Buying a SV 1000/650

[HungusMaximist]

Well, I recently started looking into the SV series and I had my eyes set on the 650 as it looked the part being the perfect commuter bike. Had enough horsepower to take her out in the open and go for a burn and friendly enough for long distance touring.

I have also test ridden a 2004 SV1000 yesterday with Scorpion cans. The bike was not mint cosmetically, scratches and tank chips from the previous owner I believe. Great fun when you open it up and the clutch lever took sometime to get use to as it had a small gap of free play (Hydraulics clutch I believe?) while my 1991 GSX750F had a massive friggin free pla.

What I want to know is what to look out when looking at SVs price wise and also mechanically wise. I have been mainly focusing on the 2003 and up with Fuel Injection.

I have also looked into VTR1000s TRX850 and the ER6N's, comparisons?

Any advice is appreciated. Plus if any of you from Auckland who owns one and is keen to check one out with me that'd be real good. Let me know aye.

[SVboy]

I would say-go K4 and up as the k3 650 seat is poor. 650 is a great bike-excellent engine. Budget suspention & front forks too soft. Poor front brake. Handle well. The S is best for touring-but test ride for a while, as they can be a bit "wristy". I like em! Prices seem to be quite high-$7500-$9000 asking, depending on kms. SV 1000,s are more roomy and comfortable, but again a bit budget in the suspention. Still a lot of bike for your buck. I think some of the K3 1000,s had clutch issues, which was a factory problem? Pretty reliable though. TM prices sees their value quite high, especially in regard to Suzukis Summerfest@$12500. Nice bikes. I had the S again, fot its open road protection. Lots of nice bling available too, just ready to soak up that excess cash that we all would otherwise squander on trivial things like food.....!

[skelstar]

Dude, heaps of threads about all the bikes you mention above... not to mention comparisons between all of the bikes.

Pick a goodie! (what about an oldish Aprilia?, wish I had ages ago)

[imdying]

Clutch is grabby imho, but should have no free play (cause it's hydraulic). Should feel plush and tight, even it is a beyatch of a clutch.

I'll post again once I've brought my groceries.

[HungusMaximist]

Dude, heaps of threads about all the bikes you mention above... not to mention comparisons between all of the bikes.

Pick a goodie! (what about an oldish Aprilia?, wish I had ages ago)

Eeek... I vow not to touch european bikes (for now anyway) because they all seem really exclusive and specialized...

My impression is that they are all expensive and really hard to get parts for...

Go jap!

[HungusMaximist]

Clutch is grabby imho, but should have no free play (cause it's hydraulic). Should feel plush and tight, even it is a beyatch of a clutch.

I'll post again once I've brought my groceries.

Yea, I've been riding too may old bikes......

[98tls]

Eeek... I vow not to touch european bikes (for now anyway) because they all seem really exclusive and specialized...

My impression is that they are all expensive and really hard to get parts for...

Go jap!

No,no......no and no again,but go jap anyway.

[skelstar]

No,no......no and no again,but go jap anyway.

Heh heh...

02 Aprilia RSV $12500 12,000kms
99 Aprilia RSV $12500 13,000kms

...and RSV vs TL1000S thread (staring 98TLS and others)...

[Blair-SV]

hey there, the girl and I have a pair of SV1000s', both K3, one silver, one blue.

When I was looking I compared most of the above mentioned bikes and settled on the suzuki's due to price and components, VTR still to the best of my knowledge don't use fuel injection which means you have to play with the choke when starting, not and issue with the SV's. I was originally looking at 650's but they were asking the same money as the thou so I thought "bugger it, why not?" and it's been a great bike.

We did have a problem with the clutch slave cylinder on the silver bike leaking. Meaning it was pumping out the clutch fluid and getting extremely grabby on the clutch. Turns out the cylinder wall was worn, which I think may have been due to someone pressure washing the bike. Fixed it with a piece of wet and dry.

My clutch was a bit rattly when I bought it, bike shop came to the party and got suzuki to replace it. I'm told that on the SV1000's you should never labour the engine and it's worked well ever since. So I try to keep it above 4K whenever possible and never give it full throttle below that.

You may find the thou is a pain to commute in town on, I can only just use third gear in a 50km zone (and that's when I'm doing 55 or above). The 650 may be more suited to these lower speeds.

Also the thou has better suspension adjustment than the 650 so it gives you a little more scope to 'tune' it to your riding style.

All in all it's been a great bike and it's easily more capable than I am. It shouldn't give you any scares unless you're not careful with the gas.

hope this helps
Blair

[imdying]

What I want to know is what to look out when looking at SVs price wise and also mechanically wise. I have been mainly focusing on the 2003 and up with Fuel Injection.

Ok, first up, they're all 2003+ cause they only came out in 03 The 03S is different from every other model, including the 03N. It has a higher seat, on a steel (instead of alloy) subframe. Every single SV1000 and second generation SV650 has a shitty uncomfortable seat BTW, although I've done 800km in a day on mine easily enough.

