POSTINGS  FOR MARCH  2002 


March 31st Brave words from Nick

yea my names HOPPER and I will be attending with a couple of gauntlets to throw down to the bristol boys if they dare attend.....            Bike......Fireblade is there any other.?

A fireblade! You can't win mate. If you tear off and leave us in your wake, we'll just blame our lack of power. If we trash you, then you'll have to invent some excuse for being beaten ;-) Come by all means, we may convert you.


March 31st Jim has a query about Fowlers of Bristol. Are they recommended?

Reading the MCN looking for a new SV650 I noticed an advert for Fowlers in Bristol which were offering the 2001 unfaired bike at £3999. This seems like a bargain to me for the UK model. However I know nothing of the dealer and was wondering if you had heard whether they are any good. Cheers for a great site Jim

Can anyone comment of Fowlers. Emails to Jim please


March 28th Manu has conjured another concept SV

Hi john here i am again..... I imagined how could be the SV N if a championship will exist... ( tell me does one exist?) Hope you'll like it... see you soon... Manu ( magma designs)


March 27th from Andy Brasted

Post these if you dare!! His and hers motorcycles.  Regards Andy Brasted (Gambler)

Motomen Motowomen

Don't flame me on these non PC images. Not SV specific but funny whatever sex you are.


March 27th from Stuart Carrington aka Cazy the knee slider

Well,  I've gone and done it now,  Yep I binned it!!!       It actually wasn't all bad as I was only doing about 20-25 so damage is minimal'ish, just a few scratches at the front end and lost my brake pedal.  But I landed underneath the bike so currently nursing my wounds,  OUCH!   I'd like just to warn a few bikers out there who go riding over to Rivington Barn,  If you are approaching from Bolton end,  then watch out on the corners as a SHITE load of loose shingle and crap is hiding everywhere,  there are some signs up but not frequent.  Damn those tractors.   Regards still sore.  Stuart.

Sorry to hear the bad new Stuart. I hope you and the bike make a full recovery


March 27th from Ian Stones on the 2002 rideout.

John, Hopefully I'll be there on 12/5 (subject to weather - I'm still a fine-weather-only biker). I live in Leamington Spa so can meet up with anyone going from Stratford/Warwick/Coventry/Banbury areas, etc.   I have an SVS, which might be sporting an new Rene and a belly pan by then :-))   Cheers, Ian

If anyone would like to meet up with Ian then drop him an email.


March 27th

My apologies for the disruption to service. I didn't get a reason for the site not being available but the daemon for the forum was hung...John


March 14th from Stephen Spiteri 

Hi there John, I  came across this stunt video and thought I'd share it with you guys. Incredible stuff!! Regards, ZunKus

This is 3.9mb download, not the best visual quality and no sound, but some very impressive riding and parking ;-0

click to download - 3.9Mb


March 22nd From Andreas Wilhelm alias SVrider@web.de from a couple of days ago.

HI John. Here are three more pics of my SV650S. If you want to see more pics of my bike, look at: http://www.pixum.de/viewalbum/?id=302433  There will also be new pics, if i will modify my bike again. Andreas Wilhelm

Thanks Andreas, nice to have a name to put to the pictures. Here are some more images.

   


March 20th From Grant Wilde

Hi John, Great site - it's really got my interest going in the SV650. Actually, I was thinking about one a couple of years ago but the insurance was pretty high and it ended up not happening. Anyway, at that time, I found some realpayer recordings of different silencers on the SV (can't remember for the life of me where I got them and I can't seem to find them again) so I can send them to you if you like for posting (apologies to the guy who made them, I don't know who he is so I can't credit him...) Grant

Well here they are, now you can compare sounds as well as visuals. Thanks Grant.(all in rm format)

Ixil 170K Ixil   Micron 196k Micron   Scorpion 56k Scorpion    Stock 75k Stock


March 20th From SVrider@web.de , he didn't leave a name, but here's his input.

HI, here are some pics of my modified 2000 SVS from Germany. I also attached a sound file of my Shark Track High-Up Carbon ABE Exhaust. Hope you like it. Wish everybody an nice season. Nice pipes

    451kb download, sound only


March 20th Jorge of Renegade exhausts has dropped me a line regarding his links with Revolution in the USA.  US readers please read.

