picked up the thou...

[Paul the 6th]

Arranged for the insurance to swap over from the 650 to the 1000 at exactly 12 noon so I was up early to give the 650 a farewell wash and clean. Arrived at york suzuki for around 11:30, and it took half an hour to sort the documents etc.

First things first, head to the post office to get some tax on this mofo, then I headed out from york towards the a1m via rufforth and the b1228 (nice twisty road and about 10 miles each way). It doesn't stick around.

technical specs from MCN:
engine size: 996cc
power: 118bhp (although I've heard rumours the anniversary version is meant to be 5-6bhp more? not that it'll make any real differece)
top speed: 155mph est.
insurance group: 15

insurance for me: 23 year old male, 2 years riding, 2 year NCB, york postcode, datatag, datatool vito, oxford monster chain and padlock, no points, no other convictions... £43 to top up my 650 insurance till expiry in may and then forecast renewal price of around £290 to £310 fully comprehensive... just incase anyone asks

a quick review...

Engine:
Below 3k revs, the motor feels like someone has dropped a bag of gravel in the cylinders - checked up on the svportal forums after test ride and it sounds like all the suzuki thousand v-twins have this 'characteristic'. It's not annoying, just a little bit bizare. Once out of the 'danger zone' and into the proper mid-range, the thousand feels like it pulls twice as hard as the 650. If you're in "enthusiast" mode, then anything above 8k revs is like hyper drive.

gearbox:
The gearing is totally different to the 650. 2nd gear stretches as far as 90mph, but 3rd gear is just that bit too high for 30mph - the revs sit at around 2-3 thouands in the danger/gravel zone. First and second gear have to be treated with absolute respect and I've yet to see full throttle in either. The biting point on the hydraulic clutch is quite far out almost at the end of the travel of the lever. The gearbox feels a bit slicker than the one on the 650, and I suspect that might be due to the fact you don't have to change gear half as much. The engine braking is strong further up the revs but once you get to 15mph in first gear, there's no real sensation of slowing down like there was with the 650. The only reason I noticed this is because I on the way down my road to my house, I used to drop into first gear for a slight downhill 90 degree right hander, which would allow me to slow down as I was coming round. The thou kind of coasts round without really slowing down much so I had to dab the back brake slightly

Suspension:
The suspension doesn't feel that much different from what I had on the 650 (maxton springs in front and a gsxr shock in the back). It's fully adjustable front and back, and YC mentioned they're the same as the srad forks/brakes. It holds well on the road and feels planted, and so far I've not really felt like I've had to "muscle" the bike through corners as many people said they had to. But then again I don't really try and carve fast lines through corners so maybe if I tried harder I'd notice the difference? Oh, the sv1000 also comes with a steering damper as standard, although it's mounted underneath the fuel tank inside the fairing

Brakes:
I think this particular thou is ready for some new brake lines, fluid and pads as the front is ok but doesn't feel as sharp as my 650 did (that had braided lines & ebc h/h sinterred pads). As above, it has the same forks and brakes as the srad gsxr's, which is a popular mod/swap for the smaller sv. I'd expect fresh lines, fluid and pads to restore the brakes to their full on stopping power so I'll report back on that.

tyres:
The bike currently has a set of road attacks by continental, which I must say I'm impressed with. I've heard people talk about "feel" with tyres etc, and although I got a new set of avon storms on the 650 before xmas, they never really gave me that much info as to what was going on down at the tarmac. These really do have a sense of "feel" and "stickyness". It could be down to the increased amounts of power and torque, but they give lots of confidence in the corners.

on board:
the thou is more or less identical in terms of switchgear, dash layout and clocks. The seat feels slightly wider but that's about the only difference I can think of for now. You'd be hard pushed to tell the difference from a pic of the 'cockpit area' when comparing 650 to the 1000.

