So, after spending a couple of weeks away and with around 2800 miles crossing the highways and byways of the UK, my V-Strom isnt as pristine as she used to be. Dirty and with the screen matted in dead insects, it was time to think about cleaning her and thinking about a service because she’s done 25k miles and she needed a service at 24k. When I headed south I only intended to go to Wales, but then I went south a bit, then east a bit and on and on it went.
The rear tyre is almost done, too. I put the tyre on at 20k and with 25k done, the tyre is definitely worst for wear. I had hoped the rear tyre would last for at least 8k, but it hasn’t, which means I’m going to have to adjust my riding when I get another tyre fitted. There is so much torque on the V-Strom that I find it hard to resist using it, especially when there’s a silly little man in a flash car hogging the road. The front tyre is still good so its going to have to be another Metzler Tourance on the back, and then once that’s gone, I’m going to fit some harder road tyres like Bridgestone’s or Michelin’s.
So, being away and doing a lot of miles – what had I learnt…?
- 1. The Suzuki V-Strom is superb. It’s a tame beast that just eats the miles. She never missed a beat, never skipped on any bad roads or tracks, and carried me and all my luggage without fault, without complaint and with good grace through rain and sunshine. And whether I had a strong sidewind or whether my load was a bit un-even, she just carried on chugging away without complaint.
- 2. My seat isn’t very comfortable. After two hours my bum starts to get uncomfortable. Admittedly, after two hours its usually time for fuel or at least a coffee stop, but when you’ve got a long ride, it really becomes an issue. The next time I go away I’m going to try a different seat.
- 3. I took too much luggage with me. I’m one of those people who say’s to themselves “I’ll take this with me – just incise”… which caught me out, and besides having to post the first tent back home to myself, I also ended up posting a second parcel of clothing back to myself. The lesson has been learnt, and the next time I go away I’ll know what to bring and definitely what NOT to bring with me.
- 4. That when touring, you really need to base yourself somewhere for a few days so that you can branch-out each day and see different things. Stopping for a single night then packing up and leaving the next morning to ride around the area then move onto a new area – does waste some of your time and also adds to your tiredness – especially as you have to build or unbuild your tent two times a day. In future I’ll be planning at spending much longer each place.
In September I’m going to go away again, but this time over to Europe and I know that when I do I’ll be better prepared. One thing I do know is that the V-Strom is perfect for the task.