View Full Version : Buying Advice - SV650S
Hi peeps, i'm looking at getting an K6 SV 650s with 13,000 on the clock, anybody had one or know what the common faults are on one? would like to get a good idea what to look out for when viewing it. also if any one has any experience/knowledge of the bike please share :)
1, check valve clearances have been done (thanks Joneyflame)
2, ?
wiltshire builders
02-07-12, 09:16 PM
Being a suzuki the build quality isn't the best. Rust, burring of the fork legs and general tattiness.
Senna(Dan)
02-07-12, 09:23 PM
Dan, check the SV forums.
One of my mates has 2 650s and 2 1000s, he says he had no problems that haven't occurred with the rest of his bikes.
He has got 5 at the moment, so he said as long as you love it as much as the Hyosung it should be remain a good bike.
The advantage also being that because there used to be a dedicated race series there are loads of aftermarket parts available. Also 90% of the parts can be used from the thou' because it is essentially the same bike.
cheers Dan & Dan
burring of the forks???
I'm guessing this means something to do with rough edges :-?
squirrel_hunter
02-07-12, 11:45 PM
Also 90% of the parts can be used from the thou' because it is essentially the same bike.
Its been a while since I needed to check a part but I wouldn't exactly say 90%. The 650 and Thou have different frames, engines, looms, CDI, exhaust, and a few other bits which are not interchangeable. However, yes some parts can be swapped over. The tank springs to mind first.
As for issues with a K6 650, I'd say none really. Yep its a budget bike and can show in places. Go for something with a good service history and keep on top of the oil level. And on the subject of oil stick 15w in the front forks to transform the handling on the cheap.
Read some good stuff about them in the bike mags
goz1960
03-07-12, 06:25 AM
Dan as you know I had a k2 SV 650 it was a very good reliable bike and I had no issues with it at all. As for things to look out for other than the forks as stated earlier the issues are the same as all bikes. You will not regret your decision great value little bikes. :) :)
Mitch9128
03-07-12, 07:39 AM
1 important check. Check you are male, if so, step away.
It's a gurls bike.
Also 90% of the parts can be used from the thou' because it is essentially the same bike.
That is incorrect. The SV1000 (formerly TL1000) and Sv650 are totally and utterly different. Only superficial parts will be interchangeable. The frame, wheels, electrics, forks even some of the plastics are different.
As to the SV650. Ignore the girls bike sh*t. They are only jeleous because they have somthing to hide.....
SV's are great bikes. The engine is a real stormer and will suprise the gixer brigade. Handling and brakes are good. The Sv is a great all rounder and will happily tour or fly round the back lanes with the best of them.
The build quality is as good as any other Suzuki (i.e. not great) but adequate. The later ones seem better than the earlier ones. Check for peeling paint and pitted forks. Other than that I've had no problems in 10 years of owernship. The engines can be noisy around the top end even when the valves are correctly adjusted. The main thing to check for is abuse. These tend to be 1st big bikes so get thrashed and crashed a lot.
Other than that I can't recommend one highly enough.
My brother in law had one for a while - lovely looking little bike. He really liked it but in the end decided he simply preferred a 4 cylinder but just his personal preference. I think people either love or hate twins. Apart from that I never once heard him fault the bike in any way and he certainly used to ride it alot.
my current bike is a twin which is why i'm leaning towards the SV, thanks for advice.
Jon, whats fuel consumption and handling like? nimble or bit wallowy?
Dont know if you've ever used this but might help -
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/bikereviews/searchresults/Bike-Reviews/Suzuki/Suzuki-SV650S-1999-current/Suzuki/SV650/_/R-EPI-441
especially the owners reviews.
Thanks Nikki, did look before but never know how biased a magazines review can be?
MCN did a test with GT650R against a kwak and a suzuki and even tho the Gt650R was better on paper and out performed the other two on the video it came last!??? :-?
Thanks Nikki, did look before but never know how biased a magazines review can be?
MCN did a test with GT650R against a kwak and a suzuki and even tho the Gt650R was better on paper and out performed the other two on the video it came last!??? :-?
I know exactly what you mean - it's why I tend to read the owners reviews not taking too much notice of what the journalists say.