Dear John, I have just noticed that you are still endorsing Revolution and connecting them to us. Please find enclosed our press release. We would appreciate if you could dissolve the connection, these people have deluded a lot of SV owners. Best regards Jorge I have removed Revolution from the Services section, negative feedback will invalidate any entry there.

Here is Jorges press release;

WWW.RENEGADE-USA.COM 

We at Renegade Products have always prided ourselves on the quality, craftsmanship and competitive pricing of our products. Most of all we pride ourselves on our commitment to our customer service. So that we can better service our USA contingent we have launched a new division of our company based in the United States. Our mission has always been and will continue to be providing top quality products at competitive prices while supplying the best customer's service in our industry. 

For that reason we are very excited about expanding Renegade Products into the USA through our new USA division. Our new USA division will be run by two of our own customers that share in our love affair with motorcycles and understand our philosophy. We have asked Jim and John to start up our new division. We are confident that they will continue to build on the Renegade philosophy of making certain all of our customers are satisfied customers. 

Both Jim & John have been motorcycle enthusiasts since a young age. Jim & John met last year as they both ride the infamous 00.5' Aprilia RSV Mille. Their desire for "the power" brought them to Renegade exhausts. John and Jim both wanted an exhaust system that would offer their RSV Mille's a unique look, sound and increased horsepower. Keeping that in mind they opted to purchase their exhaust systems from Renegade Products. They both have been great Ambassadors for Renegade and we are very happy to have them as part of the Renegade Team.


March 18th This may interest some of you. From Jill Couper

3Bs Only Fools & Bikers 'Ate' Rally. 28, 29, 30 June 2002 Headley Park Hotel (Lith Club), Nr Bordon Off A325 Custom & Classic Bike show Fireworks, Trophies, Live Bands & Disco, Kids Entertainment, Beer & Food, Stalls, Bonfire & Camping. Open to all. Families welcome. £8 in advance, £10 on gate Contact: Wilf 01252 660195 or Chris 07979 837083 Cheques payable to: 3Bs Hampshire SAE: Wilf, 462 Pinewood Park, Farnborough, Hants GU14 9JU Everybody welcome


March 18th A note from Tony, an ex-SV owner who still drops by from time to time.

Hi John!   Well done with your hard work on the site following Kev's departure. The transition has been seamless and the format improved (as things in time always do, not to diminish Kev's hard work though). The number of hits to the site says it all!!   Anyway, two things I'd like to contribute: (I do my best, but it's easier to look after something that someone has already created, than build the thing from scratch)

1.    I came across this interesting article (December 2000, see link: http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mccompare/valuebike/00valuebike.html  about the SV650 pitched against 5 other bikes. No surprise to you guys, the SV was the best against the rest. Enjoy the read!! 

2.    Sadly last November I traded in my SV650S (99, V) for a Honda VTR1000 SP-1. Going for the change was a long and torturous decision, but with the new SP-1 at an unbelievable price of £6995 and with an excellent P/E offer on the table (my SV was immaculate - much loved and well looked after - see picture), I couldn't resist it any longer. All the things I'd considered doing to the SV were already done/available on the SP-1 (twin high level cans, hydraulic clutch, gear driven cams, fuel injection, fantastic brakes, 136 bhp, digital mph/rev counter etc), and for not much more £s. I've now done over 1000 miles since the end of November and am still in awe of the bike. It's amazing! My license is definitely at risk. Although I focus most of my attention to the SP-1, I am still a BIG SV fan and I miss the bike madly. I still regularly check out your web-site for the latest info/photos/mods etc just to keep in touch with the bike that gave me 2 fantastic years of motorcycling. The greatest respect to the SV650 and all its riders!   Enjoy Your Riding and hopefully I'll see you around. I will try to make it up for the rideout, especially as I know much of the route when traveling up to Chester on business. However, the 500 mile round trip may just jeopardize my chances of fatherhood (one SP-1 drawback - I may as well be riding on a piece of plywood!). By the way, you mention the debacle that was the "Organised Ride" of last years Rideout - I was the rider that did most of the ride with Kev. I got to know Kev well and the 2 bike convoy turned out to be quite fun (but not when this Volvo appeared from no-where behind us - we both thought that it was an unmarked police car and that's it for our licenses). Like Kev, I am an SV defector, but hopefully will still be acknowledged as an SV friend. My intentions were always good. Nice to hear from you Tony, thanks for the kind words. By all means come along, you and Kev can go Volvo spotting. 

