The bike has a severe front end vibration and shake on deceleration between 45-35 MPH. The vibration starts out mild and escalates to the point that you can loose control of the bike unless you accelerate above 45 MPH, or quickly brake and significantly reduce your speed. The problem is you are not always in a safe position on the road and in traffic to keep the bike outside of the dangerous range. As a result, I feel the vehicle is unsafe to operate. If you are consciously aware of the range of speed in which it occurs, you can try to avoid the speed, or compensate by holding the handlebars tight until the vehicle drops below 35 MPH. Once below 35 MPH, the shaking subsides. After two attempts by the dealership to resolve the problem unsuccessfully by performing various adjustments on the suspension, forks, and front wheel, they informed me that this issue is a known documented problem on this particular bike. There is an internal service bulletin identified as "chassis - steering head oscillation" for which there is no fix. I received a copy of this document for my records. The dealership said there was nothing more they could do and said I had to deal with the parent company. I opened a case with the manufacturer. I asked them to try and attempt to resolve the situation again through their dealer network, or buy the vehicle back. The stated they would not do anything further, even after I advised them I would not ride the bike again. If this is a known handling issue that effects the safe operation of this particular model, the company should be obligated to disclose this at the time of sale. I do not feel I should have to sell the brand new bike at a significant loss. Again, this issue effects the safe handling of the bike, and should not be ridden with this existing condition.
The worst 2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650 problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
- Steering1
- Suspension1
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Steering1
- Suspension1
Recalls 1
Power train: driveline
- What is wrong
- Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. (Suzuki) is recalling certain model year 2014 DL650A V-Strom motorcycles manufactured January 20, 2014, through January 21, 2014. In the affected vehicles, a drive chain link may not have been riveted by the supplier when being manufactured.
- Risk
- If the drive chain link was not riveted, the chain may come off, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
- Remedy
- Suzuki will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the drive chains of the affected motorcycles. For any unsold motorcycles with a drive chain link that is not riveted, Suzuki dealers will replace the non-riveted link with a drive chain joint set. For any motorcycles that have been sold to retail customers with a drive chain link that is not riveted, Suzuki dealers will replace the drive chain and the front and rear sprockets, free of charge. The recall began on May 27, 2014. Owners may contact Suzuki at 1‑800‑572‑1490. Suzuki's number for this recall is 2A39.
Recall number 14V278000 · Recall details
What 2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650 owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Compare the 2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650
Other model years
Questions about the 2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650
Is the 2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650 reliable?
Owners have filed 1 complaint about the 2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650, close to a typical V-Strom 650 model year.
What is the most common problem with the 2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650?
Steering, with 1 complaint. Next is suspension (1).
How many recalls does the 2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650 have?
1 recall, covering power train.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history