How does SM-610 handle fire roads??

[Incabiker]

Also how is the 610 compared to the suzuki 400 sm, of course power is obvious, but I am looking at these 2 really hard right now. The 610 is sexier then the Suzuki bike, but the new black suzuki sm looks pretty sharp. I'm guessing the Suzuki would be cheaper to repair. Is there a monstrous difference in the power of the 2?

Ok, well how well does the sm-610 handle fire roads. I was looking at picture of SM races and saw these guys jumping and getting some major air on these SM bikes on the dirt , so I'm thinking "If these bikes are flying through the air on dirt, what could a fire road possiblly have that could challenge this??." especially if you mount some more aggressive tires on it. I think that I am just talking myself into getting the sm-610 .

Also, on the dirt, how does the V-strom 650 compare to the sm-610?? I bet the sm-610 will blow away the V-strom if the both had equally aggressive tires huh? but then again on the road the v-strom would probably be a hell of alot more comfortable then the sm-610.

[nfoviking]

The 610 is better than the Suzuki SM at just about anything performancewise. The power is substantially better stock to stock. Add a pipe to both, and the Husky is much more powerful.

They both come with Dunlop D208's which are useless off road. I won't even get into the Vstrom here beyond the fact that it is a street bike period.

The seat on the Husky does not encourage long rides, but can be fixed. The Vstrom is a heavy underpowered street bike and can not be expected to make good time on a fireroad.

Hope this helps somewhat. I commute on my SM610 daily and have ridden a few laps on a national motocross track (Budds Creek). Would not think about going off road on a Vstrom and the SM400 Suzuk is substantially down on power relative to the Husky.

All good bikes though, pick one and ride it!

[Incabiker]

Thanks for the reply, I like to go up to the north Georgia mountains alot and when I get up there I always find new fire roads up there, and I am always wanting to explore them. I see BMW Dakars and V-Stroms go on these fire roads all the time, so thats why I was asking about them.

Definatley seems like this bike is the ticket. One more question, what sort of life can be expected from the engine if it is properly maintaned? I am pretty anal about the maintanence on my stuff, so that it will last the longest.

[TTiger]

Most fire roads I've been on, you could take a WeeStrom with decent tires (TKC80s for example). You've just got to take things a little slower, and avoid mud and be really careful in stuff like sand and loose gravel.

Heck, I've had my Concours and ZX12R on roads that are normally ridden by the local DS guys. The shaking and bottoming didn't do the suspension and bodywork much good (broke tabs on the inner fairing panels on the ZX), but it can be done.

Having said that, no way would I ride logging roads as quickly or confidently on a Strom (or BMW GS, which I've had in the past) as on my TE610.

And yes, the Strom is a lot more comfortable. It's a tall sport touring bike, after all.