Opinions on DL1000 V Strom as an 850 replacement

[Suzukian]

I found it interesting what you wrote about the ABS. I use d to buy Mercedes Benz cars to fix and flip. I did quite a few, some that if I had held onto, well, I'd be much better off right ow. I would say that 85% of the problems was the German car manufacturers fetish with using relays to turn on relays, or multiple ones, and tracking which one was bad was a nightmare. However, the cars being so consistent, I could get these cars for half of their private selling price, and fix the electronics in a day. If you get any electronic problems 9 times out of 10 it will be a relay. I'm an Electronic Technician, I would take the relays apart, and find that the contacts were just dirty. File them clean, and the problem was fixed. If the contact pads were too burnt or pitted,I would replace the relay, but the diagnostic would be done. I made a lot of money off of those cars. If you bring the bike in for repair, tell them ahead of time that you want any part replaced returned to you. Most states make you request this and write it down on the service contract.

[Cipher]

They say that in spite of all our spreadsheets, every decision is ultimately emotional
On paper the Strom was clear leader.....
The 1100R followed us home. We went for a ride at dusk in 29F. Bones still cold this morning.
I had an R100RT thirty years ago and got quite comfortable with the agricultural shifting an relatively low power.
The fairing was just too much.
This bike is light years ahead in suspension and many other areas.
With non servo brakes, single spark and cable operated clutch and what looks like the M94 transmission, I hope I've dodged some potential headaches.
Anyway with only 31000km on the clock we can expect a long time before wear is apparent.
Now to get started on a full inspection and service. Horn doesn't work and the oil filler cap weeps a bit.

get a k1300 and realize the joy of owning the perfect motorcycle. Aint got no tractor gear box is click click click.
oddly the suzuki clutch issue you mention and the poster whos son had it repaired the UK dude fixes a number of nasty clutches and the K1200 and to a degree 1300 are helped by him as well.
Personally I think a lot of the vocal detractors spewing clutch hate are old squids doing rocket launches from standing stops. Grow up boys the things were not made to be abused. My little 550 pulls the teeth back on its front sprocket as a result of squidly shifting at redline in all gears. cept 6th itll only pull 9500 in 6th.
NNo folow up on the 750 Zephyr? iirc they were the last of the I4 UJM kawasaki bikes. Air cooled and one imagines perfected to the degree their configuration allowed.

[Cipher]

I found it interesting what you wrote about the ABS. I use d to buy Mercedes Benz cars to fix and flip. I did quite a few, some that if I had held onto, well, I'd be much better off right ow. I would say that 85% of the problems was the German car manufacturers fetish with using relays to turn on relays, or multiple ones, and tracking which one was bad was a nightmare. However, the cars being so consistent, I could get these cars for half of their private selling price, and fix the electronics in a day. If you get any electronic problems 9 times out of 10 it will be a relay. I'm an Electronic Technician, I would take the relays apart, and find that the contacts were just dirty. File them clean, and the problem was fixed. If the contact pads were too burnt or pitted,I would replace the relay, but the diagnostic would be done. I made a lot of money off of those cars. If you bring the bike in for repair, tell them ahead of time that you want any part replaced returned to you. Most states make you request this and write it down on the service contract.

I have never had my ABS kick in on a bike.. Ive had the traction control do it twice and its a freaky disturbing thing though one assume nicer than spinning out.
ABS is a pure joy in winter in autos dear lord the first time I had i kick in during a blizzard with snot slippery roads its blew my mind. full though unresponsive steering and no loss of control.
The shop class boys in grade 11 god how they knew everything. It was 44 years ago but they actually believed they could modulate brakes faster than an abs system.
same knobs who disable DRL alas.
as for Merc complexity Road and Track or Car and Drive had a snippet article ages ago on that. They used an instance of an extra link in the rear suspension which made a profound improvement in keeping the wheels on the pavement. It was beaautiful.

[Suzukian]

I must say I really enjoyed working on German cars. Once you understood the logic, you saw the concept carried out through all their cars. The most money I made on a car was a 1975 British Racing Green with a Cognac tan leather (MB-Tex) that had a piece of the passenger floor rotted out. I got the car for $1200 dollars. I had a friend weld in a section of the factory floor replacement panels, as the rest was so solid. I sole that car two weeks later for $8000 dollars. The person I sold it to was the father in law of a friend of mine. Two weeks ago, he told me his father in law still drives it, it is garage kept, and it runs like a charm. That car is worth a lot of money today.

I'm a bit old fashioned when it comes to brakes on bikes. I don't like ABS, and I have never locked up my front wheel. I know some people who love it, I'm in the other camp. I drove a Honda VF800, the driveshaft version, and the ABS was horrible. I didn't know what end of the bike was doing what, and yet, it did not feel cohesive in braking. I rode with a side car (a Velorex) for about 5 years, all 4 seasons. That bike would drive through 5" inches of snow with no problem. It was a joy. I should have never gotten rid of that sidecar, especially seeing how much they go for today. I had the model below, with the fuly controlled 3rd wheel. It had a drum brake in there, but I never hooked it up. Talk about stability on ice and snow! Behind the seat was a trunk lid, and all that space was available.

Velorex-Sidecar .jpg

[Brendan W]

This is the first machine with ABS for me. As long as it behaves itself I'm okay with it. Who knows it could save a low speed spill some day on a muddy,leafy lane.
It's not the servo system so there is the option to remove it. The brakes are incredible. One finger and it's like dropping an anchor and maybe that's a reason for the ABS?
Gear changes getting better, seems like it's a matter of adapting to the motor. I'll probably have it figured out but still won't be able to explain it.
There is an MRA touring screen with adjustable slot but no matter what I do the noise at head level is too much. I think it will be coming off.
We don't ride more than an hour and never faster than 100kph.
Mary reckons the 850 seat is better Who would have thought?
I sometimes think I should have kept such and such like the Z650. They are fetching three times their new price now. Somehow in these dreams the reality of forty years of storage never interferes.

[Suzukian]

That's the problems I had with the cars I restored. I had a 1964 230S, only 600 were made, only 200 had the Borg Warner manual transmission which mine had. I sold it to my brother in law who swore he would restore it, or sell it back to me. That was the deal. I even knocked $1000 off the price I paid. He hasn't touched the car. After 15 years, I told him he had time enough, and all of a suddenly, he doesn't remember the deal we had. My Great Nephew, his Grandson developed Muscular Dystrophy, and he wanted to use the car to drive him around. This is a person of means. I let it go, we knew each other for so many decades, but he has matured into a very nasty old person, and I've had enough. The car sits in the open end of his Barn rotting away, 80% worse than when I did the exchange. Sad to see such a rare car disintegrate into nothing. I learned a good lesson. We come into this world with nothing and that's how we're going to leave it.

This picture looks exactly how the car, that sits languishing, slowing decaying into worthlessness could have looked, same color, all it needed was piston rings, as Mercedes had just done the top end, but the guy I purchased it from thought Mercedes was trying to rip him off when they told him the motor could be re-ringed. At worst, a 1st overbore, and new pistons. I know and have worked on many of these engines. That's why I got it so cheap. The guy didn't understand what he had. Se la vid!

230SL.jpg