I have the first gen and the improvements on the new Vee2 when compared is immense. The power is more than adequate, it just lays it down differently than lets say a C14 and it is sneaky quick. The suspension and brakes are excellent, traction control works perfectly, the bike is so light and agile it is like a toy, TONS of aftermarket goodies to make it what you want, and it is just a superb touring machine. The sound that a 90 degree race twin makes with proper exhaust is just music to the ears and soul, and the engine breaking in the twisty stuff is great. Yeah I love the V-Stroms, they are so versatile and DEAD RELIABLE........there is a 2003 out there with over 350K on it, still has great compression and the latest oil sample still proved things are working well internally. He uses nothing but FRAM oil filters and Castrol GTX 10W40 car oil, so I guess you can say the engine platform is very robust and solid.