I'm on my second V-Strom 650, my first one was a 2012 which was farkled with engine bars, skid plate, suspension upgrade, givi screen, bark busters and heated grips. I loved everything about that bike except for the colour and the alloy wheels (it was white - washing machines are white, fridges are white... bikes should be an interesting colour). So when I could I upgraded to a blue 2020 V-Strom XT (the best colour and the gold spoked wheels look great). But riding it showed up how much difference the farkels on my earlier bike had improved ...Read more

I purchased the 2017 DL650xt version so that I could explore the countryside off road. This bike has been great. It keeps up with anything on the road, is nimble and has great acceleration even fully laden with bags. I no longer have range anxiety as it has a range of at least 400km, more than all bikes I ride with.
It has a couple of faults, its obviously heavy and will never keep up with lighter off road bikes. Its biggest fault however is not being able to turn off the ABS. Whilst this has not been a problem till now, I recently nearly me...Read more

Purchased the first Suzuki 4 stroke GS750 after years of Hondas and was hooked. My 650 vstrom abs 2012 is without doubt the best money can buy. Its seat was a pain in the butt so found a site on the web instructing how to make your own on the standard base and now a brilliant seat. Lift the screen to its top position as cruising is a breeze. We travel two up most of the time and it is loaded down to the gun rails yet it barely notices it. The victorian alps loop over Falls Creek is a blast and the only difference from cruising is using more rev...Read more

Just as the previous reviewer, this is the best bike I had in nearly 40 years of riding. Disregard my suggested areas for improvements that will give it features of a $20K bike - at the price, it is simply brilliant.
Overall impression:
• Power is more than adequate for one-up touring.
• Fuel economy and range - according to my Fuelly database, I'm averaging 3.9L per 100km. That means that I regularly get 450km per tank, with some reserve left.(My previous bike RF900R was getting 180-220km).
• Instrumentation is modern and informative.
• S...Read more

Talk to anyone that knows bikes about the V Strom and you will only hear things like bulletproof reliable dependable handles well and It’s all true.
They tick all the boxes. Very good on the road and soft off road work.
I was going to use this bike as a stepping stone to a BMW 1200 GS but pretty sure I will stay with the 650 V Strom maybe the 1000 V Strom one day if they ever come out with cruise control.
If you’re thinking about this bike just get it at worst sell it and get your money back as they hold there value.
As they have been a...Read more

I bought my V-Strom 650-XT in November 2016, after a quick test ride, only to see why the V-Strom is so popular.
I love the bike even more now than I did back then & this is why:

*Very comfortable for long distances (have done multiple 850km/12hr rides with no discomfort)

*Handles surprisingly well for such a tall/kinda heavy bike (have managed to keep up with multiple sport bikes in corners) & when fully load handling is not at all affected.

*A rather good amount of torque for its displacement.

*Decent fuel economy (I avg 3.9-4.2L/100km general riding, 4.6L with full touring kit fitted & 5L offroading) ...Read more

I have purchased this bike around 4 months ago and have ridden it 10,000km since then.
The pros:
All round this bike is great. In terms of comfort, the seat is plush and the riding position upright. You can ride several hundred km's on it with no worries. The adjustable front and rear suspension makes it easy to tailor the bike to your weight. fuel economy is ~4.5L/100km on the highway and ~5.5L/100km city riding. Engine is my favourite part of this bike, the 650cc EFI V-twin makes great power all through the rev range and had enough horsepow...Read more

Bought my bike new in April 2007 and just sold it about 6 months ago - should have done a review before now .... it was such a wonderful bike
I rode mainly on the road, although the bike was quite capable in basic rough going - I am not a dirt rider, and not confident there, so would not have done the bike justice
Did some 1000km days on the bike and pretty relaxed at the end of the day - so seat comfort quite good although I did add a sheep skin cover and also tried an Air Hawk at times for longer rides.
The performance was excellent and fu...Read more

Bought the bike as a all round tourer when I rekindled my love with motorbikes and I am pretty happy with her,can go where the noisemaking Harley's can't.Not the most attractive looking bike but I am also not the most attractive looking bloke.But we both get serviced regularly.
Can keep up with all my mate's in my motorcycle club,have a huge range of 400 km plus,per tank.When riding conservatively,I get away with less than 5 l a 100 km.Done more than 70 000 km,never missed a beat,just changed chain and sprockets at 55 000 km,still got the orig...Read more

Bought a 2012 650 strom in 2014, has nearly 60k on it now, used for touring, dirt roads, tracks, spirited twisty blacktop and has been a satisfying problem free ride, I mean zero problems, nothing, runs perfectly. For a 650 it never feels lacking in power, has good torque at low revs and nice power up to the redline to keep it fun, very smooth engine and sounds good with a pipe. Not the most attractive looking machine, makes up for it though in delivering a great ride over many different road surfaces. There are heaps of mods and information av...Read more