As a VStrom owner, here's my .02:
You'll never go wrong with the VStrom 650 or the FZ-6. Here are some points to think about:
VStrom is on the heavy side. It's dry weight is 418#. It share's a lot of parts with the dl-1000. Also, the weight is pretty high up. As much as I love my bike, leaning into a turn, I can definatly feel the top-heavyness. The COG feels like it's right between your thighs (the gas tank, folks
). BUT the gas tank is 5.7 gallons on a bike that get's aprox 45-50 mpg (depending on how hard I ride it
) so it goes a long way.
The exaust is up high so putting side hard cases will make your bike so wide, lane-splitting is out the window.
It's a tall bike. So if you're under 5' 11", straddling the bike might get difficult. I'm 5' 11" with a 29" inseam and I can straddle the bike with the ball's of my feet on the ground. BUT, it's great for commuting since your head is almost at the same level as the SUV's out there.
The seating is just about straight up standard. It's comforable. I'm able to sit on it for 150 miles (i usualy get 180 - 200 miles out of a tank) before I have to get of and rest my hinny.
The engine is a dream. Tough, reliable, and powerful. It share's the same power plant with the SV-650. It pumps out about 65 - 70 HP. I'm 340# and it will accelerate me up the 405's Sepulveda Pass as well as any mountain road. It's a re-tuned engine so the max speed is 115 (I suggest nothing over 100. The bike tends to complain a bit, or it's the wonderful Los Angeles roads.) but the torque is out of this world for such a small engine. In my learning phase, I've lugged the engine through turns in fourth gear at 2000 rpm. The engine chugged, but it kept on going.
The windshield is adjustable over three positions. At the highest position, the windshield is positioned perfectly to put a ton of turbulence on the forehead of your helmet. So either have it all the way down, take it off, or replace it.
This windshield hase been getting a lot of good reviews. It's the next purchase for my bike.
All-in-all, it's a great all around bike and a ton of bang for your buck.
As for the FZ-6, here is what I know about it:
There are not as many suspention adjustments. The front fork has no adjustments at all.
The engine is an in-line 4 pumping out 90 HP. The engine needs to rev up pretty high to get to the good power band and stay reved.
The exaust is under the seat, thus side bags don't stick out as far.
the seat has a definate foward lean a-la-sport-bike. But not as much as a chrotch-rocket. I'm not sure how comforable it is on a long ride, but I found that when I changed my handlebars (resulting in a bit of a foward lean) my bike became more comforable and quicker to maneuver. It took some weight off my tail end and back. So it's a matter of preference.
It's a smaller bike than the VStrom but it's also a bit heavier. However, the weight might be distributed lower (frankly, I don't know). Also, the seat is a bit high, like the VStrom.
All in all, you wont go wrong with any bike. So it's a matter of preference. Check out both and you'll know which one you want. They are very simular but worlds apart. I did just that and the VStrom was the bike for me. Your results may vary.
Good Luck
