Sport tuning potential of the SV? Possible new buyer.
 

Hello,
I'm probably going to buy a 2001 or 2002 SV650S in the next couple days. This is going to be my first bike, so I'm getting something that will be easy to ride on the street and good to learn on (hence, no gixxer), while still being sporty enough to take twisties. Now here's the issue:
Yesterday I test-rode a 2002. It seemed to be showing signs of age (shifting was difficult at a stop), but mostly it seemed well kept. However, it felt so soft, I was afraid the tires were low. It seemed to perform okay, it just gave zero road feedback. I even asked the owner about the tires and he says they're always inflated. The rear shock collar was rotated to the second-hardest setting, and I weigh 170 lbs, so not much room for improvement there. Maybe it's because I rode a gixxer that morning, which gave excellent road feedback, but I was left wondering if the SV can easily be tuned to feel more like a sportbike without dumping money into it.

What do you think?

Dan

Re: Sport tuning potential of the SV? Possible new buyer.
 

your first bike? i'd be amazed how much feedback you could read so early on! SV suspension is budget compared to gsxr, but is easily upgraded. A bike thats 5 years old could have pretty saggy suspension but if your looking at souping it up that doesn't matter. Whack a gsxr shock and some new fork springs in and you'll be ready to go. As for are they suited to twisties - oh yes :)

Re: Sport tuning potential of the SV? Possible new buyer.
 

All that sounds kind of expensive.

I mean, I know myself, I'm a tuner, and I'll eventually dump money into the bike anyway, but for now I'd like to remain in denial. Anything I can do on a budget? Can it be done?

Re: Sport tuning potential of the SV? Possible new buyer.
 

yeah, although i've not done it so i'm not the person to ask. But a gsxr shock can be had for pretty cheap as so many racers sell theirs to fund fancier shocks, and replacing the fork springs needn't be too expensive. A front end swap with a gsxr is possible too, and i gather some people have done this virtually for free selling their old forks. Again - people selling gsxr stuff to buy race gear whilst SV forks sell for quite a bit as so many learners trash the front end!

Re: Sport tuning potential of the SV? Possible new buyer.
 

When I first rode my SV I felt like it cornered on rails in comparison to the pos bikes I had previously, then I improved it and made it better. Then I started doing trackdays on it and realised I wasn't using a fraction of what it could do!

The SV is a fantastic fun bike, great as a first bike as it is easy to ride without being scary yet capable of being b***dy quick in the right hands.

The only problem is that it is a cheap bike and built to a budget, the main issue being the forks which are a bit poo as stock. You can fairly easily swap the forks for gixxer ones along with the rear shock which makes a world of difference. Alternately you can fit emulators and new springs but that'll cost you more (when you figure selling the original forks etc when you swap them).

Next is the weight, it's not a very heavy bike but all the little brackets & frames that would be alloy in a gixxer or similar are heavy steel, again these all can be replaced along with the very heavy std exhaust to lose a lot of weight (after that just go on a diet;) ). Again if you do it right you can recoup some of the cost.

So yes you can make it more like a sports bike and especially if you are prepared to do the work yourself can be done quite cheaply (with the help of ebay), if on the otherhand you don't know the difference between a torque wrench and a left-handed wrench then it can end up very expensive.

Druid

Re: Sport tuning potential of the SV? Possible new buyer.
 

Thanks, that stuff is what I wanted to hear. :) Unfortunately, the buying market is VERY competitive right now, here in California. I just got back from riding a 2001 650S, listed yesterday, and the dude already has 3 people lined up to buy it for his asking price the day he will be able to sell it. Trying to get a good bike for a good price in May can be very discouraging.

Re: Sport tuning potential of the SV? Possible new buyer.
 

The shifting is neglect, not age... Just a matter of setup, and maybe cleaning. That'd put me off a bit tbh. Most constant mesh gearboxes aren't great at shifting while stopped but if in and out of neutral's tricky then it's either needing adjusted and the owner's never bothered to do it, or it's broken. Neither is good...

As for the suspension... The collar on the rear shock doesn't make it stiffer, that's preload only- basically adjusts the starting point, not the spring rate. It can make the bioke feel stiffer, since when you sit on it sinks less, but that's just because it's starting out lower :) How heavy are you, is the question... Springs and oil to adjust the front is a good, good mod for the larger gentleman/lady. And remember that it's a japanese bike, so at 65 kilos I qualify as larger :)

A good place to visit is SV Rider- it's very US based, and you might get a good line on a used bike or used parts like fork springs, etc.

Re: Sport tuning potential of the SV? Possible new buyer.
 

Yep, I forgot to say, in my experience if the gearchange lever pivot is gunked up it'll be a crappy gear change, clean & lube up the pivot and it makes the world of difference.

Druid