Suzuki SV650S

19 year old son got this once he passed his test and said goodbye to his Daelim 125. I fitted a 33 bhp restrictor kit, and away he went.It's metallic blue with a full fairing, very low mileage and at a very good price. And, as I'm a named rider on his policy, I get to play with it as well.

This is an excellent mid-size bike, delivering big dollops of torque from quite low in the rev range (the restrictor kit affects top end and full throttle, mid-range is thankfully almost untouched. no need to redline the SV, most of the good stuff happens at up to 8,000 r.p.m.

it is fast and nimble yet sure-footed, and it just LOVES fast roundabouts and twisty roads. The steering seems particularly "quick", and the bike will change direction almost as soon as the rider thinks about it. The redline is at 11,000 rpm, and as 70 mph in top is 5,000 rpm, motorways and fast stuff is not a problem.

The riding position takes a bit of getting used to, seeming quite high up with real back-bend and full weight-on the-wrists, but once you're on the move you soon forget it.

Excellent sports bike, and the V-twin engine enhances the grin factor.

This is my first big bike so I only have a couple of other bikes to compare it to, ie those I used for training: CBF 500 Bandit and CBF 600.

The SV sounds and looks great. Mine is fully faired with a Blue Flame exhaust. As a first bike for a novice, handling is very good and acceleration smooth. It is quite light for a big bike which is another advantage for a newbie and there is plenty of performance packed in the V twin engine. I'm told by those who know that the engine is bulletproof as long as they are serviced regularly. Insurance is very reasonable which makes this bike five stars for me.

My '02 SV650 introduced me to the world of motorcycling. Bought it May of 2012 and have used it for 1 or 2 up city commuting during the weekdays and always look forward to the weekends as I would be able ride it up the twisty roads of Sierra Madre. 8 months after it became mine, I participated in the BOSS Ironman Challenge. This is a motorally spanning 1,200kms which has to be finished within 24hrs. I did it in 18h and 47m. I've added 6000miles to its odometer since owning it and can say that I am very happy and satisfied with my decision to get it.

I did have some issues when I first rode it as I was expecting a "beginner bike" based on reviews I read but rode more of a hooligan beginner bike instead. Torquey engine surprised me a couple of time it took me a good 6mos before I could take advantage of its full power. Happy to say that I've never been thrown off the bike but have had a few near misses.

I ride with buddies who either are on 600 sports or liter bikes (R1s, Z1000s, R6s etc) and my bike keeps up with them. The only times I get left behind would be on the freeways as the inline 4 sports could muster 250km/h. I don't really mind though since those rides are far in between and those stretches usually comprises just 5-10% of our rides.

And let me mention maintenance is sweet as everything about it is simple and easy to learn. A great fun bike!

I bought my Sv new from the Suzuki dealer 30th Sept 2011, purely because at the time i owned a Suzuki Bandit 1200 and trade-in price was better than i could sell it for privately on eBay.

So anyway, OTR price was £4465, i got £1550 trade-in so only needed to pay £2915 cash to buy it. I've been riding 17yrs, been through alot of different bikes, Yam DT's, CB's, VFR's, owned a Honda Fireblade for 5yrs from 2003-2008, then a Honda Cg125! for a yr(cheap motoring to work), then a Kawasaki Gpz500(which i only sold on eBay a few months after buying the Sv-see review i wrote) and the Bandit too(which i traded in).

I've never bought a new bike before and it was my one chance to do it, so i went for the Sv in Black.

ALOT of nonsense floating about online as to how to run a bike in, some say thrash it from new, others say follow Suzuki's gentle running-in process, i followed the Suzuki way and 3150 miles later it hasn't used a drop of oil and performs fantastically so i'd recommend the Suzuki official way.

So the bike itself, the original Dunlop D220 tyres are rubbish, ok in the dry but take an age to warm up so in effect your always riding on cold tyres which means grip level doesn't increase. I found this out on a damp road exiting a roundabout at 45mph-ish, i lost the front end. Luckily i saved it but was the nail in the coffin for them tyres, even with 1300 miles on them. Swap to Bridgestone BT-023's and unbelievable transformation! Still to date @3150 miles i've yet to have a slide even in a torrential hail/rain/thunderstorm i got caught in 60 miles from home, lol. Just brilliant tyres!

Front forks as standard are very softly sprung, promoting big dive when braking hard and it feels like your going to go over the top of the bars, I've pretty much cured this by fitting 'emulators' in the forks and upping the fork oil thickness from the watery 5wt to 15wt, i've yet to change the springs to stiffer linear 0.85kg K-tech ones but its still 100x better now than it was as standard. Tho it now highlights how 'bouncy' the rear shock is, ie undamped. Next on list is a Kawasaki ZX10-r '06-'07 rear shock which is a straight swap but more stiffer with more adjustment.

The bikes performance is very good for what it is, being a v-twin it has a very flat torque curve, so pulls very smoothly all the way to 9.5k which is where max bhp is achieved, rev more than this and bhp tails off so pointless going past 9.5k tbh.

