What rev's should the SV be rode at?

Hi all,

I was just wondering what sort of rev's the SV650 should be rode at?
I usually ride around 5-6K, but I've recently joint the IAM and one of the things I've been picked up on a few times is, being in too high a gear/not enough rev's. I've tried taking this on board and on the twistys, been riding at 8-9K, but it sounds like the engine is screaming it's tits off and it's gonna blow up any time soon.

Any views/advice appreciated.

Cheers, Gaz

P.S: I've got a SV650 K1

You can bounce it off the limiter on the way out of a corner if you want. My SV loves to rev, for a twin anyway.
I only change up at 9-10k mark mostly.

[fizzwheel]

5 - 6K is good, you'll get good drive from there or useful engine braking whe your slowing down.

8 - 9 is to high IMHO, your nearly out of the top of the SV's power band by then. That would be more suitable for an IL4 rather than a twin. I dont tend to go over 9 much on the SV its just not worth it, its better to change up lower down and use the torque to push you along. Although like Razor says it is revy for a twin.

Ride how you feel comfortable riding, would be my advice, I reckon you'd be better off concentrating on your road position and corner entry speed that kind of thing than worrying about what revs your bike is running at.

I'm not an IAM observer though so dont take what I say as gospel.

Low as possible for me. 2,500 RPM is enough to make it smooth. Balls out, just bang it up the box between 9,500 and 10,000. I ride thou's though

[Mark_h]

Guess your IAM observer is riding an IL4 not a vtwin. the advice is to "be in the right gear for the speed and conditions you are riding." Basically you should ideally be in a rev band where you have sufficient power to accelerate without the engine labouring.

Chances are they're picking you up for not changing down into a bend. When you have your de-brief tell them why you are not changing down (flexible power band on a VTwin) and see what they say about it. Alternatively speak to another observer who you know to ride a twin and see what htey have to say on the matter.

End of the day there is no black and white on this. Most observer spend most of their time saying "it depends" however they mostly do not ride twins so get upset if a) you do not change down into bends and b) do not use your brakes when slowing down a bit due with engine braking.

As long as you are in control, plan ahead and are safe you are very unlikely to fail your test by not changing down. But if you go piling into a bend in 4th a 2k revs then run horribly wide because you have no drive at the rear or went in too hot you can expect to be buying your observer tea for many rides to come.

when riding 30-40 mph in town i find myself leaving the thou in 2nd, i cant use any other gears because it labours the engine.

Kwak, if you let a bit of dirt build up on your downpipes it will improve the thermal insulation and you will then be able to stick it in 5th between 30 and 40. 200+ miles per tank will then be yours

Personally, I change gear anywhere between 2k RPM & the rev limiter (which I found in 3rd gear the other day, overtaking a truck )

It sounds like you specifically want to know about corners.

The SV's peak torque is somewhere between 5,500 & 8,500 I believe. So I try to be as close to 6,500-7,000 as possible for corner exit. Slap bang in the middle of the torque. No labouring engine pulling out of the corner, and can still roll off the throttle to get use of engine braking.

I'm not an IAM observer, nor have I done IAM, and I've been riding for about 8months. Ignore me

[Stu]

My Dyno run HP peaked at 10K, Torque peaked at 9K.
But the torque curve is pretty flat from 4K to 11K but highest between 8K & 9.5K (The HP obviously rises as revs rise)
- use the info as you wish.

Originally Posted by Stu

My Dyno run HP peaked at 10K, Torque peaked at 9K.
But the torque curve is pretty flat from 4K to 11K but highest between 8K & 9.5K (The HP obviously rises as revs rise)
- use the info as you wish.

I need to play with my suspension settings a little before I push corner exits too hard. She's still a little light on the bars, the smallest movement causes a pretty massive shake.

Not exactly confidence inspiring when random bumps in the road cause it, but certainly makes life interesting

When it's sorted, I'll try exiting at 8-10k & punching up the box as soon as I'm out