2012 V-Strom 650 Test Ride

[Stump]

Id just use the old string alignment method. Wrap a piece of string around the back tire so that it crosses the tread at the far back of the tire. Pulls it to the front tire. Sight down the string from the front tire and see if when the string just kisses the leading edge of the rear that it is parallel to the edges of the front tire. Any straight piece of metal or wood works too.. but not as easy to use alone. Check you Marks on the swingarm axle adjustment for true.. ding with a chisel to mark the real true if necessary.

[Smallville]

Congrats on the new ride, Joe. I have always liked those bikes. Reminds me that I need to test ride one someday.

[jimbeauxk]

Congrats on joining the dual ST/V-strom club. Now try not to spend all your time and energy pondering, "if I only had one, which would it be..." I do it daily.

[ChucksKLRST]

Congrats on joining the dual ST/V-strom club. Now try not to spend all your time and energy pondering, "if I only had one, which would it be..." I do it daily.

Yep

[TRNewtown]

I am thinking about joining the dual ST/V-strom club. I have a 2004 ST1300 that I really like for paved roads and recently had the opportunity to take a week-long test drive of a 2008 non-ABS Wee-Strom in the Dominican Republic. The bike was lowered, had grip puppies, and had the wind shield raised a bit.

For gravel and stone sections of road the strom handled great. I learned a new term (babyheads) to describe medium sized rocks in the roadway. There is no way I could have traveled these roads with my ST. The strom was much lighter and seemed to handle the rough stuff with ease.

I am now looking for a used Wee-Strom with aluminum panniers. Any thoughts on ABS versus non-ABS?

[Mellow]

Any thoughts on ABS versus non-ABS?

I'm a big fan of ABS. The Wee is still a street bike mainly and that's where mine will be most of the time so ABS is what I wanted.

[Dinkie Diesel]

Look what the wind blew in from the west while I was in Greenville, TX.




Wait till you see how Joe mounts all his farkles. Looks better than factory. He even uses rubber grommets when running wire through plastic. I might fly him in when I get new bike.

[Landon]

Good lord, those saddlebags look huge! Didn't notice that much in the picture Joe posted earlier.

[BakerBoy]

LOL, it looks overloaded already!

[indypup]

Good lord, those saddlebags look huge! Didn't notice that much in the picture Joe posted earlier.

+1 Those are almost as big as the ones on my KLR.