Archive for the ‘V-Strom’ Category

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Off To Utah On 5-Day Ride

Monday, June 1st, 2026


Stopped to catch a view in Utah.

Five of us with the RMMRC headed to Utah last week on a 5-day ride. On the BMWs were Dave, Lindsay, and Tom. Gene was on his Yamaha and I was on my Suzuki.

We met out at the Phillips 66 in Morrison and the first order of business was to link our communicators. We failed and headed out with only two linked, Tom riding lead and Gene riding sweep. It was a chilly morning destined to get a lot colder before it got warm.

Our destination on Day One was Green River, Utah, which is about 330 miles. We were doing it all on I-70, just to get there. We ran up from Morrison past Red Rocks, got on I-70, and blasted west.

The first point of interest came at the foot of Floyd Hill. At that spot I-70 comes down a steep incline and then makes a hard turn left into Clear Creek Canyon. That hard left makes the turn a bit of a hazard. The state has been working for a couple years now to straighten out the bend and generally improve that stretch of road but all that has been visible all this time has been some earth-moving as they cut into the hillside a bit.

That has changed. Down at the bottom you now see tall pillars with a short slab of what will be highway indicating the route of the new flyover they’re putting in. Around the bend you see more pillars indicating that they are raising the highway leading to the curve and you can see where the lane will go right through a notch they have cut in the hillside. Very interesting.

We climbed on up toward the Eisenhower Tunnel and by now my fingers were getting numb and I was cursing my failure to wear my electric vest. I had it with me but it wasn’t doing me any good in my bag. We got through the tunnel and headed down to Silverthorne and as it didn’t get much warmer down there I knew I was going to be cold all the way to Vail.

Up from Silverthorne, past Frisco, past Copper Mountain, and up Vail Pass. Just over the top of Vail we encountered more major highway construction. Apparently they are widening the road on that side and there is already a high median barrier in place. However, we were heading west on the eastbound side of that new barrier because they’re just in the process of building the highway on the westbound side. Also, up at the top of Vail Pass, there was a brand new rest area to replace the old one that has been closed for a couple years. Your tax dollars at work. Probably good expenditures.

Tom was setting an aggressive pace the whole way and after we got down and through Vail he bumped it up another notch. We stopped for lunch in West Glenwood and headed on toward Grand Junction. We had discussed where we would need to get gas and we all agreed we could make it to Fruita. But at this blistering pace–80 to 90–my gas mileage was suffering badly. We got into Debeque Canyon and I was down to just one bar on my fuel gauge and it was flashing red. I had no helmet communications but Gene, just behind me, did and I waved him up. I pointed to my gas tank and he got the idea. He told Tom I needed to stop for gas so Tom pulled off at Palisade. I really don’t think I would have made it to Fruita.

Off we went again and once we got into Utah we were truly blasting. That stretch of I-70 has an 80 mph speed limit and we were going the obligatory 5 to 10 mph faster–or more. And the wind was blasting us in the face. Google says from Palisade to Green River is 113 miles. My fuel gauge was showing three bars of five when we got there. Normally I get about 140 on my first two bars.

So now we were in Utah. The slog portion of the trip was over. Tomorrow the real fun begins.

Biker Quote for Today

The bike is an extension of my being; we ride as one.

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Posted in BMW motorcycles, Colorado motorcycle rides, motorcycle touring, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom, Yamaha motorcycles | No Comments »

Touring On The V-Strom

Thursday, May 7th, 2026


Me on the V-Strom.

I used to have three motorcycles so when it came to riding I could choose the one that would be best for the particular ride. Now I’m down to just one, so that’s no longer a choice.

Apropos to that, Clif made this request: “Now that you’re down to only the Vstrom, I was wondering if you would consider doing a post about how that is working for you on longer trips. Thanks.”

Hey, happy to oblige. Here we go.

In the beginning I had only the 1980 Honda CB750 Custom. When the OFMC went on our annual week-long trips that was the bike I rode. But then in 1999 I bought a new 1999 Kawasaki Concours. That was a fine road bike and became my main touring bike for many years. Some years later I picked up the 2006 Suzuki V-Strom 650 but I still favored the Concours for travel because it was just supreme on the highway.

It wasn’t the bike I always took, though. There were a number of years when, for a variety of reasons, I rode one of the others. Like when I was set to leave with the RMMRC on the Great River Road trip in 2022. I went to check my air pressure and found that the valve stem was totally rotted out and would surely have failed somewhere along the way. I quickly transferred all my gear to the V-Strom and headed out.

The thing is, there was never an occasion when I regretted being on the V-Strom. And at times I was really glad I was.

For instance, on the Great River Road trip we were going through some very hilly country in Missouri. Dave was leading and I was right behind him. Dave is a very good rider, on a very big bike. I figured my bike had to be more agile than his, and so anything he could do I should be able to do. So I made a decision to just stick right with him. And I did, and what a great day of riding that was! I don’t normally ride that aggressively, but I did this day. What fun.

