New Biker, Need Help!

Hi Guys,

Well, another newcomer to the SV650 forums. So Hello to everyone!

Basically, its something I am sure you have all heard many times before. I am a 26yr old biker, who has just passed his test and want to buy his first bike. Liked SV650's for ages and thinking about buying one. Always gets great reviews, and you lot seem to all love 'em so its all bodes well so far.

I have a few initial questions...

What are the things I need to look out for?
Anything to avoid?
Servicing Costs?
Any immediate things recommended to be done to it, to improve performance, sound, looks???

Also...

I went to have a look at one today at my local Suzuki dealer. They had a gorgeous '03 K3, with lower fairing on it in Silver with 2.8K on the clocks, also had silver rear hugger. It was absolutely lovely but something seemed a little odd. The front sidelight on the left side of the headlight was pushed hard against its housing and it had obviously burnt the reflective surround (browny yellow burn). Could this mean its been dropped/crashed and its simply had a new front fairing on it? Also the tops of the front shockers looked a little oxidised (rustyish) which made me think had it been standing for a while, perhaps in a garage waiting to be fixed? They wanted £3600 for the bike which seemed fair I thought, and its a very reputable main dealer... so should I trust the dealer or not? Is it worth getting an inspection on a bike from a main dealer?

Sorry for all the questions guys, but I just want to get my SV and start having some of the fun you guys seem to be having.

Many Thanks

Andy

Not sure about the light, you could be right though, but £3600 is a bit steep. If you hunt around you could get a brand new K4 for that.

The brown light could be because its got after market bulbs in that are brighter than standard, this can burn the shroud as you say. I also agree with Carsick about the price. Look a little more and further a field, I'm sure you will find a better deal than that. The rusting or oxidising even for a bike with such few miles is not uncommon on the SV. It's all part of the budget bike syndrome. As for the headlight pushed in. Well that could indeed be a sign that it has been dropped. A tell tail sign is to look at the lock stops and see if you see any marks on them, this will be a sure way to see if the steering has taken a whack at all.

Personally If I had any niggling doubts I wouldn't buy, especially at that price. On the flip side, these are all things that you could use to barter the price down.

One last thing. I NEVER trust a dealer, regardless of any reputation they may have. Maybe I'm just a sceptic.

Side light problem could be caused by fitting the wrong size bulb which got too hot and burnt the headlamp cover. It's expensive to replace the headlamp unit.
Agree with Carsick - bit pricey, I only paid £3.3K 15 months ago for a k3 with 800 mile on the clock from a dealer and this still had 15 months Suzuki warrantee on it.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by aimhamilton

What are the things I need to look out for?

You want IMHO a nice clean standard bike that hasnt been messed about with, Service History is always a bonus, check fairings for scratches etc, you dont want a bike that has been chucked down the road unless you are getting it cheaper and can see that it has been repaired properly

Look at the condition of the chain and the sprockets, and the tyres.. this will tell you what sort of person the previous owner was. Nothing wrong with a hard ridden bike, just make sure it has plenty of TLC

Look at the bottom of the front forks, The SV suffers from pitting / corrosion on the forks. Not necessarily a problem, but again will tell you if the previous owner was an all weather rider or a sunday afternoon in the summer type of owner

Front brake calipers are none to seize up and can result in rubbish spongey brakes, like mine were when I bought it, nothing that cant be solved either

I've had problems with my wiring loom rubbing on the frame and blowing fuses

Originally Posted by aimhamilton

Anything to avoid?

Something that has been thrown down the road at not repaired properly or is an insurance right off, a bike that has been extensively modified with aftermarket parts would put me off to as I like to do these things myself to my own personal taste, nothing wrong with modifying a bike mind you, its just that my taste might be different to the previous owner.

Standard Metz4 tyres on a curvey dont get a good right up, also I think the pointy ones come with Dunlops which arent very nice either, apparently

Originally Posted by aimhamilton

Servicing Costs?

Just had a 24,000 mile service done on mine cost me £200

Originally Posted by aimhamilton

Any immediate things recommended to be done to it, to improve performance, sound, looks???

As you are a newbie, I would recommend some crash bungs, just in case you are unfortunate to drop it or crash it as these hit the road before your bike does and save damage to fairings etc

First thing I did to mine was to fit an aftermaket exhaust to it to make it sound better, and next I fitted a hugger to keep the dirt a rubbish off of the rear end of the bike.

A double bubble screen will reduce the windblast on your body

Apart from that I would recommend that you get the suspension setup for your weight, I dont know what I am talking about when it comes to this, hopefully somebody else will come along to help you out with tips on this, Again bit difficult to do, if you dont know what you are doing best leave it alone.

Sounds like the bike you were looking at has been stood outside in the elements for a while, and maybe has been dropped hence the sidelight symtoms you mention, Carsick is right you could get a a new K4 for that if you shop around. Go and look at a few and you will get a feel for what to look for, ask the dealer lots of questions about the bike and its previous owner, do they know the bike, did they supply it from new, how did they come across it, why did the previous owner sell it.

If you dont know what to look for take somebody with you that does, might be worth doing this anyway to get a second opinion.

Also get the bike HPI checked to make sure it doesnt have outstanding finance on it.

Hope this helps, welcome to the site

i'd take a look at this one http://forums.sv650.org/viewtopic.php?t=22654

another useful link hth http://forums.sv650.org/viewtopic.ph...669&highlight=

I would say that was too much too. I got my mint K4 with 200 miles OTC for 3.5k. Totally stock, so I've put about £500 worth of stuff on it.

I'm depressed... I paid 3K on a 2000 with 21000km's last year - and that's cheap for Holland...

i paid 4,5k for my new k4 0 miles restricted.