New V-Strom owner ... hmm :(

[Castaway]

Well, I'm making the transition from my much-loved Superhawk to something a bit more ... comfortable for the long ride two-up, a 2003 V-Strom 1000. I picked it up on Friday from a seller about 60 miles away. The bike is real clean, has about 21K on it, and sold at a good price. But, by the time I got home I realized that the bike may have some problems. Accelerating in 1st gear I feel excessive vibration at a about 3 grand, and at idle I hear and feel knocking in the motor.

All my casual reading about this bike/motor (both the Strom and the SV) has been fairly positive, at least no major complaints. In fact I could swear that I've read that laudatory term 'bullet proof' used to describe its motor. But, following up on my concerns I've come to find that the Strom has a case of the 'chudders.' Apparently it's got problems with the clutch basket that sends vibrations through the motor. Here is a long thread about possible fixes: http://www.vstrom.info/Smf/index.php/topic,11745.0.html

I'm curious if anyone here has this experience and what you did to resolve it, if anything. I'm concerned that the clutch vibration will spread wear-n-tear to the main bearings and other, more minor, parts.

[kewwig]

They are a chuddery motor like most large capacity V twins.  The fuelling is quite lean under 4,000 rpm, which doesn't help. Some owners have had issues with backfiring through the airbox and stalling as well.  The first thing I'd look at at those miles is making sure the throttle bodies are synced and plugs replaced, as if they are out, it'll make things rougher.

I had the 650 as I tried both the 650 and DL1K and thought the smaller motor was far smoother.

Have a look at Dale Walker's site (Holeshot) if things don't improve.  There's a lot of happy owners (he has helped me with surging on my Bandit 1250)

[Castaway]

Thanks kewwig,

I'm used to 'big twins,' having ridden a Superhawk for the last decade - this is more than the vibration from a twin, it literally rattles the fairing. It appears to be a fairly well documented flaw in the Suzuki twin. Apparently some changes were made to the clutch basket in '05, so I'm looking to see if that resolved the issue.

I'm definitely going to sync the throttle bodies when I get a chance - I'm looking forward to seeing how this bike runs when it's running right.  

[stromgal]

My idle-knocking, chuddering Strom just turned 90k.  Run it above that problematic rpm, or you could choose to pay to have the clutch basket modification done by one of two VSRI forum folks who are offering the service:

http://www.vstrom.info/Smf/index.php/board,17.0.html

[chornbe]

You know how I know I've never owned a 'Strom? 'cause I've never heard the term "chuddering" before. Ya'll are just making shit up, now, to prove you're in the cool kids club. So just stop it!  

[forester]

34k w/650 so far: trouble free other than typical consumables...I am just finally getting to the clutch cable change out...

Stromgal probably knows the 1k back and forth...I would check out that clutch basket issue if I were you.

[satxbonneville]

Welcome to the club! I've owned my '03 for 14 months now and I love the beast. Yep, the engine makes all sorts of noises that my other bikes don't make and it does shudder and chudder between 3-4K but it pulls like a freight train above 4K and makes for a really nice long-distance mount that does quite well in the curvy sections, too.  

Lots of good info at this site: http://www.stromtrooper.com/

[Castaway]

Thanks for all  the input, y'all.

Part of my initial trepidation (?) has to with the Strom being such a different bike from anything I've ever owned before: I'm not used to my feet being in front of me and my hands up at chest level. Aside from the chudder it needs TB syncing done as the RPMs drift up/down and it backfires occasionally .... even stalls now and then. These things combined make the chudder that much worse.

Apparently the 650 doesn't suffer from the bad vibes, BTW, and maybe there was a clutch basket redesign in '05 that may correct things.

I am loving the bike's ability to absorb the crappy roads in NYC, I must say. Maybe I'll get used to the size of the bike and start loving it all around, or maybe it'll be just a bike I tried and moved on from.

While I have you, has anyone switched out the bars to something more forward? If so, do you know what bars did the trick for you? And, has anyone rearset the pegs a bit? I'll ask over at VSRI and Stromtrooper, but if anyone here has some knowledge to pass along I'd sure appreciate it.

[stromgal]

The reason the pegs are where they are is for riding standing up. The bar/peg relationship and the narrowness at the back of the tank make it the most comfortable 'standing' bike I've ever ridden. Really helpful not only for crappy road surfaces but also for giving your rear end a break; I ride standing up mile after mile during long trips.

