[kaizengadi]

In this thread, I will go over the pros and cons I have personally observed with the new Suzuki V-Strom SX 250. I bought this bike sometime around Oct 2022 and have completed over 6,000 km till now.

I have ridden this bike on tarmac highways, twisties, light offroad and extensively in bumper-to-bumper traffic in the city. Below are my observations. Please feel free to add your experiences with this bike as well!

Pros:

- Design:
The bike takes inspiration from the iconic V-Strom beak design and let me tell you, this bike is absolute eye candy! The bike captures stares every time you take it for a ride on the road. Numerous people have approached me, inquiring about the details of the bike and this has made me feel like a celebrity! The finish of the bike is good. All the wires and tubes are tucked in properly and give it a premium look.

- Engine:
This bike comes with the refined Gixxer 250 engine with 26.5 BHP @ 9,300 rpm and a max torque of 22.2 Nm @ 7,300 rpm. The power delivery is linear. At lower rpms, the engine is smooth and helps in navigating through the dense traffic in a city like Bangalore. Even at higher rpms the vibrations are minimum and none is felt in your thighs or the handlebars. While cruising at 100-110 km/h too, the mirrors are as steady as when you are driving at 30 km/h.

- Oil Cooling:
The oil cooling of this bike is quite good and dissipates the heat generated efficiently. Even after riding for over ~35 km in dense traffic in a metropolitan city in summer, I have never felt the engine get too hot and it has not irritated my thighs even once.

- Mileage:
In the city, the bike easily returns >35 km/l and during long rides, if ridden at around 7,000 rpm, you can even get ~40 km/l. These figures are amazing for a 250cc engine.​

- Riding Comfort:
The seating position is perfect for long rides/highway touring. The seat too is comfortable for the rider. The pillion seat is also good. You can easily ride for over 150-200 km without a break and feel no pain in your buttocks.

- Ground Clearance:
With 205 mm of ground clearance, you don't need to think twice before going over those sketchy Indian humps. Even during light offroading, you can get rid of any apprehension about hitting the base while navigating through potholes.

- Weight:
The bike's total weight is around 167 kg. This makes it feels nimble and helps to navigate in the traffic and also during parking.

Cons:

- Height:
With a seat height of 835 mm, it is a tall bike. Without shoes, I (5' 8") have to get on my toes to handle the bike.​

- Windshield:
The windshield is a little low for my preference. My height is around 5' 8" and when you go above 85 km/h, the wind blast is real! The noise is almost deafening and annoying. Extending your windshield or using earplugs is a good solution.

- OEM Brake Pads:
The life of the OEM brake pads is quite low. At first, I though that this can be attributed to my braking style, but after interacting with multiple V-Strom owners and reading online forums, it appears that this is a common issue. I had to change my front brake pads just after 4,500 km. I am not sure about the exact reason for this. I have to also add that I had ridden mostly on mountain roads during the initial 4,500 km and this might have exacerbated the health of the pads. I switched to LRL Ceramic Brake Pads and personally, I have found them to have better brake bite. Hopefully, they have a better life than the OEM pads.

- LHS handle pulling:
The handle seems to pull to the left side slightly. Even after a couple of services and bringing up this point during those services, the issue is still persisting. I have not found a solution to this issue yet. Do let me know if anyone knows the root cause of this issue.

- Lack of genuine accessories:
Suzuki currently does not provide a crash guard, hazard lights or centre stand as accessories officially. Your best bet is to buy aftermarket stuff.

- Weird power switch behaviour:
After a bike wash, the power switch behaves irregularly as the bike turns on automatically when the clutch is pressed. This makes me wonder if water is seeping into the ignition switch. I have heard similar stories from a couple of other V-Strom owners.

- Not an off-roading bike:
The bike comes with dual-channel ABS but it is not switchable. This bike is suitable for touring mostly and can be used for light offroading. Low suspension and torque figures limit this bike's offroad capabilities.

- Digital Odometer:
The bike comes with a digital odometer which gives all the information needed to you like speed, engine rpm, average consumption, battery level and Bluetooth connectivity, but it does not have the best-looking odometer when compared with other bikes. Suzuki has reused the same odo they use in their scooters.

