New owner of Curvy, carb balancing and tickover?

Hello all,
Just bought a 1999 SV650 its an SY model in blue.Just under 10.000 miles on the clock.MOT till next year and tax till sept. No service history or manual.

Its in not bad condition,standard everything but fairing is damaged on both sides and the gear linkage is damaged.
It doesnt tick over too well.When I got the bike it had been standing outside for a few weeks,The discs I ont think are standard and are gold and look like EBC discs. The kind of disc that goes red rusty colour if you let the bike stand out in the rain. So when riding it home I was extra carful when braking. The tick over rises when you turn the bars and as I said it now doesnt tick over too well. This is because the rev where sitting at 2.000,so I lowered them a little and now it wont tick over.
So it looks like a good service is in order with the usual filters and oil and then clearances with carb balancing.
Without sounding too stupid this is my first v-twin bike,do you still need the carbs to be balanced on a v-twin?
Is there anything else that needs to be checked/looked at/replaced that I have missed?

I dont know what the service intervals are for a SV650,Do any know and can tell me please?

Thanks in advance.
Knobby

[rictus01]

Hi, might be an idea to put your location in your profile, so folks know where you are.

given the lack of history your best bet is to do a major service, then at least you know where you stand, and yes you do need to balance anything with more than one carb, you can download various manuals,

the SV650 SECTION CONTAINS

Suzuki_SV_650_service_manual_'99-'01
Suzuki_SV1000_service_manual
Suzuki_SV650_1999_2000_Service_Manual
Suzuki_SV650_2003_Service_Manual
Suzuki_SV650_Maintenance_Schedule
Suzuki_SV650_Parts_Fiche
Suzuki_SV650_Torque_Specs

So you should have most of the basic questions answered.

Cheers Mark.

So mark you think its worth doing shims even though the bikes not done the milage yet?
Thanks for links.

[rictus01]

checking costs nothing mate, a major service covers far more than a normal one, so a good starting point for checking just about everything, and to be honest I'd want to check cam ware to confirm mileage and general condition, it's a 13 year old bike, the mileage is either wrong or it's sat about most of it's life, which for an SV is just as bad, it could of cause be wonderful, but I'd need to prove that to myself.

Cheers Mark.

[rictus01]

I see you're local, check out the Soho section in the regional bit, we meet each week.

Cheers Mark.

[andrewsmith]

I'm with Mark, give it a major service and rebuild the brakes as a starting point
It sounds like the control cables are routed wrong or need a bloody good oil!

The standard discs go a brown with they are left outside in the rain

A few pics of the bike.
Its got the usual fairing damage,I say usual as every SV I see has got the fairing sides damaged.
Pic also shows the discs,which look like EBC discs to me.

[daveangel]

Just had a look at the discs on my curvy, also a similar age '99 SY with dark green wheels, and looks like you have aftermarket discs.

Definately give it a full service and have a good look at the throttle cables, esp. if the revs rise when turning the 'bars, they may not be routed properly or rusted up. It'll stop any scary moments when manouvering at low speed.

Just checked the MOT history on the DVLC website and it seems the milage is genuine.
It has failed its MOT twice before,rear pads and head bearings.
The head bearings seems shot and thats another thing that needs doing.
Also seems strange to be how a bike thats done under 10.000 miles has had a pair of discs already.
I have never worn out a set of discs on a bike yet.
Unless of course previuos owners have been doing lots of wheelies or high speeds to wear out head bearings and discs on a low milage bike,might also explain why its been down the road and got fairing damage.

[maviczap]

They look like the same as my OEM disks, they all rust a bit, goes when you ride it.

Steering bearings might just need greasing, as it sounds like its been sitting around unloved.

Bearings are relatiively easy to do, and get some taper headrace bearings to improve the steering.