Hey Mike,
Man, I can't believe you had a chain break 3 times!! Holy crap, even
Krause's Slimwinder....its low spec Taiwanese but even their chains usually do not break. Wear out quick, yes, but break. Now that is unusual. Jeez, I haven't broken chains since running my old Triumphs in the 60's. (bad old days)

Any unusual circumstances as to why this happened?

I used to use RK exclusively until I discovered DID about 10 years ago. I've also used Regina, Tsubaki, and EK. All pretty good chains. Most OEM chains are fairly low spec. But the aftermarket ones are usually much better if you get the high spec one. The RK is quite good too.

The stock OEM chain on the Vstrom is a DID. It too is low spec and typically lasts between 8 and 15K miles. (this from reports I've seen on the 3000 member Vstrom2 group and on Rapid forum Vstrom group over a five year period)

The DID VM X ring is...THE... chain on both these forums with many riders going over 30K miles. The only negative I've ever heard was from an Iron Butt rider who had an incompetent mechanics install a Clip Link DID on his Vstrom right before the Rally. He was in the top five when the damn thing came apart. (not the chains fault, but improper installation and the fact they used a Clip link on a 90 hp motorcycle)

When it came off, it took the engine case with it. Game over. He finished the
Iron Butt way down the order on another bike he bought. Guy name of Rick
Sauter.

My Vstrom has done way more dirt than average and I expect to see 30K on
my current DID VM X ring. I am very pleased.

__________________
Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!