I rode an SV again

... on Saturday. A black K7 pointy S.

Is it just me or did these not used to be faster?!

Admittedly the transition to riding a V-twin was difficult...felt like the engine was going to stall every time I went below ~5krpm...but even so, I was expecting (remembering with rose-tinted glasses?!) a wave of torque to shove me forward every time I opened the throttle. Instead it seemed to do...not very much

Also seemed to run out of RPM very easily (even given the 11k limit) - all too often found myself having to change up once or even twice during an overtake!

How does this compare to other people's experience of going back to an SV? I honestly remember it being way quicker than this!

There was a certain satisfaction to having to pin the throttle open all the time, though

For comparison I was on my 2002 CBR600F, as well as pinching a mate's 2005 CBR600RR for part of the ride. Oh and as a sidenote, quite impressed by the RR's midrange, I think it was better than my old GSX-R600 (K7) but hopefully will be pinching another mate's 600K7 at some point in the near future to compare.

Originally Posted by muffles

Is it just me or did these not used to be faster?!

Take the handbrake off next time!

But seriously - changing up twice during an overtake? The good thing about an SV over an IL4 is you dont need to do that??????

I'd say there's something wrong with it if it was going to stall under 5000. Mine certainly doesn't do that. Open exhaust by any chance?

[fizzwheel]

I rode Liz's K5 the other week as I had to take it for MOT and service.

Felt slow as fook and the brakes felt cr*p as well. Same as you though didnt have the low down torque I remember.

Sounds nice though, also it still felt quite nimble even compared to my GSXR.

Originally Posted by Durbs

Take the handbrake off next time!

But seriously - changing up twice during an overtake? The good thing about an SV over an IL4 is you dont need to do that??????

Not when you are starting at 5k rpm?! It runs out of rev range pretty quickly, I am more used to IL4 rev ranges/gearing now I guess. Even if you start at 8k rpm on an IL4 you have plenty of revs to go before you run out (6250 on the CBR for example) plus the gearing seems longer too.

Originally Posted by gettin2dizzy

I'd say there's something wrong with it if it was going to stall under 5000. Mine certainly doesn't do that. Open exhaust by any chance?

Completely standard actually - it's not that it was going to stall, it's that it felt like that - ride an IL4 for a while, then go back to it and you'll see what i mean

Originally Posted by gettin2dizzy

I'd say there's something wrong with it

Thats what i kinda thought as everything he describes is the opposite of mine? Rarely take it over 5 during normal riding.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

I rode Liz's K5 the other week as I had to take it for MOT and service.

Felt slow as fook and the brakes felt cr*p as well. Same as you though didnt have the low down torque I remember.

Sounds nice though, also it still felt quite nimble even compared to my GSXR.

Yeah I agree with that - in the corners it was pretty good, it was just the (lack of) acceleration that surprised me!

Originally Posted by Durbs

Thats what i kinda thought as everything he describes is the opposite of mine? Rarely take it over 5 during normal riding.

Right gonna nip this in the bud before the thread gets taken over by it

Coming from an IL4 I ride higher up the rev range - this is partly the problem I found, as it meant I lost out on the torque from 3-5k rpm.

But...even when I consciously made an effort to ride it lower, it wasn't as fast as I remember?

I remember taking a CBR600RR out for fun, and getting back on my SV felt like 'My First Motorbike'

Originally Posted by gettin2dizzy

I remember taking a CBR600RR out for fun, and getting back on my SV felt like 'My First Motorbike'

Does that mean you know what I meant then?