Motoaus gets Adventurous
Motoaus gets Adventurous – We buy a pair of Suzuki V Stroms and plan some adventures.
A Pair of V-Stroms
It’s hard to read some of the great stories about adventure riding – like Doug on his Harley – without feeling like you should be heading off on an epic journey, rather than loading the dishwasher.
We felt a bit left out, so decided that Motoaus should get a couple of adventure bikes, and hopefully, have some adventures. As we like to keep some semblance of journalistic integrity, rather than try to borrow long term bikes from a distributor to ride and then write overly glowing reviews, (ever read a bad report on a long term loaner?- didn’t think so.) we decided to buy our own.
Our problem was we needed two bikes, therefore each bike had to be half price, if that makes sense. Also, we didn’t want road registered trail bikes, as a lot of our riding will be longer trips on bitumen roads. The obvious choice is Suzuki’s great, but dubious looking V Strom 650. Usually after you own a bike it looks better, but so far no luck.
The Stroms will be used as rolling test beds for various products, as well as our choice of transport for some ride reports. We aren’t decided on what modifications we will make, or even where we will go, but no plan is better than a bad one. Hopefully things will “fall into place”
On to purchasing the bikes, at the best possible price. Used VStroms are popular, and they hold a decent value, so we had to look harder than that. Next choice was the auctions, where we managed to buy two matching K7 650 V-Stroms, one a repossession with minor damage, the other a repairable write off. Both are finished in a delightful dull burgundy colour.
An upcoming article will look at what’s involved in those buying methods, but for now, we have the repossession finished and registered, and the repairable one well underway. We have ridden a number of VStroms in the past, so we will be looking at the buffeting issue we experienced with the fairing screen, tyres, and hopefully doing something about the sewing machine sound they make, without making a leg melting ear splitting muffler mistake. We’ll be needing some luggage too, at least a top box to start with.
We already have a Strike Motorcycle GPS, Scala Rider Intercom sets, and the bikes. Stay tuned for developments.
