MCN Fleet: First service ticked off for V-Strom

The V-Strom headed back to Suzuki for its 600-mile service on Thursday, although by the time I’d reached Suzuki GB HQ in Milton Keynes the odometer was reading well over 800 miles – I’ve got right stuck in to my #ride5000miles challenge!

Relatively quick job for SGB, done in a couple of hours and I was back up the road, by the time I got home I was just a few miles short of hitting my first 1000.

After not knowing what to think initially, I’m really starting to enjoy my time with the bike now. I’d not ridden in a couple of months before I jumped on it so I was a bit rusty, but once I got back into the swing of things I realised that not only could the bike be perfect for my 138-mile round trip commute but it also holds up pretty well on a country road blast.

I went out for a ride with my Dad, who was riding his 2015 ZX-10R, and although he wasn’t particularly going for it (he’d have obviously left the poor Strom for dead if he was!) I still had to push the 650 quite hard to keep him in sight while also trying to remember I’m still in the running in period.

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After almost 1000 miles, I’m starting to figure what I’d like to change on the bike in coming months. The first thing I’ll be fitting is luggage, a must-have for the longer trips I’ll be doing in the coming weeks including taking the bike over to the Isle of Man for the TT. I’ll also be getting a centrestand – something that in my opinon should come as standard on any adventure bike – to make cleaning and maintenance my end a bit easier.

I’m also thinking about a new exhaust to see if I can eek out a bit more power, and of course the sound of the V-Twin motor has to be appreciated! Then there’s the tyres, the Bridgestone OEM rubber doesn’t seem too bad, but I am lacking a bit of feeling in corners so I’ll stick something else on just to see.

The standard screen seems big enough, but it was delivered to me on the lowest setting. I wanted to get some miles under my belt with the bike unchanged, but with the screen on this setting I’m getting quite a lot of wind to my face so I’ll be adjusting that to the highest of the three settings when I next get chance. In theory, that should be a quick five-minute job! 

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