exhaust:
The twin cans are just as big as those on the sv650 but don't look out of place with it being a thousand. They add a symmetry to the bike, which is prolly why the standard can on the 650 looks so ridiculous. It's too big on it's own, but if there were two of them then they'd probably make a bit more sense. I should be able to afford a set of Beowulf warriors within a month or two hopefully, so I'll report back with pics and sound bites

the paint scheme:
I'd never even heard of the anniversary paint scheme until I found this one at york suzuki, so I wasn't quite sure what I'd make of it til I saw it in the metal. I must admit I do like it alot. I know I'm probably going to hear "why not just buy a gsxr if you want a gsxr?" about a thousand times during ownership of this bike, but the colour wasn't particularly high up on my list of priorities when looking at the thou's. It's a nice homage to the amazing gsxr but the similarities end there. Note: The sv1000 's' anniversary is also known as the !SV1000 sz"

The weather:
Raining all week........................just my luck

Anniversary Paint Scheme to mark 20 years of GSX-R


Lovely..



Gotta take it back for the numperplate sorting. They were meant to fix this before collection - think someone has washed the bike with hot water and melted all the lettering?

Nice that m8 !!

[pmapp]

Yeah, and close the door on the way out


I do likes them, I likes them a lot. I must admit, after last week when the missus came to Squires on the back, it's the first time I've properly pondered on a bigger bike.

A nice little write up too
So when you taking bookings for test pilots? te hehehe

[Paul the 6th]

well, YC is first in the queue, badger has a ticket as well, so we'll have to see where we can slot you in the busy schedule phil

Wait till you use all the power and it doesnt feel that fast... Though it depends on the road tbh. You manage to get any power wheelies yet?

You missed out with the ride around Whitby and down to Scarborough! Oh well another day I guess

Its amazing how changing the suspension settings a tiny bit makes the bike handle very different! Like today I was blasting through a corner on the throttle and decided I needed to shut off a little to make the apex, and the front sank and bounded which wasnt so great. Turned up the rebound and compresion but 1/8th of a turn and it now feels scarily planted! Hope I like it when I next ride it. ha ha. I think the change was needed from jacking up the rear.

So your in for some fun should you decide to start carving the corners.

nice steed!

to do list -

remove the lowers (show off that lump)

fit loud cans,

fit tail tidy.

Originally Posted by kwak zzr

nice steed!

to do list -

remove the lowers (show off that lump)

fit loud cans,

fit tail tidy.

+1 tbh. Bellpan looks the dogs danglies on the pointy.

yes, lovely jubly.
Love the paint job ( if i had the money id get another set of panels and do a gixer replica !)
so what you intending to do to her, nd cans ? tail tidy ? ??
We should get together soon mate and have a ride....if its good weather tomorrow night i might have a ride upto squires !!

[Paul the 6th]

Originally Posted by kwak zzr

nice steed!

to do list -

polish lowers

fit loud cans - beowulfs in a couple of months' time

fit tail tidy - got some spare funds from the sale of 650 bits to pay for a new tail tidy

cheers kwak... how long did you have yours for? And was there a particular reason which made you get rid of it?

[Paul the 6th]

Originally Posted by s.j.robson@bt

yes, lovely jubly.
Love the paint job ( if i had the money id get another set of panels and do a gixer replica !)
so what you intending to do to her, nd cans ? tail tidy ? ??
We should get together soon mate and have a ride....if its good weather tomorrow night i might have a ride upto squires !!

weather looks a bit hit and miss all over matey - do you mind if I give you a call in the afternoon? I know every wednesday is the bike evening at squires but I'll have a check and make sure there's no car clubs meeting tomorrow night.. we might look a bit silly pulling up at a scooby owners meeting or nova gte club get together - a bit like that nonse who pulled up at squires on sunday........ in a ford street ka. Those convertible ones? Yep, he tried to drive through all the bikes to park near the hill. Needless to say he more or less got boo'd

But yeah, I'll give you a call in the late afternoon/early evening and we'll go for a razzle mate