"Too much bike" or nostalgia? 100hp 4cyl vs <50hp twin for leisurely back road riding

[bwringer]

May I submit for the committee's consideration the Suzuki SV650/Gladius?

- Suzuki. I mean, we're on a Suzuki fan website...

- Cheap. Heck, they're fairly inexpensive brand-new -- only $7,849 for a brand-new SV650 with ABS.

- Relatively plentiful.

- Lots of aftermarket support.

- Easy to work on. Valve checks on ABS models are an especial asspain, but there are ways to get it done.

- Light, small, plenty of power for whatever you want to do. Obviously, it's a small bike so not great for 2-up touring with luggage, but that's obvious, and not the mission we're discussing here.

- Relatively simple, well-understood, and overall stone axe reliable.

- Here's the neato part: this is a long-running model, in production since 1999. You can, to a large extent, choose your own adventure here. Want carbs for some demented reason? Buy an older one. Want fuel injection and ABS? Buy a later model. Want a track or race bike? Look for one already set up for track duty. There were many detail changes over the years, so research the upgrades that are important to you when deciding the year range to target.

There really aren't any "gotchas" with the machines. The biggest issue, as with any used motorcycle, is the incompetence and frugality of the previous owner(s). On the minus side, some tend to have been owned by less experienced and somewhat, shall we say, "frugal" people, so crash damage, neglected maintenance, brainless modifications, etc. are unfortunately common. And you can pretty much count on the fact that the tires, chain and sprockets will be worn out, and the valve check overdue.

Suspension and brakes are fairly basic but plenty good enough, and of course there's plenty of aftermarket help. It is possible to get more power out of the engine, but it is expensive, limited in effectiveness, and stupidity is rampant. You definitely want to get as close to stock as possible. As I understand it, the carbureted models are more sought after for track use and modification.

Sometimes you can catch one with some well-chosen farkles, and/or one with few owners who were more experienced and had an appreciation for the bike's charms and tended not to crash...

Or, just skip all the crap and buy a new one.

[Jedz123]

Two questions:

Is that steering dampener stock?

Isn't that quite a bit of length of gold exhaust for an experienced DIYer like yourself? That's lean, right? (Blue would be rich?)

Originally posted by GS1150Pilot View Post
Stainless exhausts on modern bikes almost always go gold.

The Damper is a Japanese Shindy dampener, aftermarket. I added that about 80K miles at this point, been very reliable and sures up the front end.

All my Modern bikes had golden pipes I actually preferred the look of them, especially on my B-12. Bike yielded me 84K miles with it's golden pipes.


The Exhaust on the T-120 is a full stainless Delkevic Bobber system. I did tweak the tune after a couple of days as I did notice one cylinder was running leaner than the other after reviewing the data log. The pipes are 2-2 no crossover, runs allot better than the stock system (which also was broken in which I went aftermarket), so I think the lack of scavenging was effecting the fuel requirements on the second cylinder. Few fuel trim adjustments and we were golden. Lighter than stock and Oodles more power. I use fuel injection software for the T-120 (on my phone) and its just incredibly easy to tune. My bike is technically a BT device for my phone and I can tune from there.

Cheers!

[gtem]

Brian as you and I discussed, the SV has definitely been on my mind, less so on the brainwave of this thread originally, moreso as a sporty/corner carving machine with 100lbs less curb weight and 30% less power/torque than the Bandit to gain confidence on. I'm the weirdo that's partial to the older carb/"smooth" frame models (that and that they're generally the cheapest ones out there).

[Suzukian]

I'd try and find SV1000, more umph, and pretty much the same size as the 650. They aren't going for too much, you'll have to look hard for a nice one, but it's a really nice bike.

[bwringer]

I can tell you: they're a lot of fun

IMG_1166.jpg

Yeah, but I think Honda sent maybe ten or twelve of these to the US. I saw a red one in a dealer once, and a blue one in the wild.

Perhaps even rarer in the states, but possibly even a little cooler looking, was Suzuki's Bandit 400.

And of course, dealers could hardly give them away in the sportbike-crazy times of the '90s, not to mention they were kinda expensive for a 400.

