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  • 65 mile waste

    20:08 on May 5, 2009 | 2 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: , , , , V-Strom DL650

    After my disappointing weekend last week, we decided that I needed to stop hiding my head in the sand and actually go and find me a bike. I have spent a week pondering whether the V-Strom is maybe too big for me and even started looking around to see what else is out there, but I couldn’t help coming back to it. On to Bike Trader we went, found the next V-Strom on the list and phoned up the dealer. Luckily they were open on a Bank Holiday and I had a good feeling after hearing from them how nice it looked; I could finally get myself a bike and start gearing it up for our trip!

    65 miles later we arrived at the dealership; we parked up and went on in. There she was, a beautiful black Strom, I walked around the side – it looked just like the one that I lost. We walked around it and to our dismay the other side was trashed, someone had obviously dropped this bike, probably on gravel, and from the looks of it probably more than once. I probably could have gotten over the damage – I have dropped a bike before, it happens, but what shouldn’t happen is rust; rust on the chain, rust on the side stand, rust on the nuts, almost everything that was once a shiny metal colour was now rusting.

    There is no way with my knowledge of bikes that I could guess how much it would cost to fix, or even if it needs fixing, maybe this sort of thing happens to all bikes? I couldn’t buy it in that condition; no matter how much I want a bike. My second attempt of finding a bike has failed, maybe I’m cursed, or maybe there is a better one waiting for me! Watch this space and I’ll let you know how I get on!

     
  • A Strom in the works

    21:36 on April 27, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: , , , , V-Strom DL650

    Gary had great fun on his test ride, unfortunately I, on the other hand did not. Picture this if you will, a tiny little Gen (me) on a great big motorbike, barely able to tippy toe the floor and then being told to go and ride it.

    I was wary from the get go, I should have just said no and got the dealer to put a lowered seat on the bike, but I didn’t want to be a nuisance and so carried on barely being able to touch the floor. For the more experienced rider this probably would not be a problem but for newbie like me… how do I stop?!

    It terrified me to the point where I began thinking that maybe the V-Strom isn’t the bike for me, it was nice while I was moving, felt dependable and strong, but well… how the hell do I stop??!

    gen_strom1

    We’ve read many forum posts and have had many recommendations and most people say to get the same bikes; there’s less spare parts to carry on the road, your machines are both capable of the same things and when it comes to maintenance there’s only one set of instructions to read! I think Gary now has his heart set on a V-Strom, so I thought I would give it another chance.

    We went down to the second hand dealer where we had previously seen a black V-Strom that I have been wanting for two weeks now, I sat on it and my feet where almost flat on the ground, just an extra inch – which a moulded seat could give me, and I would be flat! We chatted with the sales guy, found out how much he would give us for Gary’s Monster in part-exchange, he was telling me about the extras that had already been fitted, and the thoughts of my bleak morning disappeared. Just as I was thinking “right, I’m going to buy this” out walks the other salesman and sticks a sold sticker on the bike…

     
  • To Strom or not to Strom?

    11:28 on April 19, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: , , , , V-Strom DL650

    Gen and I have been out bike hunting this weekend with the intention of finding a suitable bike for Gen and possibly a non-hand killer upgrade for me. After looking online pretty much all week and being bombarded with information it seemed like an impossible task to make a decision on a bike, there are a lot of bikes out there and many of them more than fit the bill. Gen had seen a V-Strom DL650 advertised for sale locally and everywhere we turn people have been recommending the V-Strom (yes Kev, I know you recommended it before I bought the monster) so we went to check it out.

    Gen sat on the V-Strom and although she looked tiny on it seemed to be able to handle it fine; it’s actually a lot lighter than it looks and despite the bike being rather tall, she managed to get at least the tips of her toes on the floor each side. We left the dealer thinking we may have found what we’re looking for and had been firmly convinced that buying second-hand was the way to go; no instant-loss showroom tax, cheaper to begin with and we’re both probably less likely to cry if and when (hopefully never) we drop one.

    From there we spent the next hour or so visiting various dealers, but nothing else seemed to spark interest. We decided to phone Crescent in Verwood and see if they had a V-Strom I could take out for a test ride. They did, so we booked it in and made our way there.

    V-Strom DL650 Test Ride

    I have to say it looks SO much better in white, which unfortunately makes it all that more dissapointing to find out there’s only two of them in the UK. So how was the ride? Overall I would say first impressions are positive, it is of course a very different ride from what I’m used to on the Monster:

    1. The gearing is very different, on the Monster I often get a lot out of each gear and I have to change very little, the V-Strom however needs a little more work, although I suspect this is actually fairly normal as I do remember the Monster feeling very weird when I first got it.
    2. On the Monster I have wind to the face pretty much the entire ride, the V-Strom is very different, that front screen pushes the air off my face, but it does seem to hit the very top of my helmet giving me a rather odd rippling sensation across the top of my head.
    3. It’s big, I felt so tall! I can see over cars, I can see over hedges, and it generally gives a better view, of course the other side to being big you’d think would be the handling but although there was an obvious difference, I never felt like I was having to work, it was easy to move and despite being so huge the turning circle is way better than the Monster which is known for it’s very poor lock.
    4. Last but certainly not least comes the only part I really cared about; comfort and for the half an hour I was riding it, all the boxes can be ticked. My bum was fine, by the end of the ride I felt like I could’ve gone on forever, no problems at all. Most importantly my hands were nowhere near being numb, the riding position is much more upright, and I finally understand the comfortable armchair analogy Kev so often uses when talking about his BMW.

    So I guess the question now is are we looking for just one V-Strom for Gen, or are we also looking for a second one for me?!

     
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