Sv help

The SV 650 is an excellent track/ learners bike. I just sold mine and really kind of wish I'd held onto it. That being said it was kind of frustrating to me once I got used to the track because I'd ride hard, brake late, keep the corner speed up to get past people only to have them absolutely smoke me on the next straight. I think that with the SV1000 you'll be fine as it has more power than the 650 and also better suspension (more adjustable) out of the box.

 

SV650s are great especially if you ever plan on racing. I also have a 03 GSXR 1000 I ride on the track and most tracks around here I can turn better times on the SV

 

Rule #1 - Leave your ego at the gate....



Concentrate on developing your skill set. Going faster through the curves and passing the 'big' bikes is alot more fun than just twisting the throttle and going fast...

 

I have a SV1KS so I maybe able to answer your question.

A 1K weight and power is more than a 650. IMO the extra weight hurts it more than the extra power gains at most tracks. A 1KSV makes about the same power as last generation 600s, so you'll still have straightaway troubles with a lot of bikes and now you have something that does not corner as well. Both bikes really need the same suspension work: rework the forks (or upgrade to GSXR forks) and aftermarket shock.

If you can get a smokin deal on a 1K than it might be worth it, but when it comes time to sell the 650 will sell a lot easier. In fact you may have a hard time even selling a SV1K. Hope this helps.

 

Kevin,



I am a novice rider with STT and have a SV1KS also. I've only ridden crusiers until this year so the entire sportbike world was somewhat foreign to me. I bought this bike because it seemed to be the perfect middle ground. Sporty and capable enough to ride with my buddies who have sport bikes on the street, do an occasional track day, it's a twin, and it fit the budget much better than Ducati did. Plus when I sat on it I still felt like I was on a motorcycle. Coming off a big twin cruiser to a 650sv made me feel like I was on a toy. That might be how you feel from the 'Busa to a 600/650.



After a season of riding here's what I can report. The bike out of the showroom, with a few quick suspension adjustments, has been everything I would need for the street rides and a few track days/year. But I got hooked on the track after my first time out. Now I'm making modifications. I got some advice from Kozy too and from that I've added a new exhaust and took off about 20 lbs from the bike, new rear sets, changed the OEM tires to Pilot Powers, and am now thinking about the GSXR front end conversion and rear shock for a winter project. All this to make the bike more track friendly.



After my first 2-3 track days I was ready to move from this bike to a 600/650. Now at the end of the year I'm very happy with the 1K. I agree with everyone here who says your learning curve will be faster on a smaller bike. I feel like it took me an entire season 8+ days to get to where I thought I'd be after 3-4 days. But over the last 2 outings I finally felt like things were starting to click and I felt a ton better on the bike.



That's my experience. I still go back and forth on if I want to try to sell it and go to something more track oriented.



Hope this helps.

 

I think you lose the benefits of an SV650 if you get an SV1000. Might as well just get a 600cc supersport bike.



I ride both an SV650 and a ZX6R (636cc) on the track and so far I'm faster on the 650, plus its cheaper to run. I don't really notice the difference in power when I ride, of course I get passed on the straights a lot more with my SV, but that doesn't diminish the fun factor at all. Lot of people think the SV is just a toy bike, but it's not that far off the pace of a 600 with a good rider aboard.

 

That's exactly what I used to say when I rode a little bike.. and it's pretty much spot on!



Now add a bunch of HP to the faster through the curves and you have a "good" big bike rider....

 

I guess I should clarify my earlier post.

The SVS that I started off with was an 01 model which has a way too soft suspension and only rear preload for adjustment. Before it was all over I had spent almost $2K on suspension upgrades. I haven't owned or ridden a 2nd gen SV so I can't offer an opinion on that bike. My point was that that if you are going to put an out of the box bike on the track that the SV1000 comes with a more adjustable suspension and more power to boot.

BTW, if you do end up going with a 650 and upgrading the suspension, get the AK20 cartridge fork upgrade from Traxxion Dynamics. It's not cheap but it uses your stock forks so isaves you the the joy of special ordering bearings, shopping for used forks, possibly getting ripped off, having to rebuild the used forks you might have gotten, and still not having the best front suspension. With Traxxion's AK20's all you have to do is pull your forks, write a check (visa and mastercard accepted) ship them off, wait a week, get them back, and re-install the forks. On 1st gen sv's they also save you the headache of relocating the speedo sensor to the rear wheel. I wish I'd had the foresight to have them removed from my SV before I sold it and installed them in my RC51. Thats another thing about the AK20's. You can move them from bike to bike, although on the 1st gen SV you'll have to get some new forks to install because some drilling of the stock units is required.

 

If your going to go with a first gen, buy one that has already been track preped buy someone else. It saves a lot of time and money.

 

Exactly. I bought my 2nd gen for cheap race ready. With any luck you can even find one setup for your weight

 

I bought an 01 SVS 650 that was pretty clean on teh cheap and spent only about $300 in upgrades using a GSXR 750 shock and RaceTech springs and emulators. I did have to fabricate a set of links for the rear, but the upgrade was well worth it. The rest of the bike is stock. I recently put it on the track with US Desmo's track day at CMP and was pleasantly suprised at how well the bike did! Corner speed and stability was excellent and I could slowly reel others in based on corner speed alone. Where I knew I was going to have issues was on the straights, and it proved to be the case. Now, if developing skills is the sole reason for you doing track days, then this is a great bike for it, but if you are worried about your buddies running off and leaving you on the straights, then you may want to look into a 600 class super sport instead.



Your call, but I'll be on the SV come Nov 25th at CMP again!

 

meanstrk-

you should look for a set of fork tube caps off a 2002

they have adjusters.

 

Get the cheapest, smallest, slowest bike you can find for your first track whore. You will get passed by everything at first, but you will learn cornerspeed very, very quickly, because that will be the only place you can pass.



My first one was an FZR600, and while I got passed by everything in the straights (including the occasional SV650), after a short while I was eating big bikes alive in the corners. A great learning experience.

 

That is in the works as well!

 

I just bought an 04 sv650 for the track and all I can say is I haven't stopped grinning ear to ear yet. You may get passed on the straights buy big liter bikes but any fool can twist the grip. The fun part is putting thier ego in check when you ride around the outside of them :lol:

I run in the advanced group so don't think that you can only run them in the B or I groups. Also on the plus side, if you can learn to go really fast on an sv650...you can learn to go fast on pretty much anything. I learned more in the two days at barber on the sv than the entire time I've spent riding on the track before that.

I can't say it enough....get the SV650!!!

Heres a vid from barber last weekend

http://media.putfile.com/Barber-Motorsports-park-2006