Archive 1

COMMENTS AND INFO

Thanks to 'Jock' for this...

" I hope your dealer manages to get hold of one for you soon, it drove me up the wall waiting for mine! Definately worth the wait though.

I have only managed to clock up a hundred or so miles since I picked it up - skidding around on snow and ice is not the best of ideas on a new bike with shiney tyres! The standard Mez's don't seem to pick up any heat in this weather so it's taking a long time to take the edge of them.

The bike starts fine in cold weather and doesn't seem to ice the carbs (seems to be a normal first recall job to fit heaters on most new designs of bike!) but the firing protection seems fairly minimal.

If you do manage to get the tyres even slightly warm then you can certainly chuck it around with no problems (it's not too happy pottering about around bends - it certainly feels much better if you power through them) and is very stable even in quite strong cross-winds.

I'll let you know more after I have managed to bed it in a bit.

Regards".

Thanks to 'Maarten' for this...

"Picked up my SV650S today, and I must say this bike is awesome. Great handling, good engine (with the nice V-Twin sound, but not very loud), wonderful.

Cannot push it too far yet since for the first 600 km I've got to stay under 5000rpm. But I can already feel the promise of lots of power.

Great brakes.

Cons: mirrors (can't see behind me), sometimes a problem to get it into 1st gear from neutral".

An email describing what you think of the bike after spending your hard earned cash would be welcomed. Does it meet your expectations? Does it meet other peoples? What about those 'little' things that matter i.e. do the mirrors work, is the side-stand easy to use, could you fit more than a box of matches in the storage compartment? You know the sorts of things......

Also, what's the official line with regard to running-in period (& max revs) and service intervals?

Thanks

NB..All emails received will be liable for posting on this page unless specifically stated otherwise.

The reviews are coming thick and fast now. The main points from the Superbike review are posted below:

".......But let's introduce something that isn't awful: Suzuki's little SV650. Its a bang-up-for-it toylike middleweight which (like it's Bandit cousin) makes more sense in its naked guides than with a fairing. This is because Suzuki have stuck an extra tooth on the rear sprocket of the nudie version so the bike feels more alert and alive everywhere across it's 9,500prm rev range, and although the spex say the half-dress version only carries 4kg more, it feels a good deal greater than that".

"Handling on the SV is excellent for a budget superbike (superbike??), very freindly and forgiving with no surprises anywhere".

"It's dead stable on the lean and you can scrape the pegs away through the Metzeler MEZ4 tyres with absolute confidence".

Of the suspension...."Front and rear are competely unadjustable save for rear preload, which is a bit of a swine since the forks (under heavy braking and - probably - track action) are pretty soft, although the trade-off for this is that it takes a bump the size of Mt Vesuvius to upset the steering midlean".

Riding the twisty roads of Tenerife....."showed the SV650S up to be really neutral and where you needed to just chuck it in that extra 5 degree's to make the turn, she'd do it. This is an inherently good trait for a bike which will - after all - be bought and ridden by birds and newcomers in equal measure".

Of the engine...."Suzuki have achieved an excellent balance between lumpy V-twin throttle response and overrev, so while the SV is most happy lugging things around between 5-7000rpm it'll also keep spinning all the way to the top if you're in hurtle mode. You can pop her down three through the gearbox and really make it howl or hold a gear for longer through a corner. Useable, useable. As with the chassis, so with the motor".

In conclusion...."...and certainly the Monster 600 - which is the SV's immediate competitor - is dead in the water next to the Suzuki. Although having said that, it is a Ducati and you can never underestimate the power of Italian Lust over prospective buyers. The SV is ever such a friendly bike which will be a huge part of its appeal with the people who are its intended market.

With a top speed of around 130mph it's also got enough performance for those very same riders when they start winding it on. Cheap, good looking, loadsa colour schemes and faired or maked versions. So long as you're not expecting a smaller version of the firey TL1000S, you can't go too wrong. Go for the naked version and work on your wheelies, that's my advice".

The article also confirmed that Suzuki have a one make race series for the SV650S running in France and Italy for 1999.

"I had my SV650S delivered on Friday (5th), another yellow one.
It's not legal until 1st March, so it's stuck in my garage for now :("

I wish!

"You quoted the following from BIKER magazine, February 1999:
"The 90 degree V-twin engine is small enough to run smoothly without a balance shaft, enabling Suzuki to keep the engine light and compact. It also means no horsepower loss to a balance shaft".

May I submit that the SV650 should run smoothly because a 90-degree V-twin with a single crank pin exhibits perfect primary balance. There would be no need for balance shafts in this design. Look at the TL1000, the Honda Superhawk and the Ducatis.

I'm enjoying your web site for the SV650 and I'm looking forward to seeing
one at the dealers".

So am I Bill.

I spotted this 4 page review in the UK 'Biker' magazine. The article was quite technical and talked on engine and frame specifications but it also had comments worth mentioning below. The main points and quotes from the article, are:

"The 90 degree V-twin engine is small enough to run smoothly without a balance shaft, enabling Suzuki to keep the engine light and compact. It also means no horsepower loss to a balance shaft".

"The engine is too small to provide that thumping V-twin feel, it's more of a buzz than a series of big bangs. there is no vibration to speak of".

With regard to the gearbox the tester had written in his notes "just one word - sweet".

