OUR BIKES
costly than a new Suzuki basket. If you send
your old basket back there is a worthwhile
refund too. This really smoothed out my
engine on take-off and in the lower midrange
when the V-twin is grunting.
As I said earlier, the bike came fitted with
Suzuki hard luggage, but I mostly use soft
throw-over Ventura bags from Dold
industries, and a 40-litre Givi roll bag. They’re
less bulky and can fit everything I need. The
only time I add the hard-case topbox is when
I am touring with my wife. She finds it handy
for back support and likes that it’s quick for
her to access her stuff.
After all these mods the V-Strom is a much
better bike. It’s stood up well to 46,000km of
pounding that has been dished out, in a large
part, on gravel roads. Most of the time I’ve used
aggressive Mitas or Metzeler adventure tyres,
which give more confidence when accelerating,
braking and steering on loose surfaces.
The Suzuki’s road manners are vastly improved
with the new suspension making it a much more
taut and accurate road machine.
In the last ten years I have been around the
South Island and done much exploring in the
upper North plus many bike shoots with the
Suzuki hauling the camera gear. It does
everything well. Yes, there are lighter bikes,
faster bikes and with far more tech, but for an
adaptable workhorse the Suzuki has been a
great bike and continues to be a reliable, no
fuss machine that does exactly what I need it
to. I do like the look of the new 1050 though...
44 KIWI RIDER