[PreethamNag]

Originally Posted by kaizengadi

- OEM Brake Pads:
The life of the OEM brake pads is quite low. At first, I though that this can be attributed to my braking style, but after interacting with multiple V-Strom owners and reading online forums, it appears that this is a common issue. I had to change my front brake pads just after 4,500 km. I am not sure about the exact reason for this. I have to also add that I had ridden mostly on mountain roads during the initial 4,500 km and this might have exacerbated the health of the pads. I switched to LRL Ceramic Brake Pads and personally, I have found them to have better brake bite. Hopefully, they have a better life than the OEM pads.

- LHS handle pulling:
The handle seems to pull to the left side slightly. Even after a couple of services and bringing up this point during those services, the issue is still persisting. I have not found a solution to this issue yet. Do let me know if anyone knows the root cause of this issue.

Hello,
As I mentioned elsewhere in the forum there are 3 Vstrom 250's among my friends, all have similar issue premature brake pad wear and slight left pull. The OEM pads wont last more than 5k in one bike the rear was done at 2.5 k. Solution found was vesrah ceramic pads and in one bike tgey have crossed 10k now will last 3-5 more.
Now coming to left pull its more in early batch vehicles, my friend was really annoyed with this and tried getting it sorted with multiple dealership they had even consulted Suzuki engineers the issue wasn't fixed. We too the matter into own hands took it to my friends garage when the bike had clocked 15k the fork oil had to be changed while at it inspected the cup-cone set. They looked damaged changed them, couldnt find the OEM replacement for same bike after looking for a bit fount that Suzuki Hayate has the same one so replaced those. Now it has gotten better.

[Sebring]

This is so true and I mentioned in my ownership review too. Regarding water wash shorting the electricals, have not faced it yet - but am vary of the fact. I use a plastic cover during pressure wash

Originally Posted by PreethamNag

As I mentioned elsewhere in the forum there are 3 Vstrom 250's among my friends, all have similar issue premature brake pad wear and slight left pull. The OEM pads wont last more than 5k in one bike the rear was done at 2.5 k. Solution found was vesrah ceramic pads and in one bike tgey have crossed 10k now will last 3-5 more.

[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by Sebring

This is so true and I mentioned in my ownership review too. Regarding water wash shorting the electricals, have not faced it yet - but am vary of the fact. I use a plastic cover during pressure wash

Originally Posted by kaizengadi

In this thread, I will go over the pros and cons I have personally observed with the new Suzuki V-Strom SX 250. I bought this bike sometime around Oct 2022 and have completed over 6,000 km till now.


- OEM Brake Pads:
The life of the OEM brake pads is quite low. At first, I though that this can be attributed to my braking style, but after interacting with multiple V-Strom owners and reading online forums, it appears that this is a common issue. I had to change my front brake pads just after 4,500 km. I am not sure about the exact reason for this. I have to also add that I had ridden mostly on mountain roads during the initial 4,500 km and this might have exacerbated the health of the pads. I switched to LRL Ceramic Brake Pads and personally, I have found them to have better brake bite. Hopefully, they have a better life than the OEM pads.

- LHS handle pulling:
The handle seems to pull to the left side slightly. Even after a couple of services and bringing up this point during those services, the issue is still persisting. I have not found a solution to this issue yet. Do let me know if anyone knows the root cause of this issue.

- Weird power switch behaviour:
After a bike wash, the power switch behaves irregularly as the bike turns on automatically when the clutch is pressed. This makes me wonder if water is seeping into the ignition switch. I have heard similar stories from a couple of other V-Strom owners.

Attachment 2451605

Congratulations Kaizengadi. Matter of fact, registered the same brake pad drama few few days back on my dedicated V-Strom thread. The pad wear is implausible, but that's the way it is. The progressive braking could have definitely been better. V-Strom owners should keep a sticky pasted on their dash that reads "Check Front Pad Wear Often"

Regarding the LHS pull, strangely enough I haven't observed this uncanny behavior riding solo or with pillion, I've tried to replicate many a times, but to no avail. I did consider this prime and a few owners reporting about the LHS bike pull issue, mine absolutely doesn't pull any side.

And regarding your starter/switch acting weird, nope till now I haven't experienced any uncanny behavior with the starting system on my Strom. I wash it quite often as I frequent slushy roads a lot, and so far she's been peach. Make sure you air-dry your switch innards after each wash, as it helps clear out water ingestion inside switch innards which can sometimes cause electricals to act weird. Or parking in the sun too helps!