[Castaway]

The reason the pegs are where they are is for riding standing up. The bar/peg relationship and the narrowness at the back of the tank make it the most comfortable 'standing' bike I've ever ridden. Really helpful not only for crappy road surfaces but also for giving your rear end a break; I ride standing up mile after mile during long trips.

I guess that shows my lack of experience on a 'dual sport' bike.

Now I'm working on cooling down what appears to be an overly hot motor (4 bars), and syncing the throttle bodies. Kinda fun. I like the little 'buttons' Suzuki uses to connect fairing parts. There's more room to get ones hands in out of the motor, being that this bike isn't designed to be compact and sporty.

[shil]

I've got an SV1K, which I guess has kinda sorta the same engine. A throttle position sensor adjustment smoothed my bike out a lot. Maybe try that?

[Castaway]

I've got an SV1K, which I guess has kinda sorta the same engine. A throttle position sensor adjustment smoothed my bike out a lot. Maybe try that?

Yeah, I've been thinking about that, too, though for right now I'm just trying to get in shape for the weekend ride. Is the TPS adjustment easily done? If you happen to have a link to the procedure I'd appreciate it - I don't have a service manual at this point.

[garry]

Yeah, the 1K has some issues to sort out that the 650 does not, but the fixes are well-known. The Stroms are a blank canvas for you to tweak into your vision of a Swiss Army Chainsaw.

BTW: I've heard and experienced clutch "chudder" on the Subaru Impreza 2.5RS that I had for almost 10 years. I think that term may have even been in the tech bulletin from Subaru.

[shil]

Yeah, I've been thinking about that, too, though for right now I'm just trying to get in shape for the weekend ride. Is the TPS adjustment easily done? If you happen to have a link to the procedure I'd appreciate it - I don't have a service manual at this point.

It's easy enough but you'll need a 'security' torx driver.  I can't link to the SV forum here at work, but there's a sticky in the Tech section at http://www.sv-portal.com.  

It made a huge difference on my bike.

[Castaway]

Thanks for the link, shil - very helpful.

[Castaway]

I did some weekend prep work on the bike this past week, syncing the TBs to get rid of the drifting RPMs, and hopefully the occasional backfiring. I really appreciate how easy it was to take off the fairing side panels. The plastic 'buttons' seem to hold things pretty snug and are easily removed/installed. I'll get a pic up after this weekend's outing.

[Castaway]

Okay, so I'm getting a little more accustomed to my new ride. It's certainly great to ride New York's mine field for streets and not worry about be jarred to pieces. The throttle body sync helped tons - next I'll check the secondary butterflies to see if that quells the rare backfire. I have yet to deal with the hot engine, running 4 bars hot even in 70 degree temps. (If you have experience/knowledge regarding this I'd appreciate hearing it.)

I may install lower, more forward bars in the near future, but what's really bugging me is the buffeting from the windshield. I'm 6'2" and my helmet is in dirty air. Has anyone here installed a Laminar Lip? Worth the $$? I'm also contemplating cutting down a WS, or buying a smaller after market WS - I'd rather have clean air than noisy buffeting.

[Bad Dad]

I'm 6'1" and after cutting down and ventilating a stock screen I now run no screen, doesn't look the greatest but it's the least noisy solution for me.

[garry]

I had a Laminar Lip on the stock screen. Seemed to help. I also added the Madstad bracket.

[Castaway]

Thanks guys. Quite a collection you have there, Bad Dad. I didn't know the DL 1000 was in your past, Garry. Good to see that there's still sportiness after V-Strom ownership.    

[garry]

Thanks guys. Quite a collection you have there, Bad Dad. I didn't know the DL 1000 was in your past, Garry. Good to see that there's still sportiness after V-Strom ownership.    

I had a Wee Strom and a Kawi ZX-6R prior to buying the KTM. Sold them both to buy the KTM (which combines sportiness and versatility). Spent a lot of time at Stromtroopers.com. I miss the Wee and its versatility which has me considering a stable change at the end of next season. Truth be told, you can carve up a twisty road on a Strom once you stiffen the suspension a bit. I also lowered the front about 5mm or so to quicken the steering.

[rfulcher]

I have a DL650 with a Madstad bracket and a tall Givi shield works well for me. The wind goes over my helmet and is relatively smooth. I am 6 ft and could still raise the shield another inch or two. I look over the shield.

[eye.surgeon]

As you've read the good news is your issues are well known to the DL1000 particularly the early years like yours, and fixable.

I sold my BMW K1200GT and bought a strom 650 and haven't looked back, they are a blast to ride and easy and cheap to own.

