My first Ride!

[Blue_SV650S]

I actually wrote this a couple of weeks ago, but the site was down then, I have ridden the bike more since writing this, but I'll post it as it was originally written:

So today was the first time I could ride my new (to me) 2001 SV650S as finally I got all the legalities sorted … now I only did my normal commute (with the ‘fun’ alternate ending as this has some twisties). So this is my first impression only, coz I have only covered 10 miles.

Initial thoughts
– It does have a ‘viper’ can, which sounds a bit dull on idle compared to what expected from a V-Twin.
– That said, the can sounds nice if you ‘blip’ it, or when you come ‘on pipe’ when going along. But to be honest though it isn’t ‘rude’ enough for my liking!! :)

To ride
– Doesn’t feel very sporty, slightly top heavy, a little vague/choppy at the front (and mine has had the fork internals professionally ‘sorted’). I noticed it has a slightly 'squared off' rear tyre and I pumped them up to pressures that seemed ‘about right’ (need to look in book for correct pressures), this combination will not be helping handling.
– Brakes are a bit, well very lacking, some different pads might aid this, it has braided hoses already, so hoses are not to blame. I am also going to slip the master cylinder down the bar to give me more leverage.
– Gearbox – they are all there, but not as ‘together’ as other suzis I have ridden.
– This is no quicker than 400s I have ridden, in fact out of the first couple of gears, it ‘feels’ slower, but that might be the power delivery masking the acceleration, and the riding position.

Practical stuff
– The screen is ‘useful’ not just put there for show.
– Clutch is a bit snatchy
– First is a bit tall, which combined with above makes pulling away need a bit of thought.
– Can see this bike will be ok riding through traffic, which is what it will primarily be doing, will probably drop a tooth on the front though (see above comment).
– No temperature gauge - that is annoying as hell, what was Mr Suzuki thinking on this penny pinch?!! It is especially annoying as it is winter and it is hard to tell when the engine is up to temperature. (so I can know when ragging can commence!! :D ).

Things I love already
– The sound when ‘giving it some’ (but as above, could be ruder)
– The torque in the low gears, it’ll happily loft the front of its own free will off the throttle in first when the torque kicks in :)
– Being a twin it has plenty of compression, making 'backing it in' action easy! :)

So I can’t say I have fallen in love with the riding experience yet, I’ll fiddle with a few things to get them more how I like, and I’ll keep you posted. :)

In the meantime:-
Anyone know what the ‘rudest’ pipe is I can get for a ‘curvy’?
How do others find the brakes??

[w.steele]

Wow!!! You said more bad than good there!!! My SVS is my first bike ( apart from a scooter at the age of 16!!) and i think it is an alright bike, i have a remus grand prix can on and it sounds the dogs!! with the brakes i agree to a certain level but i am 15 stone plus so they have to work harder anyway - as for the 400s being more powerfull i disagree - a friend of mine previously had a street fightered zx400 and mine had the edge over his even tho he is about 5 stone lighter than me

Like you said i am in the process of changing the front sprocket and also putting an R6 Throttle tube on it, should see some good improvements??

Might be a good idea to purchase yourself a Throttle tube as alot of people on here have said some good things about it - well worth the trial and error for 7.76 and doesnt talk all that long to fit

My tyres are also squared off from the previous rider (not me!!) so i have found it harder to drop into corners but will be changing for some Battle Axe BT014's in the summer.

[w.steele]

Wow!!! You said more bad than good there!!! My SVS is my first bike ( apart from a scooter at the age of 16!!) and i think it is an alright bike, i have a remus grand prix can on and it sounds the dogs!! with the brakes i agree to a certain level but i am 15 stone plus so they have to work harder anyway - as for the 400s being more powerfull i disagree - a friend of mine previously had a street fightered zx400 and mine had the edge over his even tho he is about 5 stone lighter than me

Like you said i am in the process of changing the front sprocket and also putting an R6 Throttle tube on it, should see some good improvements??

Might be a good idea to purchase yourself a Throttle tube as alot of people on here have said some good things about it - well worth the trial and error for 7.76 and doesnt talk all that long to fit

My tyres are also squared off from the previous rider (not me!!) so i have found it harder to drop into corners but will be changing for some Battle Axe BT014's in the summer.

