V Strom with Lowering link good for shorties?

[maria41]

I am going to rent a Vstrom fitted with a lowering link in the US for my holidays.

I am rather short (1.63m with inside leg of 29 1/2 inch and small feet!).

I am starting to be concerned that it might still be too tall. I don't want to risk dropping a rented bike!

Any short rider on a VStrom with lowering link? Are you comfortable with it?
Is the seat wide ?
It makes a big difference, my Versys' seat was narrow at the front so easier to reach the ground after being fitted with a lowering link and seat scoopped!

Cheers,

[TravellingStrom]

Hi, you are a tad shorter than me, 164 so I guess I can answer this.

You will be stopping with your toes on the ground only, but you can modify that quite easily, by removing the rubber blocks under the seat, this will gain you an inch.

When it comes time to give the bike back, spray the blocks with chain lube and they will pop right back in

I have ridden over 250,000km on a strom like that, and I have dropped it a few times. But, please note, these were mostly on bad rocky ground, I doubt you will be doing a lot of offroad stuff, so I reckon you should be right.

One thing to point out though, check with the renter, to see if they have modified the side stand. With the bike lowered, it sits more vertical on the SS than normal, and because of being parked on the wrong sode of the road over there, it can be awkward sometimes, to position the bike so it can be parked without it falling over. This usually means facing the wrong way, so the side stand is away from the road and on the kerb side, does that make sense?

Anyway, I am sure you will be fine.

Cheers
TS

[maria41]

Excellent info TS, thanks.
I will look for those rubber blocks. One more inch should be what I need to get comfortable!

Not sure of routing yet. We may take some gravel roads but nothing extreme!

Cheers,

[steve T]

Hi i have a similar height and inside leg and ride 650v strom with rubber blocks removed and front forks drooped through yokes half inch so you should be fine ,watch the ground clearance on a lowered bike if you take it off road have a nice trip .

steve

[pecha72]

Is the OP talking about a 1000 or 650??

My missus now rides the K7 Wee (=650), that we went together to Australia with. She´s..... errmm, quite short (I guess I could ask her exact length, but don´t have it now!), and we put longer linkage parts to the rear suspension. These were made by a dealer nearby, didn´t cost much, and they lowered the back end by about 1 inch. We then dropped the front forks about the same amount, and took the rubbers away from behind the seat (put some duct tape or something there to avoid scratching the subframe). We also made special ´double soles´ for her riding shoes! All in all I think it is at least 1,5 inches lower at the seat, feels like a scooter to me, still a tiny bit high for her, mostly because it is a top-heavy bike, but she´s managing it alright. There is also a lower seat available, but we haven´t got that yet. Ground clearance is very bad now, we had to take the centerstand off the bike as it was scraping to the ground way too easily. But for normal road riding it´s quite okay.

In fact I just bought a new 2012 Wee for myself... haven´t even ridden it yet! Do note, that this model´s seat height as stock is a bit higher than the older 2004-2011 model. I think it should be possible to lower it pretty much the same ways as the older one.

[pecha72]

Originally Posted by TravellingStrom

I have ridden over 250,000km on a strom like that

Wow – is that on one bike, or several?!

I thin I´ve now got probably about 200 thousand kms on this 645cc v-twin, but that´s split between three DL650´s, and one SV650. About 80 thousand is the most, that I´ve got on one bike. But never really had to fix pretty much anything on any of these bikes yet, just regular maintenance all the way!

[TravellingStrom]

Originally Posted by pecha72

Wow – is that on one bike, or several?!

I thin I´ve now got probably about 200 thousand kms on this 645cc v-twin, but that´s split between three DL650´s, and one SV650. About 80 thousand is the most, that I´ve got on one bike. But never really had to fix pretty much anything on any of these bikes yet, just regular maintenance all the way!

Well, that is a good question

2006 model - 92,000 (engine dusted by service tech)
2007 model - 89,000 (sold in Buenos Aires)
2010 model - 41,000 (current bike)

So, I miscalculated, only 222,000km, close enough though

Cheers
TS

[LAZ 1]

My wife currently rides a Bandit 650, and the Vstrom 650 would be her second choice. Before she bought the Bandit, she test rode several bikes, including the BMW 650 and the Vstrom 650, and she personally preferred the Strom over the BMWs. However, the BMW 650 has both a low chassis and low seat option, which makes it the ideal choice for those with shorter legs.

We also talked with several Lady riders who initially bought Vstrom 650s, who switched to the BMW 650 because they found that, even though they could sit comfortably on a Vstrom, WITH A FULL TANK OF GAS, the Strom was too heavy for them at slow speeds ...they simply didn't have the UPPER body strength to muscle the Strom around easily. After dropping their brand new Vstroms a few times, mostly at zero or very low speeds, they went to a BMW 650. Lowering the Vstrom suspension with links will help control on the road some what, but in any slow/tight/rough stuff, the already minimal Vstrom ground clearance will be compromised even further than with a stock suspension. I ripped an aftermarket skid plate off me Strom 650 trying to ride in some serious technical stuff ... and that was with the stock links.

PS: I personally ride a Vstrom 1000, with the 1" lower Vstrom 650 seat, and this works for me [ 29 1/2" inseam ]. But even at 240 lbs, with fairly good upper body strength, The VEE is a handful for me on tight slow stuff ... but still better than my previous dual sport ride, a BMW 1150 GS.
YPMMV
LAZ 1