‘I’ll choose it over the car, even at 0°C’
Two wheels trump four, even in winter
SO I FINALLY got to ride the V-strom. And I love it. It’s tall — as I knew it would be — but I can get my feet down and that’s enough. The seating position is beautifully upright, giving not only a superb view of traffic and scenery but it also means my back isn’t screaming after ten minutes. My motorway commute is over all-too-soon and with the heated grips and a pair of heated gloves (see page 94), I still choose it over the car even at 0°C.
While it’s a weighty thing, and that weight is high up, it’s not ungainly; it goes round roundabouts nicely, flits across country extremely well — stable and nimble — and round town, it’s far more manouvreable than its stated 232kg would suggest.
The engine is amazing — masses and masses of grunt, meaning overtaking is simply a case of rolling on almost all the time. It surges forwards effortlessly the moment you ask it to while sounding superb. It has a bit of a rough edge to it past 5000rpm that the 650 version in the
SV650X I rode through the summer didn’t but of course, you’re never past that when cruising so it’s not an issue (ahem).
The screen is a nice-have — adjustable in three positions for height (remove and re-fit bolts) as well as three angles of attack (spring-loaded and adjustable on the go). I’m still experimenting with those but there is definitely some serious buffeting at the helmet — something owners have discussed at length. They seem to suggest it’s down to the mirrors, so I have a couple of tweaks in the pipeline for next month.
In the meantime though, it’s out with the ACF-50 to keep it all spick and span…