written by 2wheellover51 on 22/02/2020
When I first collected my SV1000S from Motorcycle Trade-ins in Poole, the clutch rattled, the bike surged on small throttle openings and it was horrible to ride. It was raining, and the small front mudguard meant rain was being thrown up onto the hot exhaust and radiator, sending steam up onto the windscreen and fogging the instruments. The bike was a later model with superbike handlebar conversion and black frame, a lovely dark blue finish and half-fairing with fairing lowers and crash bungs. Nice to look at but a nightmare to ride! Trade ins eventually agreed to go halves for a clutch converion to cure the dreaded "chudder" (Sharealike conversion) and I bought the Haynes manual and joined the SV forum, source of much good advice when it comes to SVs
The converted clutch arrived back and was duly fitted and the bike was transformed into a reasonable ride. I find it difficult to believe that no other owners ride their bikes without any problems. Beside the sorted clutch I had to replace the magnets on the alternator rotor, when I found 2 magnets had come loose, just before I rode the bike up to Scotland-the magnets are only held on with epoxy glue, which becomes hard and yellow, loses adhesion, and sometimes the loose magnets hit the stator and wreck the coils. I had been lucky and mine were just loose, held in place by magnetism and centrifugal force. Poor work Suzuki. I used JB weld and metalstik to reattach the magnets after thoroughly cleaning and roughening the rotor inner surface. They never came loose again! I also replaced the green connector behind the headstock, which is prone to overheating and catching fire, again on the welcome advice of the forum. The bike was nice to ride then except for a hesitation at about 80mph which I cured by adjusting the TPS (throttle position sensor) as per recommended by the forum. It requires making a special tool to do the job)
Once all these jobs were done the bike was nice to ride, with good steering and handling, but only adequate brakes, despite having steel hoses fitted.
I took the SV on a couple of good runs, to Devon and Scotland and it was reliable and had plenty of power ( I once found myself doing 108 mph in a 50 zone after accelerating to over take a car) I can't understand how almost everyone who reviews the SV says they're fantastic bikes, no problems etc. It wasn't my experience. Nevertheless I do like the bikes once all the problems are Ironed out. My SV gave about 35-40mpg in traffic, and on long runs returned about 50-55 mpg. I loved the performance and v-twin engine character. And yes, I would have another one in my garage if one came along at the right price.
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