SV 650

[Cleve]

I sports ride and track day (nice to meet some of you at the Fred Merkel day at Taupo late last year) my SV and as such have well met the limitations of the standard suspension set up.
Any advice on a few things.
Rear suspension. Ohlins obviously but is there another high quality but cheaper option for rear?
Front end. The word is GSXR1000 front forks and wheels etc go on easily. True? Who can do that?
Rear sets. Who makes good ones at a reasonable price?
Anything else?
Cheers

[White trash]

Ohlins rear shock for your SV is really well priced. I can get you a brand new one for $1350 or there abouts.

The beauty of modern Suzuki alloy frames, is the fact that the entire front ends are interchangable. You and me, we could swap.

Then you've got the sweetest handling SV650 on the planet.

[SteveNZ]

Suspension: Terrible - I put 10mm spacers in and heavier fork oil and it improved the front suspension in a big way. Previously it would bottom out on really big bumps and constantly judder over small ones.

The exhaust _has_ to be cut to be replaced, the only removable point is the header pipes, the rest is all welded. Mark at Neptune does an excellent job of fitting the pipes, and the original one can be refitted with a sleeve if need be (no idea why you'd want to, the Neptunes sound, perform and look better). Quality is as good as, or better than, most of the competition - and they're much cheaper! (Support local industry!). IIRC my single pipe (oval, brushed finish) was $500 fitted.

http://www.neptunemufflers.co.nz

Don't buy Suzuki OEM parts in NZ - they are unbelievably overpriced. I got mine from Oneida Suzuki in New York. Even with shipping it was still significantly cheaper ($NZ600 for a gel seat!? - I think not! $300 is much better). Ebay is your friend!

You might see mention of a TRE mod - don't bother with it.

TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) will almost certainly be calibrated completely wrong from factory, tell them to fix it at the first service (They all seem to think that zero throttle is at about 3000RPM rather than 1400RPM as it's supposed to be according to the service manual). It makes slow speed riding through town a lot less jerky. Failing that, doing it yourself is pretty easy as long as you've got the right torx bit. A Powercommander helps more but that's $500 worth. (Again - buy from overseas, they're about $900 in NZ)

http://www.sv650.org is the SV650 bible. Check it out.

And you need to do a rear fender removal. It's hideous. Check out http://www.hamicad.co.uk/

Enjoy.

[SteveNZ]

I sports ride and track day (nice to meet some of you at the Fred Merkel day at Taupo late last year) my SV and as such have well met the limitations of the standard suspension set up.
Any advice on a few things.
Rear suspension. Ohlins obviously but is there another high quality but cheaper option for rear?
Front end. The word is GSXR1000 front forks and wheels etc go on easily. True? Who can do that?
Rear sets. Who makes good ones at a reasonable price?
Anything else?
Cheers

Front: Racetech (?) cartridge emulators supposedly make a world of difference. Ohlins also do decent springs to suit ($600-ish IIRC).

Rear: Again, Ohlins make a suitable kit, but it's about $1200 fitted. You can supposedly shoehorn a rear shock from certain model GSXRs into it. (Mid 90s GSXR-750 I think). There's no "cheap" solution.

[svs]

Front: Racetech spings and emulators are good (that's what I got). If you want more ajustability then a complete front end from a GSXR fits. Need different bearings, but that's about it.

Rear: Ohlins or Penske aftermarket shock. I got Ohlins on the race bike and GSXR750 shock on the road. The GSXR is better than stock, but too softly sprung - nowhere close to the Ohlins - not bad for $50 off ebay tho.

Makes the SV a different bike.

[Cleve]

Cheers for advice (so far) guys
Cleve