Hello to all, thinking of buying an SV650

Just a quick note to say hi to all on here. My name is Mike and I'm from the West Midlands, please don't hold that against me.
I just need a bit of advice as I am thinking seriously of getting an SV to replace my ageing and nearly knackered thunderace. It will be used for commuting 160 miles a week in all weathers and occasional weekend rideouts. A friend of mine used to own one on a T plate and it was an excellent bike, reliable and well quick enough for the odd blat.
I just need info, mpg, known issues (i have been told a fender extender is a must to protect the front plug?) and any other stuff you guys might know.

Cheers

Mike.

Hello, I was pondering getting a Thunderace to replace the SV!
SV's are great though, I do about 45mpg. I've never needed to get a fender extender, just whack a load of grease round the front plug lead and it's perfect - I commute in all weathers too.
Using it in rain tends to make all the bolts go manky, the finish is pretty crap on these

[Spiderman]

Hi Mike and welcome to the site.

I have commuted on my SV for 5yrs now, doing about the same weekly mileage as you.

The SV is great for it and the town stuff i do when i'm in London, light and flickable enough to get thru the traffic queues no problem.

The Fenda extanda thing is sometimes required, just depeends on the bike and how often you're gonna ride it thru the wimetrs. I use mine all year round and never needed one, it only ever fired wrong when there was really thick freezing fog.

Have a look in the For Sale section as i think there are a few up for sale at the mo.

Blue ones are fastest apparently, i'll say that before anyone else does. But the real secret is that Mr Suzuki himself rides a pinty red one with a black frame, dontchaknow

[keith_d]

I've had my SK4 a few months now and ride to work when the weather's nice. It has been a nice reliable bike and even started first time after standing outside for three weeks while I was on holiday.

So I'd say go for it and enjoy the ride,

Keith.

[hindle8907]

i just got an SV Naked K5 for commuting all year round only had the bike a week though and not ran into any rain yet lucky lol but the bikes are kool so yeah go for it welcome to the Org.

( Am i allowed to say that now i own an SV ahahha )

Cheers guys

How are they on oil? a big niggle of mine is constantly having to top the thunderace up (it does a litre every 500 miles nowadays), my friends' bike didn't use any if I recall.
So the finish can be a bit ropey if used through the winter, some fs365 might help this?

[christopher]

ACF-50 is better still, you don't have to reapply every time you clean it or when it rains!

[Tallguy]

Hello and welcome! First thing you need to know is the difference between 'curvy' and 'pointy' and the model year designation: 2002=K2, 2003=K3 etc. All K3 onwards are POINTY, all K2 and earlier are CURVY. 'S' models have fuel injection, bikini fairings and clip on bars, 'N' or NAKED models have round lights, carbs, straighter upright bars and no fairing. Curvy and pointy models come in both S and N flavours. As everyone knows, the best and fastest model is the K3 S in Silver. There's a (mostly) friendly rivalry between pointy and curvy owners. Most are 650cc, many are 1000, a few are 400. Hope this is useful. Though as I've been writing this on a mobile phone for the last hour, someone's probably explained this already!

[Lissa]

Originally Posted by Tallguy

Hello and welcome! First thing you need to know is the difference between 'curvy' and 'pointy' and the model year designation: 2002=K2, 2003=K3 etc. All K3 onwards are POINTY, all K2 and earlier are CURVY. 'S' models have fuel injection, bikini fairings and clip on bars, 'N' or NAKED models have round lights, carbs, straighter upright bars and no fairing. Curvy and pointy models come in both S and N flavours. As everyone knows, the best and fastest model is the K3 S in Silver. There's a (mostly) friendly rivalry between pointy and curvy owners. Most are 650cc, many are 1000, a few are 400. Hope this is useful. Though as I've been writing this on a mobile phone for the last hour, someone's probably explained this already!

Um, sorry, but ALL curvy's have carbs, ALL pointy's have fuel injection.

Originally Posted by Lissa

Um, sorry, but ALL curvy's have carbs, ALL pointy's have fuel injection.

Yup!

As for the rivalry, well because the pointies are not as good!