Is it detrimental to a 650cc to be mainly used urbanly? - Page 3 - SV650.org

Viney · 30-04-10, 07:15 AM

Simple answer, No. Mines lived its life in london. Other than making sure the oil is changed on its 4000 limit, there will be no long term problems. Mines happily donw over 60k and probably id say 50k of that is in london, to and from work. It does do the bike a bit of good giving it a damn good thrashing every now and again, as siad, it sorts the carbon build up all over the place, and makes you feel better. I take it that you ride back to Kilton Means. That will be fine.

keith_d · 30-04-10, 07:15 AM

I'm not sure if it applies to bikes, but for cars the journey length is more important than whether it's urban or country miles.

On short journeys the engine and exhaust don't reach normal operating temperature so you get condensation in the oil and exhaust system. The battery barely recovers the energy used to start the engine and the rich mixture can leave carbon build up on the plugs.

On a longer run everything gets nice and hot, so any residual water is boiled out. The battery will get a decent charge and your plugs get baked to a nice biscuit colour.

As it happens, most short journeys are urban, which is why people think this is a problem, but it would be equally true if you just drove 10 minutes to the milking parlour every morning.

30-04-10, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

They run loads better with a bit of a kicking every now and again.

So it wasnt just in my head, awsome

30-04-10, 07:15 AM	#21
Viney Member Mega Poster Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: In the shadows to the left Posts: 7,700	Re: Is it detrimental to a 650cc to be mainly used urbanly? Simple answer, No. Mines lived its life in london. Other than making sure the oil is changed on its 4000 limit, there will be no long term problems. Mines happily donw over 60k and probably id say 50k of that is in london, to and from work. It does do the bike a bit of good giving it a damn good thrashing every now and again, as siad, it sorts the carbon build up all over the place, and makes you feel better. I take it that you ride back to Kilton Means. That will be fine.

30-04-10, 07:15 AM	#22
keith_d Member Mega Poster Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Ruislip Posts: 1,131	Re: Is it detrimental to a 650cc to be mainly used urbanly? I'm not sure if it applies to bikes, but for cars the journey length is more important than whether it's urban or country miles. On short journeys the engine and exhaust don't reach normal operating temperature so you get condensation in the oil and exhaust system. The battery barely recovers the energy used to start the engine and the rich mixture can leave carbon build up on the plugs. On a longer run everything gets nice and hot, so any residual water is boiled out. The battery will get a decent charge and your plugs get baked to a nice biscuit colour. As it happens, most short journeys are urban, which is why people think this is a problem, but it would be equally true if you just drove 10 minutes to the milking parlour every morning.