Suzuki SV650 Riders Forum banner

Best year? And how many miles is too many?

40K views 28 replies 15 participants last post by  twilkinson3 
#1 ·
I am a newb to motorcycles and I'm being steered toward a SV650 by others more knowledgeable than I. I have been told that the earlier SV's are better handling than the newer ones, is this true and how many miles would be considered too many? Thank you for any input, oh great and powerful forum.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Best year could include aesthetics but the sake of your question it's better left out. I really haven't seen any actual information that would prove the steering on a generation 1 vs generation 2 that would seperate them in their ability to "turn." Minus riding position that might make turning easier for some, turning ability depends solely on the rider.

I would recommend 2004+ because it has fuel injection over carbs (gen 1's), availabilty of parts and aftermarket components. I would choose 04+ over the 03 because the 03 requires unique parts like exhausts. For clarification 99-2002 are considered gen 1's and 03+ are gen 2's. In the end, if you can find a good deal on a well maintained bike that you find appealing then that is the best bike. It's your first bike so expect to have some mishaps that are inevitable.

Without meticulous service records I would steer clear of bikes over 20k miles.
 
#4 ·
The Curvy adherents like the Curvy, and the Pointy fans heart the Pointy... but beyond simple preference, here is my take on which to consider...

1gens have carbs. Not everyone likes to pull carbs to rejet or the analog/mechanical nature of them. I have tons of documentation here to make this easier... but you gotta not mind them. I consider my carbed 1gen as painless to own and operate as a 2gen... with a few exceptions...

Carbs need outside air pressure to act on the surface of the fuel in the float bowl... which means fuel loses its volatility and varnishes, as it's more exposed. The 2gen FI only lets fuel and air touch in two places: the tank, and the intake runner right before being burned -- so fuel lasts longer.

Carbs also depend on atmospheric/venturi pressure differences to carburet, whereas FI atomizes fuel mechanically under great pressure -- so there are no circuits to clog.

Moisture also plays havoc with carbs. Your float bowl vents on the SV are large-diameter tubes, and if the climate is damp (> 80% like here), condensation can form in the bowls (and tank), causing water ingestion and poor starting/running, not to mention rust in the tank. FI has the same things happen, but since there's forced atomization via injection, it tends to affect 2gens a lot less, esp since fuel exposure to air is less to begin with.

I have a 1gen here in the Puget Sound. All of my past bikes (FZR600R, FZR1000, YZF1000R) have been carbed, plus I'm a former tech. It took a lot of research, trial and error and plain work to get my 1gen reliable for this sloppy place, but it's pretty painless now. That said, I'd hop on a 2gen without even blinking -- they're not as pretty... but they sure are easy to live with. Other than power mods, an '04-on is what I'd ride given a choice. ;)
 
#9 ·
To the OP:

I faced the same decision a year ago. Ended up buying an 03, for the fuel injection.

If I had to do it over I'd look for 04 or up, for the same reason as above. The exhaust fitment is really not a big deal, a number of mfr's make exhausts to fit 03 with no issue. But the 03, being the first year of FI, is tuned very rich (conservative), and gets relatively poor mpg.

Suggest trolling the classifieds on this forum and picking up an 04+, hopefully with some of the common mods (frame sliders, suspension work) done. This is the most cost effective route.

Best of luck and welcome!
 
#13 ·
Randy's got a point, as properly-maintained, my SV rarely gives me starting problems. Emphasis on 'properly-maintained'...

The majority of no-starts I see with 1gens here, are from sitting/improper storage, post-carb-clean, or bad setup. In other words, avoidable with key info. The FI Suzis, just tolerate more n00b learning curve than carbs will.

I wouldn't casually brush off Randy's experience -- he had arguably one of the highest-mileage 1gens here, most of it fording streams and spraying gravel on fire roads. ;)

I love my 1gen... but my next SV will be '04+. :)
 
#15 ·
Addressing the other part of the question, how many miles are too many? Well that depends on the price. I'd say the SV has a 100K mile engine. With the high mileage engines, watch out for the cam chain tensioners going out. I have a 2001 at 65K and it's still going strong.
 