Then there was a ride I did, also with the RMMRC, the next year, down into New Mexico and Arizona. I was on the V-Strom again and everyone else was on much bigger bikes. We did some hard riding and several people commented on how “that little bike just kept right up.” Well, yeah, it does just fine. But then there was a day when we were on a super twisty bit of two-lane and as I put it then, I watched all these guys wrestle their big machines through these turns and meanwhile I was dancing. That light, agile bike was a dream.

Now, I will say, the nice thing about the Concours was that I could go high speeds and it just cruised, so smoothly. Going that fast on the little 650 it just feels like the bike is really busy. I get the impression something just a bit bigger might be nice. That’s why I’ve been looking at a couple Yamahas, the FJ-09 and the Tracer 9. At 800cc, either of these bikes would be just enough bigger to be a little smoother without having all that weight that even bigger bikes have.

What has stopped me so far from getting either bike is that I hate buying without actually riding a bike to see how it actually feels for real. I had plans to go up to Cheyenne last fall to test a Tracer but then I got hit on the Honda and was prohibited by my neurosurgeon from driving–much less riding a motorcycle–for 12 weeks. Of course that demo days event was during that 12-week period. Now this year I’m looking at making a road trip out of going to some demo days event somewhere, maybe in Boise. We’ll see.

Meanwhile, I’m quite happy with the V-Strom. It’s a really good little bike.

Biker Quote for Today

“A motorcycle is a bicycle with a pandemonium attachment and is designed for the especial use of mechanical geniuses, daredevils and lunatics.” — George Fitch

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Posted in Honda motorcycles, Kawasaki, motorcycle clubs, motorcycle problems, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club, Suzuki motorcycles, Tales of the OFMC, V-Strom | 2 Comments »

Now Let’s Fix This Hand Guard

Monday, March 30th, 2026

So now I needed to do something about this hand guard that broke off when I dropped the bike recently.

A bit of electrical tape and I’ve got a functioning hand guard again.

Naively, I guess, I headed down to Performance Cycle hoping they would have the item in stock. Well, no, not really. I looked around and did find a few hand guards but nothing like the one I have. So I asked for help.

After a good bit of searching and researching, the (now) two guys helping me found a system specifically designed to fit all models of the Suzuki DL650 (V-Strom). Emphasis on “system.” It consisted of brackets that would need to be installed on the handlebars, steel rod running from one bracket to the other, and then an actual shield to attach to the rod. And of course, this being a motorcycle part, I’m sure I was looking at a fairly high cost, though there was no price tag to look at.

While they were doing all this digging and searching, I was standing there thinking. First, a vague memory came back to me that perhaps this was not the first time this hand guard had come off. The end where it is secured to the handlebar has a bolt, and it was the part attached by the bolt that had broken. At the other end it was just a slot that slipped onto the bar. Previously I had just slipped the intact end onto the bar and propped the other end up onto where it broke off. Maybe I could do that again.

I told the guys what I was thinking and that maybe all I really needed was some black duct tape. “Or electrical tape,” one of them helpfully suggested. Good idea; electrical tape is thin while duct tape is quite wide. Thanks guys, I’m going to try this. If it doesn’t work you may see me again.

Going out to the bike I tried just slipping the guard back into place and it stayed pretty firmly. Great. Riding home it stayed in place.

At home I wound some electrical tape around it a couple times and I think it’s going to work fine. I know I had the headlight on my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom held together with electrical tape for many years and it did just fine. I think I’m good to go here.

Biker Quote for Today

In a world full of noise, the sound of my engine is my peace.

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Posted in Biker Issues, Motorcycle Gear, Motorcycle repair, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

Replacing The Broken Peg

Thursday, March 26th, 2026


The old peg that broke off and the jerry-rigged buddy peg in its place.

My left peg broke off when I dropped the bike up in Estes Park last Wednesday so I needed to replace it. Looking online I found exactly what I needed on eBay for all of $12, no cost for shipping. Nice.

The set of pegs arrived a couple days ago so I set about replacing them.

First I had to remove the buddy peg Bruce had moved up and held on with duct tape, and put that back where it belonged. No problem there. Then I had to bend the bracket the peg attaches to, because in order to fit that buddy peg in place it had been necessary to bend the sides of the bracket toward each other. OK, still not a problem.

I had been surprised when this peg had broken off because I had assumed they were steel but looking at it I could see it was just pot metal. The pictures on eBay looked like the new pegs were steel but when I unwrapped them I saw they, too, were pot metal. Oh well, it is what it is.


You can see the one broken flange. You can also see how the spring is supposed to go on.

Very quickly the issue became trying to crimp the spring and slip it down in the bracket and then slip the bolt through. I tried bending the two ends toward each other and slipping it down in there but it was just not happening. So I took a look at the peg on the other side to see if that might tell me something. It did, but not what I expected.

