SV 650 low bottom gear. Any SV racers?

I'm told it's /definitely/ in for Bemsee.

[johnnyrod]

Not been racing but done some track days. I too blip the throttle on downchanges, always have. This might sound daft but try opening it up a little more when you do - in my case I had too much slack in the throttle cable so it wasn't having a big enough effect. Going down to first on the move is always going to be a bit jumpy though. Or take Billy's suggestion of slipping the clutch, this is what you do MXing when you're in one of those awkward corners between gears when the lower one is too low and screams, and the higher one bogs down.

you shouldnt be going down into first gear at all.

Obviously you need to change your gearing to suit each circuit and your own riding style but first is way too low.

Whats your corner speed like?.

If your at Mallory next weekend i am there from Friday testing on the trackday so come and have a chat etc and will see if i can help you out.

Will be on a Red and Yellow SV that looks like a GSXR1000K5 running in the thunderbikes... number 73

[johnnyrod]

Any chance of updating the Mallory how-to with the new bits after the weekend? I might be going there next month if the chicken giblets fall the right way.

I haven’t taken my SV to the track yet (but plan to soon ) so can only give general track/race advice.

Raising idle to 3k as mentioned by ‘G’ is in my opinion is a necessity for track use. This will not only reduce chatter, but make the bike more stable in slower turns and aid ‘hooking up’ out of the turns. It is a bit weird at first (the bikes doesn’t slow as much under engine braking), but when you get used to it you won’t look back.

As also mentioned by many, at no point should there been need for first (apart from pulling away obviously). You need to change your sprockets for places like Mallory. Using first also means you are risking hitting neutral when flicking to 2nd. My SV has a tendency to ‘drop out’ of 2nd at times too. I believe this is common and due to the poor ‘ramping’ on the selector mechanism. (you can buy better designed ones).

Finally as people have said, SLIP THE CLUTCH!! With a combination of this, the V-Twin compression and the powerful/effective rear brake you can get some lovely ‘backing it in’ style moves. It feels great, but to be honest I am just tooling about when I do it on the road , when racing I tend not to use this technique as unless you can perfect it, it is actually slower. Looks great though There have been a few occasions when I have overcooked a corner and the back comes round on the overbraking, but as I have tooled about for years on the road ‘backing it in’ it hasn’t phased me at all and I just ride it through and make the turn. Many people brick it and go straight on when the rear comes round on them!!!

Do you have a road SV you can p1ss about on or just a racebike?

Originally Posted by SV650Racer

you shouldnt be going down into first gear at all.

Obviously you need to change your gearing to suit each circuit and your own riding style but first is way too low.

Obviously!......


or not so obviously....


depends on your experiance and budget as to whether you chance your gearing or even know to change your gearing!! also depends how serious you are taking it