[Peter Henry]

Sv...Can I ask how long you have been riding and what previous bikes you have owned? :wink:

[Blue_SV650S]

Hiya, it was an honest first impression. Bearing in mind that since I dreamt up the idea I had really looked forward to owning/riding an SV650, I too was a little shocked/disappointed that I picked up more irritating things than good on my first ride. :( I did (as noted at the time) realise this might change over time. I wasn’t trying to be negative about the bike, it was just what honestly hit me in the face verses what I was expecting!!

Since you ask and perhaps I should have put some perspective on my viewpoint, I have been riding bikes since I was 12, on and off road, that equates to <counts fingers> about 20 years of biking. I have owned/ridden all manner of bikes in that time from old nails, to proper classics, to modern sports and hypersports bikes. I have even raced bikes. I’m not trying to be clever by saying that, just putting some perspective on my viewpoint (and you did ask!).

Tell me more about the R6 twistgrip mod.

[w.steele]

Sounds like a fair comment - give it time and im sure you will like the bike more - like you said if you have been riding serious bikes on and off the track then yes the SV wont quite be the same as a supersport bike - if you look back in the forum you will see questions/answers regarding the Throttle Tubes - thats where i got all the relevant info i needed to buy one

[Andy13_uk]

it sounds like you brought it for the wrong reasons TBH,

My SV is my third bike (but only one over 125cc) and think its great, its not a powerfull bike IMO but enough for what i need, the scorpion can on mine sounds the nuts (i think :D ) and had it up to 129mph so far which is more than enough (and i got to a bend)

Look at it more like its not meant to be massivly fast but a nice V-twin that has power to overtake at most places on the rev range, if you ride it hard it keeps up with other bikes i find (on road SV's are fine for speed i think on ridouts)

and have fun, i hope you grow to love it, i know i have!!

[rob13]

the SV is built to a budget, however i think theyve done very well in creating the package they have for that budget. I guess if you've come from riding sportsbikes, its going to be a bit of a difference because they are manufactured on a higher budget, thus using more expensive equipment. I guess quite a few SV riders have come from smaller bikes/first bike/back to biking etc etc. IMO the sv does exactly what i want it to do, but i will agree on the brakes being not as hot as they could be.

[Blue_SV650S]

Ok, let me give you a bit more background.

My rationale behind a SV650.

Most of my road riding now is commuting. My commuters to date have been either old nails, or unexciting things like my late GPz, great comuter, but hard to get a trouser tent over!! So I fancied something more fun and newer, but it had to still be semi-practical.

I have owned lots of (Jap) classic bikes and really like the way that you can have fun without needing to do stupid speeds, they are generally cheap to run too.

I have had & ridden a variety of new sports bikes on the road and simply find it frustrating what with laws/cops, Volvos, tractors, gravel etc!! Especially after track experience where you can use ALL the bikes performance which is where I feel modern sports bikes make most sense. I have had them before and I don’t want an all-out sports bike for the road.

I have watched some of the minitwin racing and they can put in some amazing laptimes bearing in mind what they are. They don’t have that much poke (regs mean pretty much stock motor), so it can’t handle that bad right?!?

Most of my bikes have been inline fours, parallel twins, or V4s, I love the sound of a 4cylinder bike being punished, but a twin sounds awesome at lower revs or on the stand. The V-twins I have ridden on track include SP1, 748 and a 999, all of which gave me wood from the sound, but I was underwhelmed by the performance compared to the inline 4s.

Anyway I wanted something different for the road so thought about a V-Twin, I considered a SP1/2 as I lusted over them when they came out and the torque is something else, but it just doesn’t make sense!! (i.e. expensive and not practical enough bearing in mind my expected usage).

To me the SV was the perfect solution. I’d get the v-twin sound/feel, but it was practical, yet fun and bearing in mind the minitwins series laptimes, should be able to go a fair lick on track if the desire took me. I also liked the idea that they are not THAT expensive, therefore no need for cotton gloves or overly worry about parking it up and it getting pinched (as laid back as you can be with any bike these days that is!!).

