bps
aka G Jetson
I loved my ST, and the only real issue I had was the weight. I felt I'd be open to a lighter weight bike, but wouldn't be interested in a bike that didn't have similar performance. I was considering a C14 (obviously only slightly lighter) , and looked at others (Yammie FZ's, Triumph Tigers, and BMW's, but ended up with a 2013 DL650. Totally different bikes, go figure. I had read a lot about the bike and most comments had been that the 650 didn't feel underpowered, and I took a test ride with this thought. On my first real acceleration, I was actually disappointed in the power, but that lasted about 30 seconds. It has adequate power pretty much everywhere but at highway speeds. Don't get me wrong, it'll get you around that truck, but not like the ST. However, The bike was just plain fun to ride. It wasn't slow, it was comfortable (more comfortable than the ST to me in stock form), and handled really well. The engine is smooth, but not V4 smooth. Just seems a really good bike. I do sometimes miss the twist the throttle immediate response with the ST, and the wind management, but I think I'm going to be really happy with the Vstrom. I never thought I'd be happy w/65hp as my only bike.
Bernard
Bernard