What is high mileage for an SV?

Originally Posted by DomP

I've not even done my cbt let alone my das yet but I'm very tempted to get an incentive bike. Anyone ever bought a bike without going to see it? Reason I ask is that I can never find one within 120 miles of me and I don't have a means of getting it back so considering a bike courier. Bad idea? I'm thinking it probably is

I bought my SV from an orger just before I passed my test. I saw the ad on ebay and got in touch to ask a few questions.

I couldn't even test ride the bike at the time.
She used a jump start kick to start it cos the battery was flat, and I revved it a few times

I paid for the bike a few days before my test and arranged for it to be delivered on the test day!

Thankfully I passed my test and took the bike out for a spin later that evening.
It's over two years now and the bike is still in great shape.

[munkygunn182]

Similar here - bought an SV here, without seeing it and had it delivered to my door. Couldn't say a bad word about it. Every ding on it had been reported, right down to the hardly visible parts of the swing arm. Having it sitting there spurred me on to get my test out the way.

[DomP]

Well I am a bit worried that if I passed my test then didn't find the right bike for 6 month's I'd be a new rider well out of practice.

[johnnyrod]

Why, isn't the learner bike yours?

Originally Posted by DomP

Well I am a bit worried that if I passed my test then didn't find the right bike for 6 month's I'd be a new rider well out of practice.

i know what you are saying,but there is no shortage of good cheap second hand bikes out there,There are five things to remember ,1 dont be tempteed to buy the first bike you see if its not quite what you want,2 best and cheapest bike are sold private.3 cash is king, 4 offer what you think it is worth(less then the asking price),5 dont be afraid to walk away if the price aint right

[Heorot]

Originally Posted by suzukigt380paul

i know what you are saying,but there is no shortage of good cheap second hand bikes out there,There are five things to remember ,1 dont be tempteed to buy the first bike you see if its not quite what you want,2 best and cheapest bike are sold private.3 cash is king, 4 offer what you think it is worth(less then the asking price),5 dont be afraid to walk away if the price aint right

Agree. I bought mine off Ebay but looked at at least a dozen before finding the right bike to bid on. 53 plate naked with 7000 on the clock. Only 2 previous owners and I got it for £1500. That was 2 years ago.

Originally Posted by Heorot

Agree. I bought mine off Ebay but looked at at least a dozen before finding the right bike to bid on. 53 plate naked with 7000 on the clock. Only 2 previous owners and I got it for £1500. That was 2 years ago.

never bought a bike on ebay as the winning bid,but the thing that gets me is when they(the seller)say the bike is in very good condition with good paint and no no rust and almost mint,the picture normally make it look better then it is,then you see the bike close up in the flesh,and its a rusty beat up example that aint worth half what they think its worth,and youve wasted another day off and come home empty handed

[Dave20046]

Think mine's now on 40k, went on a little european tour in the summer then a couple to a few thousand miles round Scotland later on in the year.

I wondered whether I should think twice about the milage before another tour, but it hasn't given me any indicators of failure.

For what it's worth my bike (probably read 'I') seems to prefer the slightly higher rev range and it's now only ridden for fun so it's not a commuter bike with that mileage.

[DomP]

Doesn't seem to be that many fully faired sv's for sale, are the lower fairings sold on Ebay for around £150/200 any good to make fully faired?

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by suzukigt380paul

A 100k on a sv engine is exceptional and not the norm(well not from what i read on here anyway)having said that most well looked after bikes are capable of a 100k,trouble is with short service intervals on all suzukis most will suffer some abuse by one or more of its owners,on the other hand the criteria for buying a honda is based almost entirely on condition,milage doesnt really count for much,any thing under 100k would be seen as low milage when buying a 10 year old honda

Mine's around that.

Engine got fairly rattly in the 80k sort of area. Presume the piston to bore clearance is a bit baggy by now. Still runs alright, makes reasonable power, uses a bit of oil.

Rest of the bike has had a shedload of work done on it through it's life though.

I bought it at 13,595 miles as a near mint cat D but it was still near knackered. All the calipers seized up and needed rebuilding, rear linkage was in a mess. No surprise like, they all seem like that... but still now it's at telephone number mileage it's more roadworthy than when I started.