A new horse for the stable

Ok, so carrying on from my last post, I was in Wellington to test ride a bike...this went fairly well for the salesman at Wellington Motorcycles as he managed to lighten my bank account and send me on my way with this:

It's a 2008 Suzuki DL1000 V-Strom with only 12,500km on the clock well that was yesterday...The bike is pretty well sorted with panniers and a top box, a chain oiler and the little spoiler on the screen (works too).

The reason I've ended up with one of these things is that I seem to be addicted to touring and this thing will let me do plenty more of this including plenty of back roads with or without seal. Having a second bike does come with more costs but it also means that the Connie doesn't have to do all the work - it's now got 69,000km on it and the V-Strom will slow the rate at which this climbs. The Connie will still be the number one tourer for trips away and I still can not see the day when I look at selling it - it is a fabulous bike!

Before going the "thou" route I tried out the 650 version and really, really liked it but had to ride the "thou" before making a decision. In the end price had a lot to do with it (used "thou's" are cheaper than new 650's and come with plenty of farkles already) and I guess I really do like having that extra grunt!

So thanks to Lance who rode it back from Wellington for me I'm back to having two bikes in the shed and having to make decisions like which bike to take for a ride!

A few more pics here.