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