Commuting distance

What would be your maximum commuting distance? Would 30 miles in one direction, 60 in total be too much for the value of an SV and the value of myself on the M3?

Let me know.

I have done 50 miles each way on the SV.

If you're planning on keeping the SV for it's realistic lifespan, then it's not a problem. If you don't know what you're doing to service the bike, then you'd better learn quickly, or it proves mightly expensive.

I'm now the owner of a K6 on the wrong side of 34kmiles. All of those miles were done by me.

One thing to watch out for, especially as you said you'd be on the motorway, is fatigue. If it's a windy day etc, you're going to be pretty tired because of trying to keep the bike in a straight line. The other factor is that tyres will square quickly!

Commuting for me is now a personal choice, if the money was right, I'd happily do 100 miles each way - but I doubt there's many companies that could afford to pay that much on one employee.

Now, my commute is 6 miles, and takes under 10mins on the SV.

I do 60 miles each way from Yeovil to Salisbury along the A303. I'd much rather be on the bike than in the car, and i could quite happily do more miles (from a biking point of view, commuting in general i find a tedious waste of time but it has to be done)

As for value of the SV mine did around 35,000 miles in it's first 2 years, a few less in the third year as i used my other bike more. This has probably greatly reduced the resale value of my bike but TBH the resale value of SV's is not huge anyway so i don't see it as a big problem. I will probably keep my SV till it dies anyway.

OK, so to me it sounds quite doable. This may not be a long term thing anyway. I have a limit of about 100 miles in one sitting in one day anyway, just takes quite a lot out of you.

For this kind of mileage what would be your sevice tips. I am fairly competant in taking bits apart, cleaning, making good and general maintenance.

Originally Posted by Baph

I have done 50 miles each way on the SV.

I used to do 50 miles each way on a 150,000 mile old Honda CB250RS. I took the mileage from 136,000 to 192,000 in three years before I gave it away to a mate.

Any well cared for SV should handle 30 miles each way easily for years to come.

Get a scottoiler and regular oil changes.

My dealer actually recomended upping the service interval to about 6000 miles as the 3500 miles was being done about every 2 months or less and they were finding some things just weren't being needed that often. As long as it got it's oil change on time everything else should be ok.

Of course if your handy with a spanner like most on here except me you can do it all yourself as and when it's needed.

= face and hands and kitchen covered in oil

Maintenance, as others have said, change oil/filter and plugs on schedule, the rest I do as & when needed. Obviously don't miss the biggy at 15k intervals (valve checks).

My air filter gets changed whenever the bike seems to be running rough, other than that it's cleaned whenever I'm under the tank.

Chain adjustments are done often, so you'll need the tools for that if you don't have them. Easy as pie when you're used to it. Remember to lube the chain frequently (scottoiler will take care of this for you - but remember to fill the scott).

Throttle bodies are balanced according to the same shedule as the air filter cleaning, ie, every time I'm under the tank.

Doing long distance on the SV, you'll know if things are starting to go wrong before they do by the sound of the engine. I can also predict how many miles I've got left before the fuel light starts flashing just by the sound of the engine - you do get very intimate with the bike.

Keep an eye on your tyres for squaring etc. Remember to check pressures & oil level and the bike will be more than happy.

I do get told I give the bike more attention than my other half though... so it obviously consumes a lot of time maintaining the bike like this.

Originally Posted by Baph

Doing long distance on the SV, you'll know if things are starting to go wrong before they do by the sound of the engine.

Couldn't agree more with this statement.

I do 35miles each way between Hartlepool and Gosforth along A19 no bother.