Chain adjustment was a regular thing until i fitted a scottoiler, since fitting over 800 miles ago i've yet to need to adjust, before it was every 400 miles-ish i'd be adjusting it. Another great addition is a rear hugger, stops all the dirt coming off your rear wheel and covering the underside of the bike and the shock.

As standard the bike handles very well for something with budget suspension, although a soft setup you can still hustle it along twisties at decent speed, braking is good too, enough to bottom out the soft forks and get the rear skipping along the road in the air. Not sure how brakes fair over time, whether they need alot of attention to keep tip top as mines only 7 months old and 3150 miles to date.

The screen is ok, but i've now fitted a double bubble airblade one which highlights how much wind the standard screen allowed to hit you, tho neither screen causes any head buffering.

Finish is debatable, many of the screws have extremely soft heads, and deform easily even with proper fitting screw bits being used, and also any parts on the bike that were plated,(a form of protective coating) like the chain adjuster plates, adjuster nuts, mounting brackets etc has lost its finish very quickly, so far the chrome plated forks and general engine parts have withstood up to the weather so far, tho time will tell.

Mpg is a consistant 52-56mpg, mostly 54mpg, thats with commutes to work along 30/40/50mph roads generally lower half of the rev range during the week to weekend blasts using the upper half, anything from 20-100 miles at the weekend.

Fuel range when i bought it was 135 miles before the reserve light comes on(no fuel gauge btw, just a reserve light flashes when down to 6 litres, then stays on when down to 2 litres of fuel left), that was running in speed, so very gentle riding. Nowadays in normal use it comes on around 120-125 miles, so with over a gallon left you could estimate about 175-190 miles before empty, i've run to nearly 160 miles where the reserve light went solid, ie 2 litres left.

I've fitted the lower fairing to mine, bought them new (genuine ones) in a light blue colour cheap, spent £60 on 2 cans of correct YAY Suzuki code for Pearl Nebular Black spray paint, laquer and expendables and sprayed them myself. Also as i work at an Engineering company i made up my own mounting brackets for the fairing, as Suzuki charge £116.99 for them(lower fairings are a whopping £445.87!!!). If your looking to buy an Sv and want a fully faired one its worth hanging out for one and not buying a half faired one and doing it yourself-not cost effective.

There's a generous space under the rear seat where i keep a puncture kit, cloth, and a 1.5m Oxford chain and padlock if i'm out and about. You could fit a bit more like a lightweight rain mac.

The headlight is 'ok',but mine was miles out of alignment from new???? so check yours up against a wall, mine was way off to one side. I've fitted Phillips X-treme vision bulbs which helped a little, but still i'd say they were only ok, and will limit your speed on unlit roads at night due to their poor spread of light, especially when you lean over, you can literally see nothing.

Mirrors are a bit poor, most people buy spacers to move them out a bit to give better rear vision.

General fit of things is ok, still, this is down to the low overall cost of the bike in the first place, its no Honda VFR build quality, but you still expect paint not to haze after just a week of riding, so be wary of the thin paint used on the tank, fit a tank protector asap, and also an upper yoke protector as key fobs/keys moving around scratch the black annodising very quickly! But this is all down to the cheapness of the bike in the first place, so you kinda expect it.

Overall as far as bikes go it is an ok/good bike, 5 or 6 out of 10, but in view of how much they cost to buy then they are a fantastic value bike and thats where they win, nothing for the price can touch them, especially with that 70bhp engine-its almost vibration free, reliable, good on fuel, sounds wonderful, bundles of charactor(which is important to me).

My advise if your looking to buy one is don't buy new, as you will inevitably end up wanting to make them better by doing the following at great expense when a secondhand bike will have some if not all the following already done

1. Fitting lower fairing and the mounting brackets(£180 minumum, £600 max)

2. Fitting emulators and stiffer fork springs/thicker oil(£40-160, and £100 plus fitting)

3. Crash protectors(R&G ones are about £94-£116 for faired bikes)

4, Rear hugger(£35 secondhand or £120+ new)

5, Mirror extenders(£30)

6. Different tyres to the standard D220's(anything is better!)

The Sv forum is great reading, Sv.org

I'd recommend this bike to anyone from new riders to experienced ones, tho like me you will find it needs upgrading in areas to make it more enjoyable to ride, and although it lacks power compared to most 600's or bigger its charactor and ability to put a smile on your face almost makes up for its lack of speed. I always want for more speed but then again in todays age it gets you in trouble.

Lovely bike to ride, had my sv650s for one month now and really enjoy being out on it. I find it very easy to ride as my first bike! Been out for a few long rides out and have to say the only negative I can find is that the seat gets a bit uncomfortable after about an hour and a half! But this might b me just being new to riding! On the whole through I find it very fast! (Keeps up with my friends r6 no problem on country lane!) And a pleasure to ride!

2010 SV650Sport, this bike is a joy to ride. Great bike for all riding styles, easy to live with at low and high revs. Looks great naked and faired, and that V-Twin sounds great, especially with a nice Mivvi GP exhaust stuck on the back...

