[Bhatman510]

https://indianautosblog.com/2018/10/...-review-314921

Posted some good remarks and I have the same Givi Maxia top case. Can easily hold all your gear in and that top case cant be swiped.

The XT skidframe (chin cowl) is plastic FYI. Replace with a proper skidframe so you dont KO the oil filter or exhaust. SW Motech and Givi make some solid replacements.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Overdrive review -

https://youtu.be/yUbzWkuMQA8

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Service details being forwarded in biking groups -

[Nilesh5417]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Service details being forwarded in biking groups -

Attachment 1814977

Wow..buy it if you really are going to use it is what suzuki seems to be saying! What would be the average service cost? Engine oil replacement every 4k KM's is too soon for a tourer I feel. My monster has a 15k km interval. Though that long is unrealistic too..7.5k is where I would change the oil.

[rahul4321]

Originally Posted by Nilesh5417

Wow..buy it if you really are going to use it is what suzuki seems to be saying! What would be the average service cost? Engine oil replacement every 4k KM's is too soon for a tourer I feel. My monster has a 15k km interval. Though that long is unrealistic too..7.5k is where I would change the oil.

I visited Petal Suzuki Ahmadabad yesterday to look at the motorcycle. I have a Duke 390 which I love but i am looking to add an adventure tourer now which can take bad roads/no roads as well

I too thought 4k is too low for service intervals which is the only thing that is stopping me from considering the bike right now. The salesman said a service after the free services would cost between 10-12k on an average. Thats a very high cost per service for a 4000 kilometre service internal

[Bhatman510]

4000kms = 2500miles....interesting. Suzuki USA and also many of the WeeStrom guys go at around 3000miles or more. I usually go 3500 to 4000 miles and use synthetic oil or now that im out of oil the next service will be Shell Rotella T6. I also know guys who go 5k on oil changes. Also swapping the filter out with every oil change. K&N makes awesome filters with a nut on them for easy swapping:

https://www.amazon.com/KN-138-Powers...138+oil+filter


Its an unfortunate time interval probably since they want to make money at the dealer.

[Nilesh5417]

Originally Posted by rahul4321

I visited Petal Suzuki Ahmadabad yesterday to look at the motorcycle. I have a Duke 390 which I love but i am looking to add an adventure tourer now which can take bad roads/no roads as well

I too thought 4k is too low for service intervals which is the only thing that is stopping me from considering the bike right now. The salesman said a service after the free services would cost between 10-12k on an average. Thats a very high cost per service for a 4000 kilometre service internal

Actually it's not the 4k KM's but rather the 4mth timing that is bothersome. To keep the warranty, you really have to stick to the schedule in terms of duration even if you don't click the miles. So post free service, it's 30-36k per year? Sounds unreasonable to me based on this simplistic maths. And I wouldn't buy this bike without as much warranty as they will possibly give at least until there are enough reports around of its longetivity.

[ethanhunt123]

Originally Posted by rahul4321

The salesman said a service after the free services would cost between 10-12k on an average. Thats a very high cost per service for a 4000 kilometre service internal

Thats really really costly for just a oil change service !!! I wonder whats the breakup.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Nilesh5417

Actually it's not the 4k KM's but rather the 4mth timing that is bothersome. To keep the warranty, you really have to stick to the schedule in terms of duration even if you don't click the miles.

And I wouldn't buy this bike without as much warranty as they will possibly give at least until there are enough reports around of its longetivity.

Its a VStrom. Thats enough warranty for its reliability.

Better to just get the bike, forget about warranty and service it outside. More the warranty - more you have to stick to their 4 month schedules and more expensive the end result would be!

Even Benelli has moved away from this 4k, 4 months schedule - which is nothing but a money making exercise to keep the dealers happy.

[kailashnj]

Exactly my point. This is one thing for which I will not buy the V-Storm. The service interval like that of the Benelli is bad. Even Benelli has moved away from the 4 month 4000 kms service interval and suzuki is still sticking to this service practice of fleecing the customer.




Buy Kawasaki Versys instead and enjoy lower cost of ownership or if you have the money, buy the Tiger thats worth it too.

[ranjitnair77]

I had the opportunity to extensively test drive the VStrom 650 last weekend. The dealer had graciously got one along for a 200km ride outside Pune for a few prospective customers. I currently own a 2013 Bonneville and I'm saving up for a Tiger XCX. I've extensively driven both the Tiger XRX and XCX which my friends have lent me.

I rode the VStrom over all kinds of terrain. Very narrow twisty roads, bumpy broken tarmac, a short stint of a full offroad trail and a wide open highway back home. At the end of it all, my Tiger fund is now a VStrom fund.

What I liked

• Incredibly easy to ride. The bike feels very light. The positing of the v-twin cylinder heads ensures that the weight of the bike sits low. The aluminium chassis also helps. A friend of mine who is 5'4" and finds ADV bikes intimidating was completely at home with the size and weight of the bike.
  
• Agile and nimble. The light weight and low center of gravity mean that you can ride it anywhere without the fear of losing control or tipping over.
  
• Smooth and tractable engine. The twin delivers power in a very linear fashion with lots of torque available low down. The bike has excellent roll-on acceleration. I could ride the narrow technical twisties in 3rd. It almost felt like an automatic. I could ride the wide highways in 6th, right from 50 all the way to very fast speeds. And it's extremely smooth throughout. Smoother than my Bonnie.
  
