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Suzukis VStrom 800 Is The Best Alternative to The Tnr 700 The Motorcyclist Podcast
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00:00Topics on the show constantly change, but the one thing that always remains is two-wheeled fun.
00:07We've got editor Adam Waheed.
00:09We've got photo director Jeff Allen, who's back from a long vacation, slash work trip.
00:15Yeah, good to be back.
00:17No, I'm just kidding.
00:18I'd rather still be riding the Alps.
00:20Riding the Alps in Italy.
00:22Yeah, and then you got me, executive editor Justin Dawes.
00:26Today, we are going to talk about Suzuki's V-Strom 800.
00:30There's a bunch of different variants, but they all are powered by the same 776 parallel twin.
00:37It's a mid-sized ADV bike, and this latest version of the 800 was introduced in 2023.
00:44So fairly new.
00:45It's only been out for a couple years, and it's starting to become more popular,
00:52and you're starting to see them a lot more than you did in the first year.
00:54So there's four variants of the thing.
00:57There's the DE, which is the dirt enduro or dirt.
01:03It's like a 50-50 bike as it comes.
01:06You've got the DE Adventure, which has a bigger screen and some crash bars and some panniers and that kind of stuff.
01:12You've got a Touring, which has cast wheels, and then you have a base model, which also has cast wheels.
01:17So all of us have some experience with these bikes, but we're probably going to talk mostly about the DE,
01:26but most of the attributes that we're going to talk about this bike cross over to the other motorcycles.
01:31I think Adam's written some other variants as well.
01:33So before we get into that, we have to get into the details of the bike, and I'll be quick about it.
01:39I don't want to lose you, but like I said, 776 parallel twin dual overhead cam liquid cooled.
01:46It makes 72.2 horsepower on our dyno, 50.2 pound-feet of torque.
01:53As it sits stock, it weighs 507 pounds.
01:58It's fitted with a Showa fork and a Showa shock.
02:02The rear shock has no compression adjustment, but the rest of it is fully adjustable, and it's got 8.7 inches of travel.
02:10So it's not a short-travel bike, but it's also not a long-travel bike.
02:13It's kind of in that normal sweet spot where the bike's not too tall, too jacked up, but it also has enough travel to have some fun on.
02:23Seat height, 33.7 inches.
02:27Wheels are 2118 spoked on the DE models, and the Touring and Base, of course, have cast aluminum wheels.
02:35It's got a TFT dash on it.
02:37It's got TC.
02:38It's got four modes, basically, one, two, three, and a gravel mode, and you can turn it off, so really five modes.
02:47ABS is switchable to turn off the ABS on the rear.
02:50It's got Suzuki drive mode selector, which has been on Suzuki's forever at this point, which is their ride mode.
02:59And it's basically A, B, and C, which is mainly throttle response and some power tailoring, but it's very kind of simple, but it works.
03:11Pricing on it is $11,709 for the DE.
03:17The Adventure model is, the Touring is $13,159.
03:25Sorry, the Adventure model.
03:27Sorry, the Adventure model is $13,159.
03:29The Touring model is $10,499, and the base model starts at $10,109.
03:36So those are the facts on the bike.
03:39So let's talk about it.
03:41Since you just mentioned it, what's the difference between the base and the Touring?
03:45Is it just...
03:45Base and Touring?
03:46It's bags and stuff like that.
03:48Okay.
03:49Windscreen.
03:49I don't have much time on the Touring.
03:52It's fit for some other stuff.
03:54Adam, you've ridden the Touring?
03:55Yeah, I've ridden the Touring bike.
03:57It's really nice.
03:58Yeah.
03:59So we can talk about that when we get into writing impressions, but it's basically just
04:03like a more comfy base model.
04:06I mean, it's...
04:06All right.
04:07I have one more question since we just...
04:08Sorry.
04:08What's the difference between the DE and the Adventure?
04:11Kind of the same thing from the base to the Touring.
04:15You're talking about some bags, bigger windscreens, that kind of stuff.
04:18So it kind of takes that...
04:22I guess BMW kind of started it with having an Adventure model that has more stuff added.
04:27So it's the Adventures and the Touring are sort of the accessories you would likely choose
04:33anyways, and it just comes as a trim level.
04:36Very much so.
04:36Yep.
04:37Exactly.
04:37That's the best way to put it.
04:38It's the kind of the stuff you would automatically buy if you were wanting to do longer distance
04:44riding on both of them.
