Advice on buying an SV?

Hi, newbie here looking for advice

I`m thinking about getting an SV650, not sure whether to get an `S` or a naked one due to the comfier seating/handlebar position, but have seen a naked K3 on ebay but its registered in 2007, seller states its not been imported but that most naked ones were hard to sell when they were new so its not unusual to find an older model on a newer reg, which i understand, but 4 years !!! ?
The bike has also been dropped in the past and had a colour change.
So, whats you guys thoughts ? Worth a punt if it goes cheap or leave well alone ?
Its also miles away from me ( i`m in Edinburgh ) so it would cost me a few quid to pick it up.

Sounds a bit dodgy? Probably is. It's your first bike, don't worry about maximum value for money so much, a bike that isn't going to be a pain in the a*se is the way forward. Keep looking!

I only know what you've said about the bike, but everything you have said spells trouble IMO. Keep looking!

Hi, Thanks for the replies.

Yeah i`ve decided to leave it alone, can`t really be arsed driving 300 miles to pick it up anyway if I had bought it. Plus, found another one on much closer to me which seems far better. Its another nekkid one but i`m warming to the streetfighter look and as i`m still a novice, don`t intend doing any scarey/stupid shenanigans or ultra high speeds so the lack of full fairings shouldn`t bother me too much. Plus I think it would be comfier for my short arms too having higher handlebars.

I`m sure if I get it i`ll be filling the forums with all the usual daft newbie questions too

Originally Posted by blackadder

Hi, Thanks for the replies.

Yeah i`ve decided to leave it alone, can`t really be arsed driving 300 miles to pick it up anyway if I had bought it. Plus, found another one on much closer to me which seems far better. Its another nekkid one but i`m warming to the streetfighter look and as i`m still a novice, don`t intend doing any scarey/stupid shenanigans or ultra high speeds so the lack of full fairings shouldn`t bother me too much. Plus I think it would be comfier for my short arms too having higher handlebars.

I`m sure if I get it i`ll be filling the forums with all the usual daft newbie questions too

Streetfighter=stupid shenanigans!

Good call, IMO. I have faired SV, can get quite wristy at lower speeds. The windblast on a naked bike gives you a very good idea of speed, and a comfortable, neutral position is good for learning to ride (and how you WANT to ride).

My first bike was a Kawasaki Eliminator 600. A cruiserish, not the whole hog though, with an 80's ninja 6 engine (retuned). I re-covered and built up the seat (cos it were shot!) and it rode so much better (neutral position). After that I got much more into cornering and quicker riding, but if you like to pootle, or pull mad stunts or whatever, is your bike, your life, so your choice! BTW, I toured 2000 miles in 4 days on my Kawasaki, although my home-made panniers were held up with rope by the end, right over the top of Scotland. There is no right or wrong type of bike, just like any tool, there are right or wrong ways to use it, and a naked of the nature of an SV is as versatile as it gets. ENJOY!!!!!!

Long story short, or short story long..............I passed my bike test 5 years ago ( can`t actually believe its been so long, I can still remember the shocked look on my instructors face when I told him i`d passed with no faults !! ), and after reading tons of reviews, promptly went out and bought a Suzuki GSX600F, due to them being basically a Bandit in drag and good all round / novice bikes, not too scarey but quick enough. But, after dropping the bloody thing twice, ( both times doing u-turns, once on gravel and once on a hill after I took a wrong turn up a dead end road ), I realised it was a bit heavy and the seat too high for me, so after 2 or 3 years of hardly using it I sold it. Fast forward to the present, I now fancy getting a bike again, although i`m half thinking its just a bloody good excuse to wear tight sexy leather in public But a few folk suggested an SV650 cos their light for the engine size and with a narrowish seat should be ok for me. I found out their around 40kgs lighter than the GSX and slightly lighter than parallel twin 500`s too like Honda GS and Kawasaki ER-5 etc. So....................I want one !!!!!

At only 5`5 tall and less than 9 stone in weight, I recon the SV should be about as big as I can get and have found one that has been lowered and has a cut down seat so the height is about 740mm. Which should fit me fine..... I hope...........cos i`m buying the bugger

[dizzyblonde]

so which are you buying S or N?
IF you go for the S, faired, just adjust the clutch lever and front brake lever, so the back of your hands are flat when they are over them, are a nice line up your arm to the elbow. If your hand is bent up or down on the levers, they aren't set up for you properly and you'll get wrist ache.
Its a myth the clip on variety give you wrist ache, set it up right and you'll never have issue, I ride for hundreds of miles at a time, and don't get pain at all, and mine are small and dainty girl hands!

Then get a double bubble screen, your head won't fall off then

The one i`m looking at is an N.
Originally I preferred the S for the sporty looks, but I`m now warming to the streetfighter look after seeing a few on the tinternet.
It wasn`t so much my wrists that got sore on my last bike, but my back from reaching/leaning forward, so having the handlebars slightly closer should help.
I sat on an S in a dealer and although it was ok, I think after a while i`d get fed up cuddling the petrol tank, and i`m also thinking that having the fairings at the front gives my brain the false impression of the bike being more bulky.
Plus, `if` I do drop it before I get properly used to biking , i`d be gutted to damage all the plastics

At the end of the day tho, a gorgeous bike that doesnt fit me is useless but even an ugly one I enjoy riding is more useful
Although I don`t want my head to fall of. I mean, seriously, that can happen ???? .................... Never really been that proud of my head but I recon i`d still be lost without it, unless I got a better one, with the body to match, Jessica Alba`s maybe .......

[Sid Squid]

Streetfighters: Oh dear.

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

To be a 'streetfighter', (what a painfully crass word that is), don't forget it must be constructed by someone who doesn't know one end of his mole grips from the other, also it must be a complete bodge and always be 'in progress' so never actually running. But most of all it must, in the unlikely event it ever moves, have dreadful suspension and handle very very badly. Bonus points for a truly dreadful finish. All the ones I've ever had the misfortune to be requested to work on have followed this formula very closely.

Any motorcycle that functions anything like right and/or is actually well done thus cannot be considered a 'streetfighter'.

[andrewsmith]

+1 or is built on a production line!!