This bike enspires confidence and is comfortable to ride all day. Lots of aftermarket bling available for this bike too, if you want that sort of thing.

Bring on the good weather...

W reg Suzuki SV650S

I bought an SV650S with aftermarket fairings in blue around a year ago. I had just scrapped a GPX750R Kawasaki after a crash and wanted a confidence rebuilder. I also wanted something with cheap insurance and that's easy to ride.

I once rode for 12 hours on B roads from Dorset to Birmingham and back - through Wales. That's one thing I love about this bike - after a few hundred miles you want something stable and forgiving too. I was impressed that I wasn't too sore and didn't fall off.

Well, its stable and easy to ride, and quite comfortable, looks brilliant, and will just about keep up with any 600cc supersport, and has a very satisfying V-twin grumble.

In corners though, its not quite as good as the supersports, and doesn't have the same inline 4 wail and extreme feeling, but if you want a bike to actually ride and live with, the SV comes up tops riding two-up, touring, cruising and I think it looks better with the aftermarket bottoms too!

I've Owned the bike for 4 Months now and can not fault it, I've just sold my ZXR400 which was Unrestricted, this pushed out 65Bhp and was a real pocket rocket. When i bought the SV650's i was abit unsure of what to expect. I read one or two reviews online, but never test drove one. (Never even sat on it) I bought it on finance for about £3.700, 1 Owner - 4320 Miles on the clock. Bought from Millenium Motorcycles in Saint Helens, UK. The Bike is Part Faired with a Belly pan, Crash Bungs (Cause you never know) and a Quill Evo 2 Aftermarket Can. When i collected it from the Dealership i was very happy with it, the rear lights sell it for me, LED Strips, Beautiful looking, it's one of the first things people notice, i always get the response "The Lights are Amazing!" and they really are, the front lights are very smart aswell on the 06 Model, unsure if it is the same with other years, but there are two small blue lights next to the main lights, very smart and you stand out from a mile away. The bike is Custom Blue and Fade to Black. When i sat on it it felt perfect, im 6"3 and a slim build, so at the lights my knee is slightly bend when touching the floor, but on the pegs it feels great. Off the line it is extremly quick, De-restriced it pushes 74Bhp, and will keep up with a Ninja 6 if you red line it. (With a pillion aswell ;) Very comfy for long rides, beautiful in low rev's, just a nice pur that can with a small blip, give off a mighty growl (especially without the baffel) The Clocks are easy to read night or day, and overall a pleasure to ride

- Problems so far

I have to be honest, there are a few things that have gone wrong, i've never dropped it, but every now and then, when i went over a bump, my indicator would not come on, the wire had come loose. and then the same happened with the headlight... Just annoying, so after a push back in, i was off again.

The tyres are good on this bike, i get my knee down and then some on most corners and the grip is fine.. They don't like rain too much though, just take it easy like you should in the rain on any bike.

Buy an SV650s, they are amazing bikes to own, drive and to be seen on. recommend to anyone!

Have fun people! Drive safe!

- Chase

I traded my Aprillia Pegaso for the Suzuki SV650s. For one very good reason. I wanted a more fun bike, easy to handle and not so heavy that it goes on it's side if you dont keep the centre of balance right. The Pegaso like all Trials Evo style bikes are pretty high of the ground and because I'm not build like a tank found it a bit heavy up top.

Anyway, I looked and looked at all bikes new and used and when I got aboard the Suzi it was love. Beautifully balanced, Light steering and easy riding position.Not only that it's pretty gorgeous to look at as well! I took her out for a spin and was totally sold on her. I previously had a 1999 Honda Fireblade and have to say that did scare me and also was too heavy for me.

I love the fact that this is a V Twin. Sounds wonderfful! And also nice and compact.

Ok, people go on about the build quality. But thats why the bike is so competitively priced! And to be honest, if the bike is looked after this shouldn't be an issue. Also there are numerous third party upgrades available so nothing is insurmountably.

The wonderful warm raw from that motor keeps a grin on the face at all times and it's so forgiving and flexible. The clutch it easy and the brakes are excellent.

Very good bike to take on the road if you havent ridden for a few years and want something more than just a run of the mill bike.

I cant see me swapping this for a long time! Its just so forgiving and comfortable.

Sorry to anybody that only thinks this bike is average, your wrong.

Bikes are just a personal preference but overall these bikes have an excellent reputation. I own and have owned lots of bikes, if i had to own one out of all these it would be the sv 650 without any question. Been lucky enough to ride cbrs, fazers,gsxrs, which are all faster than the sv. But when i go in the garage on a nice sunny day and choose which bike today, its the 2000 model sv 650 that set me back £1200 in front of the more powerful bikes.

The grunt through the gears and handling set this bike apart from the rest. You feel like you can push this bike instead of the bike pushing you to the limits. It gives you the feeling that it wants you to ring its neck and see what it can do.

Buy one, simple. Had both models naked and faired. Both a treat to ride. Make great track bikes aswell.