don't have annoying amount of vibes like a lot of us from what we can see here but the bike has only done 5000kms. Additionally they also mention a clunky gearbox which goes along with my experience

[b16h22]

Originally Posted by b16h22

Zigwheels mentions vibes on their long term V Strom that has done 5000kms.

This thread has been dead for a while. Recently came across this article from Autocar India. Very similar observations from them on their long term V Strom 250 SX that has done 7000kms.

https://www.autocarindia.com/bike-lo...-report-429697

They are observing a change in the refinement characteristics of the engine over time.

[katalyst14]

I am facing the same issue, even after paying Rs 6200 for replacing some items the handle is vibrating above 6k rpm.
I had a discussion with the manager of the service center and they told me if the vibrations still remains after replacing the parts then they will get the people from Suzuki involved.
I am attaching the bill and video.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/vqqaQRthQ9Stp4F56

[RD150]

Originally Posted by katalyst14

I am facing the same issue, even after paying Rs 6200 for replacing some items the handle is vibrating above 6k rpm.
I had a discussion with the manager of the service center and they told me if the vibrations still remains after replacing the parts then they will get the people from Suzuki involved.
I am attaching the bill and video.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/vqqaQRthQ9Stp4F56

The video is scary, handle behaves in such a way mostly when front tire is worn out or not balanced.

[b16h22]

Originally Posted by katalyst14

I am facing the same issue, even after paying Rs 6200 for replacing some items the handle is vibrating above 6k rpm.
I had a discussion with the manager of the service center and they told me if the vibrations still remains after replacing the parts then they will get the people from Suzuki involved.
I am attaching the bill and video.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/vqqaQRthQ9Stp4F56

You might have misaligned front forks or a minor bend in your front wheel. Also keep en eye on any kind of uneven wear on your tyre. Ask the technicians to check the front end alignment and trueness of your front wheel. This is not related to the engine vibrations that a lot of us are facing.

Looking at your bill, I don't think anything related to the particular issue was replaced by Suzuki. It is mostly chain & sprocket kit along with some other minor bits.

[HarshGtR]

I got the delivery of my SF250 today. The odo reading was zero kms. I have ridden it for 30 kms in city and have noticed vibrations even though I have kept the engine rpm below 5000. The gearbox is also hard, especially downshifts. I don't remember these two issues on the test ride bike even though it was new, too. Should I be worried? Will these be sorted out in first service?

[HarshGtR]

Originally Posted by HarshGtR

I got the delivery of my SF250 today. The odo reading was zero kms. I have ridden it for 30 kms in city and have noticed vibrations even though I have kept the engine rpm below 5000. The gearbox is also hard, especially downshifts. I don't remember these two issues on the test ride bike even though it was new, too. Should I be worried? Will these be sorted out in first service?

Since this post hasn't got any replies:

I have completed 350 kms now and I can notice vibrations at around 3500-4000 rpm. I still haven't revved it past 5000 rpm. The vibrations are evident on the handlebars. And I can constantly hear the buzz from the engine.