Written by John the editor - 13/03/03

The day started dry but cold. I wrapped myself in as many layers as I could to keep warm. The trip took about one and a half hours along the M54 and M6, with one stop for fuel just prior to arrival at 09:30. I made my way to the canteen as directed by the organiser, Keith Farr, and got some hot tea and bacon butties down my neck.

We filled in the relevant paper work and set off for the track. All the MCN guys were in cars except Dave Hill who was driving the van (no comment). We made camp on a large concreted area just inside one of the corners. The van was emptied and a gleaming silver SV650S was unloaded, great I thought, maybe I've get to test both SV's. Next came the bronze SV1000s, I love that colour.

The MCN guys then took us on the track, using our own machines, to show us the lines and the rules for keeping out of the way of other traffic. This is not a proper racetrack, the road surface is quite poor in places not unlike real roads which is why MCN use it. After a few laps we stopped and Dave Hill came over to give me some tips. Apparently I'm far too stiff and not moving about enough. We went out for some more laps and I was hanging off my SV for grim death, the balls of my feet were on the tips of the footpegs and I was sliding my bum across the seat like Rossi. I felt a bit stupid, it seemed unnatural and a bit like I was posing. It got better as laps accumulated and I was sweeping through bends at silly speeds with my knee skimming the road, far quicker that the last time I was here. My SV just took everything I could throw at it and it didn't mis-behave once.

The other readers all had more powerful machines and p*ssed all over me down the straight. The best speed I could get was 110 lying on the tank. I wasn't aware of any strong head winds but It felt like I was being battered to death. Occasionally one of the MCN guys would come past me, hats off the them, they were very quick and made me look like I was pushing the SV around.

We stopped for a break and the snapper, Howard wanted to take some mug shots for the article. I went first and did my best Worzle Gummidge impression. I then got to take the SV1000 out on to the track :-). It's slightly heavier and bigger than my SV but not by much. Throttle response was nice and crisp with a light clutch. I'd forgotten about it having fuel injection, which I suppose is a complement, until after my test. For the first few laps I was following Dave Hill again, so we were taking it very easy. The brakes are very sharp compared to my SV and even the slightest touch had the front dipping and weight shifting. I was going into some corners slightly too quick and using the front brake to try and lose a few mph whilst banked, not a good idea as this upset the balance of the bike. Not sure why I was mis-judging the entry speed. I think the problem was that the engine braking on the 1000 is slightly less than the 650! and I was therefore having to use the brakes more than on my bike. Once I adjusted to this, things improved and I started increasing my speed. Dave dropped back and let me get on with it. God it's quick! I was using my newly acquired hanging off skills and flying through the corners. On the straight the best I could get up to was 140 mph before hitting the brakes for the sharp right hander. We were using the short track and therefore only getting half the 2 mile straight.  I then realised that I  was sitting normally up to 120mph and the wind blast was significantly less than my 650. As the laps went by I got braver and  faster, I then noticed that exiting the chicane had the front end bouncing around, as I was gassing it out of the slowest corner on the track. This didn't occur on my 650. I spoke to Keith Farr about this after my session finished and he'd noticed it too. Keith thinks that the back end is too highly sprung, it's fine if you are over 15 stone, I'm just under 13.

We broke for lunch at 2ish and went back to the canteen to fill in our appraisals. The questionnaire asked us to score various aspects of our own machines and then do the same to the SV1000. Other bikes present were, Fazer 1000, Firestorm, TL1000, CBR600, Aprillia Falco and my SV. Everyone seemed to enjoy the SV, even the TL owner loved it.

I think Suzuki have managed to the keep the character of the SV in the new 1000 and I hope it sells well. As for me, I'm not sure I need all that extra power, my licence would be in tatters very quickly. The new 650 with its extra few BHP may(!) do for me. 

Did I take the new 650 for a test, unfortunately not. Insurance is a big factor for MCN especially when they are letting Joe Public lose on their test machines, so all I could do was take photos and examine the differences to the old version. The finished article will be published in this weeks MCN.