My New Wee Broke Down: 54mi and Then NADA

  One of the things I hadn't noticed when I bought the bike was the tag expiration date, which was August of 2017.  That was a long time ago!  When I opened up the fuel tank the first time to put new 100% gas in it, I got a strong whiff of turpentine.  That should have been my clue to get it home and investigate further, but I was excited about the new steed and it was such a nice day!  I found it would run great at speed but after riding a bit, when I'd come to a hard stop, it would sometimes die.  As I rode a little later that afternoon on the day I bought it, I ended up getting stuck in a bad spot.  I was on a twisty two-laner about 12 mi from home when she quit for good.  In that park where I broke down, I had time to consider my purchase, realizing that I the great price I got on the bike would soon be eroded by parts and repair costs.  I decided that the bike was just right for me.  It had everything I required of a bike to leave out West when I considered the three large locking bags, GPS, USB power outlets on the bars for charging my phone, and perhaps most important, the aftermarket seat.

   I have a great friend Dan, who helps me when I need service on my BMW as he has the same bike.  He is a master researcher and explores every possibility of a repair and the best ways to attack general maintenance.  I didn't think it fair to ask him to help me with this bike so I did some research online with Google and found a place very close to our home where I could take it but they were full up so I had to wait a few days till they cleared out some of their repairs.  I dropped it off at Car Works of Knoxville and checked on it a couple days later.  In my research, I found that the achilles heel of the V-stroms are the fuel pumps, injectors, and fork seals.  Because I plan to leave this out West, I told them to just do it all so that I would have a confidence that I'd have less of a chance to get stranded.  Suzuki wanted $650 for the fuel pump alone, so I obviously went aftermarket for $95, which included all the filters and screens.  And so, I'm in a holding pattern waiting for the final bill.  Once I get the bike back, I'll ride the loop around Knoxville three or four times, and then I'm planning a shakedown ride of about 600 mi to make sure all the bugs have been worked out.

Here is where I'm at so far on cost:

bike:                 $4400

title transfer:     $?

new chain:        $121

fuel pump:        $95

injectors:           $?

fuel tank seal:    $