[GS1150Pilot]

Yeah, but I think Honda sent maybe ten or twelve of these to the US. I saw a red one in a dealer once, and a blue one in the wild.

Perhaps even rarer in the states, but possibly even a little cooler looking, was Suzuki's Bandit 400.

And of course, dealers could hardly give them away in the sportbike-crazy times of the '90s, not to mention they were kinda expensive for a 400.

There were a few around Tucson, most likely sold by Musselman, and those little Hondas were amazing to see.

[Diirk]

Well the thing is Honda sent plenty of these to the States, but like you mentioned nobody wouldn't have 'em (lucky me). So some eurocountries, such as my neighbouring country The Netherlands, imported them. All of those bikes driving around in Europe are grey import.
A lot of 'em were actually used as learner bikes, at least in The Netherlands, which makes these little guys really undervalued: around a thousand smackeroos will already get you one in pretty decent shape.

I prefer the look of the CB1 vs the Bandit, but the latter did rev up to 16K RPM which seems like a hoot.

[LAB3]

I've looked into the SV650 for the size, weight and parts availability aspects and when you compare that to the SV1000 it seems to make little sense to NOT go with the 1000 except for ONE important aspect, the 1000 requires mid-grade fuel.

The C50's on the other hand are even more prolific. A buddy of mine has one and for a middleweight bike the overall size is much better suited for us taller guys, too bad it's a cruiser styled V-Twin. Like I told him "You'll be able to ride this bike the rest of your life if that's what you want to do" they are quite literally a dime a dozen.

[gtem]

LAB3 I'd be inclined to agree, but my interest in the SV650 is specifically in regard to backing off a bit on the big bore power and really focus on cornering technique on something that's a bit more forgiving. We'll see. I found an SV650 locally (a fuel injected '08 with 34k miles listed for $3000) that I might go check out this weekend and bum a test ride on. I'm always made it a point to avoid FI bikes in the past but maybe it's time to get over myself.

[GS1150Pilot]

As a fourth or eighth bike, these were cool:
image.png

[LAB3]

LAB3 I'd be inclined to agree, but my interest in the SV650 is specifically in regard to backing off a bit on the big bore power and really focus on cornering technique on something that's a bit more forgiving. We'll see. I found an SV650 locally (a fuel injected '08 with 34k miles listed for $3000) that I might go check out this weekend and bum a test ride on. I'm always made it a point to avoid FI bikes in the past but maybe it's time to get over myself.

The 650 and 1000 are virtually the same bike, one has a bigger engine is all and the 1000 is actually a couple of pounds lighter! I'll fully agree that going to a smaller bike has it's advantages but in this case it makes no difference other than the smaller one getting better gas mileage on 87 octane fuel.

After riding through a downpour that dropped a half inch of rain in 15 minutes with some pea sized hail on Wednesday I've come to the conclusion that my XS1100 is my "forever" bike, that thing was rock solid and never made a hiccup. That said I'm still eyeing the RE Himalayan and the INT650 to have fun on off road, a set of dual sports on the 650 would get me to 99% of the places I'd want to be.

[gtem]

LAB3 I'm loving my XS1100 as well, feels great out on the open road. Super smooth with plenty of power, one of the best seats I've ever sat on. Perfect positioning of the stock bar too. My only complaint is the clunky shifter but I'll write that off to "character" lol
XS11Kirlkin_resize.jpg

[rphillips]

The old XS1100, just from memory, clunky trans, heavy, and their shaft drive was the worst about lifting up real bad under hard take-offs. But really bullet proof as long as 2nd. gear didn't go out.... I ain't seen one for yrs.

[Suzukian]

There's a big difference in torque, if not so much in horse power between the 650 and the 1000.. You're riding an XS1100 and you will find that the grunt you were used to, to get out of way of the jerk in the tractor trailer bearing down on you will require a couple of downshifts. Best to ride one first, and see if you can really live with almost half of thee power you have now. If you're keeping your XS1100, then it's a non issue.

[gtem]

Suzukian the real point of comparison for any potential SV650 purchase is my *other* big bore 4, a 2002 Bandit 1200, yes a torquey beast indeed. I agree that a test ride is in order.