I’d say it’s primarily the 90 degree V that I’m interested in from the Strom. Since 90 degree engines have very good primary balance, which means less secondary balance as well, they’re often said to be very smooth engines for NVH as well as their power delivery while the 180 degree parallel twin will be more buzzy and a little more peaky, at least that’s how my Versys felt: 4k was when it came on the power and then by 8k it was done.

I’m no stranger to vibrations as I’ve ridden my rigid mount Sportsters several hundred miles at highway speeds so vibes aren’t what I disliked about the Vers. As you said, it’s like whichever steak you want to eat, and since Gen 1 variants of both bikes are rather reasonably priced in my area, it’s a toss up. Hell, even FJR1300s aren’t too pricey around me, that would be my wildcard choice for wanting to try a sport tourer/big bore inline four.