Sv buying advice?

Hi there,

Newbie to the forum who's considering buying an SV and would like some advice....

A fella at work has a 2005 SV650 with 70k on the clock. Its his commuter hack and up until winter was his regular ride in to work.
The faring is in good nick but the metalwork is looking like its seen better days.
The chain is bone dry, there's oil in the window up to the halfway mark and both front and wheel bearings have play in them. I'm not sure how long the MoT is but think its due up soon, along with the tax (old tax disc on display).

He tells me he's regularly changed the oil every 4k miles and the last service was last summer.. I've not had a ride yet so cant comment on the brakes / gearbox / clutch etc

What do you guys think?















He said he'll let me have it for £500.

The bike is for the better half, who is doing her direct access soon. If its a good bike that just wants some TLC i'll gladly buy it and clean it up for the girlfriend, but if you guys think its an old dog then I will give it a swerve!

Cheers,
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[yorkie_chris]

Question is what is she going to do with it.

For £500 I reckon it's worth a look.

[Bibio]

some elbow grease and some cash and it should be fine. £3-400 should see it up to a reasonable level.

It'll be her first bike and will be used for a bit of commuting but mainly social rides.

Her ideal bike is a Triumph Street Triple, but I thought if this cleans up and works out cheap then it's probably not a bad bike to cut your teeth on

[Bibio]

better she drops a hack than a nice shiny shiny.

[andrewsmith]

Originally Posted by Bibio

better she drops a hack than a nice shiny shiny.

I'd agree to that!
Best to strip it right back (I'd personally to looking to drop the engine too), then do all the bearings (about £100 tops to buy). New shock; hagons are less than £300, or search for rear shock swap on here. New chain and sprockets too, they look fecked

Looks possibly like a bit of oil leaking it seeping from the top of the front cylinder? Might just be the picture. For £500 or so I reckon it's worth a poke, as others have said strip it down and tidy a few bits up and you could make it pretty tidy!

Originally Posted by TheRuffellator

Looks possibly like a bit of oil leaking it seeping from the top of the front cylinder? Might just be the picture.

I thought that too!

Depends if youve got the time etc to spend doing it up. I think id personally get a curvy with alot less miles and thats been looked after a little better for about 1k then you shouldnt have t spend much on it.

Could be a good buy, you have to wonder if its been maintained well though I mean, that is seriously furry.


What I don't understand is why people cant have a winter bike and look after it even a bit... I mean lithium grease on a rag looks crap smeared on a bike but will stop half of that corrosion for 20 minutes every month or so.. There are better looking ways and more effective ways of preventing rot but that's the cheapest ..

Anyway, should be worth a go, the forks are the only bit you might have a hard time getting looking good.

[Biker Biggles]

Looks like minger to me.Hardly worth anything unless you want something to do a lot of tinkering with.