Good luck and wishing you more miles.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ip-review.html (The Dapper Suzuki V-Strom 250 SX | A comprehensive ownership review)


Cheers!
VJ

[kaizengadi]

Originally Posted by PreethamNag

Hello,
As I mentioned elsewhere in the forum there are 3 Vstrom 250's among my friends, all have similar issue premature brake pad wear and slight left pull. The OEM pads wont last more than 5k in one bike the rear was done at 2.5 k 😳. Solution found was vesrah ceramic pads and in one bike tgey have crossed 10k now will last 3-5 more.
Now coming to left pull its more in early batch vehicles, my friend was really annoyed with this and tried getting it sorted with multiple dealership they had even consulted Suzuki engineers the issue wasn't fixed. We too the matter into own hands took it to my friends garage when the bike had clocked 15k the fork oil had to be changed while at it inspected the cup-cone set. They looked damaged changed them, couldnt find the OEM replacement for same bike after looking for a bit fount that Suzuki Hayate has the same one so replaced those. Now it has gotten better.

I have also switched to the same brand of brake pads, though costly I am glad to hear it survives long!

Thanks for sharing your experience regarding the handle pulling, Suzuki must consider doing more R/D and find the root cause.

[kaizengadi]

Originally Posted by Sebring

This is so true and I mentioned in my ownership review too. Regarding water wash shorting the electricals, have not faced it yet - but am vary of the fact. I use a plastic cover during pressure wash

I started to do something similar by covering the switches with polythene cover and securing it with rubber bands before washing the bike and it does help.

[VijayAnand1]

@kaizengadi, apologize for not tagging this earlier. In this picture of yours, I see that your front wheel has even more tighter turning radius than mine. I could perhaps be wrong due to the angle of the picture, but your bike's front tire seems to be more tighter turned than what mine looks like when locked to the left fully.



Cheers!
VJ

[drt_rdr]

^^ That appears to be due to the wide-angle lens of the phone camera or gopro. The saree guard also appears to extend much beyond the wheel due to the same effect.

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My V-strom has run around 4,000 kms so far. Barring a few uncharacteristic mechanical issues I've faced with my bike since the beginning (written about in a separate thread), here are some thoughts.

I generally get around 33-34 kmpl riding in city traffic, on SHs and rural roads. I've never seen 40, but I've seen around 38 if I keep it to ~4k rpm. At a constant 7k rpm i.e. around 100-110 kmph on the speedo, the fuel average reading usually drops below 35. Going up and down hills at redline pace, I've seen it drop as low as 26.

My front brake pads are looking worse for the wear too. I'd estimate around 25% life left in them. This is surprising considering the lacklustre braking. But the rear brake pads are doing quite well even though I use the rear brake often, and to the point of the ABS kicking in. Surprisingly, the rear brake pads seem to be more expensive than the front. Approximately Rs 500 vs Rs 400 or so.

I've also ridden my bike for a fair bit without ABS (for troubleshooting mechanical issues on my bike), and was shocked at the lack of confidence from the front brake while riding fast. It felt like the wheel can lock up with no warning: one moment it's braking well and out of nowhere the front wheel is sliding. Had a couple close shaves, but no falls luckily. I would recommend leaving the ABS on at all times, and pray your ABS unit never fails mid-ride. IMO, ABS on the rear wheel is definitely not a deterrent as far as going offroad is concerned, just a minor spoilsport.

IMO, the white beam of headlight is good for riding upto 70 kmph on highways. Beyond that, you risk reduced reaction times, especially as it fades in the face of glaring high beams from the opposite side traffic.

I've also had the chance to ride this bike back-to-back with a 2017 carburetted himalayan and felt it outdoes the himalayan on a couple important fronts.
-> The seat is spacious on the vstrom. You have quite a bit of room to adjust your position, while there's very little room to move around on the himalayan. But to be fair, the himalayan's seat material is nicer and softer than the vstrom.
-> The himalayan lacks good throttle response, even while slipping the clutch. I did a little bit of offroading and the vstrom felt a hell of a lot more confident than the himalayan, mainly because I had power on demand on the vstrom while slipping the clutch, but I had to wait for the tractor engine to do its own thing on the himalayan. This was especially apparent while running them up and down rutted slopes. The V took them quick and confident, while I felt held back a little bit on the himalayan. But it could be possible that the clutch was not in good shape on that particular himalayan (it had run over 35k kms).
->The handling. I thought the vstrom was a slowpoke at changing directions. The himalayan educated me with some context. The vstrom runs circles around the rigid himalayan in terms of general manoueverability, and this despite the steering stem nut on my vstrom being loose enough at the time to cause a fair bit of confidence-robbing oversteer. I suppose that should be no surprise considering the specs and engineering pedigree of both these bikes.