04:46So V-Strom has been around for quite a while.
04:50The first V-Strom was the 1000 V-Strom in 2001.
04:55So we're going on 24 years of V-Strom-age.
04:59God, that's crazy.
05:00That's so...
05:00It doesn't...
05:01Yeah.
05:01It doesn't seem like that long ago I rode that first V-Strom 1000.
05:05Yeah.
05:06And man, it looked like basically a street bike on stilts.
05:09Like the front of it was like all swoopy like a sport bike and it had these big, huge headlights.
05:14And it had, at the time, what we thought was just the dumbest name.
05:19Yeah.
05:20Like what is...
05:21V-Strom.
05:21What does it mean?
05:22Yeah.
05:22Yeah.
05:22Yeah.
05:23Yeah.
05:23I'll say that original one is the bike that changed my opinion about the looks of bikes.
05:30Because it was not very...
05:32I mean, now it's pretty common to have that sort of beak look.
05:35But that was the bike that was like, I didn't think it looked good until I rode it.
05:39I was like, I love this bike.
05:41And actually, I do like the way it looks.
05:43It changed.
05:44I didn't have to love the way it looks in the beginning.
05:47Yeah.
05:47Yeah.
05:47You didn't have to look at it if you're sitting behind the bars anyways.
05:50Because it was nice.
05:51Yeah.
05:52So then in 2004, the V-Strom 650 came out.
05:57And that was basically the engine that you found in other 650 V-Twins of Suzuki's.
06:08So that was a very popular bike.
06:11Still is.
06:12But it hasn't changed actually.
06:13I think since like...
06:14I want to say it's got to be 10 years unchanged maybe.
06:19I don't...
06:19I'm not sure.
06:20But it still sells and still people are into it.
06:26And then 2023, the 800 DE came out.
06:30And that was a big deal for Suzuki.
06:32One, all new power plant.
06:34So parallel twin, 776 CCs like we said.
06:39But it was a unit construction or I should say an engine that's used for many other models.
06:49So it's in the eight GSXS models.
06:53The, you know, the 8S, the 8R is now going to be the 8T and 8TT as well as all the V-Strom models.
07:01So they're using it in like...
07:03I think it's almost like eight or nine models at this point that that bike is...
07:07That that bike is...
07:08Or that engine is used in.
07:09And it's a super awesome engine.
07:12We'll talk about it here in a second.
07:13So with that, you know, the V-Strom kicked off the introduction of that engine and of a whole new mid-sized Suzuki adventure motorcycle.
07:25But it takes cues from...
07:29Or I should say styling cues from what could be the granddaddy of V-Stroms.
07:37And that's the DR Big.
07:38That was built in 1988, 750 single.
07:45It was one of the first adventure motorcycles with a beak, with a front fender that came out, you know, and stuck out.
07:53Almost everyone's running a beak-style front now.
07:57Like, Tenere is not, but BMW, Suzuki, you know, I expect...
08:04KTM.
08:05KTM.
08:06You know, they're all...
08:06Gucati.
08:07They're all running some sort of beak-ish setup.
08:10So it all goes back to DR Big.
08:14So especially the 800 and the 1000 have very...
08:18You can see a direct line from the DR Big to those V-Stroms and styling.
08:24And I dig it.
08:24I...
08:25It really has a throwback to, like, Dakar style.
08:28Like, you know.
08:29Now, like any bike, it's like, if it doesn't have the beak, is it really an adventure bike?
08:34Yeah, exactly.
08:35Yeah.
08:35Yeah.
08:35Yeah.
08:36Yeah.
08:36No beak, no go.
08:39So anyway, that's kind of a quick history lesson.
08:45So yeah.
08:47Not much else to say about the history of it besides 25 years going on, 24 going on 25 years
08:55of V-Strom, and they're still doing it.
08:58So.
09:00Well, I mean, in my opinion, the 800, it was sort of the first thing that Suzuki showed.
09:09It sort of brought them out of some dark times, you know?
09:12So that was the first light that things were going to get better.
09:18Yeah, very much so.
09:20You know, they had that push in 2022.
09:24They started showing off some new stuff, and that was one of them.
09:27They showed off the engine in 2022.
09:28And you were like, oh, definitely this is going in a, probably a naked bike, probably
09:33a little sport bike, and definitely an adventure bike.
09:36And then, you know, they showed it off, and it's like, oh, okay, Suzuki's back, you know?