This is an Sv  This is not an Sv


March 14th Image catalog 17 added

March 14th Michael has an SV website that he'd like to share.

Hi john, Great site u got there! I've surfed by 3-4 times a wk for last 2 years or so. I've done nearly 40'000miles (is this a record, anyone done a higher mileage) since brand new in oct'99 so I decided she was in for a bit of restoration over the Christmas period too (as shown on your website): getting all that horrible rust/corrosion off the forks, brake torque arm and any nuts and bolts i could get to. However i made the mistake of lacquering the forks - they're back to the same condition! (I've just come across a clear lacquer for engines and exhausts made by PJ1.I wonder if that would be more robust than normal lacquer? I've used PJ1's gloss black engine paint and it seems to be surviving well on my front cylinder. PJ1 also do a silver version) Next job is to get the wheels powder coated. (the powder coating chap that I used warned me that powder costing wheels can be tricky, apparently the heat makes the metal sweat and you can end up with a rough finish. Doesn't always happen but it can, depending on the silica content) I hope to be attending the ride out in Wales. My brother and two friends, who all have SVS's, shall hopefully be attending to. We're all based in Ipswich however I'm at university in Stafford - so not far to come! Anyway, could u make a link to my SV website in your links section. I have a link to your site already. My site address is: http://home.btconnect.com/EUSTACE/michael 


March 14th I got this email from Mick asking for my opinion

John: My name is Mick I am 57, I have a 82 Honda FT500, All White Bros stuff and a 250 Ninja I got from my son when he moved to Fla.I just test drove a 2000 SV with 15,200 miles on it it has been down on the left side, 2 big? dents in the tank, glass under seat scuffed pretty good, different clutch lever, different bar ends, Youshy pipe, carb work, good tires. I was really impressed with how good it pulled from down low>However they want $4950 for it, what do you think money wise? to much? good? what?? Thanks for any tips you can give me    Mick  

Mick, Hard to say as I'm based in the UK. The new prices in the US always seem cheaper to us. What I can say is that Kev's 1999 SVS (previous editor) is up for sale in the bike shop next door for £3250. It covered 16,000 miles was never dropped and is in immaculate condition and is totally standard. How much is a new SV in the US, because this sounds like a lot of cash for a damaged bike? $5000 equates to roughly £3000 over here and that sounds too much for a bike with such obvious damage. A good idea is to pick up a motorcycle paper that has a private ads section, use this to get an idea of the current prices for an SV of that year. We also have magazines over here that list guide prices for vehicles, similar to the little black books that dealers use when you part ex. 

Am I way off the mark here? If any of you have any views or suggestions then please pass them on to Mick or myself.


March 14th An update from Stephen Spiteri on his brother.

Hi again, Thanks for asking about my brother John. He is now fully recovered as he only suffered minor injuries since the back glass broke his fall. (he went right through it! However his friend Tony (who was riding pillion) has four smashed ribs as he was not as lucky as my brother. He made contact with the roof which is not so soft. Luckily the ribs did not puncture any internal organs. Regarding the rizoma business, what I was wondering was if you might suggest the company to any of your sponsors. They might be grateful to you! I think I'll know the answer to that, I'm into advertising and have first hand experience on that. I also did the same here in Malta (ie suggesting Rizoma to importers). Well aren't some people lucky, I'm advertising their work, eventually making them richer, whilst making me poorer in the process as I will eventually have to pay for those clip-ons!!

It might be of interest to you that I had a pit stand produced locally for about £6 sterling. The diagram of which I'll share with your readers as soon as I draw one. The original is still at the welder! I'll also forward a picture as soon as I take one. The only thing remaining is a pair of 15cm long, 8mm tread bolts to screw into the swing arm. Those will be the pivot points. My brother's bike price list has finally arrived (attached). The prices are in Malta Lira. One Maltese lira is about 1.5 sterling. Boy is he pissed off with the 64 year old guy! Keep in touch John, I notice a frame has been added to the list. I totaled this lot up and it came to 2068 Lira, which is £3906. I can see why he's pissed. I'll be curious to see this stand, will it be as slick as my fence post one ;-)


March 13th Stephen Spiteri has dropped me a line with this info.

