SUZUKI SV650 & SV1000 MOST COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS ANSWERED! (Wheelies? Engine Swaps? Reliability?)

My first bike was a 2005 sv650s and I loved it. Such a great starter bike. Fast enough to have fun on and scare me, but tame enough to keep me alive. At 16 years old I wrapped up a 6000km trip to the coast and back. Currently looking to buy an SV1000 now that I have aged a bit and my shop has room to spare.

Great video! On the topic of reliability of the SV1000 I would like to add two additional points: 1. Famous green connector that overheats from excessive current and can leave you stranded. Although I prefer to keep things OEM, i highly recommend cutting the wire and making a stronger electrical connection next to the original one. 2. Clutch basket and it's springs - the basket develops excessive play over time and the springs break from vibrations. Don't buy a new one - just send it for a repair at a specialised shop. They are going to eliminate the play, add some washers so that all the springs are engaged at the same time and put everything together using bolts instead of rivets. There are some great videos covering the topic. No more rattle, less vibrations during accelerations. For the mods: 1. Gear indicators with built-in TRE like Gipro ATRE are great! The bike runs much smoother at low speeds. 2. If you want better breaks, you can swap the 6 piston calipers from K1 GSX-R 1000. They fit P&P and work perfectly when combined with steel break lines.

My SV1 will power wheelie in 1st and 2nd! It's crazy. No mechanical issues other that regular services after 30K miles. My break fluid reservoir took sun damage and cracked and had to be replaced, but that was the worst of it after 15 seasons!!!! Best bike I ever owned! Reliable, sounds great, and a load of fun to ride.

I have been riding 🏍 bikes for over 50 years. I have owned dozens of motorcycle over the years. I still have performance bikes like aprilia tuono factory v4. Gsxr 1000s and loads of old 2 strokes suzuki 500 Rd 350bs ts 250s nsr400.etc. the point I'm trying to make is I bought a brand new suzuki sv1000 in 2004 and I still own it to this day.its a fantastic bike. And I'll never sell it.and it's never let me down once and it's a clean and tidy as the day it left the showroom

Thanks for your channel. I’ve just started looking for the SV community.

The SV650/1000 is more than just a starter bike. IMO, the SV is one of the best “getting around” city bikes. For riding on streets and city freeway, you can’t beat them. I used to own a 1999 SV650 and now own a 2003 SV1000s and I still think it’s the perfect bike for getting around town. If you’re going to go riding in the country or plan on traveling between cities I recommend the 1000. The added displacement and weight make a lot of difference when dealing with long stretches of open highway and crosswinds, etc. The 650 will do ok, I’ve done it but the 1000 is better suited for that. If your just getting around town either is perfect, with the 650 being lighter.

I jumped from a 125 12hp engine to a unrestricted sv650s and I loved it, big jump to some people but its not so bad you just have to learn

I had a K5 1000S. Put 80k miles on it! Never did a wheelie over a block long and no engine failures. Due to neck problems I now have a L2 DL677.

Changing an SV from S to N model is easy as it's just part swapping, but the other way around is not. There is no way to mount the S front fairing bracket as that part of the frame is missing on the N frame - so either it takes welding or fabricating the eyelets yourself, and maybe bolting them on. Nice video. 🙂

Most of us older riders learnt to wheelie on these engines and in all these years never seen one open due to oil starvation causing catastrophic failure. I've owned almost every trim in the L-Twin lineup from Suzuki starting from the first TL1000 from late 90s all the way through with roughly 60 000km in total on the back wheel. Infact my one 650 currently has 26 000kms of just rear wheel action and still sweet as a nut and my first TL is still going strong between my mates legs for over 9 years now with just over 74 000km which has to speak for something because that bike spent almost it's entire life on the back wheel. Very strange indeed!

From what i see the sv650s is a great bike, my dad has had his since new in 99 and i dont think he's ever gonna part with it.

Nice video bud! 👍

I will probably buy sv650s due to lower weight and lower cost of registration and fuel consumption but one question: is the sv1000s that less flickable than sv650s? What you think about handlebars on sv1000s cuz I saw some with them? Better flickability and comfort with them?

Awesome video

I heard the sv1000 doesn't blow up from wheelies like the 650 does

What would be the part numbers for the lower peg mounting brackets, I could use on my 07 sv 1000S (front) I

How does the 1000 compare to the 650 in terms of handling? I own the 650 right now & LOVE how the thing handles. I wanna jump up to the 1000 next year but i fear it wont handle the same. Curious if you’ve ridden both/noticed a difference

Great video

I have Sv1000 2003 naked model I love the bike looking to make it faster too end

I have a 2001 sv650s this was my first season on the bike I have put nearly 3k miles on it over the summer. I really love this bike and want to start upgrading and pushing her to her full potential, I’ve heard of the gsxr front end swap and I definitely will eventually do that. My primary worry is the engine. The buddy I bought the bike from originally bought it with a broken odometer, we estimate the bike has anywhere from 25,000-60,000 miles on it. To my knowledge the engine has never been fully opened and inspected and I don’t even know if I want to. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that the engine will eventually fail. My question is wether or not I can put a 2nd or even 3rd gen sv650 engine in the 1st gen frame? I’ve been doing oil changes ~1000 miles in hopes it will keep the engine going longer, if you think I should open it up and do a full tear down and rebuild, what should I look for and how could I potentially upgrade it?