Anyone ever gone back to an sv?

Evening chaps,

I was out on the hornet today, great fun, rev rev rev etc. Does most things well although after a spirited thrash it became evident that 17 stone is too much for the stock suspension and it bottomed out a number of times.
So its obvious I will probably need to sort that, and at speeds over 70 mph my tallness makes it awful and the gearbox is bloody awful compared to my 2 previous suzukis.

So after a wine or two tonight i've started to ask myself whether or not I should just get another pointy which i'm sure was a great road bike with a few cheap mods.

Has anyone on here done this after having more mental bikes? Was it a massive mistake?

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by Jackie_Black

Evening chaps,

I was out on the hornet today, great fun, rev rev rev etc. Does most things well although after a spirited thrash it became evident that 17 stone is too much for the stock suspension and it bottomed out a number of times.
So its obvious I will probably need to sort that, and at speeds over 70 mph my tallness makes it awful and the gearbox is bloody awful compared to my 2 previous suzukis.

So after a wine or two tonight i've started to ask myself whether or not I should just get another pointy which i'm sure was a great road bike with a few cheap mods.

Has anyone on here done this after having more mental bikes? Was it a massive mistake?

I'm using my SV in preference to my Z750 at the moment...

Is that because it has more character? or do you keep the zed for best?

[dirtydog]

I went from an SV to a Triumph Daytona 955i back to an SV and then to a Benelli Tornado RS and then back to an SV and have no regrets. Yeah admittedly I miss the power sometimes but that's about it.

I went sv650 curvey to sv650 pointy to sv1000 then back to sv650 2 weeks ago. Sv1000 is a far superior bike to the sv650.

The sv1000 is nearly the same to insure as the 650. It looks a lot like the 650 but all the parts have been uprated. The only downside to the sv1000 is the fuel it eats.

I think an sv1000 would be ideal for you if you are human/hippo

this was mine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khJ6IIWCYks

[fizzwheel]

Yes. I kept my SV when I got my GSXR with the intent of using it as a 2nd bike, winter hack. I had some work to do on it, in order to get the SV running properly. I.e. stuck choke plungers, leaking front forks. Which I sorted.

I rode my SV about 3 times after that. I f*cking hated it. Compared to my GSXR, it was noisy, slow, when I opened the throttle it just made more noise and vibrated some more but didnt feel like it was accelerating. The brakes were sh*te and the suspension felt awful after the GSXR.

It developed a bit of a fuel leak, which took time to solve, once I did I rode it again once and that was it, I sold it in the end as I never rode it.

As much as I loved it, I'd not go back to the SV now.

Originally Posted by ian505050

I went sv650 curvey to sv650 pointy to sv1000 then back to sv650 2 weeks ago. Sv1000 is a far superior bike to the sv650.

The sv1000 is nearly the same to insure as the 650. It looks a lot like the 650 but all the parts have been uprated. The only downside to the sv1000 is the fuel it eats.

I think an sv1000 would be ideal for you if you are human/hippo

this was mine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khJ6IIWCYks

Very nice, shame they don't make them any more!!

I know all the parts are uprated, but any bike you buy if you are more than 12 stone is going to need suspension bits so even the thou would need some tinkering.

[SoulKiss]

The Sv is just a bit more fun round Central London

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by Jackie_Black

I know all the parts are uprated, but any bike you buy if you are more than 12 stone is going to need suspension bits so even the thou would need some tinkering.

I'm not so sure I agree with you there. I'm 14 stone.

I've never felt the need to spend money on the suspension on my GSXR, its still running standard components, albeit with the front preload tweaked a tiny bit.

I've been out on the other halfs Ducati 749S, again same thing, I've never felt the need to ugprade the suspension on that either, its fine as it is.

The SV is a great little bike, it's only downfalls are the bouncy bits, the quality of the finish, the seat and the stock tyres. I have a Daytona 955i now, and it's far superior in every way, but you can't thrash the pants off it on British roads without risking your life or risking jail time, and it doesn't just throw round corners like the SV does. If you fix the bouncy bits, the SV is a great fun road bike IMO.

It doesn't have the power to make progress quite as much of a magic carpet, whoosing you along with the slightest whiff of throttle like the Daytona does, and the bouncy bits would need to be completely replaced with Gixxer forks and an aftermarket built for purpose rear shock, but I certainly wouldn't turn down an SV as a Winter hack.

Kilted Ginger has both SV and Triumph Tiger, and I think he rides the SV more often than the tiger.