2006 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom

[2LZ]

2006 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom 1000 mile review:

The pro's....
1- Power. Lots of torque from 2500 that pulls to red line. Love that part of a V Twin. After years of riding 200's, the 66 hp and 44 torque are a welcome guest. Very smooth and predictable. The motor does zero funny stuff in how it presents its power.
2- Super comfy seat, even for my fat ass. Go out for two or three continuous hours and zero monkey butt. After adding pull-back risers and pedal extenders, it's also now has a much more prone riding position. That helped a lot. This isn't a crotch rocket but the seating was tending toward that feel.
3- Suspension is more than adequate, especially after finally dialing it in. The forks have a preload adjust and the rear shock has preload adjust (nice accessible side knob) and also, dampening adjust. I do have to keep in mind that it's 15 years old so high tech, it's not.
4- Handles really well for a big bike. Sweepers are almost like dancing with a graceful partner. Very predictable.
5- Gauge cluster is large-ish and very easy to read. Awesome for old eyes.
6- A 6 gallon gas tank. It's got a good range.

The cons:
1- It's big....and heavy. While this adds to a super-solid feel, after years of riding smaller bikes, it's an adjustment. Kind of like after years of slow-grilling chicken and ribs, grilling a steak now is a crap shoot.
2- Not a mileage miser. Even with a full tune and filters. I guess that happens when the throttle is twisted.
3- Regarding simple maintenance, virtually everything is hidden. After years of wrenching on super-simple China Bikes, this thing has tons of Tupperware to remove. Just yesterday, I had to remove the seat, two side panels and the rear grab bar.....just to get at the rear brake fluid reservoir. It is nice that they left a small hole in the side panel to see the fluid level but if it's low....bust out a wide variety of tools.
4- I have no idea how Suzuki marketed this behemoth as a "dual sport". It's not. Dual sports don't weigh a million pounds and have boatloads of fairing plastic to crush. If I want to ride a true dual sport, I'll get on Q.
5- BIGGEST complaint, by far. THE REAR BRAKE SUCKS! People complain about the RX3 brakes???? They are Brembo/Willwood compared to this rear.
Depress pedal....it's a dead block of wood. Press harder....still wooden....but I may feel something. Press harder....lockup. No joy felt at all.
I did re-pad the brakes all around and I bled the rear with new DOT 4, just yesterday. Zero change. I'm going to rebuild the caliper and take a heavy scuff pad to the rear disk to see if that helps. Feels like a froze piston BUT.....there are rear brake complaints on older V-Strom forums all over the web. I hope I can do something with it. The all-mechanical drum on my old 1974 Harley worked better....seriously. I'm trying to keep in mind I did buy a 15 year old, used bike. The jury is currently out.

More to follow.....

[herbie]

Good honest review 2lz! I agree with most things you said, can’t really speak to the maintenance part as I haven’t had to do much of anything to remove the Tupperware. I’m not sure what’s happening on the rear brake issue, mine seems just fine. The bike is a bit of a pig and not great on off road stuff but I have another bike for that, well almost

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by herbie

Good honest review 2lz! I agree with most things you said, can’t really speak to the maintenance part as I haven’t had to do much of anything to remove the Tupperware. I’m not sure what’s happening on the rear brake issue, mine seems just fine. The bike is a bit of a pig and not great on off road stuff but I have another bike for that, well almost

I pulled the brake apart yesterday afternoon, even though I'm still waiting on the caliper kit (all the rubber stuff). I took my die grinder and heavy scuffer to the disk, resurfaced the new pads, buffed the sliders and bolts on my bench grinder, then reassembled everything with brake grease, where needed. More miles today to see if it helps.

Thanks for letting me know that your rear seems normal, herbie! There is hope....

A couple days ago, I was hooking it up a steep twisty we have by my house called "Ram's Horn Grade". I was getting a good rhythm going and picking up the pace. Came out of a sweeper left pretty hot, was tossing it over to the right while downshifting and on both binders setting up for the super-tight right.....and the rear walked right out on me, locked up. It went from numb to skidding, just like that.
After I got my butt un-puckered, that's when I decided to tear it apart again.

[cheesy]

You might take a gander at the rear master and the rear brake hose while you are at it. Possibly some crud in the return side of the master or the hose may be delaminating internally. The hose thing I kinda doubt but the bike is going on 15 years old.

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by cheesy

You might take a gander at the rear master and the rear brake hose while you are at it. Possibly some crud in the return side of the master or the hose may be delaminating internally. The hose thing I kinda doubt but the bike is going on 15 years old.

UPDATE: Yesterday, I rebuilt the caliper, master cylinder, and installed a brand new braided brake line. It helped a little, I think....but the brake still sucks. I can only hear the bike reviewers online if this brake was on a China bike.

I just now ordered a new rotor with pads. I already have new pads on it but I want to try newly mated surfaces, just to keep an even playing field. This will mean every part will have either been rebuilt or replaced. If the brake still sucks....then it really is just a lousy brake.

I'm hoping the rotor is glazed or blued and just not dispersing the heat properly.

[2LZ]

Done! I finally replaced the disc (rotor) and new pads, yet again. After a good seating, the brake finally feels as it should. Out of all the bikes, over all the decades, I've never had to replace a rotor before.
I guess if a guys replaces/rebuilds every component, positive results should follow, right?

[herbie]

Dang 2LZ, all that time and money for a rear brake! I'm glad you got it fixed though. But who needs brakes anyway

[2LZ]

Well..... After the mishap in this thread:

http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=29791

It seems things are looking up. I got every batch of parts in and installed, with the exception of the hand guard and bar ends, which are probably sitting on a ship in the LA harbor.

Of course, the tank fairing is currently unavailable but my paint kit came in from Colorite. I just need to wait for warm, dry weather. Probably do it in the Spring.

I went to breakfast with the boys dad this morning and we were chatting. He said he was talking to his son and asked about his future plans, even if he would be riding anymore. He took quite a spill and tumble, after all.

He then informed his dad that he'd like to find something just like my V-Strom 650. He really liked it. That was code for, "I wonder if Funcle 2LZ would sell me his?"

I may just do that. Come to find out, my buddy who found me this bike, is selling his pristine 2006 V-Strom 1000 with only 12K miles on it. He's like herbie and doesn't hang onto bikes for too long. We'll see!

[herbie]

Originally Posted by 2LZ

. He's like herbie and doesn't hang onto bikes for too long. We'll see!

you know that’s right!