Riding position - "The S, or sport model, has a sportier feel when first climbing aboard. The riding position is halfway between sportsbike and standard, with clip-on bars just like any modern sports bike but with footpegs set in a more conservative 'standard' position. The result is a good balance between sporty and comfortable, with enough weight on the bars to feel what's going on at the front end without folding the rider into a crouch. The half fairing provides a surprising degree of protection from wind-blast".

While the article stated that the bars on the unfaired model have a "classic curve, much like an old UK spec Bonneville" and provided extra leverage around the twisty Tenerife roads the S model "feels just that little bit more secure at the front, especially when hard on the brakes downhill".

Commenting on the SV650 the tester rider claims "My last ride, on the unfaired model, was a 50 mile up and down a very tight hair-pin strewn mountain road. By the time I had ridden up and down the road I had a grin so wide it barely fitted inside my Suomi helmet".

The test rider also claimed that only one other test rider at the launch complained of brake fade during the test but that "even after reapeated downhill runs where the brakes worked hard they didn't let me down for a minute".

Comments regarding the overall finish were encouraging -  "the finished article is very pleasing to the eye, in any of the four colourways we were shown - black, red, blue or yellow. The bike looks compact but stylish, it also looks well put together   - it doesn't have a budget feel about it that afflicts some other 'budget' bikes.

To sum up - "The SV is the correct displacement, the right physical size and looks just right for the market it's aimed at. It's no hyper-sprts-bike but who needs it when they have limited 'flying' time under their belt? Instead it provides usable performance combined with user-freindly handling".

"It would be unfair to look at it as merely a stepping stone to better things, a transitional stage in a riders career. Many riders might find they enjoy the bike so much that they won't feel the need to make that step up to a bigger bike".

"I think Suzuki are onto a winner; the March registration figures will confirm this".

RiDE this months gives over 5 pages to the lanch of the SV. The main points and quotes from the article, are:

The engine is "whisper-quiet without a hint of the famous V-twin boom to be found in the outpourings of Italian equivalents". This is a pity, hopefully some after market end cans and systems may appear on the market. I read last week that Suzuki Italy are preparing a race version of the 650S - interesting.

The power delivery is "more of a purr than a growl, but aside from some very low-speed lumpiness, it revs cleanly right through to the redline - not bad for a carburated V-twin".

The power starts at 4000rpm, kicks in at 6000rpm and carries on until 11,500rpm. You don't have to cane the bike to get the best from it. "There's enough midrange to cruise happily and it seldon needs more than a single downchange for brisk overtaking". Top speed is 125mph and it will cruise at 90mph. "The SV650 doesn't ride a massive torque wave like the TL1000S but it's no puny weakling either".

The chassis is good enough to leave a Bandit for dead down a twisty road and the alloy frame is "beautifully made".

Again, comments are made about the very good handling and the ease of cornering. Ground clearance is good with nothing touching down, even around the twisty Tenerife roads.

Brakes. The brakes "may look basic but work well, pulling the bike up pretty sharpish and without fuss. There isn't tons of feel but at this price you can't have everything". 

The SV650S's steering lock "makes U-turns a minor nightmare, especially as sub-2000rpm the power delivery is lumpy".

When a pillion is carried the handling "goes to pot".

"Finish isn't bad for a budget bike. The exhaust is stainless steel, most of the chassis is alloy and only some cheap-looking fasteners and a rough finish on the inside of the fairing let it down". On the question of the unprotected engine it was said that although most of the cooling pipes had been hidden within the engine casing there were still bits of wiring dangling in the way of flying crud. I'm sure there was dangling wiring from the starter motor on the bike they had to sit on at the NEC bike show last November.

VERDICT: "Excellent budget performance. Let's hope the finish will survive winter".

A 4 page review (2 pages of photo's) of the SV performed at the bike launch in Tenerife last month. BIKE rate the SV highly and give an overall summing up as, "plus points for braking, weight and looks (faired)", while assigning minus points for "power and looks (unfaired)".

It is strange that BIKE say the brakes are "excellent for a bike of this type, too. They are plenty powerful without an initial bite that could catch out a novice or panic braker. These are the brakes I reckon Honda were aiming for with the Hornet, but missed. Use them hard and the back will skip into corners as the v-twin engine braking unsettles the rear, but otherwise it's as composed as the Hornet". Compare this with the slating the brakes got by the test rider of MCN - odd.

The articles does state that the SV will not be in the same power league as the in-line fours but then again it is 30kg lighter than a Bandit so the power comparisons don't reveal all at first glance. Keep the engine in the 8000 - 9000rpm range and apparently it makes decent progress but "would not satisfy a craving for arm-stretching surge". Praise was directed towards the way the SV pulls strongly from low in the rev range, making relaxed riding easy.

Kevin.

"The redline`s marked at 13,000rpm but no chance of getting there as the limiter cuts in at 11,500rpm. Major service intervals every 15,000 miles, Insurance in the CB500 bracket and a unique bike thats fun to ride, easy to use and incredibly competently built". Thanks to Nelly for this info.

MCN featured the first road test of the SV650/S and the main points reported by them were:

• Engine = 3 out of 5
• Handling = 4 out of 5
• Braking = 3 out of 5
• Rider Comfort = 4 out of 5
• Pillion Comfort = 4 out of 5
• Value = 4 out of 5

I await test reports from BIKE and RIDE magazines for a more balanced review.