How much to rev her??

Most bike tachos are laid out so that when the needle is at twelve o'clock the revs are perfect for the torque/power balance.

You'll rev it higher the more you use it. I used to ride everywhere around 4000 rpm but nowadays it's rarely below 5000 rpm and more often over 6000 rpm.

Cheers guys.

If I'm taking my time then I keep the revs between 3k-6k,
If I'm hooning about then it stays above 5/6k, normally up to 8/9k before changing up.

Originally Posted by SVeeedy Gonzales

Most bike tachos are laid out so that when the needle is at twelve o'clock the revs are perfect for the torque/power balance.

You'll rev it higher the more you use it. I used to ride everywhere around 4000 rpm but nowadays it's rarely below 5000 rpm and more often over 6000 rpm.

Jeez is that really true? i have never considered such a thing in myblubuybeyly(read=many) years of riding!

Pointy - when hooning, way over 10k possibly 11K. hit the limiter a couple of times in anger.

When generally traveling, 1/2 of peak so between 4 and 6k is most efficient.

You know, this low end torque talk....doesn't seem right to me....I mean....the GSXF will pull cleanly from 2k but the SV won't/can't! It still shudders at 3k with a dollop of throttle so where is this low end torque I hear so much about??

It has great midrange power relative to the GSXF cos with that bike if you accellerate in a roll-on fashion from lower revs its a waiting game from 4k through to 9k and things gradually get more hectic as the seconds roll on by!
The SV does things differently, not better, not worse, just different, in that from 4k there's instant urgency and its going for it all the way to 9k, there isn't the lag of the 4 pot although when the GSX hits 9k its still pulling even harder still but its debatable whether one is a better overtaking tool than the other cos the GSX is top heavy and needs to be thrown about. The SV feels more like a mountain bike, almost flickable!

I went to overtake a car coming out of a bend today and had to hesitate on the throttle cos the response of the SV was so instant it almost catapulted me into the back of the car, the last time I experienced a power response like that I was on a Honda thou.

Also rather nice is the fact that throttling off at 90 the brakes just aren't needed for slotting back into the traffic queue! Nice to have that control!

I have now broken through 1200 miles and she's loosening up nicely!

Sveedy glad you said 'most bikes tacho's' cos I used to think the same until some later super-dooper sports bikes the needles didn't match up any longer, now of course they have digital. I guess they were the same clocks with the same drive just different dials to show different speeds. Final drive ratio is a give away here I think....some one will soon tell me if I'm wrong!

Doddery old fool....now what was I doing....oh yes....mathematics and ancient civilisations, "the pyramids were found to posses the most aerodynamic shape in the universe, this shape has been carried forward to this very day in the shape of motorcycle fairings such as the Suzuki SV model which is very pointy in the extreme!"

Hey its a good book this.......mad? Who me?

Rev it to your mood, 4k to downchnges into the limiter, go natural with the feel.

My SV wasn't pulling nicely below 4.5 k, one service, carb balance and plug change later she's pulling from 2.5-2.8k smoooothly. Experiment, see what you like and when. There is no correct answer.