Best Upgrades: SV650S K9

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by youcanrunnaked

The stock airbox and filter are very well-designed, They're not.

and people who muck with them generally regret it. Really?

A full exhaust will net only a small power increase; you will barely notice it, but it will drain your bank account. Yup, but it is noticeable.

The main benefit is to free up the lovely v-twin growl; any slip-on, even one of the cheaper ones, will do that. Yup.

Alarm -- easily defeated, and people ignore them, anyway. Use a disc lock or two, and buy good theft insurance. Yup.

HID -- why not just replace the bulbs with Silverstars? Because they throw a f##k sight more light than silverstars.

The SV's stock suspension and tires are the only parts that are a must to upgrade, yet you have no plans for those? Definately.

Fender extender
Crash bungs
Fork springs

Yorkie chris, I guess we just disagree about the airbox and filter. I know of several who have removed the snorkel, only to put it back. You can make the intake louder, but that only makes it seem like you're going faster; dyno the bike and you'll see a flat spot. I think Suzuki did a fine job with the airbox.

The stock filter flows plenty of air, and it's a reusable item, so, again, I think it's not worth changing. There's no real hp gain with a K&N or BMC (the first gen K&N actually flowed less air than the stock unit!), but they do manage to decrease the service interval, while increasing the amount of dirt that makes it into the engine. Why would you want to do that?

Maybe I'd try the second gen K&N, if I was also going with a full exhaust (but I also advised against that). Of course, then I'd also need a PCIII and some dyno time. So, after spending $1,500, I'd net, what, 7 hp? And I'd still have my crappy suspension and tires to deal with.

EDIT: Realized I said "I'd need..." when I was thinking about the op. So, I'd need to rejet (first gen), but the OP would need a remap (second gen). Just so you don't think I'm an idiot.....

[yorkie_chris]

It's not reuseable, not properly, you can never get all the dirt out with just s squirt of air. However K+N does make one for curvy that is same in flow, but properly washable.

So why is oiled matrix filter worse than paper in terms of dirt catching? I seriously doubt any difference is noticeable. I have 10k miles on oily filter, engine hasn't popped yet. Some have over 100k

The stock filter strangles it. You do need to rejet though.


I agree about the price though, it's not worth it to buy a new full system. Neither is a PC worth it at all.

[northwind]

Originally Posted by qpop

http://www.torc-anchors.com/products.php?cat=8 Head that way for lock/chain combinations, phenominal strength stuff from small family business type thing, they handmake them to high quality

Maybe, but they sell them with chains that aren't really up to the job, not much point in a rock solid anchor if you have a chain that doesn't stand up to silent attack.

Originally Posted by svdemon

I'm amazed you knew what i meant, are you a professional translator?

Excellent comeback

Originally Posted by youcanrunnaked

(the first gen K&N actually flowed less air than the stock unit!)

Well, the very first one did, but that was replaced when they realised what a complete c**k they'd made of it. The replacement flows slightly more air, just enough to want rejetting but not enough to give a worthwhile performance boost. I'm not sure if that's better or worse...

Originally Posted by youcanrunnaked

HID -- why not just replace the bulbs with Silverstars?

The SV's stock suspension and tires are the only parts that are a must to upgrade, yet you have no plans for those?

Well, a HID makes massively more light than silverstars or even nightbreakers (silverstars don't make a lot of sense now, when the nightbreakers aren't much more expensive but work a bit better). But yeah, it's not an essential, miles from it. I do love mine but I managed for 4 winters without it somehow

Last point for the win... Leave the engine and the fuelling alone, they work brilliantly. If you must mess with it, mess with the suspension, an SV with £500 worth of suspension work is faster than an SV with £1000 worth of engine work. Course you can do both. But if you do want to change stuff around, suspension is where the win is. Good suspension can make you faster, or it can make you confident enough to use a bit more of the bike's potential, or, it can just be comfier (most people don't actually outride the stock suspension, they just get nervous when it stops feeling good, and so hold back)

Course, it's a perfectly decent bike as standard, a wee bit of fettling is good but doing big mods on a new bike makes little sense usually. I for one would never modify one of these SV650s

[21QUEST]

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

Bungs, Fenda Extenda, Tail Tidy, Hugger, slip on can, double bubble if you are doing alot of dual carrigeway / motorway work.

Then I'd spend the rest of the money you save but not doing the rest of the stuff on your list, on petrol...

Replace the stock Dunlop tyres with something else once you've worn them out as TBH they arent that bad, and then look at some suspension work on the front end.

If you're going to be doing alot of miles think about fitting a Scottoiler as it increases the life of your chain.

I'm sure I've read people having trouble with the R & G tailtidy, so you might want to get the Hamicad one instead.

Also from what I've read especially the recent post from Sid Squid you shoudlnt need to mess about with the TPS either being its a brand new bike.

Dont get to hung up on modifying it, just ride it and enjoy it, leave it standard and then spend some time working out exactly what you do and dont like.

What the Fizzman said ....apart from the slipon and tail tidy

Just ride...



Ben

Originally Posted by svdemon

Get some decent tires on it! What are they coming with these days?

They aren't bad but the aren't great either...

I wouldn't say they are terrible and you would need to change them straight away...

I wouldn't recommend them to be fitted as a second set simply because there are so many better tyres out there...

Originally Posted by youcanrunnaked

The stock airbox and filter are very well-designed, and people who muck with them generally regret it.

Most of those people don't know what to do half the time.

Originally Posted by youcanrunnaked

the first gen K&N actually flowed less air than the stock unit

The second version isn't much better than stock.

Originally Posted by northwind

Well, a HID makes massively more light than silverstars or even nightbreakers (silverstars don't make a lot of sense now, when the nightbreakers aren't much more expensive but work a bit better). But yeah, it's not an essential, miles from it. I do love mine but I managed for 4 winters without it somehow

Nightbreakers don't seem to be sold in the US. I can order them from a UK seller, like powerbulbs.com, but what will I get? Are these the same as the Siverstar Ultra that we have over here?

One of the members of svrider was complaining today that he saw too much glare from reflective signs and fog with the SilverStar bulbs; he switched to the XtraVision. What do you think?

How do any of these compare to the Philips X-treme? I'm actually leaning towards them. Supposedly, almost as bright as the Nightbreaker (+ 80 vs. +90) but not as white, and also longer-lasting.

[northwind]

I'm not sure... One thing, i don't think your silverstars are the same as ours, US headlight type approval is pretty difficult. Nightbreakers were the same, the UK spec ones are too bright apparently. But some of the SV Rider guys have them now, whether they import euro ones or there's a US spec I don't know.

I have no clue what the thing about "glare off roadsigns" is, it just sounds like random internet nonsense to me... My HIDs kick out a load of uv, so hi-viz materials glow like I'm on the set of Tron, it's in no way a bad thing, no way at all. Perhaps this guy prefers not to see road signs?

LOL. Yeah, he said the SilverStars washed out the road signs, also said they were a problem in fog. Still, if anyone knows about riding in fog, it would have to be you guys in the UK.

[northwind]

Well, fair enough, brighter headlights do give more problems in heavy fog... It does need to be pretty terrible though, and by that point you're probably well advised not to ride at all- if you can't see, neither can anyone else