Nice

On Thursday, I picked up my new 2006 Suzuki DL650 "V-Strom" from Suzuki of Oakland.

The DL650 target market is beginners looking for a fun, practical motorcycle. (I know this because this is what Maxim Online says the DL650 is, and they don't shrink from telling the truth according to what industry reps tell them). It has, intentionally or not, hit a couple of other market niches: the best-value "adventure touring" bike (a category dominated by European bikes costing well over twice the price), and a commuting/touring bike for old farts who've owned enough bikes to know what they really want is a light-weight bike that's comfortable and torquey (me, for example).

How It Compares

Claimed dry weight is 418 lbs. This is 55 lbs heavier than my old SV 650, but 40 lbs less than the 96 Honda VFR 750 (I used to own one and the Viceroy owns one now). From my bike history, it's closest to the Honda CBR600F2 (410). What's odd is that the DL650 appears much physically larger than those Hondas.

The motor is essentially the same as that in my 99 SV650, but tuned for more low and midrange power. Peak horsepower is 66 bhp, and peak torque is 44 ft-lbs at about 6,000 rpm. The "meat" of the power curve is between 4,000 and 8,000 rpm -- same peaks as the SV 650, you just get them earlier.

But the DL has something the SV didn't have: fuel injection. This is my first bike with FI, and I don't want to go back. Throttle response is unreal if you're used to carborated bikes, and there's no choke to futz with. (The carborators and choke basically killed my SV 650.) The long-travel suspension looks like the SV's on paper, but is much better, particularly on the crap that passes for pavement in San Francisco. I'd rate the suspension for city pavement well above every other bike I've owned except the KTM Duke (which had a competition-grade supermoto suspension, which is probably why it was stolen within two months of my buying it).

The combination of comfortable riding position plus torquey V twin reminds me of the Viceroy's old Honda Pacific Coast, but sits much higher, weighs 200 pounds less, has an extra 20 hp, better throttle, smoother engine, etc. (Okay, the PC had a lot better luggage.) Tooling around town on it makes me feel like I'm on patrol; perched high, comfortable, easily observing everything around me, effortlessly maneuvering between and around cars.

My mechanic, Joe, summed it up when I told him I was going to buy a DL650: "That's just a really nice bike."