The Suzuki SV 650 is a machine we could happily live with, writes John Wheeler
Last year Suzuki's SV 650 was Europe's best selling bike with 16,200 sold. It all sounds like Suzuki have got it very right. They have!
It handles well, the price is right. The engine, a 90º V-twin packs a lot of punch throughout the rev range, with no discernible flat spots. It pulls as happily in slow city traffic as on the open road. The steering is excellent. Few machines have such a feel of straight line stability.
So what about corners? You will like it. Takes them in its stride with nonchalant ease.
Doubtless a lot of the taut, well-mannered feel is down to the vacuum-cast aluminium frame which looks as if it was sculpted out of a solid billet.
V-twin engines have been, and still are, at the heart of many of the all-time great bikes and that layout is what makes this machine different from many other sports bikes. It just feels so right. It feels like a bike should feel. It's been given Suzuki's own dual throttle valve fuel-injection system for better response, matched with a pulsed secondary air system, catalyser and O2 feedback control.
It churns out 70 bhp at 9,000 rpm, equivalent to 414 bhp per tonne. Maximum claimed torque is 45 ft lbs at 7,500 rpm. All together enough to propel this machine up to a claimed 135 mph.
The riding position, by sports bike standards, is excellent. The tank shape and width are exactly right, your knees tuck in precisely where they should, immediately making man and machine one, as it should be.
Our test of a fresh from the crate, zero miles bike, took place on one of those all too common days in May when strong, gusty winds and torrential downpours were incessant. Not the best of conditions, especially with the tyres not yet scuffed in, to go in for ultimate excesses. It seemed barelyaffected by strongcross-wind gusts. It held the chosen line through the bendy bits and had laser-like straight ahead accuracy. Not once in such poor conditions did it give a moment's concern.
The suspension on standard settings coped well with a variety of road surfaces. As to be expected of such a relatively light machine it "noticed" the most atrocious bits where contractors had simply dumped dollops of tar over a pipe trench but any bike, even a Gold Wing, is not meant to be a road roller.
The mirrors were typical of so many "sports" machines. Is it that the makers think that with a 130 odd mph top speed there is no need to know what is behind? They gave the usual view of upper arms and elbows and a car 100 metres astern remained invisible with the bars in the straight ahead position on the straight. Only through a bend could you see if anything was behind. Surely it is not beyond the wit of man to sort this out?
The brakes seemed good enough, but for a machine with all this potential, pushing it hard or, say, on a track day three-piston callipers would be better than the two-piston ones?
The pillion seat is more of a launching pad than a proper seat, only for the intrepid. Underneath the pad there is a bit of room for small items.
There is a decent grab rail. Suzuki will be offering various extras; a luggage system, rear wheel hugger, fairing lowers and a taller screen.
For those wanting a sports machine which can also cope with the daily commute, some touring and even the occasional track day, you get a lot of fun for your money.
It is a machine we could happily live with.
TECHSPEC
ENGINE: 4-stroke, 2-cylinder, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, 90º V-twin, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder. 70 PS @ 9,000 rpm, 61Nm @ 7,400 rpm. 6-speed gearbox
CHASSIS: Vacuum-cast aluminium frame, 41 mm front telescopic forks, rear swinging arm with progressive linkage and 7-position preload, 2-piston 290 mm dual front disks, single piston 220 mm rear disk
WEIGHT: 163 kg
PERFORMANCE: Maximum speed (claimed) 132 mph. Standing start 1/4 mile: 12.9 secs, 103 mph
FUEL: Tank capacity 17 litres. Range around 160 miles
PRICE: €8,697