SV1000 advice please

[rammer]

Hi
im looking at an 03 sv1000 ,it has 43000 ks on it...........are there any issues that i should be aware of?seller wants $6000 ,is this about right ,as prices for these seem to be all over the show........
any pre -purchase input these bikes would be appreciated
sweet
cheers
thanks
Rammer

[slofox]

Hi
im looking at an 03 sv1000 ,it has 43000 ks on it...........are there any issues that i should be aware of?seller wants $6000 ,is this about right ,as prices for these seem to be all over the show........
any pre -purchase input these bikes would be appreciated
sweet
cheers
thanks
Rammer

2003 was the year the design was updated - check this is one of the newer ones - not, say, an 02 first registered in 03...

$6g sounds highish - has it had forks done? They go better if the forks have emulator kits fitted...

Distance covered is nothing to be concerned about...

[AllanB]

I agree at 6k for a 03 with 43k it would need to be a minter. If you can find another grand or two you should be able to score a later model one with less kms. Having said that they are all very similar bar a few tweaks and colours.

Lots of bike for the money and good fun - is it the naked or sports one?



EDIT - looking at Motorcycletrader.co.nz it may not be a high price after all, compared to the dealers prices anyway. Trademe are all over the place depending how desperate people are to sell!

I have a Suzuki Summer fest brochure at work from 03 - the SV was $15k new back then!

[rammer]

thanks
yeah its the faired version,yoshi mufflers,looks tidy,ive done the ducati thing for a while now,just looking for a change really,these kind of appeal,from what ive read on various forums,they need the forks sorted etc,my only concern is im not up with these enough to be aware of any problems to look out for prior to purchase
i have some spare late model ss fully adjustable showa forks/wheel/brakes etc that are the same diameter as the common gsxr fork upgrade,so from what i can gather id just need the triples and id be mostly sorted?
sweet
cheers

[imdying]

2003 was the year the design was updated - check this is one of the newer ones - not, say, an 02 first registered in 03...

No, 03 was the first year.

are there any issues that i should be aware of?

Three:
- Some (rare) bike from 03 had an undersize main bearing problem that manifests itself as a knocking noise (be aware all of them rattle their clutches at some degree, you'd know if it had 'the knock'). Given the kms, don't worry about it, it would have been apparent long ago.

- The infamous 'green connector' is a fault that applies to all model years. The connector is underspecced for the current being carried by one of the pin pairs, so you will need to bypass those wires on those pins with some decent sized spade lugs or similar. About an hour to fix. Failure to fix this may result in the motor cutting out for no reason and/or leaving you stranded.

- Cheap wheel bearings. The wheel bearings aren't double sealed (ZZ) versions, and will crap out eventually. Sure almost all Japanese bikes suffer from this, but I know of at least two people left stranded by a collapsed rear wheel bearing. Spend $100 and do all five bearing, and you'll never have to worry about it.

And that's it, they exhibit no other common faults (although #1 is pretty rare in any case).

The forks on the 03 and 04 bikes are rebuildable with emulators etc, so no trouble there (05- is a different story). As an aside, a complete GSXR front end is a direct swap (but use the ones with the ignition on the right hand side to ensure steering lock compatibility). The 05- bikes have about 5 more RWHP due to a number of small changes, but nothing to get excited about.

[boman]

I havn't looked lately, but I am sure you could get a 20,000km 06-08 for around $8,000. Hell you can buy my 2008, with 12,000km for $10,000, if you want. Still got 8 months left on the warranty too.

[paturoa]

Another thing to watch for on that model is the clutch slave cylinder is right next to the front sproket and crapola gets in there and stuffs the seal and cylinder. Simple fix is to install the extra grommett from later models. Look for leaking clutch fluid.

I'd also check the disk thickness 4.5 mm minimum front, and don't know how much for the rear.

$6000 is not far off what I got for mine as a trade-in recently.

[Elysium]

I wont say too much gloom and doom about the bike like the others have but remeber the 03 model has a higher seat and foot peg hight so not as comfortable as the later versions, though not a problem if you just want a bike for a weekend blast.

Good thing about the 03 models were the bronze coloured version which I thought was a good colour. I had a toss up between an SV or a VTR myself but went for the VTR for looks, reliability (Honda!) and comfortable seat.

Some people report that the seats are too uncomfortable and I myself found the seat too narrow while when I sat on one.

In the end it all comes down to what you find comfotable and like. Helps to find out much info about the SVs so you know what to look out for when you look at the bikes.

[edit] Not to scare people here but wasn't there are problem that affected early models where a knocking noise was comming from the crankcase?

[rammer]

thanks for that
very helpful
cheers
rammer

[geoffm]

THe SV is a fun bike. Suspension is basic although adjustable and can be fixed - cost depends on how far you want to go.
I hated the bars on my SV - the replacement bars from F1 Engineering (Rapidart) were money well spent.
Fuel economy isn't a strong point - around 35mpg and the tank size means I hit reseve around 150-160km.
Fun bikes, and the Vtwin motor is very forgiving about revs in unknown corners.
Geoff

[Elysium]

Fuel economy isn't a strong point - around 35mpg and the tank size means I hit reseve around 150-160km.

You sure about the range there? I'm sure the SV's have far better range then my VTR which has no problem going more then 160+.

[boman]

THe SV is a fun bike. Suspension is basic although adjustable and can be fixed - cost depends on how far you want to go.
I hated the bars on my SV - the replacement bars from F1 Engineering (Rapidart) were money well spent.
Fuel economy isn't a strong point - around 35mpg and the tank size means I hit reseve around 150-160km.
Fun bikes, and the Vtwin motor is very forgiving about revs in unknown corners.
Geoff

I get around 220km before the fuel light comes on. Last big trip i did, where I ran the fuel till nearly empty( 2Litres left), was 250km.

[crazyhorse]

Good reliable bike. Nothing wrong with those km's. $6k is ok too, but not sure I'd pay more than that.

There are always things you can do to make any bike better.....

[PuppetMaster]

I havn't looked lately, but I am sure you could get a 20,000km 06-08 for around $8,000. Hell you can buy my 2008, with 12,000km for $10,000, if you want. Still got 8 months left on the warranty too.

And a $790 discount for the cost of the rego.

[javawocky]

Mine -k6 1000S - is in the shop at the moment waiting for a clutch basket from Japan - Guy said they go around 30 000k's which mind has done. Mine was no doubt helped along by my recent track day. Part alone costs about $800 - hopefully yours has already been replace.

Other than this annoyance its been rock solid.