09:41So same time, that same time frame was when they redid the Hayabusa as well.
09:46So, you know, they kind of had a little bit of a boost in 2022, 2023.
09:53So, let's talk about riding impressions.
10:00You know what?
10:00I was going to go first, but I'm going to let Jeff and Adam go first, and then I'll talk
10:04about my thoughts, because I've been talking and yapping and yapping and yapping, and we
10:08don't want to make this a 30-minute monologue.
10:11Yeah, Adam, did you go on the original press launch?
10:14For the V-Strom?
10:16For the 800?
10:17No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
10:19No, I've only ridden the 800 Touring bike, so I rode that to Laguna Seca to WeatherTech
10:25Raceway last summer.
10:27Yeah, it's an awesome bike, dude, like crazy.
10:30Like, it's one of those understated motorcycles in Suzuki's, you know, 2024 at the time, and
10:37now 2025 model lineup.
10:39They're awesome.
10:41You?
10:41Have you ridden one?
10:42I've not ridden the Touring, but I have ridden the DE.
10:44And, yeah, I think it's a very nice motorcycle.
10:50It's sort of like the DRZ, the 4S, where it sits in a different place.
10:59You know, it's not quite all street bike.
11:01It's not quite all dirt bike or dirt adventure bike.
11:05And they sit in a pretty nice spot, and it does a lot of things well, you know, in that
11:12spot.
11:13I kind of think of it as, like, the 4S.
11:16Yeah, I just love that Touring variation.
11:20It's just, like, it's insanely comfortable.
11:22It's got great range.
11:24It gets decent gas mileage.
11:26The engine just chugs around everywhere.
11:28I mean, honestly, just the level of comfort it has is just, like, for $10,500, you get
11:34a bike that's that comfortable.
11:37It's pretty crazy, you know?
11:39Yeah.
11:40Yeah.
11:40It's a – the bike is definitely comfortable.
11:43And it kind of, like, splits the difference between, like, the KTMs that are, like, super
11:48hardcore dirt and then maybe something that's very street-focused, like a V-Strom 650 or
11:56even a V-Strom 1000 in a way.
11:58Or a Versus, you know?
12:00Or a Versus, yeah.
12:01Yeah.
12:01Versus 650, like, it kind of splits the – it's kind of where BMW's F850 used to be.
12:10Like, if you ride a BMW F850 and this bike back-to-back, there's a lot of similar feel
12:17to them.
12:19They're not super sharp-edged.
12:20They're not super hardcore.
12:22But they get everything done, and they can do it with pretty good comfort, you know?
12:28So, you know, the suspension is pretty decent.
12:32It's adjustable.
12:33You can do stuff with it.
12:36You can tighten it up.
12:37You can, you know, stiffen it up.
12:39You can make it softer if you need be.
12:41So – but it does – I feel like when they were starting that project, they were looking
12:48at bikes like the F850, and then the whole segment kind of moved another step up, and
12:55they came out with the V-Strom at the time when everyone else had made another step.
13:00And so it's like a half-step behind to me in some regards.
13:04You know what I mean?
13:06But it has – I mean, for what it is, it has a sweet MSRP.
13:11Like, that's a 2,000 max.
13:13Yeah.
13:13For what that is.
13:14It's – yeah, I mean, it's got a nice MSRP, and it has – I say – I keep saying
13:20this – the best parallel twin ever.
13:23Yeah, it's got a really nice motor.
13:25And I feel like the aftermarket has embraced it.
13:28So if you do buy one –
13:29Starting to, yeah.
13:30Yeah.
13:31There are some options out there.
13:33Yeah, there are some options.
13:35There's all kinds of stuff now popping off for it.
13:37When we first got our hands on one, that wasn't the case, but now there's a lot of stuff.
13:44Yeah.
13:44The one we got our hands on, are you talking about your DR Big 2.0?
13:52Yeah.
13:52I would say, okay, so that bike, the V-Strom 800 is, like I said, it's like a half-step
14:00behind until you start modifying it.
14:03And then it comes alive, and it can be really, really good.
14:06And, you know, we built a race – rally race bike out of one where, you know, we stripped
14:11it down and pulled a lot of weight out of it.
14:14We removed the ABS.
14:16We got rid of all the ride modes, all that stuff, because it was a race bike.
14:19And when it was done, it weighed, you know, 470 pounds.
14:22So we took, like, 35 pounds off of the bike, and it totally transformed it.
