Suzuki Skid Plate

The Skid Plate full fills the job of protect the lower parts of the engine such as your oil filter, drain bolt and exhaust assembly. Now this mostly relevant should bottom out somewhere but. It also can block stones from flying around and damaging the lower portions of the bike.
Really Skid Plates are out of the way so all that is expected of one is to absorb abuse when needed and be of as little inconvenience as possible. For that reason some companies advertise that their skid plates will allow you to leave them in place for an oil change. That is a big no no, not for any reason then it will always become a mess and usually it is quite easy to simply undo the rear portion of a skid plate and swing it out off the way. But it is still nicer not to have to clean spilled oil up from everywhere then having to put in some extra minutes to remove a skid plate completely.
Again skid plates have a wide range and they come with various convenience or safety extras. If you need those and how much of a skid plate you will need is up to you but don't led a brand name misguide you from the basic truth about any business they are in the business of selling with their shareholders in mind.
So the part will probably not fail because they don't want to get suit not because they like you that much and worry about you. However at the same time they will try selling you anything they can manage to, since they are also not trying to keep your money in your wallet but rather of making it come out.
Which means if you just want a basic skid plate for some added protection but don't think that you will be sliding your bike over trees on a regular basis you don't need the deluxe model the base model will probably be fine.
When going with a home made alternative stop to think about air intakes/heat exchanges and try to insure that you don't block them off completely so that they can carry on doing their jobs. Which is why you want some air going through on the Strom. 
Skid Plates range from 120-260$ each bike has their own designs and ranges but that is quick and dirty.

Engine/Faring Guard

Now I don't care what anyone says at some point somewhere some how everyone will put a big done, some more often then others. When it happens we generally hope it is at low speed with no traffic somewhere on soft cushy grass but you can't always bed on that. An engine guard that extends over part of the faring however is a good option to limit the damage and protect yourself a little more...also its another spot to put those additional headlights that you keep telling your buddies all about but haven't gotten yet.
Now I run the OEM Suzuki ones on this count as well...most of my protection is OEM why? Because a local dealer got me a good deal on the package. Which only reminds you to not get blinded by the cool names but also look at the bottom line a bit shop around you never know maybe a local dealer is trying to get rid of some gear that you want and he can make you a deal.
Anyhow the Engine guard on a V-strom is also needed to install the skid plate. The Engine guard Suzuki vendors is pretty straight forward. It follows the bikes contours where it covers it protecting the lower part of the faring and a portion of the forward section of the engine. Suzuki did change the design for these and skid plates heavily for the following models. But the use remains the same and of course the price pretty much the same as well.

Some people claim that it give you some extra wind protection but unless you start mounting solid pieces on the engine guard I don't see that happening. This engine guard however does not get in your way and it sturdy enough to absorb some good abuse if God forbid you dropped it somewhere less desirable then the perfect grassy knoll. You can't see it well in the pictures but with the handle bar kicked in as it would be if you dropped your bike the engine guard is the first point of contact to the ground protecting the faring from hard surface impacts I could see on soft soil the guard sinking in a bid though and the faring taking some abuse.

Overall engine guards are about 250$ or thereabouts they are definitely worth the investment for the piece of mind in my opinion especially when looking at the cost of a new faring never mind having to deal with the damaged bike until you are at the next shop.

Suzuki Handguards

OEM accessories have a bad reputation because people think that they tend to be useless.
The hand guards are the ones Suzuki sells for 79.99$. They are made out of hard plastic, and give generous space for the hand brakes and clutch while still shielding the hands from weather and trees fer effectively as I have tested...unintentionally on the right handle bar you can see the slight scratch on the hand guard. This scratch was cause by hitting a tree near a path at about 20-25km/h.
The hand guard did absorb most of the force leaving me very happy when I carried on that I had the hand guards.
These hand guards are also very easy to install and uninstall to check the wires that are covered up by the guards.

Suzuki Hand Guards:

Suzuki side Bags

I am currently running a V-strom 650 with a few farcles...of course more to come and I review them individually as I get them on the bike for now I will of course start with the gear already installed. And other farcles will be mentioned as I get them.

Now I have a set of Aluminium side bags on my bike they are the ones the Suzuki pushes through their dealers. Now these bags have been through rain at highway speeds as well of course through sun and the nice things about them are. They don't get to hot despite them being black; what I mean by that is they wont get warm even when not riding. While riding they are of course kept cool but when you stop for a lunch or something you want to know that your sandwich, water or water ever else maybe in there is not boiling. And it does not.
These bags come with a lid seal for the top opening lid and they do come with one liner bag each which are water resistant (I haven't tested this as I had no leak into the boxes but they do repel water fine while sitting in a bathtub or being rinsed in the shower) so if you are in a lot of rain you can keep items that need to stay dry in there just in case.
The are of course as all top opening with lock in the rear and swinging to the front which makes them the same on that count as all Aluminium side bags that I have seen. 

They of course lock to the bike when mounted and the mounting is very easy and straight forward you simply slide the bag onto the pins on the mounts and lock the rear clasp to hold it in place.
Of course the lids lock as well, the locks are a little jiggly at times and you have play with the keys to unlock the cases at times.

The mounting side of the bags.

Exterior with the reflectors adding some visibility.

The side clasp is the clasp locking to the bike

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The Liner bags.

Right Mounting bracket.

Left Mounting bracket.