V-Twin, Water-Cooled, Dual Overhead Cams, Fuel Injection
Traditionally styled dash still has electronic fuel and temp gauges, as well as 2 trip meters. Note the 9500 RPM redline -- 75 MPH = 4,000 RPM (not even halfway to the redline). Theoretically, redline in top gear would get you about 180 MPH, but wind resistance stops upward progress at about 135 MPH. Needless to say, it's quite relaxed on the highway.
(December 2006) Time for the 15,000-mile service. I could take it to the dealer and pay them $500.00. Nah! I downloaded the shop manual (free!) and spent the next 2 weeks working on it a couple of hours at a time. Valve adjustments (see below), new coolant, new spark plugs, new air filter, and lots of minor adjustments and inspections later, it was all back together WITH NO LEFTOVER PARTS!!! It started right up, and ran great. No leaks. So far I've put 4,000+ miles on it since the maintenance, and it has run like new. Total cost - about $65.00.
Draining the coolant. I refilled with the Prestone Yellow Jug - "All Makes" blend
Valve cover off - ready to check clearances.
Before removing anything, I took digital pictures of how it's supposed to look when it's reassembled. This way, I hopefully don't do something stupid like reinstalling the cams 180 degrees off.
My reference picture to see how the marks line up against the top edge of the head. I believe this is the intake cam on the front cylinder.
Valve cover off for the valve adjustments. The lower camshaft (exhaust) on the front cylinder is removed for access to the shims, which are located under the inverted buckets (white arrows are pointing at the buckets). First, you remove the buckets with a small magnet, pulling them up and out of their sockets, then reach inside them to remove and replace the small shim. The shim is about 1/4 inch wide and about 1/16 inch thick. They are available in varying thicknesses to achieve the proper gap between the camshaft and bucket. The first one took me several tries to get it right, the next 3 camshafts went much easier. By the way, note the lack of "gunk" since I use synthetic motorcycle oil.
Before you buy an expensive shim kit, check with your dealer. My local Suzuki dealer swapped shims with me so I didn't have to buy any. Good thing since I needed to swap 6 out of the 8. I did buy an oil filter and rear brake pads from him for the favor.
The air filter on the V-Strom is a notorious bug-collector. Needless to say, a new filter went in. I'm working on building a "renewable" filter by cutting out the old paper element and securing and sealing a car filter I found that is the same size. When it's time to replace, I just buy the filter at Advance Auto for $5, slide it in, and put a little sealer around the edge. It's a nice, snug fit, so I don't think any unfiltered air will sneak by. Lots better than $30 for a Suzuki filter. I'll post the picture when and if I get it finished.