2014 V Strom 1000

[5ohmustang]

In addition to the air hawk cruiser media seat pad, I picked up the large pillion seat pad, MSRP $170, I picked up off eBay $30 shipped like new. The medium would probably fit better but at $30 I'll make it work. The bike is now super comfortable, however due to being sat higher there is more wind noise. The Givi airflow windshield should fix that.

[5ohmustang]

I have installed an agri supply tube to the left rack. This is off my old bike hence the battered appearance. You can pick them up $5 from tractor supply, it comes with an o ring gasket. Typically they are used to house plant machinery instruction manuals. A lot of advriders use them to house tools or spare petrol. The most common is the fuel bottle, made my Msr or primus, it should give 20 more miles which in the high country can be the difference between life and death.

It can also be used as fuel and attaches to the Msr stove.

[5ohmustang]

I ordered the OEM Suzuki wheel decals from the UK.






OEM accessory centerstand, chain maintenance is now a breeze.



Ravetech radiator guard.

Edited by 5ohmustang on Thursday 23 February 02:17

[5ohmustang]

Fitted the SW motech footpegs. They have two height adjustments, stock and half an inch lower. The rubber can be removed for off road use.

Very easy to fit using stock spring and pin.

Much more foot surface area than the stock pegs.

[5ohmustang]

Installed a RAM mount for electronic devices. I had to use the long double joint to clear the tank bag on full lock. This will save me having to look down at the tank bag at the clear pocket for directions.



I also installed the givi kickstand extender to help the bike sinking and falling over on soft ground.

[5ohmustang]

Givi rear tire hugger installed. This should stop water and crap being slung around. There is still enough clearance for tkc80s.

It uses the factory bolts, just needs thread lock.




I am now currently installing the givi crash bars. Pics to come.

[5ohmustang]

Giving airflow installed and it works perfectly.




The Strom is now ready for the heavy miles of touring I'll be doing,

I took her out on a run in the evening and she rode great. Very comfortable and is silky smooth for a v twin.

[5ohmustang]

[5ohmustang]

gareth_r said:

I'm always envious of those guys who can post youtube videos of adventure bikes being used as intended 12000 feet up in the Rockies, although some of those trails are obviously more suited to lighter bikes.

I can't remember the name of the company but it's an outfit in Colorado that will allow tourists to rent adv bikes so you can ride those passes on holiday.

The problem with the lighter, smaller bikes is at that high of an altitude you lose a lot of power, some steep hills can be very hard to make it up.

My Suzuki DR200, although a great bike for what it is intended for, becae asmatic at 7000ft.

The Honda crf250l was much better but still had issues making steep inclines in the high country. I think a KTM 690 Enduro would be great, however their reliability issues turns me off when I read about them.

[5ohmustang]

Tim1989 said:

What do you think of the Givi hugger mate? Am getting tired of cleaning all the rubbish flung up by the rear tire! Mine is the same colour as yours, keep meaning to get a review up on here. Generally speaking I love the thing, but it's impossible to keep clean.

Has the airflow solved the buffeting for you? I'm 5'9, using the standard screen with an Adv helmet and it can be hard work sometimes!

I haven't had the chance to ride it in the rain or proper mud yet, but from the looks of it I'm very confident it will stop the shock absorber area from being covered in dirt. It's easy to fit and the plastic is thick enough. The puig fake carbon fiber one looks good but I have seen at least one of them broken online.

I had the bike up to 70 and there was no buffeting on the highest setting. I'm 6'3 ish, no issues.

Now I did have a lot of cold wind on my torso, however I reckon that was due to not being in motorcycle gear. I just had a T-shirt and a jumper as I was not going that far, I just wanted to test all the mods.

I'm not sure what the prices are like in the UK but all my givi gear came from motostorm.it, I have saved hundreds compared to buying it all in the U.S.,shipping was flat rate at $30, no import tax on motorcycle parts.

[5ohmustang]

SteelerSE said:

Good to see you're enjoying the bike and making it better.

I saw a Tweet from one of the UK bike journos about to test the new one:

https://twitter.com/SimonHbikes/status/84424692269...

Cornering ABS etc - sounds quite interesting.

There's no mention of switchable abs, just linked brakes which I can't see how that will help off road.

[5ohmustang]

After installing the Givi crash bars an annoying metallic vibration would occur right at the sweet spot of 3100rpm.

My suspicion is the joint that links both sides of the crash bars together.





So I removed the crash bars. I applied a heavy coat of high temp rtv to the joint and reinserted it. I then added 2 o rings to the small fasteners that go in the joint. While I also cut up a bicycle inner tube and used it as noise dampening washers for all the metal to metal contact points.

The Vstrom is now vibration free.