1st extended ride on the new SV-650

By extended I mean a 25 mile mostly freeway loop throught the Phoenix
East Valley. I'll do 100+ miles tomorrow.

The biggest irritant (brought my GPS portable unit) was the gross
speedometer error, so common on today's bikes. My worst error was at
an indicated 105 which was really only 93 or a 12 MPH error @ >100MPH.
The error decreased as the speed went down but was still 7 MPH at a
real 70MPH. That's about the only negative thing about the bike I have
to say.

Due to it's power & weight distribution it actually feels lighter and
closer to the ground than the little RZ-350 but the speedo on that
old beast was dead-on. Next the FI has vastly inproved the little
SV-650 with it now being able to idle away from a stop light without
any initial throttle input. My 00 carbed model was kind of
herky..jerky off the line. The vibration (you can still tell it's a
twin by the bipe and gentle power pulses) but it was never an
irritation, even at about the 105 indicated speed. I don't know if it
was the speedo error or the actual gearing but it now seems to be
geared longer legged than my 00 SV. The brakes are vastly inproved
than before as well. I can't speak for brake fade but the initial bite
is like my old Sprint with SS lines and HH pads. Oh and this is the
ist bike since loosing my right lower leg that I can actually
effectively use the rear brake by just moving my foot forward and
genty pushing straight down. The midrange torque is as I remember my
old 00 or wheelie prone if to jerk the throttle open in 1st or second
gear. The suspension is set pretty soft or fine on the Freeway but
I'll have to see how it feels in the canyon tomorrow. That's about all
and next is to mark the big tack with real speedo numbers. Oh, it has
a temp guage now but the low fuel light is still just an icon that
comes on. Also there are two trip odometers for trip and oil changes I
guess. No center stand is kind of a bummer with even the little RZ-350
sporting one. This meams I have to park in the street and back it in
my slooped driveway. a bitch on the old half heart.

Bob Nixon, 06 SV-650, "RED" Chandler , AZ.

On Sep 21, 7:35 pm, Bob Nixon <bigrex2... RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote:
> By extended I mean a 25 mile mostly freeway loop throught the Phoenix
> East Valley. I'll do 100+ miles tomorrow.
>
> The biggest irritant (brought my GPS portable unit) was the gross
> speedometer error, so common on today's bikes. My worst error was at
> an indicated 105 which was really only 93 or a 12 MPH error @ >100MPH.

Exactly. That's why Vaughn's 140 mph really only equated to 107
mph...a full 1 mph slower than Timsey's Harley's GPS.

> The error decreased as the speed went down but was still 7 MPH at a
> real 70MPH. That's about the only negative thing about the bike I have
> to say.
>
> Due to it's power & weight distribution it actually feels lighter and
> closer to the ground than the little RZ-350 but the speedo on that
> old beast was dead-on.

Mechanical cable linkage vs electronic encoder? I hate to see what
that fly by wire's gonna be like!

> Next the FI has vastly inproved the little
> SV-650 with it now being able to idle away from a stop light without
> any initial throttle input. My 00 carbed model was kind of
> herky..jerky off the line. The vibration (you can still tell it's a
> twin by the bipe and gentle power pulses) but it was never an
> irritation, even at about the 105 indicated speed. I don't know if it
> was the speedo error or the actual gearing but it now seems to be
> geared longer legged than my 00 SV. The brakes are vastly inproved
> than before as well. I can't speak for brake fade but the initial bite
> is like my old Sprint with SS lines and HH pads. Oh and this is the
> ist bike since loosing my right lower leg that I can actually
> effectively use the rear brake by just moving my foot forward and
> genty pushing straight down. The midrange torque is as I remember my
> old 00 or wheelie prone if to jerk the throttle open in 1st or second
> gear. The suspension is set pretty soft or fine on the Freeway but
> I'll have to see how it feels in the canyon tomorrow. That's about all
> and next is to mark the big tack with real speedo numbers. Oh, it has
> a temp guage now but the low fuel light is still just an icon that
> comes on. Also there are two trip odometers for trip and oil changes I
> guess. No center stand is kind of a bummer with even the little RZ-350
> sporting one. This meams I have to park in the street and back it in
> my slooped driveway. a bitch on the old half heart.

How would you ever get it up on a centerstand?