I am seriously looking at the new 1000 but is it me ? The new owners are keeping quiet. I know of two in the dealers now ! I will be shouting from the rooftops about mine even if I decide the 650 glee is my choice. Come On you Veek owners forget the price, and buffeting, tell us What's great about them.
Firstly.... check about your accessories situation over there. I'm ready for first service but accessories are still nowhere to be seen - I contacted the dealer and Suzuki Australia yesterday since I figure nearly a month is sufficient time to wait. Will await S/A's reply.
I was never caught up in the whole "price" thing. Using direct exchange rates (which doesn't tell the whole story) mine was nearly 15% cheaper than the UK list, and that was "ride away" price. Other bikes sometimes touted as better equipped competitors (Caponord, GS1200, KTM1190Adv) are nearly 50% dearer here - no contest when I really examined what I needed from this bike since the others won't do what my heavily modded DR650 can do on the rough stuff either. The Vstrom is simply my tourer which can take on a bit of gravel and dirt to go from tar road to tar road the short way. This can save me several hundred kms when out and beyond.
OK, my thoughts since you asked -
600 miles into ownership and I'm already down to 5mm chicken strips on the tyres, such is the balance, smooth power delivery and agile handling. I was expecting it to be a little ponderous compared to my previous bike but it isn't, even with that 19" front hoop. Holds a line beautifully, bars give plenty of leverage.
Fuel consumption is better than I expected too. So far it has 4.4/litres per 100 showing (64+MPG) and I'm thinking it'll be around 4.5 all the time when fully run in, even accounting for using more revs on occasions.
In my usage this will always be a 60+mpg bike giving an easy 250 miles between fills. With my 10 litre collapsible fuel bladder I'll have a safe range of nearly 400 miles.
Brakes are top notch, plenty of stopping power and feel (from the GSXR1000 I believe). Only issue is non switchable ABS so I'll be watching for a modification to turn off the rear.
The seat suits me fine even though some here don't agree. Mind you, I've managed 1100kms in a day on a rock hard DR650 seat, so I'm an iron b-u-t-t. The screen depends totally on the individual's needs. Mine is at the highest level and seems fine. I'll need many hundreds of kms on freeway type roads to see if it gets irritating - but who wants to ride freeway anyway? BTW, I'm 180cms and 180lbs just for comparison purposes.
Here we ride all year round, don't have corrosive conditions for bikes and it lives in a ventilated garage. Chances are I'll never be qualified to comment on corrosion or other deterioration.
Wife reports pillion perch is comfortable (I take it she means she can handle short hauls of 200kms or so before a coffee).
I find the bars a little too slim for my hands. I just put on a throttle rocker so I can relax my grip and uncurl my hands a bit.
Luggage handling I won't know about till the panniers arrive. I bought a 45 quid cheapy rear rack soft bag which carries a change of clothes,shoes and toiletries (or my helmet). That'll do a weekend ride if I'm staying in a country pub overnight.
Suspension while good will need to be adjusted in micro steps to get the exact feel I want. The compression damping seemed a little harsh to me on rough tar the other day. There's an advantage in buying the expensive alternative bikes if you don't like fiddling to find what suits you.
The pegs do go exactly where I would naturally put my legs unfortunately. I minimise this by dropping them a little early before I stop and running the pegs up to my calf muscles which lift them up slightly. That's on flat stops only - slightly uphill or downhill stops puts them in a more comfortable position.
All in all I'm very content with the bike. It's not only "great value" (I hate that description - it sounds condescending), it is a very good motor bike in any company. There are things every individual will have to alter or learn to live with but that's the same for every choice out there.
