When I'm 64: my Gen 3 SV after 64,000 miles

[Craig380]

Yesterday, my 2017 Gen 3 hit 64,000 miles, which a lot of people regard as a high mileage for a bike. I bought it with 1,400 miles on the clock from a Suzuki dealer (it had been their demonstrator) so I thought it might be worthwhile to look at how the bike's been in the nearly six years I've owned it, and what it's had in terms of servicing and consumables.

The bike is still bog standard apart from a Yoshi TRS end can, fitted at about 9,000 miles. It's there for looks, better sound and saving a kilo or two, I'm not sure it added any extra grunt. I've never had an engine light or FI code so I assume it hasn't caused any fuelling issues.

Performance
The highest I've ever seen on the speedo was 125, on a calm sunny day, flat (private) road after about a half-mile of full throttle, with me hunched over a bit (but not with my nose on the ignition key). The bike was still gaining speed but it was fast enough for me. Speedo error is about 6% compared with GPS so that's about 118 genuine.

Fuel consumption
For the past 3 years I've made a note of mileage and fuel added when filling up (I always fill the bike right up to the base of the filler neck). That's around 190 fill-ups, and the bike has averaged a genuine 76mpg. Worst tankful was 68mpg, best was 83mpg. It's worth noting that the bike is for pleasure only and I rarely ride for less than an hour, so there's very little start/stop town work.

Servicing
I change oil every 6K, filter every second change (Suzuki's recommended interval is 7.5K and filter every 15K but I think that's too long). I always use Shell Advance Ultra full synth oil (largely because it's the cheapest branded full-synth 10W40 bike oil you can buy from eBay) and genuine Suzuki filters. The bike uses max 200ml between changes.

Spark plugs: I change them every 20K miles. Suzuki says to change them every 7,500: this is bull**** and a waste of money. Even at 20K miles the plugs are still within the 0.9mm gap spec, there is a little wear on the electrodes but nothing serious, the plugs are still perfectly usable with no carbon build-up at all. There's no difference to performance when new plugs are fitted, and I've seen no signs of plug problems.

Valve clearances: I checked them at 15K miles, all were within spec. I've never checked since as the bike runs great and fuel consumption has stayed consistent (and frankly, I can't be arsed).

The bike's still on the factory brake pads, discs, rear shock, fork oil, battery, etc. I probably should change the fork oil but I don't have the means at home to support the bike and remove the forks, which means paying someone to do it, so it probably won't happen. It's due another brake fluid change over the winter (an easy job, you just need a 500ml bottle of brake fluid as the ABS plumbing adds a fair bit of capacity to the system).

Tyres last around 14K miles on the rear, about 18K on the front. I was using Avon Storm 3D, but those have been phased out and Avons are getting expensive. Currently got a Battlax S21 on the rear and that's giving excellent grip and handling, and doesn't seem to be wearing quickly either.

Problems
None, really. Nothing has ever broken, fallen off or left me stranded. Three years ago the fuel gauge started playing 'Snake' (which seems to be a common problem with the fuel sender in the tank). I've never bothered fixing it, I just use the trip meter and start looking to fill up after 170 miles or so.

Very occasionally it's hesitant to start cleanly when the engine's hot, and needs a blip of throttle to get it going. This only ever happens after stopping for fuel, but is so infrequent and random (often going several months between incidents) that I've just put it down as an occasional ECU 'brain fart.'


In conclusion, an ex dealer demo SV with 64,000 on the clock is a fun, reliable bike that costs peanuts to run. The way it's going, it will probably outlast me

[glang]

Id say a total success! Only comment is on the spark plug changing and Im the same as you but I think why the manufacturers recommend frequent changes (apart from profit) is that the inner ceramic has quite a hard life up to 500º and down again a gazillion times a minute. Because of this theres a risk it will break up at some point which wouldnt be good for your engine...

[Craig380]

Originally Posted by glang

Id say a total success! Only comment is on the spark plug changing and Im the same as you but I think why the manufacturers recommend frequent changes (apart from profit) is that the inner ceramic has quite a hard life up to 500º and down again a gazillion times a minute. Because of this theres a risk it will break up at some point which wouldnt be good for your engine...

Agreed, but very close inspection of the ceramic around the centre electrodes on all the used MR8E plugs I've replaced has shown no evidence of cracking / breaking-up / erosion.

In my 2017 version of the owner's manual, it actually gives two service schedules, one for the US and one for 'rest of world.' The plug change schedule is given as 7.5K for the US, and 15K for 'rest of world.' (The US oil change schedule is also 3,750 miles, compared to 7.5K for 'rest of world').

[glang]

Difficult to predict failure as it could be up inside the plug and also probably affected by the riding style. Its the same for cambelts on cars (or Ducatis) where you could possibly keep the same one for the life of the vehicle but if it fails its even more catastrophic so the manufacturer has to give a conservative service life for it

[Sir Trev]

Always good to hear accounts like this, especially when they prove perceived wisdom wrong on things like mileage and reliability. I too changed the oil meticulously on my GSX250 back in the day and it had 70k miles in it when it was written off by a blind Ford driver. All the used bike guides said avoid anything over 35k for the 250 twins...

Got to say though that after 7 years I would be changing the brake pads, regardless of what meat was left on them!

As for the forks, I'd heartily recommend a trip to Sunbury and have Spannerman, formerly of this parish, do them for you. Just be prepared to lose an hour or two as the pair of you put the world to rights. Very sensible cost, good advice if you ask, and always meticulous attention to detail. Tell him Ths Org sent you.

[Seeker]

An interesting log about your SV. I don't know what it is about the SV, I bought mine in 2016 and other companion bikes have come and gone and irrespective of how they perform, I still hold my SV as the benchmark to judge them. Now at 40k miles, it's the longest I've owned a bike in mileage and time.

As you and I have discussed I, too, have the occasional 1 cylinder start up; rare, random and, for me, usually at a petrol station it clears with just a whiff of throttle.

My petrol gauge has not succumbed to the "snake" (yet) although it now yields a lower predicted range than it used to in cold weather. The only other issue I've had was the gear indicator getting confused between first and second. Leaving it parked in first overnight fixed that 3 or 4 years ago.

[R1ffR4ff]

Good write-up. I agree with getting the fork oil and brake pads changed. By age brake pads can come apart even if they have meat left on them. Fork oil does degrade with age and use.

If you have a rear paddock stand to help you may have seen this in a recent post you could use to do the forks yourself,



https://shorturl.at/f21vT

[Ruffy]

Interesting to read. Hard to complain about that bike!

Yes, 64k miles on a bike is considered quite a lot. But good on you for keeping riding.

I'm cowering with the guilt that I'm doing well if I get over 1k/year nowadays - shameful really how susceptible to poor excuses and other distractions I've become.