14:28You know, we added long travel suspension, had a special shock, and all that stuff made.
14:32But I think if you pulled off all the racks, and you pulled off the passenger pegs, and
14:38you did a little weight reduction on the exhaust and that stuff, and then you just got a drop-in
14:43kit for the forks and maybe a new rear shock, the thing becomes epic.
14:48Yeah.
14:49It really wakes it up quick.
14:51Yeah.
14:51I got to spend a little bit of time on your bike, your race bike, and I was really impressed.
14:57That thing was really, really nice.
15:00In fact, we even let some of the Suzuki guys ride it, and they were pretty impressed.
15:05Yeah.
15:05They were really impressive that we let those guys ride it, and they were like, oh, we got
15:11to build one of these.
15:12We got to get them to build it.
15:13But, you know, that probably won't ever happen.
15:17It's good to dream, you know.
15:18But if you want to build your own, you can go mild to wild, and it really does make a
15:24difference.
15:25It wakes up a lot when you change the exhaust, and you get rid of the snorkels and the airbox
15:29cover and put a different air filter on it.
15:32Without even remapping it, it gets really snappier, even torquier than it was stock, which I think
15:40it's one of the best torque deliveries from a stocker.
15:43And then you do that, and it really wakes it up.
15:45Yeah, it's grunty.
15:47It's very grunty.
15:47Sounds cool, too.
15:48Sounds cool, too.
15:49Yeah, your race bike sounds amazing.
15:51That thing, yeah, I think sounds good.
15:54Yeah, I think we got like three cars of a million views just on me revving the bike on Instagram.
15:59Yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:00This is so cool.
16:01Yeah.
16:02But I think it's a great chassis.
16:05I think overall, especially for the price, the DE, like I said, it's 11 grand, 11, 8.
16:16But I've been seeing 2024 models on the dealer floor.
16:20You can get them for like 8,500, 9 grand if a dealer's desperate to move one.
16:26And if you can find one at that price, then you've got a smoking deal.
16:32You've got a really good smoking deal.
16:34Like, you know, like the competition, you know, like we should talk about the competition
16:38a little bit.
16:38You've got like the Tenere 700, obviously.
16:42It's a parallel twin.
16:45Most of the bikes actually in the midsize are parallel twins.
16:50Almost all of them are 270 degree cranks.
16:51Um, so you've got the Tenere 700, that's 11 grand, $1 short of 11 grand.
16:58Um, but it doesn't have as much, uh, it's getting close now.
17:02I mean, it's, it's, yeah, they added some features.
17:04They added some features.
17:05They have some, some throttle map or ride mode type of setups, and they, you can have the
17:11button for ABS now.
17:12So it's, it's more similar than it was.
17:15So I think that's its closest comparison, um, out of anything.
17:20Um, you know, and we, we went and rode them in Colorado, you know, the Tenere and the,
17:28uh, the V-Strom and a Touareg one time.
17:31And, um, they kind of excelled at different things.
17:35And when it was at the end of the day, it was really hard to decide out of those two bikes,
17:38which one was better because one was better on the road.
17:41One was better in the single track.
17:44One was better in the rocks.
17:45One was better in the sand, you know, like they just, it just swapped back and forth on
17:49which one was better.
17:50Um, so I think, uh, that obviously is as close as competition.
17:55Then you've got the F900 GS, obviously quite a bit more expensive.
17:59Um, you know, base bases, you know, you can never find a base model.
18:05BMW.
18:07So, uh, most commonly, you know, the base is 14 to seven, five, but most commonly you'll find
18:13them outfitted at about 18 K to start.
18:16Um, wow.
18:17That's a, that's a huge difference.
18:19You know, huge difference.
18:20I mean, that's seven grand, seven grand more for the F F 900 GS and the F 900 GS really stepped
18:27up its game, uh, from the eight 50 totally different bike, much more hardcore than it used
18:35to be.
18:35Uh, but I don't know, I don't know if I could spend seven K more.
18:40Um, yeah, I think that's different.
18:42I think somebody looking at that, just thinking at it, like an option for the, the, uh, R 1250
18:49or, or R 1300, you know, they're thinking, Oh, I don't want to spend that much.
18:54And they, yeah.
18:56Um, then of course you got the KTM eight 90 adventure that is a 15, seven, nine, nine.
19:01Um, you know, and that one's done to the nines, uh, in terms of off-road capability.
