Dustin's New Bike Thread

V-strom

Dustin said:
Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone! Ya'll are a great bunch, you really are.

I'm still not sure about what I will do. I'm going Friday morning to remove my personal items, electronics, etc. I will snap photos at that time!

I'm leaning towards that black V-Strom for $6000. I know the seller and I know it's a well maintained bike. It's also completely 'Dustinised' already and I would have to do nothing to it. He's done everything I would do to a bike; emulators in the forks, full Givi bags, crash guards (hahaha), heated grips, aux power, GPS mounts, Pilot Road 3s, centre stand, etc...

I'm wanting to do some two up riding with the girlfriend next year and this would be a great bike for that. It also has the advantage of saving me $400 a year on insurance and $300 on fuel or so. That coupled with great distance comfort & wind protection and over 300 mile range kinda sells it for me.

I've never been too keen on the V-Strom but this is an opportunity to challenge my bias and experience something new. I've heard they are capable handling bikes and it turns out it's only a few pounds heavier (wet) than the 919 or a gen 2 FZ1

2009 Vstrom 650 ABS
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I looked at the ad, Dustin, and the bike looks really nice. It has a nice pipe on it and has been "Canadian-ized" with the hockey tape on the crash bars.:Rockon:

I have a friend with a V-strom 650 and he likes it. Plus you can get a bit more adventurous with it as well. They really do have an amazing fuel range!



 
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Oldschool said:
I looked at the ad, Dustin, and the bike looks really nice. It has a nice pipe on it and has been "Canadian-ized" with the hockey tape on the crash bars.:Rockon:

I have a friend with a V-strom 650 and he likes it. Plus you can get a bit more adventurous with it as well. They really do have an amazing fuel range!



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I am a little jealous if you get this. By the time I am done with what I want to do I will have over 14K in to my Tiger.
 
Hail said:
I am a little jealous if you get this. By the time I am done with what I want to do I will have over 14K in to my Tiger.
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It's easy to drop a lot of coin "fixing" things on a perfectly good bike. I learned my lesson with the FZ. The Adventure has very few add-ons. Just the mirrors that are cheaper and more crash-proof (they have been tested a number of times) and the skid plate. Oh and I did add the orange "bling" in the swing-arm pivot covers, but that is it. It is too easy to just start spending tons of cash on "improving" the bike, before you even test it to see what it can do out-of-the-box. I am lucky that mine had high end stuff from the factory. Your Tiger looks really nice that way to.

Lucky for Dustin, if he buys the V-Strom, someone else already spent all the money and he will get the benefit without the cost, sort of like the guy that bought my FZ.
 
Oldschool said:
It's easy to drop a lot of coin "fixing" things on a perfectly good bike. I learned my lesson with the FZ. The Adventure has very few add-ons. Just the mirrors that are cheaper and more crash-proof (they have been tested a number of times) and the skid plate. Oh and I did add the orange "bling" in the swing-arm pivot covers, but that is it. It is too easy to just start spending tons of cash on "improving" the bike, before you even test it to see what it can do out-of-the-box. I am lucky that mine had high end stuff from the factory. Your Tiger looks really nice that way to.

Lucky for Dustin, if he buys the V-Strom, someone else already spent all the money and he will get the benefit without the cost, sort of like the guy that bought my FZ.
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I realized this too late. I did a boatload of mods to the FZ6 I had and then rinse-repeat with the FZ1. I should have just found a modded bike across the country for a steal and got it shipped.

I learned that lesson after 6 years and bought my Daytona as it sits and still saved almost $2000 over buying locally. It came with atleast $2000 worth of mods in used value ..
 
I don't think it clicks any of your check boxes, but I have to mention the CB1100. I couldn't have it as my only bike, but I would love to have it as a 'cruiser'.

2013-honda-cb11002.jpg

2013-Honda-CB1100_001.jpg


Funny. I just noticed my wife has the same helmet as in the last picture.
 
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It was the CB1100 that lured me into the dealer where I bought my FZ1. I really wanted the CB but now after seeing it in the flesh and perching on it for a few minutes I'm glad I bought the FZ and saved money at the same time.

I'm not knocking the CB but it really did remind me of the bikes we rode in the late 70s.
 
Well, I pulled my accessories (as much as I could) off the bike today. That about finishes the bike off for me. I was going to take photos for you guys but I opted to drop my phone on the ground and destroy the screen. The design of the phone is that the touch sensor portion is built into the screen, so now my phone is basically a paperweight until I take it for repair. Cool. :cuss:
 
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Great bikes, but I was thinking more about sportbikes like R6, GSXR 750, etc. or even better, a superbike like ZX10, CBR, etc. I just love the performance. But that's me.
 
fisherman322 said:
I was looking at the V-Strom before I ended up with the 2008 FZ1s,I have never regretted it, as at only 60yrs old I am still too young to buy a old mans bike
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A Goldwing is an old mans bike. The VStrom is no where close. It is an adventurous man's bike. The FZ1 will get your heart racing but it will hardly take you on an adventure. ....the one thing it can't do well.
 
only joking in calling it a old mans bike:stirpot:,I just prefer a sports bike as my main ride, if I could afford to have both plus my other 3 bikes I would love one,but most likey would buy the 800cc tiger instead:woot:






Hail said:
A Goldwing is an old mans bike. The VStrom is no where close. It is an adventurous man's bike. The FZ1 will get your heart racing but it will hardly take you on an adventure. ....the one thing it can't do well.
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I was tossing around some of my options and I sort of came to the conclusion that maybe I should just take my payout and put it into what remains of my student loan.

That would mean I would basically just have the C3 to get around with all winter and the FZ600 for some fun rides in the spring. I'm not so confident in the FZ's reliability that I would ride California but I could certainly do some nice riding locally over 2 or 3 days. I guess I'd just have to pack a bit of oil because it does munch on oil a bit :(

It's definitely the cheapest option at the moment.
 
Haha, I've made my share of 'American financial blunders' before! It took me years of working 60+ hour weeks to crawl my way out of credit card and loan debt.

I've been thinking about 2014 and all the non-motorcycle trips I've got planned and it made me realise that maybe I should take a break from touring for a year.

So far, I've got these trips on the list:

- Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland
- California for Laguna Seca MotoGP
- Texas for F1
- Alaska cruise
- Jasper & Banff camping trip

Although I seriously doubt that will ALL happen in 2014, this does leave me wondering if I would even have any budget at all for riding.
 
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