You want an 05+ bike, as they've got a number of refinements to the motor and injection.

Clutch slaves are known to give trouble, but having said that, I've never actually seen one give out. I suspect the early ones that had trouble have probably all got the revised piston in the clutch slave now (just leaked, nothing serious).

Easy to ride fast, you can get yourself into plenty of trouble on one.

If there's a cough in the injection around 3500, don't panic... they're set up lean at that point from the factory for gheymo emissions testing, and your dealer can easily and cheaply rectify that. Really only a problem with aftermarket pipes... which btw, you should definitely get. The factory cans weigh about 10kg together, so there's about 5kg to save there straight off the bat.

Buy a new one, they're dirt cheap and then you know no other idiot has raped it too bad... I'd wait 2 months and get one first registered in 08, it's extremely likely to be the last year for them.

Strong brakes, extremely well sorted motor (possible injection hiccup excepted), crap suspension, shitty shitty seat, good head lights. Check out the latest GSXR750 you can afford imho, especially if you've got the coin to get a K4+... it'll rape it in every single regard.

[paturoa]

If you are after everything that can go wrong check out
http://www.sv-portal.com/

I had the clutch slave cylinder issue and that is it.

Other than that the SV is a very reliable, lightish and cheap option. I'm very happy with my choice.

[HungusMaximist]

Ok, first up, they're all 2003+ cause they only came out in 03 The 03S is different from every other model, including the 03N. It has a higher seat, on a steel (instead of alloy) subframe. Every single SV1000 and second generation SV650 has a shitty uncomfortable seat BTW, although I've done 800km in a day on mine easily enough.

You want an 05+ bike, as they've got a number of refinements to the motor and injection.

Clutch slaves are known to give trouble, but having said that, I've never actually seen one give out. I suspect the early ones that had trouble have probably all got the revised piston in the clutch slave now (just leaked, nothing serious).

Easy to ride fast, you can get yourself into plenty of trouble on one.

If there's a cough in the injection around 3500, don't panic... they're set up lean at that point from the factory for gheymo emissions testing, and your dealer can easily and cheaply rectify that. Really only a problem with aftermarket pipes... which btw, you should definitely get. The factory cans weigh about 10kg together, so there's about 5kg to save there straight off the bat.

Buy a new one, they're dirt cheap and then you know no other idiot has raped it too bad... I'd wait 2 months and get one first registered in 08, it's extremely likely to be the last year for them.

Strong brakes, extremely well sorted motor (possible injection hiccup excepted), crap suspension, shitty shitty seat, good head lights. Check out the latest GSXR750 you can afford imho, especially if you've got the coin to get a K4+... it'll rape it in every single regard.

Hey ah thanks for that dude. The one I test rode was a 2003 SV but first registered in 2004. Like you mentioned they are probably not as refined as the later models in terms of frame and engine right? The guy bought it off the AA insurance as a written off, so it was a bit of a worry when he first told me. I'll PM you about it, seeing you know HEAPS about them.

As for the 650, I keep hearing they are way more flickable then the 1000's? Because they are lighter? Well seeing they are smaller, I guess they should in theory be better in the corners but then again, I wouldn't know...

Fuel mileage is the other thing I considered. Some guy mentioned you can get a good 300 km outta the 1000 but I need somebody else to confirm that. As for the 650 how much more economical is it than the 1000? And I read somewhere there was ABS Brakes on the 650.

The other thing I wanna know is that the dry weight is around 180 mark so I guess with all the fluids and petrol it's gonna weigh about 200 kg for the 1000.

Oh yea there's also some stuff about some KNOCKS inside the engine. Read it up on a SV Mod site...

Can you please comment on the 650's? Anybody else, please pitch in.

VTR still to the best of my knowledge don't use fuel injection which means you have to play with the choke when starting, not and issue with the SV's. I was originally looking at 650's but they were asking the same money as the thou so I thought "bugger it, why not?" and it's been a great bike.

We did have a problem with the clutch slave cylinder on the silver bike leaking. Meaning it was pumping out the clutch fluid and getting extremely grabby on the clutch. Turns out the cylinder wall was worn, which I think may have been due to someone pressure washing the bike. Fixed it with a piece of wet and dry.

When did the VTR started fuel injection on their bike?

And also, how do you actually check the clutch slave cylinder issue?

[HungusMaximist]

hey iamdying, i can't PM you??

[FROSTY:Me]

dude --going against the trend--I gotta say If you can get over the looks the kawasaki er6 is a better bike off the floor-and at 10k new its same price as the suzuki
The power is basicly the same -the brakes ditto but the suspension is heaps better

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

VTR still to the best of my knowledge don't use fuel injection which means you have to play with the choke when starting, not and issue with the SV's. I was originally looking at 650's but they were asking the same money as the thou so I thought "bugger it, why not?" and it's been a great bike.

When did the VTR started fuel injection on their bike?

The VTR isn't fuel injected... carbs and has the big dump of fuel when open the throttle