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Any motorcyclists on this forum?

I've taken to gravel roads and trails the last few seasons. My SDR still gets plenty of attention, but gravel, trails and dirt have been fun to explore.
 

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Count Arthur said:
I had a few bikes in my 20s and just recently got another one. I picked up this reasonably low mileage 2006 SV650S to "re-learn" on:

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I think it had been sat for a while before I got it, and it had no real service history, so I've given it a pretty comprehensive service; changed the oil, coolant, oil and air filters, spark plugs, checked the valve clearances and fitted new a new battery and tyres.

I've done a few hundred miles on it now, and so far, it hasn't missed a beat. Runs well, sounds great, starts first time, goes and stops as it should - not bad for for a bike nearly 20 years old that cost about the same as my bicycle. :)
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She is beautiful. That is maybe the best or one of the top best values in motorcycling today. Great choice.
 
Thanks Doodski.

Having not had a bike for many years, I was completely out of touch with what was available. I knew I wanted something around 600cc, quick enough to be fun, but not too much of a handful, for someone that is effectively back to being a learner again. Looking around for possible candidates, the SV650 kept cropping up as a nice "middleweight" with nice handling, a characterful engine and solid reliability; plenty of examples with well over 50,000 miles on them with just regular maintenance.

I was initially looking at getting a newer 2022 or 2023 model, but I happened across the older one I bought, with 17,500 miles on it, for what I thought was a very good price and so far, I'm pleased with it. It's pretty easy to work on, and because they've been around, largely unchanged, and have quite a following - they are popular as a track day bike, there is lots of information about them, there are whole forums dedicated to the SV650 and plenty of "how to" guides and videos for anything that might need doing.

I quite like tinkering with mechanical things, so buying an older model, that might need a bit of work wasn't really a downside for me. It gave me an excuse to mess about in the garage for a few hours. :)

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I followed street bikes by constant reading up till about ~10 years ago and then the daily interest tapered off. Your SV650 is one of the rides that I determined if I where to get back into riding would be my ride. All around great ride. The last 2 street bike rides I had I had every single bit of service done by a bike shop. I was working full time+ hours at the time and as I spent my entire years from ~7 years of age till about 20 wrenching motorcycles, outdoor equipment and V8 engines and whatever cars those around me needed servicing and they where poor I would fix them and me and my buddies all gear heads would literally remove engines at the street in front of people's homes and get their cars operating so they could carry on with their poor lives. So when I was in my mid 20s onwards I had the money and was a bit tired of wrenching and just wanted to ride and not be bothered with wrenches. So I might check my tire pressure, adjust a lever position, tighten my chain, pour oil into the engine etc but other than that it was off to the shop....LoL.
 
Count Arthur said:
I had a few bikes in my 20s and just recently got another one. I picked up this reasonably low mileage 2006 SV650S to "re-learn" on:
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Those SV650S were good runners, I sold a few of them used and never had an issue with one. Be safe and enjoy!
Sal

Esprit said:
I'm not a biker, my nephew just bought this (Streetfighter V4 S):
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Oh wow, what a beautiful Duck!. In "arrest me red" yet..
Beware of rideing "Johnny Law" on that guy. ;)
 
Yeah, That Duc SFV4s is hard to resist in either Ducati red, grey or black.
 
Sal1950 said:
Thanks, it's fun.
I've been riding motorcycles for over 60 years and still wonder why C-A goes with the break pedal only when it's mostly opposite what all bikers are used to? ISCI does have a conversion kit but it's like $1500, plus labor if you have a dealer install it. Honda does integrated braking off the right lever on the Wings.
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I agree that it would be nice to have the brake lever on the handlebar. That being said, we did another 140 miles today and it is getting easier each ride. It requires more work from upper body in curves and turns versus a motorcycle “on rails” physics. Did some sweepers on Maytown road today without any “twitchiness” - more getting used to things. How many miles on your Ryker and at what mileage did things get “comfortable”?
 
Bob from Florida said:
I agree that it would be nice to have the brake lever on the handlebar. That being said, we did another 140 miles today and it is getting easier each ride. It requires more work from upper body in curves and turns versus a motorcycle “on rails” physics. Did some sweepers on Maytown road today without any “twitchiness” - more getting used to things. How many miles on your Ryker and at what mileage did things get “comfortable”?
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It took me about 500 miles to get comfortable on it. I understand the Ryker and Spyder have a different feel to them, but starting out it seemed to be quite twitchy at speed, darting around wanting to follow any of the roads irregularities much more than a motorcycle, darting This made me want to put a death grip on the bars which made the issue worse. Once I learned to lighten up an "give it it's head", things got better but still feel quite strange after 60+ years on a 2 wheeler which mostly seemed to ride on rails in comparison ???. I've been having some health problems lately and only have totaled up around 1k on it so far. I've read on the net about alignments that can make things better.
 
I assumed that the fluid on the floor was from a different vehicle. Hope so. Definitely a serious issue if not.

Have to say that I hope your nephew is experienced. That is a hell of a lot of motorcycle. For anyone.
I don't think that I would trust the 25 year old me with that amount of horsepower.

PS. I would put the swingarm on a pedestal on my mantlepiece (if I had one.)
F'in work of art there.
Stunning machine. Love it.
 
Sal1950 said:
It took me about 500 miles to get comfortable on it. I understand the Ryker and Spyder have a different feel to them, but starting out it seemed to be quite twitchy at speed, darting around wanting to follow any of the roads irregularities much more than a motorcycle, darting This made me want to put a death grip on the bars which made the issue worse. Once I learned to lighten up an "give it it's head", things got better but still feel quite strange after 60+ years on a 2 wheeler which mostly seemed to ride on rails in comparison ???. I've been having some health problems lately and only have totaled up around 1k on it so far. I've read on the net about alignments that can make things better.
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Sorry to hear about the health issues. Hopefully will improve soon to allow you to get back out on the road.
Loose hands are way better. A different version of getting used to a bike that gets "blown" around the lane by crosswinds and big trucks. Here is a link to a laser alignment video.


The takeaway I get from watching it is other than making sure the back wheel points straight with the front wheels - is front toe-in is key. Seminole Powersports has laser alignment locally, so that is an option.
Edit - turns out the guy in the link is also local in Edgewater.
 
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Chr1 said:
That is a hell of a lot of motorcycle. For anyone.
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His intention is to do a few laps on the track.
In any case, it's a bike with a lot of technology, sensors, and active systems (including suspension).
 
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