2008 Suzuki DL1000 One year owners report
April 5, 2008 – April 5, 2009
One year ago I took delivery of my ’08 DL1000 from Max Pitts Suzuki in Peru, IN. The deal went fairly smoothly, except I had to wait a month for delivery and Suzuki twice sent the wrong color bike. I paid $8299 + IN sales tax, no fees or set-up charges.
Prior to purchasing the Suzuki I also considered the Triumph Tiger 1050, Buell Ulysses, and the DL650. I was able to test ride all three of these bikes before choosing the DL1000. All had their strong points, but the big Vee won out in the end. No regrets here, I’d make the same choice again today as I did a year ago. The only bike of the three that I still think about is the Uly, but I really hated that low RPM Harley shake.
In the dealer’s lot, zero miles on the odometer:
The ride home was something just short of misery. The stock windscreen battered my head and ears so badly that by the time I got home I had a pounding headache and was nearly deaf even though I was wearing earplugs. Luckily I had already read numerous accounts of this on the web and had already purchased the “Madstad” bracket, which was supposed to be the cure. I had also purchased a pile of other goodies while waiting for the bike to arrive.
Day after purchase, round one of mods installed:
Fast forward one year! As of today, the Vee is showing 16,010 miles.
Long story short…this is the best bike I’ve owned so far. It’s not the fastest, but still fast enough to get you in trouble with the law. It’s not the best handling but is more than capable of any pace I’ll run on the street and as its better on rough roads than a sportbike it has opened up many roads for riding that I’d never taken on my previous bikes. It’s certainly not the sexiest, but I must admit I like the looks of the thing more and more every day. It’s very functional and therefore useful as a daily mode of transportation and not just a weekend toy. The bike was in the high 30’s mpg for the first few tanks then began to increase as it broke in. Typical fuel mileage now is 42-44 mpg even doing 75+mph on the interstate w/luggage. I’ve had a handful of tanks hit 50mpg on slower back road rides. For me, the bike has only one major problem and that is wind buffeting. I’ve got it to a manageable level, but I’d be lying if I said I was totally happy in this respect.
I have not done any off-road riding to date, so I can’t comment on the bike’s performance in this area. I’d love to try a bit of dirt/gravel road stuff, but I’m a street rider and have no ambitions of bombing through the woods on my Vee.
Long story long…I guess we’ll start with the bad…repairs:
1. Right mirror wouldn’t stay adjusted and was replaced.
2. Left headlight bulb high beam burned out at 15,627 miles. I replaced both bulbs.
That’s it. Nothing else has broken or failed. The Vee has started the first time, every time and has yet to let me down.
Service:
5 oil and filter changes
1 air filter
2 throttle body syncs at 3318 and 14,703 miles
1 Valve check, found one intake valve on the bottom limit
Replaced stock rear tire at 8332 miles with Bridgestone Battlewing
Replaced stock front tire at 14,703 miles with Battlewing
Chain and sprockets replaced at 15k service.
So far, nothing out of the ordinary has been found during regular service. Both the front tire and chain/sprockets were changed a bit earlier than they could have been but as I had the bike already torn apart for the 15k service I decided to go ahead and replace them. One item of note, the bike has gotten progressively smoother running as the mileage has increased. Somewhere around 5,000-8,000 it really smoothed out and at that point I consider it to have fully “broken in”.
Mods to date:
General mods:
SW-Motech centerstad: Fit and function perfect. Recommended
ADVMotostuff Skid plate: Fits great, haven’t “tested” it yet. Recommended.
Givi crash bars: Fit and look great, haven’t “tested” yet, knock on wood. No issues with vibration or cracking. Recommended
Rickland Rick’s mirror extenders: move the mirrors out a bit for better view. Recommended, but not a necessity.
Garmin Street Pilot 2610 w/ram mount: bought cheap as a refurb, works great. I’ll never pay full price for a “new” Garmin again.
Oxford Heated Grips: Much cheaper than the Suzuki grips. Almost too hot at max setting. Recommended.
Sargent seat: The stock seat was a torture rack for anything over an hour. HUGE improvement. Fits and looks great as well. Recommended.
