SV650 help

Not for me, before you ask, but for Cub#1.

Having had her 'ped written off a year ago, she's been bikeless while
InsCo's, the third party and various legal people have been being
total arses. That looks like it's going to get resolved shortly, with
any luck, but on a 50-50 basis

Still, if her InsCo doesn't have to pay out a claim (the TP isn't
claiming against her), I'm being told that she'll still qualify for a
year's NCB. Advice from anyone's actual experience will be
appreciated here.

The real help I want is on the bike she wants to get once she's passed
her test. Having looked at/sat on things like Fazers and Bindits,
she's settling on an SV, it seems. I'd not be unhappy with that,
except that, even restricted, it's still likely to go faster than
mine :-/

Anyway, what specific points should I look out for when buying one?

 

Sir needs a Gixer thou.

Get a naked SV650. I really can't think of any real problems with them.
I have >40K on mine, lobbed it down the road twice and generally trash
the tits off it. It's been a very good bike.

 

What year? Early ones are carbs and suffer from carb icing, even with
the heaters fitted[1]. Later ones are FI, but I didn't have one of
those. Generally, they're great bikes and I liked mine. I had it for
nearly 3 years and +30K miles, nothing major went wrong. With sticky
tyres on they're a great hoot and can be as gentle or as quick as you
like.

I can recommend a scottoiler, swapping the fork oil for heavier stuff,
maybe looking at the rear shock too (although I didn't).

[1] The temp sensor is located underneath the fuel tank, above the
engine. I don't think it'll ever get cold to turn the heaters on.
Popular mod was to move it to somewhere a little more exposed.

 

Really? Never had a spot of trouble with mine.

 

Try riding over the M62 summit in December, in driving rain, roughly 4C
and you might think otherwise.

 

Let's see, M62 summit is ~1,148.294 feet and at 39F, I've done similar
and never had a problem. I had it stall out a few times in hot weather
but I put that down to bad petrol.

 

Badger says...

That aside. Hiya squire, how's you? Haven't heard from you in ages.

 

mike bothe scribbled:

<boggle> "approximately 1148.294 feet"? Someone has actually measured
the height to an accuracy of 0.3mm? Something tells me not

http://www.cbrd.co.uk/motorway/62.shtml "1442 feet"

 

http://www.sv650.org/sv_carbicing.htm

"The following information is based upon those replies and applies
mostly to UK riders"

....

"2 - More commonly, the thermostat that operates the heaters required
moving to the front of the bike, as heat from the engine confused the
stat into believing the air temp was much higher than it really was."

It's a combination of the weather we have here and that point.

 

SSDD. Been playing with my camera mostly. I say "new" - a D100 was
hardly "new" 19 months ago - but it still *feels* new :-D

Ah, that'll be because I over-hibernated this season...

 

You up for some 'FOTage anytime soon?

Doesn't seem to happen too much these days, and you're yet to get an X-FOT
number.

--
Dan L (Oldbloke)
My bike 1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr
M'boy's bike 2003 Honda NSR125R (Going)
Spare Bike 1990 Suzuki TS50X (Patio Ornament)
BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005), X-FOT#000, DIAABTCOD #26, BOMB#18 (slow)

 

Erm....possibly the 28th or later. Cub#2 would certainly want to come
along, and maybe Cub#1 will have her bike by then.

I would ask, but this *is* UKRM and I'd probably regret it....

 

Dan L says...

What's wrong with extending the BOTAFOT to end up at Fox's Diner in
Wallingford/Dorchester. They do good grub and teas/coffees at
reasonable prices and it's not that far from the ER.

 

Sounds like a plan, email me nearer the time if you and yours are up for it.

James prolly won't be as the NSR is laid up and neglected, needing C&S plus
putting up for sale since he's been seduced by the dark side. I reckon I'll
end up repairing and selling it for him, but keeping the proceeds.

X-FOT route is fun, about another 30 or so miles, ending up about 2 miles
from the ER.

BTW, you prolly still have my old mobile no. (I changed jobs in March). My
new no. is 07764 534778.

--
Dan L (Oldbloke)
My bike 1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr
M'boy's bike 2003 Honda NSR125R (Going)
Spare Bike 1990 Suzuki TS50X (Patio Ornament)
BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005), X-FOT#000, DIAABTCOD #26, BOMB#18 (slow)

 

You're lucky then - mine did it a lot and it does seem a very common
problem.

 

The one I had was pretty much bulletproof - nothing went wrong with it aside
from the carb icing Chris has already mentioned and one or two little
electrical gremlins (one indicator came on it's own once) that sorted
themselves out.

They crash well, cheap to run and if you get the carb verion potentially
easy to fiddle with (though you need the patience of a saint or very small
hands to get at the front spark plug).

Not sure you're daughter will be the type to get one, but they sound lovely
with a race can.

Forks a bit soft, but I doubt she'll notice. Power delivery very nice,
brakes good - lots of engine braking.

A great first bike - she'll get a GSX-R next ;-)

ps. Gel seat is a nice option.


Check out http://sv650.org/ for more.

 

I left it open cos I wasn't going to be surprised at varying answers
for the different models. She doesn't like the look of the new one,
though, which is good, based on her budget [1]. so probably a
2000-ish.

Thanks for the specifics - at least there's nothing obvious like "rear
wheel falls off every 100 yards".

Is there?


[1] i.e. what I'll lend her.

 

Hush - I'm trying to persuade her mother that an SV is a "sensible"
mode of transport, given that it's barely quicker than a modern 125,
and it'll de-restrict to something suitable in a couple of years,
which means she'll not need to replace it for several years (thus
being economically good) and even then she won't feel any great need
to get anything outrageous.

That's our story, and we're sticking to it.

 

Nope.

www.sv650.org - it has a wealth of information about the bike,
including problems, recommended improvements, etc. Have a look around.
If you find a clean one I don't think you (or she) will be disappointed.

 

To help, mine got great mpg, I think I've still got the
two-washer-restriction kit somewhere. As said, the carbed version is
easy enough to service (I think I've still got the manual somewhere).
They're very friendly to ride and if she doesn't get a gsxr she'll end
up with a 955i.

You may want to leave the last bit out though.