[satxbonneville]

Okay, so I'm getting a little more accustomed to my new ride. It's certainly great to ride New York's mine field for streets and not worry about be jarred to pieces. The throttle body sync helped tons - next I'll check the secondary butterflies to see if that quells the rare backfire. I have yet to deal with the hot engine, running 4 bars hot even in 70 degree temps. (If you have experience/knowledge regarding this I'd appreciate hearing it.)

I may install lower, more forward bars in the near future, but what's really bugging me is the buffeting from the windshield. I'm 6'2" and my helmet is in dirty air. Has anyone here installed a Laminar Lip? Worth the $$? I'm also contemplating cutting down a WS, or buying a smaller after market WS - I'd rather have clean air than noisy buffeting.

I had issues with buffeting (it's hard to enjoy the ride when your eyeballs are vibrating) and solved 95% of the issue with a helmet change and moving the mirrors out about 1.25" using mirror extenders. The helmet change was just an experiment. After experiencing horrific buffeting problems with an HJC IS-16 I went back to my old Shoei RF-1000 and noted a reduction in buffeting and helmet movement. I couldn't find a replacement RF-1000 so i went with an RF-1100 and had similar results. Extensive reading and some experimentation led me to believe that significant dirty air was being generated by the mirrors. Quite a few folks reported good results using Aprilia Tuono mirrors but at $50.00 plus per side I decided to give the $20.00/pr extenders a try. I put them on before the ride with my boys last month and was really pleased with the results. Slab riding at 80 + was actually livable and I never had any noticeable buffeting issues until the speed was north of 95 (or 100...) during some passing bursts.

I may give the Tuono mirrors a try in combination with the extenders (which over and above the aero benefits provide a much better rear view) to see if the shape provides any reduction over the big squares.

[Castaway]

I'm currently wearing an RF-1000.    

Maybe I'll try taking off the mirrors and see what that does ... I hadn't heard of, or thought of, that as a contributing factor. Interesting.    

I had issues with buffeting (it's hard to enjoy the ride when your eyeballs are vibrating) and solved 95% of the issue with a helmet change and moving the mirrors out about 1.25" using mirror extenders. The helmet change was just an experiment. After experiencing horrific buffeting problems with an HJC IS-16 I went back to my old Shoei RF-1000 and noted a reduction in buffeting and helmet movement. I couldn't find a replacement RF-1000 so i went with an RF-1100 and had similar results. Extensive reading and some experimentation led me to believe that significant dirty air was being generated by the mirrors. Quite a few folks reported good results using Aprilia Tuono mirrors but at $50.00 plus per side I decided to give the $20.00/pr extenders a try. I put them on before the ride with my boys last month and was really pleased with the results. Slab riding at 80 + was actually livable and I never had any noticeable buffeting issues until the speed was north of 95 (or 100...) during some passing bursts.

I may give the Tuono mirrors a try in combination with the extenders (which over and above the aero benefits provide a much better rear view) to see if the shape provides any reduction over the big squares.

[satxbonneville]

I'm currently wearing an RF-1000.    

Maybe I'll try taking off the mirrors and see what that does ... I hadn't heard of, or thought of, that as a contributing factor. Interesting.    

Update: I bought a set of Tuono mirrors and mounted them up on the extenders. After getting them adjusted I went for a nice little ride on the freeway and I'm happy to report that, at least for me, the buffeting is no longer an issue. As an unexpected bonus the mirrors are actually usable as mirrors - the factory and aftermarket mirrors I tried all turned the view into impressionist paintings viewed from too close - with only the beginnings of dancing images in the mirrors when the tach heads north of 6500. At normal cruising speeds on the freeway and secondary roads the images in the mirrors are rock solid. And they look kinda sexy...not that anything short of a hot, nekkid female draped over the bike would render the Strom sexy...but the mirrors are hot.
 

[sapperranger04]

I have a dl650, and i can say that the motors on both the 1000 and the 650 are kinda noisey,,, like an tractor at times,, anyway. From what ive read about the 1000 is that the clutch basket chudder can be fixed with an newer basket. not sure where they are cause i didnt need one. And as far as the 3000 to 4000 rpm lag, most people have went with a powercommander and that has seem to fix that fueling problem. I dont realy think theres much else worng with the 1000. Just add some farkles to your liking and ride the snot out of it. They do seem to love the higher rpm's and seem to respond better with higher rpm's.
 You could add a few things just to make it a bit better such as a Madstad bracket, a fork brace, some sonic springs up front, and maybe a wilbers or such shock in the rear.
Any questions just shoot me a email or pm.

