V Strom Performance

Everyone.

Just sending out some feelers here. I have a 2007 650 V Strom. I bought it new and it has been a loyal companion. We have made it up the Alcan 4 times among many other trips.

I bought a Stelvio that lives in California and I really like it. I recently rode a 2007 R1200RT and was impressed by it.

I guess the main thing the 650 is lacking is power. Other than that, with all the farkles I have put on it, suspension upgrades etc it is a fine bike still.

I was wondering if any of you have done anything to get some more power out of the 650 Wee. I am not expecting 100HP or anything out of hand, but I was wondering if anyone here has done anything they recommend to liven the bike up some.

For reference the bike is bone stock in regard to engine. Stock exhaust, everything.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Try Holeshot.

Get a 2014 dl 1000. They can be bought for 9k otd. They have great usable power. ? Transfer some of the farkles, the 650 should sell fast . Just a thought

The Wee already has a very efficient engine.
You cannot expect much of a power increase with mods and still expect good all round performance and reliability.
If you could get a significant power increase it would probably cost more then just changing to a bigger displacement bike like the Vee.
BTW, there is an article out there, can't remember where...but they tried a bunch of upgrades to increase the power of the 2014 V2.
Their conclusion was after all was said and done and monies spent was just to leave it stock, or move on to another bike.

I guess about the only thing you could do would be to gear it down a bit, but then it might rev higher then you want it on the slab. But this is a realatively cheap experiment.

I had a stock 2008 Wee and that 650 was one sweet engine!

I now have a stock 2014 V2.

What are you doing that you need more power than the stock wee has ? ?

i load mine up to the hilt and travel over 2000 miles in the eastern mountains never even come close to using all the power it has.

I think more than anything, it feels like a turd power wise compared to the other bikes I have added to the fleet, the last couple years. The stelvio feels like a Moto GP bike in comparison, and my 1200 sportster is somehow 150 pounds heavier, and had more punch than the Wee.

I have nothing but respect for my V Strom. It's first big trip when brand new was a 9600 mile in 26 day trip, two up with camping gear. It is a solid machine no doubt.

I have a line on an exhaust. I may get that, a power commander and a K&N and go from there.

A few years back, German Motorrad magazine run a big Alpine road test with several bikes including a newer (2012) Wee, and Guzzi Stelvio 1200. They noted, that to their surprise, real-life performance of those two bikes in those conditions was practically the same. The Wee was not as powerful, but it was lighter and more flickable.

I would not sink anymore money into her.

The V2, is pretty much the bike you want.

30 more lbs of weight and you get the following.

Hella torque rich engine (1,039cc) 74.5 foot pounds of torque at 6400 rpm!
Better brakes
Better suspension
Adjustable wind screen
USB port
TC
Better ergo package
Longer distance between oil changes and valve checks.
ABS maybe?

The only wrinkle I see is the need for premium gas, and alloy wheels. But, you already have alloy wheels.


I have only road them, I have never owned one.

If you search the Web for dl650 SV cam upgrade you can get info re swapping your inlet cams to your exhaust and putting second generation SV650 cams in there place. I've done it and it gives a good increase above 6000 rpm with a very slight drop just below that. I also run a Staintune exhaust and aftermarket washable air filter. Is a bit of a job installing the cams as you have to work out timing marks for your exhaust cams as they of course only marked as inlets.

Cheers badmanners.

I feel like any money you spend on the 650 will be for nothing, I mean what are you going to gain.....5-10hp, It's not like you can spend 1,000 bucks and double the hp like old diesel trucks.

Aftermarket pipes can give a little more HP, but they aren't cheap. I had my 06 for ten years. It got the job done without fanfare, but in the end it's just a DL650. Go upgrade to a better adventure bike if you need more.

But that performance gain is normally tiny and right at the top end of the power curve. You normally lose lower down or in the midrange where you actually use a bike most and you need to spend hundreds on a Power Commander etc to keep the fuelling spot on. My experience has been that 90% of aftermarket pipes give people the perception of more power through their butt dyno as the engine noise is more aggressive but real world gains aren´t worth the money spent. YMMV.

Those two bikes are almost twice the engine size of the strom. If you did not notice a difference in power there would be some serious questions asked of them I reckon. Accept it for what it is and detune the requirements from the brain a little when riding it. I have no problems at all with it's power, even two up. Whatever you do then don't buy a Royal Enfield or a Ural or something similar. You may just step off it burning away from the lights thinking it had stopped.

Buy a KLR and you'll notice how well the DL650 performs.

I gutted the can on my 06 650. I'm sure it added zero power but it sure sounds a lot faster and that makes it feel faster. Plus, chicks dig it .

I had read about that. I was wondering about the real world improvement. Did you go with a power commander to tune it afterward??

No, didn't bother with any further tuning, I have never noticed any fuelling issues. If touring then the cams aren't probably worth the effort, if having a thrash against bigger bikes like GS's then it's a good thing.

Cheers badmanners.

Bonkers.

Get a bigger bike.

I had a 2013 Dl650 which was a great re-introduction to road riding for me. I wasn't happy with its suspension at the front end ,so I modified it with stiffer springs and Cogent DDC valves plus a Scott steering damper. It worked pretty well, even on dirt roads at moderate speeds.

I was pretty happy with the DL until I test road a Tiger 800XCx.

I stripped off about 50% of the farkles and sold them on our local flea market. The bike sold quickly. I think it cost me about $1500 to own it for a year and about 10,000km travelled.

IMO accept the DL for what it is; a nicely balanced mid size street bike tourer.