SV650 brake improvements?

[maviczap]

Standard SV brakes are perfectly good enough for mini twins racers, that's all they're allowed.

Most of the poor performance comes from poorly maintained calipers & old OEM lines.

Choosing the correct brake pads makes a difference too, some are better than others.

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by 21QUEST

Exactly!.

Always have a chuckle when I hear people complaining about how crap the SV suspension, brakes, etc etc are.

Infact I'd challenge half the folks that moan to a friendly braking competion with me...I'd be happy to do it with my 125cc, SV with standard brake calipers and then an SV with GSXR calipers. And they'd still lose....

Much as I would like to take you up on that challenge (perhaps one day I'll get the chance....) I'm afraid I wouldn't qualify as a moaner....

Like you I would venture that standard well maintained brakes on an SV are far better than the vast majority of riders using them, and that's not just true of SV's. Learning to understand and use the brakes safely is one of the few skills transferable from the track to the road. You only have to read the posts on here about people coming off their bikes to see how often people get it wrong!

[Bibio]

Originally Posted by Red Herring

Much as I would like to take you up on that challenge (perhaps one day I'll get the chance....) I'm afraid I wouldn't qualify as a moaner....

Like you I would venture that standard well maintained brakes on an SV are far better than the vast majority of riders using them, and that's not just true of SV's. Learning to understand and use the brakes safely is one of the few skills transferable from the track to the road. You only have to read the posts on here about people coming off their bikes to see how often people get it wrong!

lets get one thing straight, the SV is not a sports bike it's a cheep fun V twin. Suzuki know this and this is why they will not upgrade the components to SS bike status due to the 'upgrade path', once you ride a proper SS you will want one due to better road holding, braking and speeeeeed. if the SV came with proper suspenders and brakes then more people would be reluctant to upgrade.

if you think the SV brakes are shoking try riding an old 1970 era sports bike then you'll know what shocking is.

if your relying on the brakes being vicious on an SV then your riding a V-Twin wrong.

^ This.

With forward planning, even on the daily grind in mixed riding you can complete a large part of a 12 mile commute using nothing but engine braking.

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by SV_archie99

^ This.

With forward planning, even on the daily grind in mixed riding you can complete a large part of a 12 mile commute using nothing but engine braking.

You can also apparently get more than 45mpg out of an SV, and make the rear tyre last more than a couple of thousand miles.....

Originally Posted by Red Herring

You can also apparently get more than 45mpg out of an SV, and make the rear tyre last more than a couple of thousand miles.....

More like 60mpg - but I'm welsh.
We're very much like the scots, but less generous

[Bibio]

well being Scottish i get 65mpg but i still cant get my rear tyres to last more that 5k. what am i doing wrong

[Red Herring]

You're not enjoying yourself enough!

thanks for all your replys, ive found the problem which is a seized piston in one of the callipers. don't get me wrong I'm not expecting sports bike braking but something better than a 25 year old RD 350 which there not, hopefully they will be now.

[garynortheast]

Clean and grease the pins on which the caliper slides. http://forums.sv650.org/showpost.php...1&postcount=26 When functioning correctly the action should be silky smooth. Make sure that the recesses in which the piston seals sit are scrupulously clean. They tend to accumulate a white oxide which pushes the piston seals out so that they grab the pistons, preventing them from moving out incrementally to compensate for pad wear.


As has been said, the SV calipers are pretty decent when properly serviced. Use organic pads if you want to reduce disc wear. You'll need to replace the pads more often than other pads but that's cheaper than replacing discs. The organic pads work just as well as the sintered and ceramic pads in my experience. I've tried several different types of pad and have settled on Armstrong GGs.