V-Strom loses 21 pounds

Took off the entire fairing to do a little maint and thought... what the hell...just take the light off of the DR and it will look semi-legal enough for a quick hot lap. Well...you can't believe how it raises the fun factor in the twisty stuff. Light, flickable, great visability of road surfaces, less damage prone if taken off road, ugly as hell. Seriously, if you own a DL you ought to at least try it one time but if you're like me and kinda like ugly, you may end up leaving it naked for a while. Great fun! wayne

Ok..that's cool...I wondered if anyone had done that. I've been looking at the DL1000 seriously and wondered if you could "DR" the thing.

Do you have more pictures to post? What's it look like from the side?

I posted in the wrong forum...shite...
Whats it look like from the side?? Ugly! wayne

I've posted on this topic a few times but still need more info ... I want to turn a DL into a two up "dirt road" bike (lower gearing, TKCs, and lots less weight) and the first thing I need to do is get rid of that MONSTROUS fairing/screen thing .... so how easy would it be to fit alternate lights and instruments ..... does anything fit .... can the original instruments be refitted on a metal plate or ?????

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated ..... cheers, Paul

If your serious there are quite a few things you could do beyond the fairing.

I went with Remus Ti pipes on my DL1000. This alone saves 18 lbs.
If you went with a full system it would save a few more lbs. ($$$)

The other easy thing is the rear rack. I did not weigh it but I'm guessing its five lbs. or so. You could also lose the passenger pegs, but they do a nice
job of saving the pipes and plastic in a tip over. Crash bungs could sub perhaps?

If you don't mind spending a few bucks, have a custom Alu rear subframe made. That should save a couple lbs. Use Ti bolts to fasten it on.

After removing front fairing and headlight be sure to lose that big steel subframe that holds the headlight on. Lose the gauges too. Use dirt bike style headlight and digital speedo/odo.

There are many places where Alu, Ti or Magnesium nuts and bolts could be
substituted for the steel stock stuff......make sure you understand what loads
are being carried before doing this.

Cut off the helmet lock. Heavy bastard and useless.
Go to Alu handlebars.
No centerstand, crashbars or bash plate. (they all add weight)

Based on the above list, if your carefull, I'd guess maybe 50 lbs. could be trimmed.

Suzuki did not try too hard to make the Vstrom light weight. If you have ever stripped a GSXR, then you see what Suzuki can do when they really want to. A friend is a tech for a major race team, you should see what they do to brand new bikes every year. Lots of little tricks. Some are even legal.

Very interesting. Pls. post more (clearer) pics.

Looks decent naked.

Now she just needs inverted forks, some knobbies, and another 50 lb diet.
Some of us are always trying to change the ones we love.

wow, looks very good... I love the way the v-strom rides, but never really liked the way the farring looks...

Very nice.

After only one ride on the DL650 without the fairing I'm convinced that this bike could be a super "street fighter" or fire-road terror. Removing 21 pounds of cantilever weight off the front of the forks makes a remarkable difference in the handling. You may have noticed how high the rear end sets, which is due to a 1-1/2 increase in travel, courtesy of an extended travel Wilbers shock and when combined with better fork springs make for a very plush ride on broken pavement or dirt roads. Combine the better suspension with lighter weight and the results are awsome.
If someone was really a good mechanic and 'commited', a real rework would include maybe turning the radiator 90 degrees, eliminating or relocating the oil cooler, replacing the gas tank with an SV tank or similar, 'butchering the rear fender to create a narrrow profile without the bulging side-panels, and include the mods outlined by Djanjo. The crash bars look really crappy with the fairing removed, but a set of sliders may offer a little protection.
So far all of my mods are simple bolt-ons and the bike can be returned to totally stock and unmarred within a couple of hours, however I find myself hovering over the bike with a hammer and a Dremel tool... ...what now? I'll try for some better picts, wayne

Interesting, but a naked SV650 or SV1000 is so much easier to work with because they already are set up with guages, normal gas tank etc...

Very nice! I have often thought of looking into trying this. That fairing/windshield combo, which IMO is the ugliest thing about the bike, does a great job of funking up the air stream at your head (as we all know). I would love to have a naked summer configuration and be able to (without too much work) return it back to uglyland in the winter. I would just want the headlights to be almost as good as the stock. The stock headlights on the dl are the best stock headlights I have ever had on a MC.

well, we were never in the running for 'trailer Queen' anyways, right?

good to see some other smart soul ditching the stock mirrors for something smoother.... what brand/etc mirrors are those.

ya know, if someone would make a big 'ole aftermarket tank for this thing, I might just leave mine naked.....

z

Here is another approach to consider.
Why not leave a perfectly good DL alone. Use all of the good heavy stuff on it as it was intended.
It might be cheaper to find a crashed DL and begin from there. You might be able to sell off the heavy parts to fund some of the cool parts you want to add.
The dirt trackers are using SV engines more and more. If I had the time, I would like to stuff a motor from a crashed SV into a frame from a burnt out dirt bike or dirt tracker? There are plenty of donors on ebay.
Ah well, I would never get the time.

Damn. I like it. That's not ugly, it's functional. I'd stick some neoprene fork protectors on those exposed forks right quick though.

Looks great!

Makes me want to go out and get a used 650 and do the same. ;-)

I wonder what other headlight options are out there? Buell headlight?

Yes, why not just start with the SV to begin with (other than wanting to tinker with what you have).

- Mark

Just one more suggestion... (Do you say "suggestion"? Is it correct?)

Why don´t you go on and clear the rear...? Would like to see what you can do with that bike. I love them naked... bikes too!!!

You'll notice the 'seal savers' on the DR in the foreground... and yes I need another set soon.

But...what I really need is a easy method to attach a Motard fender on the DL similar to the DR, however the brake lines are in the way and there are not fastener points on the underside of the lower tripple clamp. Hmmm..wayne