So how long you been a Van Van Man? Whats your mileage? Any mechanical issues. Quirks? I thought Suzuki did a great job recreating an authentic vintage retro look with this bike. I will say the exhaust was exceptionally ugly, but hey what factory exhaust isn't. The ergonomics on this platform appear extremely comfortable and the riders triangle looks right on. Also doesn't this bike come stock with an oil cooler? The used one I saw a year ago in a showroom had an oil cooler. Not sure if it was an add on though. Too bad Suzuki discontinued these cool rides. I've only ever saw one in the wild though. Heck, I'm still yet to see another Monkey in the wild where I live. Big bikes are cool and bling and fast and expensive, but I've found these smaller CC retro simplistic bikes are where my heart is. They always feel like your going on an amusement park ride.... but with no long lines and you can take as many turns as you want 😃👍
@PeterCichoszewski
3 жыл бұрын
I had it for about a year. I wish I kept it in retrospective. I had put about 7000 miles, out of that about 90% on road and 10 off road ( mile wise.. ) . It did come stock with oil cooler which was surprise as DR200 with same engine does not. Seat was very comfortable. I used it on many long camping trips and was great for it. It is very similar to TW200 except was fuel injected. Currently I am on KTM Duke 390 after R3 and I am ready to try smaller bike. Here is in Ontario, Canada insurance cost is significant and keeping multiple bikes is expensive so I swap bikes every so often. If they did Van Van 225 and kept it as light as it was that be perfect. Most roads that I need to use around have 50mph limit with people going around 55mph minimum so VV200 was at near its limit in case of head wind, uphill and loaded with gear. I did love the low seat height as it allowed to waddle trough very hard terrain. I am considering XT250 as it seems very close to the "unicorn" bike for me.
@findingneutral
3 жыл бұрын
@@PeterCichoszewski I too have the sad revelation that I sold a bike i should not have to go bigger. You know because bigger is better... NOT! Well at least not for me. I traded out my XT250 for my CB500X. I love it, its great, proven platform. But I'm to small for it. The XT250 was a perfect fit. Such a great design that will literally last one a lifetime. If you get one never sell it.... Thanks for the Van Van info. Least you got to have fun on it. We all live n learn.
@PeterCichoszewski
3 жыл бұрын
@@findingneutral I just discovered that here in Canada for 2022 they added KLX230S ( the "S" is for short.. or low seat ) on top of KLX230 which we had for a while which has seat height as low as XT250. So far i was leaning to XT250 but with the equal seat height and having 6th gear and 2x the interval for oil changes ( I guess engine uses newer tech ) .. I might go and see it as well as the XT250
@findingneutral
3 жыл бұрын
@@PeterCichoszewski lf you test drive them each that would be the thing to do. Here that's a no go. Really sucks being filled with joyous anticipation and when you hop on and zing down the road you instantly are either like 😒 Meh... or if your fortunate its the unicorn 🦄. From my research the Yamaha most likely is going to be better build quality. The XT250 is still one of the very few bikes actually built in the motherland of Japan. Most DP bikes seats suck and are hard, not the case with the XT250. They did good with their foam choice and shape. For riding the roads the 250 vs 230cc, ill take the 250cc. Every bit helps. My 2020 stock XT250 would move out and with ease. Around 75Mph you will feel the knobbies get squirelly but what 250 wouldn't. I will share a dumb costly idea I did with mine. Since I was more hardtop i had some pricey Avons like 80/20 put on and balanced. Them trying to balance the rear rim lock was a nightmare. The bike drove like complete crap. Took the bike back and then went with Pierelli Scorpions. They were smoother, but still the stock knobbies were the best. So I suggest maybe sticking with the tire the bike comes with are something very close to it specs. I do recall looking for a 6th gear, but if your still faster with 5th who cares. In the past I've owned 2 Kawasaki Super Sherpas, a KLR250, and KLR650. After those I switched to Suzuki DRZ400SM, which I wrecked badly on and quit riding for over 10 years. Performance and ergos wise the XT250 was/is my favorite. One rider i chatted with racked up over 40k on hers, and that was lots of off road taxing riding. She only ever had to have the carb float (i think) cleaned in that time frame. During valve clearance check time they were still in spec. Unfortunately she wrecked it into a tree I believe. But besides the bent frame and it becoming a salvage the bike started right back up and she was still riding it. That said a lot to me. Big decision for you though. Besides that the only recall I could find was for an earlier model wire harness having issue, but Yamaha replaced them. Just keep researching. You'll pick what suits you best.
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