Upgrading from 650 to 1000

Hi all,
For all those that have gone to the 1000 from the 650, could I have your opinions please, differences in the bike, good/bad, the difference in cost for parts, tyres servicing etc.

Would you go for an older model with low milage or newer bike with higher milage? both around the same price.

Thanks Skez

[tj2]

IMO its a downgrade..........
More power more cost, in fact more of all the bad stuff and less fun.
The 650 is a far more user friendly bike.
I had a 650 k3 for 2 years and 19000 miles, traded for a k4 1000 and was dissapointed. Yes it was fast, yes it had plenty of grunt but it just didn't do it for me. Even after 12000 miles hard use.
I now run a honda cb1300 and a bandit 650.
HTH
Terry

The two bikes are completely different, they share the same silhouette basically.

[mattSV]

Had a curvy for 4 years, have now had a SV1000 for 4 1/2 years.

As anyone who has ridden both will tell you, they are completely different bikes. Initially I really missed my 650, however once I had a set of cans on the SV1000 I soon got over it.

The good points about the SV1000 are:-

• Power - at least 50% up on the 650, makes doing silly speeds very easy indeed - 9500rpm is an indicated 150mph
• Brakes - the brakes are from the pre-radial GSXR750 - work very well on the SV1000
• Suspension - not perfect, but better than the 650
• The sound - I have Remus cans (no baffles) which sound like thunder, and also spit flames on the over-run
• Price - one of the cheapest big twins you can get, and the build quality is not too bad

'Bad Points' - these are neccesarily bad however....

• The bigger chassis, tyres and extra weight mean it will never feel as 'chuckable' as the 650 - it needs to be 'man-handled' into a corner, however once you have chosen a line it seems to hold it a lot better than my 650 did
• Everyone thinks it is just a 650 with more power

Parts/cost wise - it gets through 180 rears about every 3500 miles or so (currently running Z6s), however everything else is pretty much on a par with the 650. Fuel wise - costs me about £14 to fill up, and the light can come on as early as 80 miles - on a motorway run I can get about 130 or so before it comes on.

Don't buy a 1000 because you think it will be a more powerful 650 - a lot of people who have done this have been disappointed. Having said that, that was why I bought a 1000 - I did not even have a test ride before buying one, and I have grown to really like it.

[pookie]

I think the newer models k4 onwards has a different subframe ( lowered I think) I have a k3 and its seems higher. Also new models are slightly lighter. I'd like the sz for the different paint job and black frame. I went from curvey to 1000 and agree with the posters above. Tank range goes from 90 - 110 to reserve and the light stays on which means I pretty much fill up as soon as it appears . Its a bit heavy work round town but lovely on the open road. Good value solid 1000.

Had a K4 650s from new for 3 years and got my K4 1000 (Naked) in March this year. Most obvious change (bar the engine size) was going naked from being half faired.

Agree with MattSV in terms of the power difference, it is sooooo easy to be doing silly speeds and even with the windblast it is a shock at first to look at the speedo and realise how quick your going without really trying.

A lot has been said before by those who have swapped about the handling, but i have to say i haven't noticed that much difference. I find it just as easy chucking the thou around as the 650. Having said that a lot of this is probably due to the different riding position on the naked, it is much more upright and i feel a lot comfier/more confident on it.

Not serviced it yet (it is due) and done just under 4000 miles since i got it, but filters/plugs etc should be same as 650. Same on tyres, still has original Michelins on it, bike has done just under 6000 miles on them and they are squaring off due to a lot of Motorway miles (AR08 and Glencoe Massacre the culprits!). Petrol consumption is probably slightly more than the 650, but not bad at all really. I managed 180 miles on 1 tank running down to the AR and had fuel left in the second tankful coming back from the Glencoe Massacre. The Quill racecans I've got on it haven't made much difference to the fuel bill and they also sound awesome.

Overall, I love my thou and once i get a flyscreen and top box to do some more touring on it am very unlikely to change. It does everything I want it to, is plenty fast enough, handles and in naked form it doesn't seem very common.

I dont really understand this talk of power making you do silly speeds quickly...

Even on the 650 pootling along, crack the throtle open in 2nd or 3rd and 2/3 seconds later you are breaking national speed limits

But i do understnad that more power would be nice in the 650, I somtimes want to scream at it to go faster coming out of corners!! lol

Originally Posted by pencil shavings

I dont really understand this talk of power making you do silly speeds quickly...

+ 1, it has nothing to do with the power of the bike its how you twist the throttle.

The 800 is making over 100bhp, doesn't make encourage me to speed anymore on that than it does on the 650.

[mattSV]

Originally Posted by Dangerous Dave

+ 1, it has nothing to do with the power of the bike its how you twist the throttle.

The 800 is making over 100bhp, doesn't make encourage me to speed anymore on that than it does on the 650.

Fully agree, and that was what I was trying to say - the more power, the easier it is to get in to trouble, therefore the more 'self control' you need to have.

"it is a shock at first to look at the speedo and realise how quick your going without really trying"

To defend my quote above, when going from a 650 to thou it is easy not to realise how fast your going as at the same throttle opening on both the thou does have a fair bit more go. But, yes you do learn to adjust after a few miles on it.