[Nowhere Man]

After a lot of years waiting and many, many episodes of packing a massive sad when my missus said no to my request for a new bike, yet again - for the 700th time - I walked in to my local Suzuki dealership in Christchurch this afternoon and purchased a brand new 2022 SV650A - the last full power version they had left. I've been riding a BMW G310R - image attached - for the last couple of years which is an awesome wee bike but, at the end of the day, it's a sub-500cc single being ridden by a middle-aged Silverback gorilla! I paid $5000 for it two years ago and somehow managed to sell it on to the first dude that saw it for $6000. The economics of supply & demand at work right there!

Anyhow, having drooled over all the other naked offerings from Yamaha, Triumph, Honda and even Benelli, to name a few, I ended up coming full circle, right back to my original 'dream bike'! I've wanted an an SV for a long time - probably since I first saw one up close in 1999. I love the v-twin configuration and sound and have never really been that bothered about having a bike with all the fancy bells & whistles - who needs rider modes anyhow? I just wanted a no frills, basic, do-it-all bike that I could hang on to and make it my own. I am planning on making a few mods over the next few months - seat, slip-on exhaust and tail tidy plus a few other 'tweaks' here and there. I pick my new bike up this coming Saturday and will likely go for a leisurely 'run in' ride on Sunday morning. Will post some pics when I have them. Cheers.

 

[Nowhere Man]

Not that many TBH. They are around but a bit like Aussie I guess, MT-07's dominate. I'm sure now that I own an SV, I'll start seeing more around. I tend to see plenty of Gen 2 SV,s out at Ruapuna raceway - Kiwi's love them as track bikes. Lots of guys going for Royal Enfields too and likely the BSA Goldstar if we ever see it land here! Harley's are huge here Not sure why that is because most of them are ridden in urban areas with a handful out on the open road! What's that all about? Personally, I'm not a fan although the Bronx concept bike was an awesome looking beast but they dropped that in favour of the Pan Am "Bender'!

Only other v-twin I really fancied a few years back was an Aprilia Shiver but they dumped the 750 and went to a 900 which put it way out of my budget at the time. I did own an RG250 way back so I'm not complete Suzuki 'newbie'. Damn that was an absolutely mental bike to ride.