comments:
I've only ever heard good things about the V-Strom 650. I haven't ridden or owned one myself, but I ride a Tracer 9, a 900cc triple, and I had a friend with the same bike as me who swapped bikes with her friend who had a V-Strom 650 for a ride. Coming from the KLR, I think my bike is extremely smooth on the highway. Her friend with the V-Strom found her Tracer to be buzzy. So at the very least I know that the V-Strom 650 must be very smooth at highway speeds if they were thinking a Tracer is buzzy. The main limitation of adventure bikes like the V-Strom is that wind protection, while present, is mostly more to get the wind off your chest than it is to keep the noise down. Because there needs to be clearance for the handlebars to turn with handguards installed on them, adv windshields usually can't be particularly wide, meaning that wind can still get around the sides and make your ride noisy. I wouldn't consider this a dealbreaker, earplugs exist and do a decent job of mitigating all of that, but it is something to know about because it can suck to get the bike expecting the windshield to fix all your problems and then find out that it only gets halfway there. Also if you find that the windshield causes buffeting at your helmet, I've been using this for a couple years now and it's greatly helped on my bike: https://www.amazon.com/Motoforti-Motorcycle-Windshield-Deflector-Adjustable/dp/B09T6VBJF4. Took a month or two of occasionally fiddling with it to find an adjustment that worked for me, but once I found it I've just left it there and haven't had any issues. Helped with the buffeting, and helped quiet down the bike enough to make it bearable enough for me. Still not quiet quiet, you kinda need a tall and wide windshield like on the FJR or Goldwing for that, but quiet enough to be bearable. And I have a helmet that's fairly noisy on its own, so if you have a quiet helmet then you could actually find it quiet between the helmet, windshield, and earplugs.
https://a.co/d/096lNMyz This has been the perfect solution for me on both the 450 and the 800. Putting it on the stock windshield has taken all the buffeting out and is absolutely smooth as butter.
Might try adding a adjustable top deflector to push the airflow over your head... https://www.amazon.com/Motoforti-Motorcycle-Windshield-Deflector-Adjustable/dp/B09T6VBJF4/ref=sr_1_7?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CVMqmxwfyuy0NpP5e1k84nnMNzfyY24XSc0V6c5Edp4NK_63_5U3x1ARvKJZLx_1-5aGmhJEzSLBuyRpSS-WK_7rhbCg5bcnTJuMOiU0PHYMeEl93yq26cr65CG3lvVF-lbVGWywQQiYT8UF2WtAuGWXXEjdBNhKj4di1JqGybmX6cvlCajN4CnH0Qsx3s7I5Pe9M5bl3Bk-HuPGA5TSxZad0r7ZIlVIQPr8TJ0wgFZRDh_jmVs8IQkM_33dj0ehc6LDa2p55f5SikZh9HRl9Rlo2dZ8Knj3ccsMQopyN1Q.8sG8JbyE9H94FzbaHjHYQrzg_dR_p6r2q56LvYdis_Y&dib_tag=se&keywords=windshield%2Bdeflector&qid=1781735133&sr=8-7&th=1
So I will say that if mine ever breaks then I absolutely will be splurging for the expensive Puig one, but for the sake of trying them out a cheap one does the job. This is the one I have. The main thing you lose with the cheap ones is material quality for the actual windscreen part. My deflector is a lot more scratched up than the OEM windshield it's attached to, and it's harder to see through in the rain and whatnot. But also that's not that big of a deal for me with the way I've got mine set up. It's pointed basically straight up and at the maximum extension, almost right below my eye level, so normally I can just look over it but also there's a little gap between it and the actual windshield that I can peek through if I want to tuck in behind it to avoid bugs or when I'm riding through fog and want to keep my visor up. I've also had it for over two years and like 12k miles and it's still going strong, so while I will be splurging when I need to replace it, I'm not actually expecting to have to replace it anytime soon.