19:08Um, and then there's an interesting one, the cove 800 pro.
19:11Um, we rode that last November a little bit.
19:16It's a 10,000, nine, nine, nine.
19:18Um, and it's a pretty interesting bike.
19:20I don't know if I'd want to be an early adopter, but overall it rode pretty well.
19:27Yeah.
19:28Yeah.
19:28I would agree with you.
19:29I don't know if I'd be an early adopter on that and just like to see how things shake
19:34out.
19:35Yep.
19:36Very much so.
19:37So, uh, I don't know if like there's, there's a lot of competition in that space.
19:42It's very competitive and there's a lot of, um, different ways the companies go about building
19:51their midsize ADV, everything from, you know, super hardcore, like KTM's eight 90 adventure
19:55are to, like we said, like maybe a versus six 50, you know, like there's a big swath
20:03in there.
20:03And I think that, I think that they were smart in that they, they kind of aimed right for
20:07the middle with, uh, the V strong.
20:10Yep.
20:10But yeah, so that's just a good spot for them.
20:14It's a nice.
20:14Yeah.
20:15Yeah.
20:15Yeah.
20:16I don't know.
20:16I think it looks cool.
20:17I think it's one of the better looking bikes, especially in the yellow, like you were saying
20:20with the, like the, the, uh, camel racing DR big esque looking, uh, colorway.
20:28That thing looks really good.
20:30Yeah.
20:30It does look really good.
20:31I like the blue and the yellow one a lot.
20:33Um, but I think just the overall shape, like that front beak is really cool.
20:37The, the, the windscreen, the front end, you know, the two stacked lights.
20:41All of it looks, it looks great.
20:44It really does.
20:45Yeah.
20:45The gold wheels.
20:47Yeah.
20:47It doesn't have a, it really doesn't have too bad, uh, a bad angle looking at the thing.
20:52And that's good to know.
20:53I mean, like when you buy a bike, you want one that's good looking, right?
20:57You want to go in your garage and look at it and be like, yeah, that's cool.
21:00You know, so, um, it looks a heck of a lot better than the original ones.
21:06Yes, it does.
21:07Don't talk, don't talk badly about that.
21:09I love that.
21:09I ended up loving the way that thing looked just cause it was such a great motorcycle.
21:14I, I put a lot, we had a longterm one and I put a lot of miles on that thing.
21:20Wow.
21:21Yeah.
21:21I see one every once in a while and I'm like, Oh God.
21:24But then I'm like, yeah, that guy's enjoying it.
21:25Like the guy, you know, whoever owns that bike loves that bike as it is right now, 20
21:31years old.
21:32You know what I mean?
21:33So you can't hate on that.
21:34So, uh, well, it's a great motor too.
21:36It wasn't, it wasn't a parallel twin, but that was, that was, that was a great motor.
21:41Yeah.
21:41So here's a question.
21:43Uh, would it be on your guys's list for a midsize ADV?
21:49Say you were going shopping right now.
21:50Cause people always ask that, like if you're going shopping, what would you buy?
21:53You know?
21:54So if you were going shopping and you had a midsize ADV in mind, would it be on your
22:00list?
22:01Would you, would you shop it?
22:04I would, I would, I would, it would, it would, it would, for me, because of the, the price,
22:10it would be between the Tenere and the Suzuki.
22:14It would just, I would just have to decide for myself if, if I'm looking at like lots
22:21of miles or dirt miles, you know, the Tenere is great, but if you were really going to, you
22:29know, do big long trips with lots of, not necessarily even highway miles, but just faster
22:38back roads, it would definitely be on my list.
22:40Yeah, I would buy that V-Strom 800 touring bike.
22:44I'm sure you can get those probably for a really good deal, but I wouldn't really buy
22:48it necessarily as an adventure touring bike.
22:50I'd buy it as a street bike, just a versatile street bike that, you know, yeah, you can do
22:55a little bit of dirt biking on it if you wanted, but mainly just for street biking, just because
23:00it's comfortable and good suspension, just big gas tank.
23:04Yeah, right on.
23:05I think I would, I would consider it.
23:11I don't know if it would be my, my choice.
23:15And that's, it's because I'm trying to, I'm trying to remove bias because my race bike,
23:20I love, and it's the greatest adventure bike ever built.
23:24Like that thing is so sick.
23:26And so I know what you can do with one, but I always go like, I could probably,
23:30do the same with a Tenere.
