Is uprgrading stock stuff really worth it?

Ive just had an hour long convosation with a Gixxer owner about my SV, and the fact that at the moment it sounds like a bag of nails.. squeeking and clicking and just plain crap i was telling him about my ambitions for the bike to which he replied.. "just buy another bike"

i dont want another bike.. i dont understand why people underate the SV.. its not really a learner bike.. its just manageable if your new.
as ive stated before there are loads of things that i want to do to the bike..

K6 front end mod... but apparently acording to JHS if i sent the bike to them they will fit the stiffer springs and completely revalve the shocks to get the same performance.???

engine work.. i want my bike to move quicker.. ive thought about playing with the gearing to see what i can achieve,
And have often considered getting the whole engine upgraded powered up to the best it can be..

people might say.. "just buy a faster bike".... but why not get the most of the one i have? im happy to put the money into it as i never intend on selling it..

when i do upgrade in the end.. my SV will be my track bike so it wont lay redundent when a better bike comes along.

there are allsorts of little cosmetic mods im going to do none of which are important enough to mention...

im thinking of getting some cash together and sending it over to JHS for a service overhall any way get it propperly checked out

whats the opinion of the Org?? am i just stupid to put the money into an SV?? is it worth it??

[fizzwheel]

Depends...

Do you like tinkering, modifying or generally fiddling about, are you competant with spanners, can you do the work yourself ? Are you going to keep your SV till your hairs fallen out and your brains turned to mush ?

If so then no I dont think its a waste of time, to take a good platform and then turn it into exactly what you want from a bike makes sense.

If your going to keep the SV for a couple of years and use it as a stepping stone to a Full on sports bike like my GSXR, then no I dont think it makes any sense at all...

In short, do what you like to get what you want. GSXR front end swap isnt expensive, in fact if you are clever you can break even on it, Speak to Northwind. So it needed be expensive. I think as far as upgrades to improve the handling and braking are concerned they make sense, but dont be expecting to get massive power upgrades out of it without spending serious money on it and thats where, buying a bigger bike makes more sense to me.

that makes sense Fizz cheers for that reply because you described exactly as i feel here

"take a good platform and then turn it into exactly what you want from a bike makes sense."

JHS seem to be a good company.. but spanner man is like 30 mins up the motorway, do you reckon he could completely overhall my bike?

JHS are honest guys and they will not over charge you for a single thing, if they believe its not worth it or can be done cheaper they will tell you!

I have two Curvy's, one is virtually standard but may not be for long and the other is a GSXR front ended, Ohlins rear, 750cc, mental case! Having ridden the stock 650 for a few days recently I can feel the budgetness that I once forgot about with the SV's. Working on the suspension is the first thing to do, and yes a proper rework of the forks will give you what a GSXR front end does. You have to rework the shock with a GSXR front end to get its benefits and balance the bike out anyway. You get better brakes with a GSXR front end, but they are more than what you need on an SV! The GSXR swap can sometimes leave you with money left over if you shop for parts right, I ended up (after selling the standard front end) spending only ?27 on my conversion!

Racetech'd SV forks are great, but again there is no point in sorting the front without sorting the rear if you are looking for a better handling bike all round.

For engine performance JHS is the place to be, they know more about the SV than any other tuner! There are several approaches to go, full exhaust, PC, high compression pistons, etc... I haven't seen a bored out Pointy yet though.

You are not throwiing money away if you are looking at keeping the bike for a long period of time, you are improving a budget bike!

[Lissa]

Originally Posted by lylej

whats the opinion of the Org?? am i just stupid to put the money into an SV?? is it worth it??

Waste of money in our opinion

[steveg]

Its a dificult question , it also depends on what kind of mileage / use the bike has .
My k5 has almost 30k miles , have had front forks / oil upgraded , fender extender , R&g's , scotoiler & can fitted , cost approx 400 quid , not gonna to spend much more as its not worth it , rear shock is worn will look to get a ebay job .
I recon that the above mods (except can) are needed as minimum if you use bike regulary .
Would like to get another bigger bike however funds are tight at the moment & I,m struggling to keep the sv on the road.

Cheers Steve

[fizzwheel]

JHS will do a good job I would think their reputation seems well founded and well deserved, but you wont learn anything about your bike from them. But if you want engine mods then I'd say that JHS seem to be the place to go.

Whereas if you take it to Spannerman I believe he'll do the service with you so you learn how to do simple stuff, which you can do yourself once you know and save money, also he'll do just as good as job as JHS will I would imagine.

If you just want to give it a good service and you are planning to keep the bike along time and dont care about stamps in the book, then take it to spannerman and learn how to do the servicing yourself, if thats what your thing is.

You've got to decide what you want from the SV, its your bike nobody else's, to quote Obi Wan.

"You must do what you feel is right of course"

I think you can tel what path I've taken and I'm really happy I did it that way.

yeah i see which way you went and thats cool, i just havent learnt how to ride my SV well yet.. i stutter on the track in tight corners to name one of about 20 known issues i have with the bike and i dont want to upgrade from SV untill ive ridden it to its absolute limit.., however i want the upgrades to the engine and the shocks because i dont want the budget bits holding me back.. i want the SV and Myself to be the best we can be together before i get another bike.

[fizzwheel]

Personally I think for what you unlock that chasing horsepower is expensive for not much gain. I'd do that last. No harm in a Filter and a remap though, that seems a bit more cost effective.

Do the front end and rear shock upgrades first. That'll help you get the most out of the engine and chassis, and also you'll get the most from the brakes or end up with GSXR brakes ( depends what you do ) which again will help you make the most of what you have got.

Thats what I'd do anyway. I'm curious now what things are you struggling with on your SV at the moment, what do you want to change and what do you think you're going to get out of it ?

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

Do the front end and rear shock upgrades first. That'll help you get the most out of the engine and chassis

This is true, there is no point power hunting if you can't use it properly!