#18 ·
its not the tensioners you have to worry about, when milage gets that high, the chain itself may be stretched beyond service limits even though it's tensioned properly


Just to be clear, I did say I love my Curvy. But it's no match for the 2gen's FI on my commute, in my climate (Puget Sound, 9 months of rain and humidity above 80% any day of the year).
my carbs started much more relibably in extreme cold weather, but in that cool damp wet weather, I don't miss the carb icing
 
#17 ·
Just to be clear, I did say I love my Curvy. But it's no match for the 2gen's FI on my commute, in my climate (Puget Sound, 9 months of rain and humidity above 80% any day of the year).

I'd make my 1gen a weekend/trackday Superbike, and use a lightly-modded '07+ 2gen as my daily driver. The 1gen may be harder to mod to a point... but I think the really neat trick pieces complement it better for weekend duty than the 2gen. Besides... I lived through the nothing-but-carbs era, and don't mind spending a Saturday afternoon with them. Just not everyday. ;)
 
#20 ·
One mile is too many. Or maybe it was elenty billion. Or maybe somewhere in the middle.

I dunno. I have over 50k on my '00 with no problems other than those that are self-imposed. I abuse my bike like an ugly red headed step child courtesan. And yet she still rides hard.

In 26 years I've never owned a fuel injected bike. Those that scream in terror at the thought of carbs are solely the ignorant that have never owned them. I'll take a carb'ed bike over injected any day, if that were the only metric.
 
#23 ·
Never had an FI bike with my name on the title, either.

But owning and wrenching on carbed cars vs. their injected successors... and wrenching on injected bikes since they went mainstream in '97, vs. *their* carbed predecessors... then riding and wrenching on the very bike I want, under competition loads and with the pieces I wanna twirl on myself... gives me -- I think -- enough data to support my only-technically-uninformed assumptions. ;D
 
#25 ·
I can rejet a 2gen without disassembly or even lifting the tank;

ride from sea level to Pikes Peak and not foul a plug;

sit for a month in 90 deg weather with untreated fuel, and still start it;

ride in 40+ days of straight rain on the commute without adding a water dispersant;

or start my bike in the teens and not worry about icing.


Try any of that with carbs. ;D


Plus... with the FH008 & wiring mod... who bump-starts a 1gen anymore? ;)
 
#28 ·
Just rebutting, jb. There are very compelling reasons for even me to "defect" to the 2gen, at least for my purposes. ;)

I haven't touched the jets in my 1gen since dialing it in around '07, either... just the fuel screw. However, when I ride up to 5200 ft here at Hurricane Ridge, I do feel a distinct softening of response, while my 2gen and R6 buddies riding with me continue to enjoy only a tiny bit of power loss. Had I ridden any longer or to higher elevations, I would have to swap plugs getting home. So, it's worth mentioning.

FI is also in my future, for its onboard diagnostics. On an '03-on Yamaha R6, the ECU in service mode will tell you *everything* -- what temp the coolant sensor reads, what the TPS values are in real time, and which sensors aren't in spec -- how cool is that? And it doesn't require you to have a single special tool (with the exception of Honda's PGM-FI, which is maddening to work on yourself). Saves time and twirling, great for a commuter... even a former tech. :p

There are certain things I must leave analog (books, tachometers, sex ;D ), and many of my dream cars and bikes are from the carb era (The GT40 Mk I and RC30, my favorite examples). But they won't be flogged in the slop like my commuters must, and they shouldn't be... just wheeled out for sunny Saturday sorties to remember what they sounded like leaned over. ;)
 
#29 ·
Long workday so here's my FI world insite - I've bump started a 600rr several times - what's the issue hehe, yes the battery was dead so no content in the arguement there hehe, the fuel map programability is a plus and a minus, plus it's far easier to do than a carb, minus it's a pain in the arse to get right without very expensive tools or a trip to the local dyno guy - argument there could be it's just as painful to get the carb'd bike as right as the FI one (lord knows my carb'd SV STILL isn't quite right...but I digress....)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top