Give me the owners view of the svs1000.

[Ratty]

Juju

I owned an SV650SK3 ( from new ) for over 10000 miles and loved it. I wanted the same with more power and bought a SV1000SK5 which I’ve also put over 10000 miles on and I love it. The handling was poor at first, but I put all the suspension settings back to book and adjusted it from there. I’m more than happy with the handling now and think it’s still very nimble, but much less twitchy than the 650. I’ve also done six track days on mine and had no problems. There are some photo’s of the bike at the track, in an album in my profile.

The suspension is multi adjustable at both ends and the brakes are miles better. People on here will try to tell you it’s a barge compared to the 650. It’s not. Fuel consumption is fine and can be really frugal if you are easy on the throttle. They are lumpier at low revs though, but soon smooth out.

Try and get a K5 or later fore more power ( higher compression, bigger throttle bodies and different map etc ) but the best thing you can do is arrange a test ride. Try and get the shop to put suspension settings to book first though.

Things to look for are: knackered chain / sprockets and weeping clutch slave cylinders and failing rear exhaust gaskets at the collector joint.

Hope this helps.

Alan

Originally Posted by Juju

I returned to biking last october, buying a work collegues svs650. My only real previous experience was riding (and putting about 60k) on a gpz500s over 4 years or so of ownership.

I must admit, I quite like the sv. It suits me well, that its low, light, not too complicated, and a bit of a do it all. I can commute on it, I can also crack open the throttle on a decent bit of a road, and still bear a bit of motorway up to see my dad or the Villa.

My view of the SV is that its a decent enough handling bike, more assured in the wet than my gpz was, bigger lean angles, although go too slow round a roundabout and the steering does flap a bit, which took a bit of getting used to after 5 years off a bike.

However, whilst it;s nice, docile, flexible, and easy to ride, the power does come in in a somewhat linear fashion, I don't get a big boot up the **** like the lower power gpz did, and tbh, despite the 10 bhp difference, I couldn't say the sv felt as if it had an extra 150 cc. (and 11/12 bhp).

How similar is the 1000cc? I dont want to lose the all rounder style and simple easy handling of the 650, but would just like a bit more oomph and a slightly little more "assured" handling.

Am I right in thinking thesv1000 will deliver what I want, or is it getting a bit heavy/hairy/cumbersome?

I don't know much about bikes, I don't od a lot of reading of the mags ect. I dont want a big expensive tourer or a sports bike, just an all rounder. I only got into biking as I had a lovely alfa 75 3l which did 22 to the gallon, and bought a 125cc to mitigate my fuel costs, and then realised a 125 was all a bit of a waste of time with its light weight, so not a "biker" in the trad sense.

Am I looking at the right thing, or should I just stick with what I have?

Come on over to www.sv-portal.com and we'll tell you all you want to know... loads of peeps on there have upgraded to the big boys sv from the 650...

[mattSV]

I had a SV650s for 4 years, and then a SV1000s for 5 years. Whilst it looks like a SV650, the thou is very different:-

Brakes - from the old GSXR750, work very well
Suspension - much better quality than the 650
Power - goes from "bugger all" to "bugger me" to "bugger that"
Handling - needs to be 'muscled' in to a corner, however once you have chosen your line it feels very planted
Fuel - I used to get anything from 80 to 140 to a tank (80 if commuting and dicking around, 140 stick to 70mph on the motorways)

You said you want 'a little more oomph' - may be the thou isn't for you then, as it has sh!tloads more ommph!

I had the SV1000 for a while, didn't put that many miles on it due to knackered knees but there is a considerable difference between that and the 650:

The Suspension was firmer and not as wallowy.
Loads and loads of power, went like a sodding freight train.
Front end wanted to come up more (that might've been where i was used to red lining the IL4 i had before and never adjusted my riding style to match )
Brakes were a damn sight better too, too much front and you'd have the rear end skipping up.
Alot more torquey, be gentle on wet roads, back end wanted to spin up alot in damper conditions.
Didn't really notice much weight difference.
Quite lumpy at low speeds but you can overcome that by clutch control.

Now back to a IL4 as i find them easier to ride.
And if the truth be known, the 1000 was a tad to brutal for me, i would've either lost my license or my life. It's a far better bike than i was a rider.

Why not get a test ride on a Triumph Street Triple? Similar sized engine to the SV, but more power and torque, plus better handling. It seems to be the highest rated of the middleweight 'all rounders' at the moment.

[Mark_h]

There's a big old thread on it here

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.p...12#post1970812

Post 24 was from me.

I went from 650 to 1000. Have ridden loads of pother bikes but still can't find anything with more grins for the money.

Thats what I was gonna say I have a Street Triple in the garage and its superb, best bike I have ever ridden. Light, Fast, handles well, comfortable and a hoot too, dont bother with the R version the standard version is just as good. Fortunately or unfortunately depending if your buying new or second hand they hold their price too.

Originally Posted by wyrdness

Why not get a test ride on a Triumph Street Triple? Similar sized engine to the SV, but more power and torque, plus better handling. It seems to be the highest rated of the middleweight 'all rounders' at the moment.