I have to day, thus far... I'm really liking it. Only done one short camping trip but will head out for longer trips soon.
I'm coming from a vstrom 650 that I'm selling with 75k that I put on it myself, so my comparisons between the two are fairly fresh.
If I'm doing MANY hours on the interstate, I'd prefer a vstrom.
If I'm doing mild off-road 20% of the time, I'd prefer a vstrom.
Thing is... in reality, I simply don't do that many interstate miles. More likely to take two-lanes when possible. Nor to I go off road. It's not my thing. I've done it and it was somewhat fun, but I'm more about getting there and less about the ride itself. The only times I go off-road is when I have to get to a campsite or up to a better vantage point for a photo over a dirt or gravel road. Other than that, I'm on pavement.
Add to that, MOST of the time I'm riding it's around town on errands, etc.
So, there's an difference between the riding I'm prepared to do if I have to and the riding I actually do in reality.
When I first got back into riding in 2005 I thought I wanted to do a bunch of travel AND off-roading on a bike that wasn't too expensive so I got a KLR. It was perfect for what I thought I wanted to do, but after discovering I wasn't diggin' the off-road stuff as much as I thought I would, I moved to the vstrom. This bike was also a great value buy and has served me very well on the pavement and some off-road too.
As the sort of riding I really do is getting more dialed in, I thought I'd get one that was a great buy, fun to ride around town, low maintenance since I'm a klutz when it comes to wrenching
, but one that could manage the little bit of interstate and an occasional dirt/gravel road to get to the campsite or better photo vantage point. Great gas milage was also a bonus, and nimble/light handling around town is pretty sweet too.
It's too early to tell if I made the right choice until I get some longer trips under my belt, but for the riding I actually do as opposed to the riding I thought I wanted to do... this bike is looking like a winner.