Touring on an SV
 

Just wondering if anybody goes for longish tours on their SV. I have a K6 650s and am interested in touring to England or maybe accross the Channel for a few days.

Any body on here gone distance on their SV and I am also looking for any hints and tips.:smt119

Re: Touring on an SV
 

Me and the missus did 500 miles at the weekend, just go... the bike'll do it :-P

Check your oil and consider a better seat though

Re: Touring on an SV
 

Yep, gone two-up to Barcelona, Austria, Germany, France, Italy. We go for 10 days and usually cover around 2,500 to 3,000 miles. Never had a problem with the bike:D

Re: Touring on an SV
 

Wow, people were saying our 15 days to do 2500 miles was optimistic! Glad to hear it is possible then.

Re: Touring on an SV
 

yeap :)
My recent trip home - 14 days 3k5 miles,
On two days I've clocked 600 miles (each day). Not a single problem, with the bike that is :)

Re: Touring on an SV
 

Join the Youth Hostel Assoc and avoid carrying tents sleeping bags,cooking gear.
Average is about ?15 per night
Membership is international so all uk + europe,just work out where you want to be each night and book the nearest

Re: Touring on an SV
 

Me'n'misses did a 600mile jaunt to Wales t'other weekend.

Numb bum can be a problem, we both suffered. Id say we both had a limit of 250miles a day. (nil by motorway)

Twas our first attempt at touring tho!

Re: Touring on an SV
 

UK to south of Spain in back in 10 days. Round bobbin trip of Ireland in 5 days.

Pack as light as you can. Depending on where you are going, plan your stops in advance so your not ending the day searching frantically for somewhere to stay.

Spain was easy. We planned each leg day by day and always found somewhere to stay. Ireland was pre-planned.

Plan your next day the night before not on the morning. Don't drink too much in the evening. Doing long miles with a hangover is asking for trouble.

Take a camera and don't forget to use it regularly. Take a puncture repair kit and always make sure you don't forget to charge your mobile phone each night.

Re: Touring on an SV
 

I very regularly do 800+ mile round trips with a week's worth of smart clothes and a laptop on the bike. There are comfier/better bikes for it but the SV manages perfectly well. It has never broken down on me whilst touring.

Tips:
Fit Crash bungs - The more miles you do, the more chance of the bike going over, even if it's in no way shape or form your fault (or even occurs when you're not near it, eg when it's parked up), it still protects the bike.
Fit a scottoiler - It will more than pay for itself in monetary terms within the life of one chain. In terms of hassle/time saved, it pays for itself several times over.
Don't be an*l about cleaning it - It will get dirty and corrode a bit. Even if you clean it religiously it will too, but you'll be more gutted at having wasted all the time on it.
Don't be an*l about a few scratches - It will get a few stone chips, grazes from car doors, etc.
Go for a test ride the day before - You don't want to be delayed setting off by having to take it back home after you get 3 miles down the road to fettle it because the handling is funny or it's making an odd noise.
Don't set off with tyres that will wear out whilst you're away.
Actually bother to do the daily checks - lights, oil, horn and also do the important but less frequent ones; check the chain (if you don't have a scottoiler) and/or scottoiler and tyre pressure.
Luggage - Even for doing fairly high mile touring soft luggage is perfectly adequate and in many ways more convenient than hard luggage. The quality varies massively though- Oxford first time is great for occassional use, but if you're doing big miles regularly, invest in something with a lifetime guarantee.
Never trust luggage to be waterproof - double wrap everything inside in carrier bags.
Get good kit - Good quality goretex textiles and proper boots that do not leak cannot be overrated when it comes to riding 8 hours in torrential rain.
Get breakdown cover for the area you're going to.
Carry spare levers and an emergency footpeg repairing thing (can't remember the name, sold by someone on here).

Re: Touring on an SV
 

+1 what CeriJC says, except make tyre pressure part of daily checks.

Claire did 3300 miles in 2 weeks on her K3 on our recent Euro tour, the bike had no issues apart from using some oil (spotted by daily checks).