It turned out that of the two flanges on the other peg, one of them was broken off. Next time the bike gets dropped on the right side it will probably break the other one off, too. Dang pot metal. The pegs came as a set so I could have replaced them both but I figure why bother, I’ll just throw the extra new one in the bag and if I need it I’ll have it.

But what to do about the spring? I looked at it, and its function. It appears its function is to keep the peg up if you flip it up. OK. I don’t generally have any reason to flip the peg up and because I jimmyed with the bracket it is now quite snug and if I raise the peg it stays firmly in place. Who needs the spring? Not me. I’m taking the easy way out here.

So all in all it was a pretty easy fix. And I’ll know exactly what to do when and if the other peg breaks off.

Now all I need to do is fix the hand guard. Did I mention that the left handguard also broke off when I dropped the bike? It did. I have more repair to do. Dropping the bike can be such a pain.

Biker Quote for Today

Riding a motorcycle is like experiencing life in fast forward.

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Posted in Motorcycle Gear, motorcycle mechanics, motorcycle problems, Motorcycle repair, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | 1 Comment »

A New Toy For The Tool Kit

Monday, February 16th, 2026

This compact air compressor will now be a regular item I carry with me.

Someone brought a bunch of gear from a former member to last month’s RMMRC meeting and I managed to snag something that could be useful.

This thing is a Pittsburgh Automotive air compressor that is small enough to fit into the top bag or one of the side bags on the V-Strom just to be there when needed. Nice.

The one thing it did not have with it was any way to connect it to the battery on the bike. It has one of those connectors that you plug into what used to be called the cigarette lighter in a car, but my bike does not have one of those. I needed to go to some auto supply place to find one.

But then I was at the Colorado Motorcycle Expo a couple weeks ago and as I was walking around in an area where there were vendors set up tables filled with parts it occurred to me that someone might have what I needed. Sure enough, I found a pigtail with the right kind of plug and it was $5. I was happy to hand the guy the five.

I could just go ahead and connect it to the battery now, as I have with the connector for my electric vest, but I won’t do that. For one thing, if I do end up getting a second bike that would leave me with only the one bike ready when this thing might be needed.

No, I’ll just stick it in the top bag and let it ride around with me everywhere I go. Hopefully I’ll never need it, but if I do, or someone else needs it, it will be there.

Biker Quote for Today

A world of endless roads is calling. Get out and ride them. — Eric Trow

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Posted in Motorcycle Gear, motorcycle problems, Motorcycle repair, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

Bulletproof But What About ‘Minor’ Parts?

Monday, January 12th, 2026

For lack of a water pump my old Concours sits in storage.

My one bike these days is my 2006 Suzuki V-Strom 650. With less than 51,000 miles on it currently it has a long life still ahead of it. Particularly considering that the engine is considered bulletproof, as in it will just keep on going and going and going.

But. And that’s a big “but.”

Just last week I ran across an item on Adventure Riders titled “Thinking Long Term,” about this “but” and something we seldom think about.

Zac, the writer, focuses not on the big parts, like the engine or frame, but on the little bits. Things like sensors. We all know how quickly electronic parts become outdated. What do you do if your bike depends on some bit of electronics and that unit dies, and then you can’t find a replacement?

This is not a theoretical exercise. When my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom got smashed I was faced with a decision. Do I bail it out of tow-yard jail and try to get it fixed, or do I just let it go? I chose to let it go because I had a pretty good idea that even if it was fixable–not at all a certainty–the repair would also add considerably to the overall expense and then, could I even get the parts?

Then it became even less theoretical recently when I was talking with Rick Steele over at Steele’s Cycles. We were talking about the factors that come into play when they are deciding what to do with a bike they have taken in. He used my 1999 Kawasaki Concours as an example.

As they do with all bikes they take in, they put it up on the lift and checked it out thoroughly. It ran–I knew that–but they discovered that the water pump was leaking. I did not know about that. And the thing was, Rick told me, you can’t get that water pump any more. They know a guy out east who repairs water pumps and they sent it to him but when they got it back it still leaked. So now, my old Connie is sitting in one of Steele’s storage areas with its fate unclear. The engine is as bulletproof as ever but not the water pump.

I guess this is an issue that aficionados of old bikes have lived with for a long time. Sometimes you can kludge in a different part and make it work. Sometimes you can fabricate a new part if you have the tools and the skill. Sometimes you can’t.

In my mind it makes the point in favor of newer bikes. I’ve lived for years with the reality that all my bikes were old enough that no dealer wanted to deal with them. Fortunately there are independent shops that pick up that trade. But at this point I’d just rather have the convenience of taking the bike to the dealer for service, knowing the parts are available. Plus, some of the new tech is nice. I’ve never had cruise control and that is something I’d like.

All of this is on my mind as I wonder about getting a new bike. And at this point that question is totally undecided.

Biker Quote for Today

Bikes may rust, but the memories they create never fade.

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Posted in antique motorcycles, Biker Issues, Honda motorcycles, Kawasaki, Motorcycle repair, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom, vintage motorcycles | No Comments »

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