Thread: Fork value
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Old 11-10-17, 03:56 PM   #33
650
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Join Date: May 2012
Location: South East London
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Default Re: Fork value

Oh, ignore that then! Just noticed you're looking at 675's. Here's my lowdown:

For:

1. Great induction note
2. Light
3. Flickable
4. Decent on fuel if you keep the throttle bashing down. Not as good as SV, but then it's got more power
5. Look great with the dual headlights and a low boy exhaust
6. Not too bad on insurance
7. Hold value well if cared for and rinsed down

Against:

The suspension is sh!t. Sorry to ruffle the feathers of the ridiculous hoards of die hards that the bike has, but it's true. The rear shock is cheap, overly stiff and will give you a bruised tailbone in no time - especially as you're such a featherweight. The front forks (I had the R model) are similar, jittery, overly sprung, under damped. I'd highly recommend a complete revalve from Maxton and get one of their rear shocks to match the front, you'll truly have a bike that handles like a goddam dream at that point. The bike in standard guide is good on track and those rare, poker flat roads you encounter once in a blue moon. HORRIBLE on anything else.

The whine from the engine will eventually get to you. Can be masked with a loud exhaust but chances are you'll go for Arrows if it's the underseat exhaust model you're after. They sound OK with the baffle in but have a horrific drone with the baffle out. This is only noticeable to the rider as it's the positioning that causes issues. Can cut baffles down to find happy medium.

Seat is shockingly crap. I mean among the worst I've ever encountered. I ended up luckily coming across a Sargent seat that I got off the forum, transformed the comfort level and made the bike a keeper.

I installed a GB Moto (I think) low boy exhaust, this helped reduce the overly heavy **** end handling it had and saved about 3 kilotonnes in weight. It was bonkers loud though, loved it for a week or two then got mega sick of it, it was rancid.

Here it was, just before I sold it on:

With Arrow exhausts



With the low boy I swapped over to









With GSXR rear pillion pegs (I forget what generation):



It was much quicker all round with the low boy on. Guessing this was due to weight saving and an increased mid range. Still nothing to write home about, I find the SV1000 much more exciting to ride tbh.

Would I have another? Maybe, if they got rid of the straight cut cams to do away with the engine whine - it's not like a VFR750 gear driven cam sound, it's very whistley and annoying. I'd budget about £1500 to bring the suspension bang up to spec, though.
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93 VFR750 - WAY too many mods to list. Crashed
04 SV1000 - Bar end mirrors. Belly pan. Seat cowl. K4 GSXR600 K6 front end and custom top yoke. R6 Brembo MC
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