23:31I could maybe do the same with a BMW.
23:34You know, and once you spend all that money, it's like, okay, then I'm in the KTM BMW range
23:40price range.
23:41So which do I do, you know?
23:43But I think if, if I was just going to leave it stock, it would be, it would be a really
23:50tough choice.
23:50Like I said, between the Tenere and that bike, for sure.
23:55I think I would, I think I would go with what dealer gave me a better deal, to be honest,
23:59between.
24:00Yeah, yeah, for sure.
24:01The, the price plays a part.
24:05So, yeah.
24:06But if, if I was going to go hog wild, like I often do with my bikes, I would absolutely
24:12buy it because I know what it can do.
24:14And it's insane.
24:16What can, what the, how much that bike can be woken up, you know?
24:21So, yeah.
24:22Well, it's, it's hard, it's hard nowadays, like to, to narrow down what it was, what it
24:26is you would actually spend your own money on it.
24:29Cause there's a lot of good motorcycles, especially, especially in ADB, in mid ADBs, when you decide,
24:36do I want a more power or do I want less weight?
24:39Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
24:41And, and I, I'm coming from the angle.
24:43I owned a KTM 790 that was done to the nines.
24:47Like it had everything done to it, you know, WP suspension, all that stuff.
24:51And I still say that my V-Strom is better than that KTM was.
24:57Really?
24:57Yeah.
24:59The V-Strom is nice.
25:00The V-Strom is better than that KTM was once.
25:03They were both done as far as you could push them.
25:06The, the, the V-Strom actually is better than that KTM.
25:10Wow.
25:11That's something to say, to be said.
25:13Mm-hmm.
25:13There's so much potential on that bike.
25:15It's crazy.
25:18So, and there's, there's people that are untapping that potential right now.
25:21You know, like, uh, Stefan Hessler, who helped me a lot with the, the build on, on my bike,
25:27uh, when we did the rally bike.
25:29Um, you know, he's got all kinds of stuff for that bike.
25:32And he's constantly finding new ways to make it lighter, make it faster, make it better.
25:38He's got like a super awesome front end on the thing now with, uh, you know, it looks
25:43like even more like an old DR big, it's got the same windshield shape and it's got, you
25:48know, uh, a rally tower built into it.
25:51He's got steering stabilizers.
25:52He's got chain guides.
25:53He's got, you know, all this stuff.
25:55So there's people really doing it right now, you know, and people are starting to race them
25:59too.
25:59Like there was one in Africa eco race.
26:01There was one, um, I think there was one, uh, at Romaniacs this year.
26:06Oh, was it really?
26:07Oh yeah.
26:08Cause they added the, they added an adventure or twins class or something.
26:12Two of them.
26:12They had, uh, ultimate adventure and then, uh, the silver class for adventures.
26:18Oh, I did not know there was a beast on there.
26:20Um, yeah, obviously I saw Paul Tarras on his 10 array, but yeah.
26:25And Sam Sunderland won on a, um, Triumph tiger.
26:32Oh, wow.
26:33Yeah.
26:33Pretty crazy.
26:34So, but, um, it just goes to show those bikes are, are very capable if you're willing
26:39to put up with the weight, you know, they don't, they don't replace a dirt bike, but
26:42they can, they can stand in when needed.
26:46Um, so I don't know.
26:48I really liked the bike.
26:49Uh, I think it is a very smart buy for people.
26:53Um, and I think that's, that's the strong point of that bike is they really made it,
27:00uh, uh, attractive to all types of adventure bike riders as it sits stock.
27:06So, yeah, I don't know, but do you guys think any other thing we need to add about this
27:12bike or talk about the good and the bad to be an ADV rider?
27:19It is a good time to be an ADV, right?
27:21It's been a good time for the last three, four years.
27:24It's a good time to be a motorcyclist in general, but yeah, it's always a good time to be a
27:28motorcyclist.
27:29Yeah.
27:29I mean, just options galore.
27:31Yeah.
27:31Options galore for sure.
27:33That's good.
27:33A lot of good motorcycles.
27:35Yeah.
27:35So if you had one criticism of that bike, what would it be?
27:42Well, this is, this is my criticism of every ADV that doesn't have these things.
27:48I think every adventure bike should come standard with a center stand and heated grips.
27:55I just, those are things you, you just shouldn't have to add to it.
28:00So, you know, heated grips like adventure bikes, the whole.
