Good riddance to bad rubbish

  • Thread starter Thread starter guffter6969
  • Start date Start date
Normally I'd say something like "Enjoy the new bike, whatever it is. I hope it everything you want it to be." In fact, I've posted almost that exact phrase several times on this forum, but tonight I'm a bit busy looking for this horse I didn't know I have :rolleyes:
 
I liked the V Strom, but not the surging :eek: Never noticed this on any 1100 or 1150 I've ridden. Mate's got the Kwak version, he's going to fit a power commander.
 
Possibly crap - cracking engine though. I fancy putting an RSV Mille engine in my KTM 950 just to try it out.

Oh and the Caponord is hideous as well. The KTM and GS are hideous too, but in a cool sort of way.
 
It was a toss up between a vstrom and a 1150 when I got my back. Vstrom engine pulled like a train, brakes were awful but headlights were the best on any bike I have had. Head/Wallet/Missus said vstrom, heart said GS so thats what I went for and so far so good.
 
guffter6969 said:
I have bit the bullet and bought a new v strom 1000, the one with the factory fitted luggage, before you lot get on your bmw brand high horse ( wizard ???? ) it cost me nothing to change and hopefully it will keep going without having to resort to a trip to the dealers every couple of months for a rant n' rave.

First impressions are favourable, seems to pull like a good un' and the paintwork seems nice and thick etc.

As a side issue been interesting noting the ride mag readers survey and where the 1200 came in the reliability stakes

Nice knowing you, Have a nice day now!!!!!! :thumb
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Hope you will be happy with Vstrom. Had a KLV1000, excellent bike-super comfort (better than BM), better engine- mine had Akros on sounded awsome-went to switzerland on it last year fantastic. Build quality is fine if you keep your bike nice and clean. Lights switchgear, controls all nice user friendly, home mechanic fun factor i.e servicing and generally pulling the bike to bits excellent.

Now the down side.
The suspension is too soft if you are a big lardy lad like me-fitted sonic springs tailored for my weight and used ohlins fork oil(couldnt afford their springs next best thing??-NOT). Did make the bike a bit better, however the springs are very cheap and only have preload adjustment on the front and basically you are stuck with them-no alternative items for this particular bike. I also fitted a fork brace custom made from the states to try and give the front forks some feel. :beerjug:

Rear suspension is okay

The brakes are horrendous the bikes achilles heel-only if you ride real fast, I put braided lines on and ebc sintered pads-no better. Then fitted a radial master cylinder from gsxr 600-still no good. Did loads of searches for alternative brakes-only harrison billett and another firm did after market kits but were 600 pounds or so and by this time I was nervous at chucking more money at the bike and decided to change to beamer as my 2 mates had them and i had rode theirs and could feel the superior handling and brakes which are amazing-servo.

The last downside for me is the styling of these bikes-like the varadero they lack a true identity, the beamers and KTM look like super enduro however the latters looks are a compramise of road and off road in other words ugly muthas-am allowed to say this having owned one for a year and been the butt of many a joke :D
 

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just learnt how to post images hopefully a better picture of me old klv1000

apologies if theres no picture here :confused:
 

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I really like my wee Strom - I reckon they're good value for money and even look cool in a Jap sort of way :o
 

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Horses for courses, shame you didn't gel with your GS. Better luck with your new steed.
 
Blimey...this is all very nice and conciliatory.
They will all be waving hankies as you ride off into the sunset next.
Reckon all the bile has gone to Tentoone (ex GSer and wind-up merchant).

Mind you,if you feel you are being left out of the brickbat chucking,how does "As a loyal BWM owner who would rather have his testicles nailed to a coffee table than criticise our Bavarian gods; if we ever see you again,we'll set the Rottweilers on you" sound to you?. :D :D

Seriously though,reading through your posts,i can see why you wanted to change.Why not write a comparison piece in a couple of months?.I'm sure an objective assessment of the two bikes good/bad points would be of interest to a number of people.
Group hug anyone?.
 
Les Wassall said:
Time to get your coat :upyou



How's that :D
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Got me coat, went out and came back and still no abuse.

Am I on the same forum? :nenau

:D
 
Vstrom vs GS

I just went the other way ie: from 06 Vstrom 1000 to 1200GS. Why? well there was this wierd vibration at about 2500 rpm during acceleration in all gears. but the wind turbulance really got to me. (best with shield all the way down) Here's a way to fix the front end lightness. 1. drop the forks in the triple clamps about 6 mm and then 2. crank up the rear preload 10 clilcks. This made a huge difference in handling and entrance into turns for me. Wisdom courtesy of Dirck Edge of Motorcycle Online. The bike really corners well though, almost as good as the gs12. Gas mileage for me was about 40 city and 50 hiway. I would recommend some crash bars as the bike can be hard to catch during sudden stops on uneven ground. The other deciding factor for me was that I wanted ABS. We have lots of deer here.
 
I have noticed some vibration on th strom at around 2500 to 3000 rpm was going to go back to the dealers next week and mention it, was also considering dropping the yolk a little bit was going to give it some time for me to adjust to it.
 
you also need to buy a power commander for a vstrom to iron out the awful cough, splutter at about 4,500 revs i think-cant quite remember?
makes the bike super smooth when fitted :thumb
 
Riderr said:
Here's a way to fix the front end lightness. 1. drop the forks in the triple clamps about 6 mm and then 2. crank up the rear preload 10 clilcks. This made a huge difference in handling and entrance into turns for me. Wisdom courtesy of Dirck Edge of Motorcycle Online. The bike really corners well though, almost as good as the gs12.
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This sort of mod sorts out the geometry issue and sounds like a good move in the right direction. On some bikes, however, the soft front forks bottom out too easily once all this extra weight is put over the front, especially during braking over bumps. It's often worth changing the front spring rate, fork oil and, if you can afford it, have a revalve done. :thumb
 
guffter6969 said:
Got 7K for it, Apr 05, cast wheels without ABS, but with heated grips, alarm, panniers and 8000 miles under it belt. I was happy enough with it.
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It will be interesting to see what the V Strom is worth after 15 months use. I guess you might have changed frustration at the BMW dealers for V Strom running costs.

Anyway, best of luck. Maybe report back after a few months on how its going? There must be others on here who think about making the same move to a Jap bike.
 
guffter6969 said:
Got 7K for it, Apr 05, cast wheels without ABS, but with heated grips, alarm, panniers and 8000 miles under it belt. I was happy enough with it.
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Thanks for getting in touch guffter, as you know I bought this 'lemon' last week from Southport Superbikes, a BMW dealer. I paid £7900 with a 12 month BMW warrantee. It had 8700 miles on it. Back end seems fine, time will tell if they've finally sorted it but I've got a full 12 months to keep an eye on it.

Watch this space.

Phil.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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