VOL. 51 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 19, 2014 P59
to ride. It's as simple as that.
First of all, the V-Strom DL1000
ABS is a fantastic street ride. It's
comfortable enough to be ridden
for long distances at a time with-
out getting complaints from any
part of your body, and it has real
good road manners.
The chassis has a solid feel,
yet offers up a plush and smooth,
not to mention, stable ride. Chas-
sis changes and a 20mm longer
wheelbase gives the V-Strom a
more secure feeling at speed. On
tight and twisty roads, the 'Strom
feels like a sportbike but without
the cockpit crunch. At a hefty
503 pounds, the well-balanced
V-Strom feels light and agile.
Suspension works well with
its plush initial and solid action
throughout the entire stroke. I
really liked the new fork and the
amount of available adjustment.
Both fork and shock do a good
job of handling the choppy and
roller-type bumps on the high-
way. The fork held up in the
stroke through the turns, kept
plenty of traction on the tires and
offered up a lot of positive feed-
back to the rider.
The front end did have a minor
dive under initial braking, though,
but by taking one turn out of the
fork preload, I was able to im-
prove the fork action and give the
bike a more settled feel. I adjust-
ed the shock preload to match
the fork adjustment and also
slowed the rebound on both fork
and shock to give the suspension
a more controlled feel.
The handlebars are at a height
where they don't put a lot of stress
on your shoulders and back.
The semi-low seat height, slim
sides and foam density all pro-
vided a good level of comfort and
allowed my 5-foot, 11-inch frame
to touch the ground with ease. I
did feel the seat could've used
just a little more lower-back sup-
port and the seat foam could've
been just a tick softer, but the
overall design I found was very
rider friendly.
Engine power and delivery is
impressive. Bottom and mid re-
sponsiveness and torque stand
out the most - you definitely feel
the torque at 4000 rpm, and
the engine has plenty of get
up. That's especially the case
at around 60 mph - perfect for
when you need to pass a car or
pick up the pace a bit.
The clutch also worked well
- it's very light through the lever
and made for smooth downshift-
ing. I really only had one com-
plaint when it came to the engine
and it was minor. I felt a little too
much engine braking for my lik-
ing. It's not a huge issue, but it
just seems like the transition from
on throttle to off could be a little
less dramatic.
The transmission felt solid and
there was very little vibration from
the V-Strom engine at both low
and high rpms. The new sixth
gear ratio put the rpms at a point
where there was a low amount
of stress on the engine at higher
speeds.
Suzuki has yet to release an
official mpg, but on our travels,
I figured that the machine I rode
got in the 50-mpg ballpark. On
a side note, the black fuel tank
made it hard to see the gas dur-
ing fill ups.
ABS worked well, as good as
At $12,699, the V-Strom is a bargain
for a 1000cc-plus adventure bike.
