Ladies and gentlemen, I present my new ride. She's a 2004 Suzuki V-Strom 1000, in my favorite of all colors, with a hair over 15,000 miles on the clock. She's been immaculately kept, as far as I (and the service manager of a local Suzuki dealer) can tell, and she's about as different from the Bandit as is possible.

From the few miles I've put on her already (from the seller to my house, and then again back down to the seller 2-up with Jen to pick up my car), I've noticed a number of differences from Zo� that will take some getting used to.

The good:

* Torque. Oh, dear lord, the torque. In the normal semi-legal speed range, pretty much regardless of gear, when you twist the throttle, this bike goes. I've yet to mess with really hammering it, but I can feel the front wheel getting light every time I accelerate.
* The seating position is great for me. Very comfortable, and very high off the ground - it's nice to look SUV drivers in the eye. This feels like a comfortable-all-day bike; more so even than the Bandit was.
* The engine makes quite a lot of power, but it seems to be very usable power with a nice linear power curve. It doesn't sneak up on you, but it seems like there's always plenty there.
* Put a passenger on the back, and the handling characteristics of the bike barely change at all. None of the wallowing mushiness that I'm used to.
* Adjustable preload on the front suspension! And you can adjust preload on the rear by just turning a knob, rather than hammering for three minutes on the adjuster rings under the seat!
* A fuel gauge!
* On just the low beam, the Strom's headlights put out more light than the Bandit did on highbeam with driving lights running too. Love it for night riding - I can actually see.
* Nice storage in the Givis, and they pop right off when they're not needed.
* Room under the seat for the camera, when I get my video rig set up on this bike.
* Great mirrors. I can actually see directly behind me; I never could on the Bandit.
* According to Jen, very comfortable passenger accomodations.
* Fuel injection. Turn key, start bike, ride off. As opposed to the Bandit, which was cold-blooded as all hell and needed constant fiddling with the choke for the first 5 minutes of a ride.

And, of course, the bad:

* The dreaded wind buffeting. Pretty much every V-Strom forum makes mention of the really nasty turbulent airstream that comes over the very oddly-designed windscreen and beats you about the head at freeway speeds. It's annoying. It's really, really annoying. At first I thought something was wrong with the engine, I was getting shaken around so much; then I ducked behind the screen and suddenly everything was great. Obviously a new, better windscreen will be on my list ASAP.
* Low-end stumble. There's a real shudder / stumble / popping at around 3k RPM, regardless of gear. This is another known issue with this engine; I find mention of it all over the boards, and apparently it's an easy fix. Most dealers can remap the engine with a programming box, and the Strom forums have the appropriate change to make to fix this issue. Alternately, one can plug a Power Commander into the bike, but I'm not really interested in super high end tuning. If I can deal with the stumble, I'll be happy.
* The brakes are actually surprisingly anemic. I'm sure it'll just take some getting used to, but they're smaller equipment than those on Zo�. Which surprises me, because even though the bikes weigh about the same, the Strom is quite a bit taller and carries its weight higher off the ground.

And then there's plenty that's just different. The overall character of the two engines, and the sound and feel of the bikes, are massively different, for starters. The Strom feels like it's going quite a bit slower, at any given speed, than the Bandit would, and it picks up speed quite a lot quicker in normal riding. The mirrors and bars feel a lot closer to my face; I feel like I'm perched on top of the bike, rather than being down in the seat, I suppose because of the fully upright seating position. When taking corners, I have noticed that the Strom leans quite a long way into the turn before it actually starts to change direction; I wonder if that's an artifact of the bike itself, or the tires that are on it, or just a simple question of height? I haven't a good sense of its handling in twisties yet, but I'm sure I'll get a chance to figure that out.

She appears to be completely stock, with the exception of the two Givi saddlebags. The list of things that I need to modify, change, and add is beginning to develop in my mind, but at the moment I'm content to ride her and finish my thinking. I know for sure that she gets a set of heated grips (DualStars again), a set of engine/case guards, some modification to the windscreen, a top box (another Givi), and a Scottoiler. I'm giving serious thought to a centerstand, though I've less need for it with the Scottoiler installed. I'm not a crazy tuner type, so I'll probably stick with the stock exhaust for the forseeable future.

Anyway, that's all for the moment. I'm very excited to be riding again (yes, I know it's only been a few days) and I'm quite looking forward to learning the ins and outs of this new and very different bike. I haven't felt inspired with a name yet, although Kaylee is in the running (bonus points to those who'd get that reference).

I strongly suspect that if I'd test ridden this bike, I might not have bought it. I also strongly suspect that this is a very good bike for me, once I become comfortable with the differences. I am certainly not unhappy with it at all, just startled at how different this bike is. I suppose I expected that all bikes are pretty much alike, having only ridden the Bandit, and am learning - not surprisingly - that there are nuances I'd never considered.

This coming weekend I'll be riding the Strom down to visit family in central Oregon. Should be plenty of time for self-analysis and bike analysis on that ride.