• Great stock suspension. It soaked up everything. I changed nothing and it was perfectly setup for me.
  
• Solidity. It felt very very solid throughout. We gave it a bit of a bashing but the bike handled it very well.
  
• Range. You are looking at a 20 liter tank with a 400+ km range.
  
• Simplicity. It's a simple bike. Two level traction control which I didn't switch off. ABS which I will never want switch off. That's it. I like that.

What I didn't like

• The front console. It's pretty old school. It shows everything but it looks dated and I don't like the plastics around it.
• Windshield To much buffeting around the top of my helmet at highway speeds. It needs to be replaced or needs a deflector at the top.
• Plastics On the front tank and below the seat. There's too much of it. I like the Tiger's plastics which is better and stripped down.
• Essentials are an optional extra It should have come with a metal bash plate, engine guard and a center stand as standard. I don't like the plastic handguards either.

My dislikes are mostly cosmetic which can either be ignored or fixed. In its essence the bike is very solid and should be a reliable, fuss-free long term companion. I'm a pretty experienced rider but I'm too old to bombing down an offroad trail or scrape my knee on corners. I need something that can take me anywhere but I'm going to ride with care. This is perfect for me. For a rider like me it can do 100% of what the Tiger can at 60% cost. This for me is great value.

If I was in the market for an ADV bike I would take a long hard look at the VStrom. It's more value than the Tiger. It's better than the Versys for not that much more. I think it is a perfect bike for our conditions.

I know that people are finding the 4000kms oil change an issue. I think Suzuki is being unrealistic here. We are seeing different intervals worldwide. I'd just ignore all this and get a change at 6k and 6 months. The bike is renowned for being extremely reliable.

[kailashnj]

Originally Posted by ranjitnair77

It's better than the Versys for not that much more. I think it is a perfect bike for our conditions.

How do you say that the bike is better than Versys. Versys can also do 100% what the V-Storm can do. We have many examples here in the forum who would agree. Frankly only two things that I like about V-Storm over a Versys is the Spoke Wheels and 2 level Traction Control. Rest its the same bike. Versys has its positives over the V-Storm like the SHOWA suspension which is much better than V and the tool less windscreen adjustments.

Originally Posted by ranjitnair77

I think Suzuki is being unrealistic here. I'd just ignore all this and get a change at 6k and 6 months. The bike is renowned for being extremely reliable.

If you don't follow their service interval, you can forget the warranties and which means you will loose a lot if there are issues cropping up on your bike which other wise would have been fixed in warranty itself. And I would not suggest anyone buying a superbike in India should tinker with their warranty after all every production machine will have a lemon or two created on the production belt.

[ranjitnair77]

Originally Posted by kailashnj

How do you say that the bike is better than Versys. Versys can also do 100% what the V-Storm can do.

There is little to choose between the two to be honest so it came down to personal preferences which were.

• The v-twin of the VStrom which I liked a lot more than the parallel twin of the Versys.
• The larger 19" spoked wheels.
• The VStrom looks nicer to me.

Originally Posted by kailashnj

If you don't follow their service interval, you can forget the warranties and which means you will loose a lot if there are issues cropping up on your bike which other wise would have been fixed in warranty itself.

Yes of course. You could stick to the 4k service interval during warranty and then switch to 6k after that. Or you could stick to 4k throughout. That's your decision. I'm pretty sure the bike will be perfectly fine with an oil change every 6k kms. I suspect they have reduced the interval due to the supposed extreme conditions in India. It's 6k for the rest of the world.

https://netrider.net.au/threads/suzu...ervals.242243/

You can also check out section 7-4 of the owner's manual.

https://www.v-strom.co.uk/downloads/...nersManual.pdf

It's confusing isn't it

[shan_ned]

Originally Posted by ranjitnair77

I'm pretty sure the bike will be perfectly fine with an oil change every 6k kms. I suspect they have reduced the interval due to the supposed extreme conditions in India.

If synthetic oil is what being used, then it can last for 9000 to 10000 kms even for our Indian conditions. Based on the oil level inspection, a top up may be required. So even 6000 kms oil change is not actually required. There is also an argument that the company knows the product better than anyone else and so better to stick to the recommendation.

[Haroon]

Originally Posted by ranjitnair77

I had the opportunity to extensively test drive the VStrom 650 last weekend. The dealer had graciously got one along for.........

You have pretty much summed up the exact Pluses and Minuses of the DL650. Infact the gap between the Versys & V-Strom is very minimal, as both are supremely wonderful value for money bikes with tons of aftermarket support. If you have to really make a difference, I would probably pick on the torque delivery of the V-Twin, which definitely stands out in comparison to the Versys but again its not something of a vast difference. Overall quality of Plastics etc, I would give the Versys one mark more. But both are rock solid reliable machines.

I dont know what the mileage figures on the Versys are, but I know the DL is a fairly fuel efficient bike in its class. As for maintenance, here in the Middle East with summer temps exceeding 50 deg C (and we have a fairly long summer!), the dealers ask to change oil/filter at 3500kms but my buddy used to change oil on his DL650 at about 6-7k kms intervals. I myself also stick to the 5k km interval on my Concours14 and its perfectly fine.

Btw, for the uninitiated on the DL, the original Suzuki V-Strom 1000 was sold by Kawasaki in Europe under the badge KLV-1000, similarly the Kawasaki Mean Streak cruiser was also a Suzuki product while a few Kawasaki bikes were sold by Suzuki with their badge, but few years later they terminated that joint agreement.