2004 Suzuki V-Strom 650 User Ratings

Emotions were mixed as I set off across the SoCal desert toward Indian Wells for the press introduction of the baby V-Strom. We were already converts to the sweetness of the SV650's 645cc 90-degree V-Twin, the powerplant loaned to the new DL, so we expected good things there. But, we wondered, how could this pseudo dirt bike possibly be as good a package as the SV, a perennial winner in the smile-per-mile category?