So I was expecting a bike that has enough power for chuckles, should handle pretty well (compared to my other commuters), have some nice usable torque, giving a nice sensation and handy through traffic/commuting, but not a licence looser like an SP1 or most sports bikes are/would be. Perfect!!!

So you see I wasn’t expecting or wanting a sports bike, else that is what I would have gone for, I wanted what the SV had to offer.

…
…

Anyway like I said I wrote that a couple of weeks ago and have used it daily since.

I now love it :)

It fulfils all the above needs and now I have sorted many of the nigglies it is a great ride.

The brakes were particularly poor as on inspection they had carbon based race pads, great for track which is what the previous owner used it, shockingly poor for the road in the middle of winter!!! They were Performance Friction pads, which are awesome track pads, but need to be HOT HOT HOT, a condition that is hard to achieve/maintain commuting in the middle of the winter!!! I bought some basic EBC organic pads and the brakes are now, well nothing to write home about, but much better/ample, at least give feel and are predictable, I don’t feel it can be ‘stood on its nose’ with ease with only 2 fingers as most modern sports bikes can, but they are now fit for purpose.

Next mod was the front sprocket, i.e. a 14t front, I have also adjusted the clutch mechanism. Pulling away is now notably nicer. As is ‘hoiking one up’ :D

I have also fitted heated hand grips making it more pleasant this time of year.

I still feel the front end is a bit vague, but this is probably where it had been modded/setup for the track, it is basically too stiff for the road. Unfortunately there is no adjustment on the SV forks, so I can’t even tune it out a bit. I might try and source some stock internals.

The fat torque is great and she really sounds mean at about 7k, which is where I have found it best to change up as this seems the end of the torque :)

Anyway, I’ll keep you posted further, but I do love my SV now, even thinking about giving it a name :) … any suggestions (as my username suggests I don’t have that much imagination :D).

[didge]

you must have been sooo good at writing essays at school.

[Quiff Wichard]

beauty is in the eye of the beholder..!!

innit..

I like mine.....

if you dont like it ..move on ......but I bet ya miss it...



mind u in sayin that- i wud like an R6 !!

[Blue_SV650S]

beauty is in the eye of the beholder..!!

innit..

I like mine.....

if you dont like it ..move on ......but I bet ya miss it...



mind u in sayin that- i wud like an R6 !!

Dude, I know I waffled a bit (thanks for pointing that out didge :D) but if you read the end of my last post I said that now I have sorted a few nigglies/got it more how I like it and had more time on it, I love the thing and it does exactly what I wanted from it!!!

I put the original post up as that was my genuine first impressions verses what I expected. I then waffled on to explain what my expectations were when people asked. And then filled in my updated impression as time has now passed!!

So you see I am more than happy with my ‘Bluey’ (na that isn’t going to work is it!! :D).

[ophic]

The fat torque is great and she really sounds mean at about 7k, which is where I have found it best to change up as this seems the end of the torque :)
peak power's about 9250 or somewhere around there - if you're caning it you don't really want to change up before this.

[Blue_SV650S]

peak power's about 9250 or somewhere around there - if you're caning it you don't really want to change up before this.

Hiya, I have never looked at a dyno for an SV, so I was going on what ‘feels’ like roughly max TORQUE, not going on max power, that is indeed higher up. I wasn't trying to say what the fastest way to ride the SV is, just what takes my fancy at the mo is 7k as it ‘feels’ and sounds good. Flicking up one at about 7k seems to land me nicely in some more fat torque after the shift and the bike is barking nicely!! thats all :)

[Blue_SV650S]

... if you look back in the forum you will see questions/answers regarding the Throttle Tubes - thats where i got all the relevant info i needed to buy one

Right, had a bit of a ferret around using the search, so for a curvy I want a 03/04 R6 twistgrip right??? Yamaha part number 5SL-26240-00-00. and it should be a direct replacement/fit, no need for other mods yeah?.

It’s a shame as I have just modified/messed up my stock Suzuki tube so I could fit some heated handgrips!!! I have also superglued the grip on like it says in the distructions, so that might be a game to get it off!!! :( Sod law that, oh well, I’ll give it a crack anyway!! :D