A few years back after I'd begun racing with WERA, the thrill of aggressive street riding petered out for me. I got so I wasn't riding my Hayabusa hardly at all. After several years of putting between 5 and 8 thousand miles on the clock it had languished unloved for maybe a year or two. It just wasn't right. So I sold it to a buddy and took the proceeds and got myself this 2005 Suzuki VStrom 650.
I enjoy the fact that the VStrom 650 is so versatile. Some call it the Swiss Army Knife of motorcycles. It can carve up corners with a good, confident feeling, it can haul a bunch of stuff if I want to tour, and it can venture off road a bit when that sort of riding is desired.
The 650cc power plant on the VStrom is virtually identical to the one used on its cousin, the SV650. I sometimes jokingly refer to it as the "Halfabusa" but essentially that's what it is. Identical pistons, bore and stroke. There are only two cylinders on the SV as opposed to four on the Busa and the numbers bear that out. The horsepower and peak torque is right at half what you get on the Hayabusa.
Here are a few pictures:
I also have a 2001 Suzuki SV650 and a Honda RC51.
Please visit my tribute to Erold (The Whale) Ansell.
Don't hang out in the No-Zone!