upgrading daughter bike, SV650S or F4I ??

My daughter rides a Kawi Ninja 500R and were thinking up stepping her up to her next bike, I had allways figured we move her up to a Honda F4I , Not sure what it's called in Europe?? any ways, my wife rides a F4I and my daughter has ridden it and she really likes it, so we just figured that would also be the next step for our daughter, Well this weekend we went for a ride with a good friend of ours and he told me he was going to sale his 2006? SV650S , he's added the full cowl, rear hugger, frame sliders, a yosh pipe and he also has the rear seat cowl, the bike has 649 miles on it and he would sale it to me for 5,000 US , My daughter absolutly loves the look of the bike, but we've never ridden a SV or had any experiance with them, ]

Any one have experiance with both of them? I would like to consider all the pros and cons of both bikes, I love how smooth the inline fours are and I dont really care for the vibes of her ninja, and concearned about this with the SV, also we will need to lower the bike about 2", I figure the SV can also be lowered?

I would apreciate any experiances you might have with both bikes, Thanks Brian

5000 dollars?? That makes me slightly sick..

I have got both bikes. Would say it's purely down to money and what your daughter likes than other's opinions. Personally I much prefer the SV, others think differently.

Your daughter may well hate the SV, so unless she can test ride it, play safe and go for the honda. Objectively they're both good bikes, but that won't help when it comes to your daughter.

EDIT, just reread post - with regard to vibes, I find those of the SV much less intrusive and likely to send hands/feet to sleep than the inline 4 tingles of the honda, but I suspect individual bikes vary an enormous amount.

Also, SV puts significantly more weight on wrists when riding - might be an issue if daughter got short arms/weak wrists.

Yeah ride that suckah!!

Originally Posted by brianm767

also we will need to lower the bike about 2", I figure the SV can also be lowered?

The SV can be lowered quite easily longer dogbones at the rear and drop the yoke down the forks. Plus you can either buy a lowered seat, or do a bit of DIY with a knife to the existing one.

I would say that your daughter should ride it, as should you, you might enjoy it

Originally Posted by brianm767

...allways figured we move her up to a Honda F4I , Not sure what it's called in Europe??

that would be a cbr600f '01 & later I think

how tall is your daughter? I'm 5'1" and I've had both the SV650S and the CBR600F4 and to be honest, the SV was easier to ride lowered than the CBR. They are two very different bikes, the best bet is for your daughter to ride both and see which she prefers. They are both excellent bikes!

Originally Posted by Kate

how tall is your daughter? I'm 5'1" and I've had both the SV650S and the CBR600F4 and to be honest, the SV was easier to ride lowered than the CBR. They are two very different bikes, the best bet is for your daughter to ride both and see which she prefers. They are both excellent bikes!

My daughter is about 5'4' , when she rode my wifes F4 it was too tall for her, (it's not lowered)

we will of course ride the SV before we buy it. but since it's not lowered, my daughter will only ride it around the neighborhood, from looks alone she likes the SV, and the price is pretty good too, to buy an F4 here for 5 thousnad it would be around a 2001 or so and probably have about 7 to 10K miles on it? this bike is brand new,

Another thought is has your daughter got a pair of Daytona LadyStar boots? They have a builtup sole which can give the extra height that makes all the difference. I've got a pair and they are excellent.

There are loads of ways to lower the SV - lower seat, longer dogbones, drop the forks, and preload on the back.

That SV looks lovely! Personally, if it was between a brand new SV or a 5 year old CBR600F I would probably go for the SV though its a pretty close thing!

I don't have any experience of the other bike but have an SV and it's great to ride. I had it lowered, seat and front forks. I tried a couple of other bikes out but found the SV most comfortable and fun to ride
Hope this helps.

Here's an up date,

we did buy the SV from our friend, some where along the line the price went up to 5,250, and I was misstaken, he does not have the rear seat cowl, but I still think it was a pretty good deal , we actually rode the bike for 200 miles before we bought it, it was at his insistance we do that, I didn't really want to add miles to a bike that we might not buy, but like I said he insited, well let me say, I LOVE THIS BIKE!, it deffenatly needs mmore power for me, but for my daughter it's perfect, she's taken to it like a fish to water, the only problem is she allways calls me when she wants to ride and says, Dad, where's my bike? because I often sneak out on it,

For Christmas she's getting a Puid DB shield, a fender eliminator and rear seat cowl,
Here's a pic of her on her first rode trip to Monterey California