28:04Not the goal, but you're, you set out to put in long miles, go to elevation, you know, like
28:12longer days, get up early, all this stuff.
28:15Heated grips is just, it's just basic for me.
28:18And then also I've, I've, I've ridden adventure bikes solo off road and, you know, in sort
28:25of remote places and without a center stand.
28:28And it makes me really nervous to figure out how I'm going to, you know, fix a flat if I
28:33have to.
28:33So blood kit, blood kit, man, but sometimes a plug kit doesn't do it.
28:40You got to get it to you and they don't, they don't, they're not all too blessed either.
28:43Yeah, exactly.
28:44Yeah.
28:44What about you, Adam?
28:45What's your, what's your main criticism?
28:48Cause we've been singing the praises.
28:50We got to be balanced here and say some, what we don't like as well.
28:54I'll take Jeff's heated grips and then raise cruise control.
28:58You know, they're both accessories, but that would, all bikes should have heated grips and
29:03cruise control.
29:03I totally agree.
29:05Yeah.
29:05Yeah.
29:05I love the crew.
29:06I love the cruise control for, you know, avoiding speeding tickets when you go, when you're rolling
29:10through the small towns.
29:12Yeah, I agree.
29:13Cruise control comes in handy in that environment for sure.
29:16We just want to not deal with any problems.
29:19Yeah.
29:19Yeah, sure.
29:20Yeah.
29:20I, so I will build on that and say that my main criticism is that the electronics are
29:27maybe a little bit dated, you know, they're very simple and maybe for some people, that's
29:33what they want.
29:33They want just like simple, like, you know, you don't want to have 12 layers of trash
29:38control, slip control and engine breaking changes and all that stuff.
29:42And, and that's cool.
29:44But I think at the same time it's missing, it's just, it's such a simple system, which
29:51it makes it really easy to adjust.
29:53Like you just go, I want trash control one, two, three, or gravel or off.
29:58And then I want A, B or C power.
30:00And A is the most aggressive, B is chill and C is for like rain.
30:03So, I mean, it's all, it's very simple, but at the same time, it's, it's not flashy.
30:10And I don't, it is nice to have the 12 levels of trash control, like on the KTM, where you
30:17can be riding the thing and you can dial in the slip in rally mode while you're riding
30:22and you go, oh, here it's nice and tacky.
30:25I can make it a one and oh, it's getting loose and skatey.
30:28I'll back it down to a five while you're moving.
30:31That's pretty rad.
30:32You know, that's pretty rad, but there is something to be said about simplicity.
30:35Yeah, very much so.
30:36But, um, I don't know, it just, it just feels maybe a tiny bit dated compared to other things.
30:44I mean, it's, it's, Teneri is one of the most popular midsize adventure motorcycles and it's
30:50very simple as well.
30:51So, you know, I, I'm, I'm probably the outlier here on electronics where people want them
30:58simple.
30:59Yeah.
31:01So, but at least they offer something.
31:04Yeah.
31:05At least they offer something.
31:05So I think that might be my own criticism.
31:07And my other only criticism is the, the foot pegs, the stock foot pegs are terrible.
31:14Yeah.
31:14That's the, the rubber on them is very slippy when it gets wet.
31:19And then when you take the rubber out, they're still not very big.
31:22They're kind of, they're not small, but they're not very supportive.
31:26And after a day of standing up, your feet start to hurt.
31:30Yeah.
31:30They're not very sharp either.
31:32No, they're not very sharp.
31:32So those are my, my complaints.
31:36They're not like, if I could take that engine and put it maybe in another frame, it would
31:43be the ultimate bike.
31:44But, um, that engine gives like is 70% of the reason I would buy that bike because it is so dang good.
31:54I love that engine to the moon, to the moon, to the moon.
31:59So, um, I think we've got to wrap it up.
32:02We, we've hit time.
32:03Uh, so, um, takeaways from this one, the V-Strom, it's competitive with the very, you know, with all the other, uh, mid-sized ADVs.
32:13It really hits a sweet spot.
32:15It's attractive to a lot of different buyers.
32:17Um, it's a good all-rounder and with some mods, it can be a shredder.
32:22So find one on sale and you're going to be very, very happy that you got, you got one.
32:28You'll have a winner.
32:29So, uh, with that, thanks for listening.
32:32Leave some comments, like, subscribe.
32:35Let us know what you think about the V-Strom and what else we should talk about.
32:39So thanks for listening.
32:41See you next time.
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