I go through bikes quite quickly and take the view if I dont like it I can always sell it again but saying that I dont spend huge amounts on a bike so dont generally loose much if anything when I do sell them.
Some of the write-ups about them seem to be pretty good and you will always have the nay-sayers when it comes to any bike make or model if thats whats floating your boat Dan you should go for it !!! 8-)
Last Train
03-07-12, 08:35 PM
Some of the write-ups about them seem to be pretty good and you will always have the nay-sayers when it comes to any bike make or model if thats whats floating your boat Dan you should go for it !!! 8-)
http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/signs/smiley-vault-signs-016.gif (http://www.smileyvault.com/)
Hyosung were making the engines and frames for Suzuki since 1976 so this is kinda a step up but on the same bike sort of :-/
Next puzzle is do i go grey or red?????
Senna(Dan)
03-07-12, 09:32 PM
Grey...red needs a lot more loving when it is from Suzuki in my experience.
Twould be the grey for me !!! 8-)
Hyosung were making the engines and frames for Suzuki since 1976 so this is kinda a step up but on the same bike sort of :-/
Next puzzle is do i go grey or red?????
RED :D :D :D
have just seen ;Da black K8 and it looks soooo good! damn decisions!
wiltshire builders
04-07-12, 10:13 AM
Black ones are faster!
Jon, whats fuel consumption and handling like? nimble or bit wallowy?
Fuel consumption is good I get about the same from my Sv and GS500. Handling is sharp if sometimes a little exciteable. The later (pointy) ones are more stable and have better suspension but the earlier (curvy) ones are more fun.
The hyosung uses a very similar engine to the sv (Hyosung actually make many of the suzuki engines including the sv's) and has similar performance... but the sv looks better!!! 8-)
An oddity if you are interested is the Cagiva Raptor and V-Raptor. An Sv650 engine in an italian frame with showa suspension and brakes. Rare as, but not too pricey when found.
Jon, whats fuel consumption and handling like? nimble or bit wallowy?
Fuel consumption is good I get about the same from my Sv and GS500. Handling is sharp if sometimes a little exciteable. The later (pointy) ones are more stable and have better suspension but the earlier (curvy) ones are more fun.
The hyosung uses a very similar engine to the sv (Hyosung actually make many of the suzuki engines including the sv's) and has similar performance... but the sv looks better!!! 8-)
Thanks Jon,
I'm after a pointy not curvy as prefer the look of the fairing on the later model.
yeah i knew Hyosung have been making the engines for Suzuki, once had a suzi rider tell me he wouldn't trust my engine to last long on a chinese bike! didn't like it when i told him its Korean and the same engine he was sat on! ;D
Hyosung wanted to use the Sv engine but Suzuki barred them so they had to reverse engineer the engine and create their own.
The handling on SVs is ok until you start to push them a bit, and then the budget nature of their suspension becomes apparent - softly sprung and under-damped, and unfortunately there isn't any adjustment on them :( (spring pre-load only affects sag and loaded ride height, it won't cure a lack of springing and damping)
If you want to know anything about SVs, look HERE! (http://www.sv650.org/)
Edit: Dan, are you on an A2 licence? The pointy SV is dead easy to restrict if you wished/needed to - a simple ECU swap, they can be bought for about £50 second-hand, and sold on for the same afterwards when you no longer need it. Fitting will take mere minutes 8-)
Hyosung wanted to use the Sv engine but Suzuki barred them so they had to reverse engineer the engine and create their own.
Hyo used to make the engines for Suzuki until they didn't renew the licence but couldn't stop them from making the engines under the name S&T motors.
both i've looked at Scotty are already restricted, didn't realise it was done via the ECU, guess i'd have to buy a new ECU once i want the power put back up
The handling on SVs is ok until you start to push them a bit, and then the budget nature of their suspension becomes apparent - softly sprung and under-damped, and unfortunately there isn't any adjustment on them :( (spring pre-load only affects sag and loaded ride height, it won't cure a lack of springing and damping)
If you want to know anything about SVs, look HERE! (http://www.sv650.org/)
Agreed, but is fine for the road. I've never struggled on mine. The later pointy ones have better suspension than the earlier ones but more gentle geometry. Makes them a little less hairy than the early ones.
Had fogotten about Sv650.org...... ::) is a great website!!
