The Motorcycles

Submitted by mark on Sun, 04/13/2008 - 04:20.

I have a 2006 Honda Shadow Aero 750 and my wife has a 2007 Suzuki 650 V-Strom. These provide most of my entertainment. I've always enjoyed motorcycles and probably always will. What other form of recreation doubles as cheap transportation? I don't like to stay put long, so the motorcycle provides a great excuse to get out and enjoy the outdoors. I've had some great adventures on the motorcycles and met some great folks too. I'll try to get some of the stories on the site for those who are interested, at least the ones I care to tell on the Internet.

Pictured above 2005 Suzuki GS500(rear) and the 2006 Honda VT750CA Aero(foreground).

The 2006  Honda Shadow Aero

I went looking for an affordable motorcycle. The key word here is "affordable". That puts many motorcycles out of play right there. Harley? Forget it. The price kills you and I don't care to hear the arguments. I wanted a cruiser that was low and had a classic look and feel. One look at the Aero, and I knew it would work fine. I bought it as soon as I seen it and the only regret is the Health, Ohio dealer.
 
I'll let you know about the problems with this motorcycle first off. All motorcycles have them, so we'll get that out of the way.

The Dealer

Honda is a good bike, but they have bad dealers out there. Most notobably are the dealers that also sell cars. They want to sell bikes like they do cars and it's just a serious hassle. They want to haggle financing and prices and they do not understand the product they're selling.

  • I received no manual or tool kit.
  • Rude and disrespectful sales staff
  • Scratches on bike that they would not remove, had to do that without their help.
  • Just a very odd experience with them.
  • Very little information given. For example, I bought a Honda Club membership because they failed to tell me that it was free for the first year.
  • Suspension was not adjusted correctly. Shocks were set at different numbers from the dealer

The Motorcycle

The overall motorcycle has been a nice motorcycle. Here the problems so far though.

  • Valve Adjustments - scheduled maintenance every 4,000 miles on them. I would not have bought this bike if I knew this.
  • Slightly Bent Handlebars - bent from factory
  • Handlebars To Low - Initially I liked the look, but they are so low many people will have their knees into them on tight turns
  • Handles Funny At Slow Speed - There is a wobble at about 5 mph. Nothing serious, just enough to make it a nuisance
  • Parts - They're getting easier to find, but still not as plentiful as motorcycles that have fewer models sold. The only parts I could get for a while where the overprices genuine Honda parts
  • Low weight rating and uncomfortable seating for passenger

Now the good parts of the bike -

  • Great fuel mileage - about 50 mpg average
  • Bike feels bigger than it is.
  • Smooth ride
  • Decent acceleration
  • Good looks. Folks comment on it, then notice it's not a Harley and complain. I love that.
  • Easy to change oil
  • Decent shop manual available (although it's expensive)
  • Reliable, no breakdowns as of 12,000 miles
  • It will do 120 mph, though it takes a while to get there.
  • Just has a nice feel to it for me. 5'10" with 30" inseam.
  • Reminds me in size of the older Harleys.

Everybody has reasons for liking their favorite bikes. So, there's why I like this bike. The pros outweigh the cons for me.

The Suzuki DL650 V-Strom

The V-Strom was a replacement for the GS500. Tami quickly mastered her skills and wanted a bike that was a little taller and more capable. The DL650 will do anything well. Great bike to say the least. It has a 650cc V-Twin with the latest electronics and fuel injection. It sounds like a robot starting up. The only competing bikes like the BMW dual sports, Triumph Tiger, Buell Ulysses, etc., all have outrageous price tags. You can buy 2-3 of these for the price of the competitors and the perfomance and quality gains are only slight if any on the the comparable models.

The V-Strom's good points -

  • Handles very well in every condition and terrain.
  • Nice seating position.
  • Fast!
  • Handles heavy loads (two-up riding) effortlessly.
  • Many accessories available.
  • VERY large following with numerous forums, blogs, etc. on the Internet.

The V-Strom's bad points -

  • Marginal quality on some parts like windshield, grips, foot pegs, etc.
  • It's a kit bike. You need to add numerous parts to get the DL650 up to it's potential. Guards that should be on the bike are add-ons.
  • Very tall - short folks need not apply.
  • Jerky acceleration - this is smoothing out with further break in though.

The 2005 Suzuki GS500

We bought this bike for my wife to learn on . She is tall, so the lightweight entry-level cruisers were just to small. A salesman brought this bike out and it fit her well and the price was great. These bikes are not the most popular because compared to other sport bikes, they are are a little slow. A slow sport bike is still fast enough though. I've had this bike at well over 100 and there was no problem. It's only "slow" area is in the low rpm range where it seems to have very little torque. The Suzuki 500 parallel twin is made to be at high rpm for power.

We bought this bike at Mid-Ohio Honda-Suzuki and the sales staff was really good. They continued to treat us well for the service too. Much better folks than the Honda dealer in Heath, Ohio. If you live in the Newark or Heath Ohio area, it's worth the trip to Mount Vernon for better service.

The Suzuki GS500 bad points are -

  • Low power at low RPM. This makes it a little difficult for a beginner to learn. It stalls very easily on takeoff due to the low power output
  • The seat is a sport bike seat. I want to have this seat repadded
  • Typical sport bike positon for the legs. It can get cramped on a long run.
  • Very few aftermarket add-ons available, we have found luggage that will work if you have no passenger
  • Runs very poorly when the engine is cold. May be a problem with this bike that just needs the attention from a good mechanic.

The Suziki GS500 good points are -

  • Very high fuel mileage, I've got 65 mpg when I run it easy.
  • Good enough for beginners, yet big enough to satisfy any rider
  • Very nice handling and lightweight
  • Handlebar position is slight more upright than most sport bikes
  • This bike is a big fun for a low price