But points to the himalayan for braking more confidently than the vstrom, despite the lack of ABS. People generally think the brakes on the himalayan are poor, which says quite a lot about the brakes on the vstrom.

[shravansp24]

Originally Posted by kaizengadi

- LHS handle pulling:
The handle seems to pull to the left side slightly. Even after a couple of services and bringing up this point during those services, the issue is still persisting. I have not found a solution to this issue yet. Do let me know if anyone knows the root cause of this issue.

My KTM Adventure pulls to the right very slightly when I let go off the handlebars. Consulted multiple service centers, reinstalled the forks, replaced the triple tees, adjusted the cone set, adjusted the rear chain alignment, but of no use. After going through 100s of online forms, the only troubleshooting part that I'm yet to do is replace the front axle or the front tyre. But it's grown up on me and I've learnt to ignore that issue for now to enjoy my otherwise perfect adventure

[madhukar_n]

Just finished 9000 kms and the third service of the bike. The brake pads wearing out is there too. I changed on the service. I had changed on the second service too at 5500 kms.
For the windshield problem, use the Prospec extender. I had similar problem and and after that it is fine. The tyres, MRF feels less grippy. Will have to try some alternative, but the MRF tyres does not seem to wearing out soon. But the bike is charm to ride in city and in highways/twisties but not pushing it, easy throttle and enjoy the ride.

[Sebring]

My friend said he would source metzelers or pirelli for me when I need it

Originally Posted by madhukar_n

MRF feels less grippy. Will have to try some alternative, but the MRF tyres does not seem to wearing out soon. But the bike is charm to ride in city and in highways/twisties but not pushing it, easy throttle and enjoy the ride.

[Kalash_6324]

To all the VStrom owners here, I'm looking for an ADV that can comfortably cruise on our highways, holding speeds of around 100-120 and not feel like it's gassed if I need a short burst of power.
So question to everybody here is, would the V Strom be able to do what I need?
Currently riding a 2013 Classic 350, which is as everybody knows, a vibe fest.
Waiting for the Himalayan 450 since the 411 is starting to show it's age, although I love the ride quality and how beginner friendly it is.

[kaizengadi]

Originally Posted by Kalash_6324

To all the VStrom owners here, I'm looking for an ADV that can comfortably cruise on our highways, holding speeds of around 100-120 and not feel like it's gassed if I need a short burst of power.
So question to everybody here is, would the V Strom be able to do what I need?
Currently riding a 2013 Classic 350, which is as everybody knows, a vibe fest.
Waiting for the Himalayan 450 since the 411 is starting to show it's age, although I love the ride quality and how beginner friendly it is.

Vstrom SX 250 can easily hold 120 kmph with minimal vibrations (mainly at the footpegs) but if you want a quicker initial pickup and can nudge your budget a little higher KTM 250 ADV is a good option.

I feel Himalayan 450 will fall under a higher budget and higher power(40BHP) category comparable with KTM 390 ADV.

But if you want a reliable, low maintenance, comfortable vehicle go for the Vstrom.

[Kalash_6324]

Originally Posted by kaizengadi

Vstrom SX 250 can easily hold 120 kmph with minimal vibrations (mainly at the footpegs) but if you want a quicker initial pickup and can nudge your budget a little higher KTM 250 ADV is a good option.

I feel Himalayan 450 will fall under a higher budget and higher power(40BHP) category comparable with KTM 390 ADV.

But if you want a reliable, low maintenance, comfortable vehicle go for the Vstrom.

I've tried the KTM ADV390, but like all KTM products, it's not for me.
I'm a very sedate driver that likes to sit at around a 110, a speed at which the KTM has vibrations everywhere - the handlebar, footpegs, wind deflector, seat.
Also, all KTMs are really eager machines and want you to keep pushing, which isn't bad, but it's not something that works for me.


Thank you for the feedback on the V Strom.

[thunderlads]

My observations on the above discussed topics.

LHS handle pulling: I have not faced this issue so far.

Weird power switch behaviour: I have not faced this one as well. Neither after a power wash nor after heavy rains.

Mileage: With my daily office commute of 7 Kms one way, I get to ride in top gear for maximum of 1 minute, plus multiple speed breakers inside the tech park, I get between 35-36 KMPL. When ridden between 60 - 90 KMPH during a road trip, I got 42.5 KMPL.

Brake Pads: Bike is due for service in 15 days. I will update regarding the same after that.