2005 Suzuki DL1000 (V-Strom)

September 5th, 2011 Leave a comment Go to comments

What can a say? The DL is a solid bike. With this bike I could ride 500 miles in a day without difficulty. I could play on a gravel road from time to time. I could reset my brain over my lunch hour. 

I found two weaknesses with this bike.  First, the front end pushed when you cornered hard.  If may have been a setup issue or simply a trait of the bike.  Second, the bike would develop a wobble at high speeds.  The trait might show up during a spirited pass on the freeway.  The solution was to lean forward.  Something about the aerodynamics lifted the front wheel. 

Below are a couple pics from the Craig’s List as I used to sell the bike.

DSC_0002

 

DSC_0005

I sold it when we were trying to buy another house and needed down payment cash. It was short-term issue as I bought my SuperDuke less than a year later.

Upgrades:

  • Suzuki tank bra
  • Givi rack and bags
  • Givi crash guards (which failed on the first impact.)
  • Folding mirrors
  • Heated grips
  • I blackened the exhausts and mid pipe.
  • Dunlop 607 tires (huge improvement of the crap OEM Bridgestone tires.
  1. No comments yet.
You must be logged in to post a comment.