Handling.

my sv1000s front end is very stable at all speed and at most angles but the rear kicks and bucks when doing anything other than going in a straight line over 3 figures, this bike has only done 4000 miles? my 650s was the same on the rear only the front was poo aswell. i was under the impression the rear on the sv1000s was a much better shock than the 650s but i may have it all set up wrongly for my weight, i dont know ive never really messed with suspension.

[Sid Squid]

If your SV is truly 'shockingly bad' then there's something wrong with it. Fix that then see how you feel.
Depends on your weight of course but it's pretty much an accepted fact that SV650s have quite soft front springs, this being the case combined with the fork oil being well past it's prime at the mileage you're quoting, then I imagine you're well on the way to diagnosing what the likely problem might be.
An SV shock with that sort of mileage is definitely on borrowed time in the bike of someone who wants to ride it right.
Clearly an SV doesn't have the quality of suspension that some of the bikes you've mentioned do, that said a good one, combined with something called 'throttle control' will do a better job than most riders ever will.
The throttle has a sincerely pronounced effect over the suspension, this I'm sure you know, used right SVs aren't bad* - but the standard bits are obviously never going to equal those fitted to better specced bikes.

* I can't stress this enough - if yours really is, then something is most definately wrong. And yes, that sort of mileage no matter what the circumstances of use will have put the oil in the forks way beyond it's realistic life.

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

* I can't stress this enough - if yours really is, then something is most definately wrong. And yes, that sort of mileage no matter what the circumstances of use will have put the oil in the forks way beyond it's realistic life.

As everyone seems to be pointing the finger at the forks, they'll be getting a strip and rebuild with uprated springs/emulators and oil before I do anything else. When I can afford it a new quality shock is going in, unless the guy who bought my Gixer thou sells me the almost new 1000 K1 shock I gave him with the bike.

[johnnyrod]

It's a good start, you won't regret it. I presume the emulators are legal for Minitwins. Although these bikes wil never be GSXRs you can make them go round corners.

[fizzwheel]

My SV was wobbly wobbly like that, I really notice it wallowing around the rear, it was especially noticeable once I had my GSXR to compare it to.

Bike had done 36K, I fitted a 2nd hand OEM rear shock that I bought from here for £25 and then I changed the fork oil. The fork oil I took out was f*cked it stank like rotten fish and was thin and watery. It didnt look like fork oil anymore it looked like water from a stagnant pond. Urgh..

Doing just those simple things, transformed the handling, it made a huge difference. So just to echo what the others said, try new fork oil first and see if that makes a difference also if you can get a cheap OEM shock that might get you going again if money is a bit tight.

ya buch of girls! mine kept up well with the other 600s in the twisties no problems!!!!!
but then again i guess i just used to it....the tls gets very flighty front end!

[Viney]

I replaced my rear shock this weekend with a lower milage item and taking 23000 miles off a shock really changes things.

Suspension as probably quoted is much like tyres, in the way the deteriorate so slowly that you dont notice over time. When you swap it for a new, or lower milage item, the difference is really noticable.

though progressive fork springs helped loads!

IF not fitting internals to a pointy is it best to fit progressive springs or just the other type (name of which i dont know - non-progressive?) and then put heavier fork oil in as well?

Rob, the other type is linear, i.e a constant spring rate, I've heard linear are better for track riding than progressive and can be a little easier to set up with regard to oil thickness/sag etc, but plenty of people have also used progressive springs and had good results.

I went for linear springs & oil myself and thoroughly enjoy them.