Hi there John, I've just come across this site www.rizoma.com which sells aftermarket products such as clip-ons rear sets and the sort for our bike. I tried to buy a set of clip-ons from them but they sell privately only to dealers. I thought you might be interested in contacting them. Give the site a look, they have excellent products. If you start bringing their stuff through someone let me know as I'm very interested in their SV clip-ons. Thanks

Nice to hear from you, how's your brother doing? Thanks for the info, I'll take a look. Can you not order this stuff through your dealer? I doubt whether they'll deal with me either as I'm not set up for this kind of work. They'd probably want me to place large orders, that I would then have to warehouse somewhere. I'll drop them a line and see what the score is.


March 12th More U turn sorrow from Omar Yacoub 

John, read with dismay the post about u-turning idiot. SAME happened to me last July on 42nd street here in New York City. BMW sedan did it very abruptly, over the double yellow line and into me. Result: $2000 in damages. (He paid cash, fearing lawsuit) --and very sore hip for me. Conclusion: beware of this classic scenario, especially if your side of street is free and opposite is backed up traffic. He did the illegal u-turn RIGHT in front of Police Precinct at 42nd and Tenth Ave. Be prepared for them. They're out there.   Best -- Omar.

You're right about fearing certain scenarios. I get worried when I see a slow vehicle on the opposite side of the road, such as a tractor, even when my side is straight and empty. It's almost certain that there's impatient car driver sitting behind iching to pop out onto your side of the road the minute he/she sees the slightest opportunity to overtake. What was that quote from Hill Street blues "be careful people, it's dangerous out there" or something.


March 12th Stephen has a paint query.

Hi John, I hope you can help. Do you have any details on the blue metallic paint on the SV. I have a friend who wants the fairing sprayed but we cannot find any paint codes/ names etc....Thanks...Stephen...

There is a lack of info on this site about paint codes. I did find one older page but it will be out of date for newer machines. The best place to go for paint codes in www.color-rite.com use their guide to enter brand and year, this will give all the Suzuki colour codes for that year. UK owners can then order paint from www.motorbikepaint.co.uk (RS paints) I'll add these URL's to the links page.


March 12th Some feedback on official accessories from Lar (11th March)

John, Thanks for the information. I found some interesting information in your general forum. It looks like Suzuki distributed a 2002 accessories book in which includes a lower, seat cowl, tank pad, and a few other items for the SV650s. No word on the tail section, I think that will be a third party item. From the forum I gathered that this book went to dealerships in the US and Canada. I visited a dealership this weekend (Southern California) and in fact saw the accessories book although they did not have prices in the computer at this time, so it must be quite new. Well, hope this helps you out, or anyone else for that matter, keep up the good work on the site, it was instrumental for my decision to get a silver 650s. Thanks again. I posted this for anyone else in the US who has a similar query. If your dealer denies any knowledge of the accessories book then badger him to get it. John


March 11th Cazy is starting his own 'how to' pages. In this case how to bugger up your rear tyre, still it's only a Metz ;-)

Hullo John!   Thought I'd just send another couple of pics, as I've had a little interest from my last post concerning the knee down on the SVs.   People have been asking if I use the original Mez's.  To answer that YES I do, believe it or not.       Firstly I warm the tyres up,  see pic1   :-)       Then see if I can lean the bike over see pic2.   :-P   

Looks like you've got your own car park there, or are you practicing at the end of an air strip? Where's the little old man in the Nissan Micra, he always appears when you're having fun, well he does for me, just as you get to your favourite set of bends..

 BTW:  Hope that brother of Stephen's ok,  It's getting a little too common now hearing people having to contend with the like's of car drivers being complete TW@T's without swearing ;-) And please notice I do not use the public highway for my little stunts, Good law abiding citizen like myself.     Oh and the weather finally did it for me,  I'm off to the continent end of May,  whooooyaaaaa!!!!         Stuart.    

Not heard any more about Stephens brother. I had my own close encounter at the weekend, but I was in my car with the family, so at least I know it's not just bikers that have to put up with the odd prat. I can see why you want to go to the continent, is it always that grey and drab where you live? I had to lighten these pics and it still looks like someone forgot the colours. Have fun.


