I ride the S version (round, nicer :) shape). For the first week or so I got real pains in my wrists. After that I learnt to relax and it's now ultra confortable on my 45 mile commute (all motorway). I have to admit that I have never ridden the naked, but I prefered the stylingof the faired so it wasn't an option.

As others have said though - take a test ride it'll either be WOW or not. In which case you if to spend the cash...

Stu

Also bear in mind that you can improve the comfort by dropping the levers so that your forearm is in line with your hand in your normal riding position.

naked or 'S'
 

could you not swap the hand/bars( brackets etc) from a naked to the 'S' mod or would it catch the fairing.as for the gearing if you want faster acceleration. just fit a smaller sprocket 1 tooth.it'll just as good as a naked would it not . :wink:

Thanks for all the positive advise and will defintley take them both for a spin, although its 50/50 between both now.

Re: naked or 'S'
 

The naked has 1 tooth EXTRA on the rear sprocket. Bars can be swopped I'll tell you how difficult later :lol:

There's a conversion kit available to put flat bars on the S, one was on Ebay just the other day... Or if you don't mind a cross-pond order, I think Suburban Machinery do a yoke and bar set that bolts right on. COuld be wrong though.

Honestly though, i've never found anything uncomfortable about the bike other than the stock seat... I'm the right size and weight for an SV, it seems, and the controls were well adjusted for me from scratch. I wouldn't be without the fairing, you don't truly appreciate it until you're riding quick in the rain, or worse in mist (I can tuck in far enough behind the screen that my visor stays dry)

Plus the naked's not so purty :)I like naked bikes in general, but I don't think the SV's the best example. To me it looks like a faired bike with the fairing off, just like the faired bandit looks like a naked bike with a fairing on. If you see what I mean :)

this is not a criticism, but,..... i thought the idea of a naked WAS to take a faired sporster and just simply remove the fairing, good honest biking what you see is what you get.

That kinda sucks. You guys have restrictions on what bike you can ride when you first start riding? The only restrictions here are financial (ie how much you want to pay to the mob aka insurance company). Theoretically one could go out, pay $20 and take a written test, and ride off into the sunset that same day on a GSXR1000. (well, as long as you are home before sunset, and have no passenger, and have zero blood alcohol, and are not on a road with a speed limit above 80 km/h) A little off topic, but I find that interesting. I hope the government here doesn't get any ideas.

If you take your test on a small bike (ie, a 125) you're restricted to 33bhp. The restriction then expires after 2 years.

If you're 21 or older, you can take your test on a bigger bike (usualy a naked 500) and have no restriction at all... provided you can afford the insurance.

Re: Which SV - New Member
 

Hello Mr. Cass, Take both bikes for a spin and pick the one that feels right for you. Might I also suggest that you consider the Suzuki VStrom DL650. I'm not sure what its called in Britain. Suzuki calls it a Sport, Enduro, Touring bike over here. Basically has the same SV650 VTwin engine tuned for stronger mid-range power. Cheers, Richard