06 Suzuki GS500 vs. 06 Suzuki V-Strom DL650

My friend and I took a ride thru Lytle Creek Saturday.  He rode my Vstrom and I rode my GS500.  I got the GS500 so I could have a little bike to teach people to ride on with.  I never rode both bikes back to back.  I have ridden the GS500 to work at times.  On the freeway the GS500 is slower then the VStrom but plenty fast to ride thru traffic.  The The GS500 starts to run out of steam around 85 mph and is happiest around 75-80.  The VStrom on the other hand cruises nicely between 85-95 mph.  Both bike get great gas milage.  The VStrom seat is much more comfortable.

The ride up thru Lytle Creek opened my eyes to what the GS500 is great for.     15-35mph twisties.  The road is pretty boring in a car but much more fun on a bike.  I started out riding the GS500 because my friend wants to buy a VStrom DL650.  I had not rode this road on a bike before so I took it pretty easy.  I kept on leaving my buddy on my VStrom in the dust.  Once we got to the end of the road he was very happy with the VStrom.  He had said the ride would have been much more tiring on his 02 KTM 640 Adventure.  On the VStrom he felt the same as when we started.  At this point we traded bikes.  He took the lead on the GS500.  He is 6'3" 240 pounds.  He was riding much faster on the GS500 then on the VStrom.  Being I have ridden my VStrom 40,000 miles I's pretty comfortable on it.  The first thing I noticed was the VStrom was a slow turning pig.  The bike felt very heavy compared to the GS500.  I was able to easily keep up to the GS500 but it took a bit more effort when throwing the bike into the slow speed turns.  At the end of our little ride my buddy said he loved the GS500 and had plenty of power for where we were riding.  We both came to the conclusion that the GS500 was much more fun to ride on this type of road.  The only thing a more powerful bike would have done was allow you to crash at a higher speed.  With the GS500 we could come out of turns at full throttle and ride thru the gears.  As I have heard meany people say "It's more fun the ride a slow bike fast then a fast bike slow"


I'm still selling my GS500 but until then I'm going to take a few trips to the local twisties

That was a fun story; thanks for sharing! 

Well the Strom does have a 19-inch front wheel, which slows it down in the twisties.