March 11th Lar needs some help with Suzuki accessories. 

Nice site. This one and SVrider.com are great resources. I have a question regarding some images I saw on your site. I realize you may not have control over them but I thought I would ask anyhow. I am a new owner of a 2002 silver sv650s and am quite interested in a lower and a nice way to clean up the tail section. I saw several images in "Image catalog #15" specifically; 110-1054_IMG.JPG and Img_1268.jpg that were for the most part exactly what I am looking for. From what I gather the images were taken at a show where Suzuki is distributing these items with the new bikes. Is that accurate? I am in California and unfortunately I can not find anything like this out here, seems like the UK is where I find all of the "cool" stuff for the SV. If you could point me to more information on this I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

The photos that Lar refers to are the ones of the Silver SVS at the NEC bike show in November with all the official Suzuki GB accessories loaded.  Assuming that Suzuki US don't have the same arrangement, it would be nice to know the source of these parts (as Suzuki GB don't make them) so that Lar and others could go straight to the company that produces them. The official fairing lowers look like TCP items to me, but if anyone has any answers to the undertray, hugger etc, please drop me a line and I'll knock up some sort of info guide for this site.. John


March 8th Stephen Spiteri wrote with this tale of woe and a plea for help.

Hi there John, My brother has recently had a very bad accident and he's lucky to be alive. He was coming home after watching a hill-climb event. As he was cruising down a bypass a car traveling on the opposite direction decided to go go back to were it came from and instead of traveling half a kilometer from were it was to turn on the nearest roundabout the driver made a U-turn. On a double line. Just in front of my brother who was doing only 60kph as the place was hounded by cops so he was extra careful not to exceed the speed limit. The 64 year old bloke driving the car said he did not see him coming. A bike with lights at half past noon on a straight road! When I talked to him he said the accident could easily have been avoided if my brother went over the double line, into incoming traffic so as to overtake his manoeuvre !! A quote comes to mind, " It takes hundreds of nuts to built a bike but only one to wreck it". Regards, ZunKus (Stephen Spiteri) Unfortunately old myopic car drivers are a world wide phenomenon. We aren't always safe even on a straight road with no side turnings. Looking at the pics, it's lucky your brother wasn't chucked over the wall. I Hope your brother makes a full recover soon. Did the police check the drivers eye sight? In this country the only check done is at the time the drivers test is taken, should be compulsory every couple of years.

Stephen, sent a second email asking for help.

Hope you can lend me a hand in this. Attached to this mail you should find a parts list needed for my brother's bike to be fixed. See if you or your readers can help me fill out the remainder of the part numbers missing. I took the data from a copy of the parts list manual which can be found on the web but some are missing or illegible. I'm trying to have the bike written off, get the money and buy a new bike, but if unsuccessful I'll do the overhaul myself. In that case I think getting a parts quote from England would be cheaper than buying locally (where is locally?). Maybe I'll fit the GSXR front end, remove the fairing and turn the bike into a street fighter, what do you think? Please help me in anyway you can, any advice would be most grateful. If any readers would like to contact me on the subject please do not hesitate to contact me personally. The impact looks quite hard, so the frame may need checking. A bent or cracked frame is not a good thing. If you can cope without the fairing then a street fighter look might keep the costs down, send us a photo when it's done. SVrider has a parts catalog fiche in the store/downloads area, this should help with the missing part numbers. If anyone else can help Stephen then please contact him via email. John

 


March 1st  A credit for the artwork on this months cover page. Tony offered this drawing of his SVS

Hi John, for the picture on the front page of the sv650.org site, if you wish too, you can use a drawing of my SV650 as done by Andy Tilley. He is the guy who has his artwork published in the UMG and UBG and other bikey mags. The link below is to Andy's website with the drawing on. If you click on the drawing, it will then load a 800 pixel wide one, which you can save. http://www.angelfire.com/anime3/cxtasy/  Don't worry about copywrite or stuff like that. Andy did the drawing for me (I have the original) as a thank you cos I did his webpages. Only basic stuff I know, but not tooooo bad for a novice. If you do show the drawing on the front page, would you mind also putting the web address of Andy's pages, so his page counter will go up? Thanks Tony http://www.angelfire.com/va2/tonyp2020/   Happy to oblige. Makes a change to have a drawing of an SV instead of a photo.


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