13,000 miles on a K6 and doesn't look too tatty, is this high mileage for this sort of bike?
its already got a restricted ECU in it, dealer's just quoted me £1000 for an unrestricted ecu! claims as its part of the immobiliser, hence the price :o :o
just over 2k miles per year isn't high. Just check it's been looked after.
£1000 :o :o :o Bring back the inlet washers on the carb models.....
yeah seems a bit steep, also £80 to remove the throttle cable stop link (what?) apparently it goes with the restriction to stop the throttle being fully open and running the engine to rich....might be easy to wait for next August and just buy one thats already unrestricted... :-/
diwallace67
06-07-12, 03:53 PM
Hi Dan
Think we met on the rideout to Lyme Regis - I was the newbie on the black sv650s (k8, fully faired) who spent most of the time keeping the back marker company (thanks again Dennis!) - that's more about my confidence levels rather than bike performance ;D
Just wondering if you've thought about buying a unrestricted bike & then asking dealer if he can do a deal for you getting a 33bhp ECU??? Was worth an ask for me ...... I was lucky enough for the dealer (suzuki) to have an ECU restrictor that fitted her surplus to requirements in their workshop so they let me have it (& proof certificate) for free alongside giving me the original unrestricted ECU back.
I'm certainly not an expert about restricting bikes but can only relay my understanding from when I bought mine a couple of months ago which needed to be restricted.
At the time they confirmed all that was needed to do to restrict (& obviously unrestrict) is to swap the ECU kits (which is under the seat & easily accessed so just a quick job), nothing was mentioned about throttle cable stop link thingy????
As I've only had my bike for a couple of months (she's still under warranty) & after reading your post a nagging thought entered my head!!! So for piece of mind for me & advice for you I called the dealer I bought her from & asked if he was aware of anything about this "throttle cable stop link". He double checked with the the workshop guys today who confirmed restriction is only done via ECU unit.
Also when I began exploring ECU kits I do recall they seem to be around £700-£800 but know you can get 33bhp ECU cheap on Flea bay.
Hope this helps .................
By the way she's lovely to ride, not that I've got much to compare except my first ride cbr125.
Also prior to buying her everyone I spoke to & what I read said they perform well being restricted - gotta agree with that too
Morticia
06-07-12, 08:46 PM
DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a beautiful ride. You'll learn a lot on it, and it's very happy to put up with newbies. I LOVED my sv to bits. So much so, that most of them are in Rewenge. Seriously Dan, you won't regret it. And the gladius is much more of a girls bike, men look wrong on it.
Cheers ladies, yes Di i remember you, dealer told me that most insurance don't recognise the ecu restriction as it is so easy to swap out but i'm getting conflicting info :-/
Di, where did you get yours from? want to see if i can test one before i commit
hey Mort, who's the newbie???? :D
diwallace67
07-07-12, 11:32 AM
Tbh even though I've got proof certificate my insurance company didn't ask for one when I declared it was restricted. Yep gotta agree they are quick & easy to swap out.
I bought mine from Pro Bike in Newbury
http://www.pro-bike.com/Second_hand.htm
I can only comment from my experience but wouldn't hesitate to recommend them, still would even if they hadn't throw in the restrictor for free. Kev, one of the sales guys was fab, gave great personalised service & wasn't pushy at all.
Just a thought Dan, soz if I'm covering something you already know, but I was unable to test ride any bike over 33bhp due to having restricted license. I had to rely on my partner to do the test ride for me once I found a bike that I felt happy sitting stationary on!
You mentioned the one you're currently looking at is restricted so this might be ideal for you to take out before you commit to anyone or any bike.
Once again Dan hope this helps & not adding to the heap of conflicting info :-/
its fine Di, good points and info,
some dealers haven't even asked about licence type for test rides but i always tell them first
diwallace67
07-07-12, 04:35 PM
You're welcome :)
I had the same thing with some dealers too Dan
Tax aint cheap for the year either!
:o
diwallace67
07-07-12, 05:31 PM
If you didn't know Dan, Insurance group 9, lower than some similiar bikes
Cheers Di, did wonder what it was
Tbh even though I've got proof certificate my insurance company didn't ask for one
I had this as well when I was deciding what to get bud. Said they weren't interested in the certificate, just had to log it as a modification etc
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