[County Tar]

IIRC the 2003 DL1000 still has the non-adjustable screen.  If so, a Madstad bracket is not an option and you would have to get an aftermarket screen or a Laminar Lip.  I used a Laminar Touring Lip for many years and it worked fairly well.  

As you have already found out, the chudder is a 1000 issue, not a 650 issue.  I assume you have been over on Stromtrooper and the VSRI forum?    The VSRI forum is probably the best resource for technical issues and there was much written about solving the rough running issues with the 1000.

[Castaway]

IIRC the 2003 DL1000 still has the non-adjustable screen.  If so, a Madstad bracket is not an option and you would have to get an aftermarket screen or a Laminar Lip.  I used a Laminar Touring Lip for many years and it worked fairly well.  

As you have already found out, the chudder is a 1000 issue, not a 650 issue.  I assume you have been over on Stromtrooper and the VSRI forum?    The VSRI forum is probably the best resource for technical issues and there was much written about solving the rough running issues with the 1000.

Yep, been to both forums you mention. VSRI is pretty impressive - I've never seen a tech forum broken down into virtually every part of the bike (I know, this could be a bad sign, but it's actually very resourceful.)

I'm not as bummed out about the chudder, at least not $450 bummed out, yet. I've heard of okay wind results with a double bubble screen. That may be my next step. Since Zero Gravities are so much cheaper than stock, if if doesn't work out I may cut it down in an attempt to get clean air.

[stromgal]

95,000 on the chuddering Hi-Ho Silver (03 DL1000).  I think my fuel pump may need attention sooner rather than later.

Dan, then Peter of Singapore out of Germany, and now John Weldon have done an excellent job categorizing and organizing the VSRI forum; I've been around there since the it first was created after the Yahoo group (which still exists as a way for some of we old-timers to talk to each other.) Never saw a need to join yet another forum, thus have no experience with Stromtrooper, 'though I hear good things.

[Cale_Kat]

Another Silver '03 wishing you the best. Just ride it.

[Castaway]

Another Silver '03 wishing you the best. Just ride it.

       

[Rodan]

It's been a while, but I had an '02 DL1000, and put ~35k on it in two years.  One of my favorite all-rounders in 25 years of riding.  I made a lot of guys on sportbikes cry with the 'Strom...  

 
I sold mine about 5 years back, so I haven't kept up on the updates, but hopefully this info can help.

The 'chudder' was a big point of discussion back then, though it was early days for the 'Strom.  I never considered mine to have that particular problem, though you do have to keep on top of the TB synch.  It didn't like being run under 4k in the higher gears, though going one down on the countershaft sprocket made it a whole new bike.

Buffeting was a big problem on the early bikes without the adjustable windscreen.  My theory was that the air tumbled off the windscreen, which is a long way from the rider's helmet on an upright bike, and was turbulent by the time it gets to your head.  I took an idea from the BMW cruiser/tourer windshield, and cut down the center of my screen to get clean air at the helmet, but still have some wind protection for your shoulders.  It worked pretty well.

[Castaway]

It's been a while, but I had an '02 DL1000, and put ~35k on it in two years.  One of my favorite all-rounders in 25 years of riding.  I made a lot of guys on sportbikes cry with the 'Strom...  

 
I sold mine about 5 years back, so I haven't kept up on the updates, but hopefully this info can help.

The 'chudder' was a big point of discussion back then, though it was early days for the 'Strom.  I never considered mine to have that particular problem, though you do have to keep on top of the TB synch.  It didn't like being run under 4k in the higher gears, though going one down on the countershaft sprocket made it a whole new bike.

Buffeting was a big problem on the early bikes without the adjustable windscreen.  My theory was that the air tumbled off the windscreen, which is a long way from the rider's helmet on an upright bike, and was turbulent by the time it gets to your head.  I took an idea from the BMW cruiser/tourer windshield, and cut down the center of my screen to get clean air at the helmet, but still have some wind protection for your shoulders.  It worked pretty well.

You did a nice job on the windshield cutting. What did you finish the edge with?

Those lights! Man, the Strom has pretty decent lighting stock - you must have put out some mean beams with those additional lights.

[Rodan]

Thanks.  The edge trim is just rubber trim for car doors that I picked up at the local Checker Auto.

The lights are Hella 550s, which IMHO are fantastic driving lights for the price.  They were every bit as good as the PIAAs I had on my last BMW.  I did have to drop from 55W to 35W bulbs on the Strom because of the wimpy alternator...  The stock lights are good, but the Hellas really improved the nocturnal critter detection envelope.