Hey guys,

Just bought a SV650 as my second bike, technically, but i only rode the first bike for about 2 months or so. Anyways, if you guys have any tricks or suggestions or help as far as maintenance, mods, etc., feel free to share. I just rode the bike from the seller's house to my house, which was about an hour and a half, and i LOVE it!

Quick pic:


Btw, i'm looking to take the fender off and the seller gave me a set of tail lights with build in turn signals. So let me know if there is anything i should know about taking that off. Thanks!

 

Awesome pick up man! She looks great!

Check out http://forum.svrider.com/, or just wait around for /26's SV residents to chime in

 

Very cool... be safe. Nice TSX

 

my next bike! congrats! what bike did you have before?

 

Thank you! And thanks for that link!

Thank you! That's actually the seller's car, but it sure is nice! Haha.

Thanks! What are you riding now?

I just sold a CB350 Cafe. I loved that bike, but seriously after riding this bike its like, i'm glad i did to pick this up. But i do have plans to pick up a CB later down the road, possibly in the winter to turn into a cafe.

 

that's a really nice looking sv. congrats on the pick up

 

Welcome to the SV family. There are plenty of fender eliminators out there. I actually use the suzuki aftermarket one. It is made out of sturdy metal and still allows for me to attach bungies to the back for when i'm carrying an extra helmet or stuff.

As far as maintenance besides your regular stuff(chain, oil, etc) the bikes are fairly bullet proof.

With mods my first suggestion would be to get the front suspension at least sprung for your weight. I'm not sure how much you weigh but those bikes are sprung very soft. I weigh 160 w/out gear and swapped my front fork springs for .85 and 20 weight oil.

Other than that ride the hell out of it, it is a great bike

 

svrider is right, suspension is one of the first things to address on these bikes.
I was only around 150lbs when I got my SV and it was still way too soft for me. I can't even begin to tell you how many mods there are available for the SV but to give you an idea here's a thread of the winners of the SV of the month contest over at svrider:
http://forum.svrider.com/showthread.php?t=63629

Some of those SVs don't even look like SVs anymore.

 

congrats on the bike, looks super clean.

 

Thanks man!


Oh ok. Is it necessary to have the eliminator or can i just take the fender off and fab a spot for the plate to hang?

And for maintenance, do they have a scheduled maintenance at certain miles?

Suspension is one of the first things i want to do as well. Is it something i can do myself or should i let a shop do it? I'm pretty handy when it comes to wrenching, as long as i have some directions as to what to do, lol.

Thanks man. Yea i just signed up on that board, so i'll peak around here and there!

Thank you!

 

Welcome to the Swiss Army knife of bikes. Congrats.
.

 

Hahaha, thanks!

Did my first mods. Took out the fender and turns, and tucked in the plate. It's a integrated tails with the turn signals. And the tag spot is pretty visible from the back at any height!





I kind of don't like how the taillight is clear though. Aren't there ways to spray paint them red?

 

there's krylon stained glass paint, but it doesn't look perfect, and it does fade. I did a set of tail lights for my car once and after 6 months or so they were pink instead of red.
I have the same tail lights as you on my SV, and i felt the same way in the beginning, but I think after a while I just stopped caring.

 

What do you all SV650 owners think about the Gladius? Since it essentially is an SV650.

 

it's a neutered sv650. Even worse suspension than before.
The styling is a nice change, but the whole bike is being marketed as a girls bike, and even in the SV circles that idea is taking.

 

dope!

 

Lamin-x makes a red film.

Bike looks good.

 

Ah ok, yea i'll probably get used to it i guess. I'll keep looking for other options.

I haven't really owned my SV long enough to know the differences, lol. But the Gladius looks like a beefed up scooter to me, but i bet with some mods it could look pretty good! I like the SV much better looks wise.

Thanks man. And thanks again!