Stebel Nautilus Horn: just arrived, not yet installed.
Happy Trails Highway pegs: Not the most elegant looking set-up but very comfortable for long highway runs. Recommended (must have ADVMotostuff skid plate to use)
Luggage:
SW-Motech quick release side case brackets: Fit and function perfect. Recommended.
ADVMotostuff adjustable top case mount: Great if you carry a passenger who wants a bit of extra seating space, not needed if you don’t. Recommended.
Givi luggage: E41 Sidecases, V46 top case. Fantastic, never leak a drop. I only use the E41’s on long trips but the V46 never leaves the bike.
SW-Motech “Daytrip” quick release tank bag: Perfect for those little things you want quick access too. I rarely ride without it. Recommended.
Suspension:
Sonic Springs 1.0kg fork springs
Hyperpro progressive rear spring
Rickland Rick’s fork brace
The stock suspension was WAY too soft for my liking. When I had the bike apart for the 15k service I changed out the springs. HUGE improvement all around. Just changing the springs won’t give you a “perfect” set-up, but still a massive improvement over stock and much cheaper than an aftermarket rear shock. The fork brace went on last week and I’m surprised at the difference it makes. Not so much in handling, but it had a huge effect on braking. The bike is much more stable and composed during panic stops. I was skeptical going in, but now I’m a believer. Spend the money on a fork brace!!!
Wind management:
“MadStad” adjustable windscreen bracket
Givi touring screen
MP Cycle Designs “Sport” screen
As I mentioned before, this is the one area of the bike that I have issues with. This is also an area that is highly individual, so these comments are just my experiences. What works for me may not do it for you and vise-versa. The stock screen alone was totally unacceptable for any distance at highway speeds. The next step in my quest was the stock screen with the Madstad bracket. This improved buffeting a lot, but only with the screen all the way down and angled all the way back. I still had some buffeting and it was horrendously UGLY! Next I tried the Givi screen with the Madstad. Another level of improvement over the stock/madstad combo. Once again, the only position that worked for me was with the screen all the way down and angled all the way back. Raising the screen created massive buffeting, especially in crosswinds and while following large trucks. With the screen laid all the way back I had nearly as much air hitting me as with the stock screen. At this point I decided to try the “less is more” approach and go with a smaller screen. MP Cycle Designs makes a “Sport” screen that fits tight to the fairing using its own mounting brackets. This is the best set-up I’ve tried to date in terms of buffeting and is without doubt the best looking option. You get a lot of air with this screen but not much more than I got with the Givi laid all the way back. My chest is still in calm air, only my helmet is hit with a full breeze. I still get a small amount of buffeting at 75mph and above but if feels as thought it’s coming from the mirrors. At lower speeds I have just smooth air. Ear plugs are a must though.
I know this will be a bit frustrating to potential owners, but IMO no one can tell you what windscreen to buy. This seems to be a very individual thing and even if you’re the same height as another person, the screen they love may not work for you. Luckily the used market for screens is strong, so if you try something you don’t like you can sell it to offset the cost of the next screen.
Stock with Madstad:
Givi with Madstad:
I'm looking forward to many more happy miles on the 'Strom. The bike has far exceeded my expectations. I thought I’d miss my sportbikes, but so far that hasn’t been the case. If something happened to the Vee tomorrow I’d go out and buy another.
I had the same experience with wind buffeting when I rode a friend's Vee that had a cee-bailey windscreen as you did on your first ride (totally crazy, I-just-lost-a-fight-with-mike-tyson head pounding). I also thought the suspension was very mushy, sounds like you've got both those issues mostly fixed. 
I wouldn't get one until I had a garage again so I could do all my own work easily, but once that's the case, servicing won't be a big factor - I rather like fiddling with bikes
I'm still a bit over a year out from getting a new bike so I've got time to think about it. Whatever I get will go quickly if it doesn't prove to be very reliable. I like to ride a lot when I ride. The honda 919 I borrowed last summer was perfect in this respect - I went on a 9k mile trip that ranged from sub-freezing to 110 deg F and sea level to over 14k feet, from nice days to 70mph winds and it didn't miss a beat. It was also a bit of a bore in some respects compared to a good feisty twin.
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