What did you do to your bike today?

NooBish AbbZ · 1 Feb 2018 at 22:31

Managed to get out for a blast on the SV around the New Forest; little bit chilly, but sunny and dry hence i grasped the opportunity. Nice ride, minimal traffic and huge sight lines for overtaking around the forest (ironically), but, i'm just not 'in love' with the bike anymore

R1 when i come back from UAE around March/April 2020 so options are keep the SV until then and just see it as a tool to get to work and back avoiding traffic, or option 2 is go for something like a CB1000R; ie, a middle ground between this(72bhp) and an R1(160+?) which I'll then sell on for the R1

My Dad suggested that I'd cherish the bike if I didn't have the car I have

which may be true. But i drove to work on a night shift(2230 or so) a few days ago through relatively residential areas though of course, totally quiet. Car was in sport mode, i had the sunroof open for the burbles and i was using the flappy paddles and couldn't help but grin

That's what the bike used to do

Today even while over taking it crossed my mind, 'would prefer to be in the car'

Fireskull · 2 Feb 2018 at 09:30

If its perfect conditions for enjoying a bike ride and you think 'rather be in the car' then definitely time to change bikes!

The SVs are great little bikes, but everyone pretty much uses them as a stop gap or a cheap workhorse.

IC3 · 2 Feb 2018 at 15:24

That's the problem with the SV, its good off the line but once you get to mixed country road with longer bends and tighter ones you've to rag it...

I got beat by a tuned RS, we were going head to head up to 100, at 110-120 he started moving forward so I let go. Off the line played with an RS6, again we were going head to head up to around 60 as he had some traction problems (probably cold tyres). If it was in summer, he would have smoked me...

Get an SV1000

They're fun, well... not so fun in the wet.

The_Abyss · 2 Feb 2018 at 16:11

Was that on your famously long and diverse private road?

acemastr · 2 Feb 2018 at 16:53

Changed the throttle mappings some more and flashed the bike again... I've found perfection! Off>On throttle is silky smooth and the throttle opens more for each percent of throttle twist.

CGrieves · 2 Feb 2018 at 19:15

Rode a CB1000R when deciding on my commuter replacement (stolen KTM 990). Everything about it was easy, clean, manageable, compliant, sensible, safe........ Boring. For much less money I ended up with a newer MT-09. Far less perfect, compliant and all those other things, but at the same time an utter hilarious laugh, and makes me feel alive every time I ride it let alone making the commute tolerable. So much so I only did 1000 miles on my S1000RR last year.

MowyTone · 2 Feb 2018 at 19:19

NooBish AbbZ said:
Managed to get out for a blast on the SV around the New Forest; little bit chilly, but sunny and dry hence i grasped the opportunity. Nice ride, minimal traffic and huge sight lines for overtaking around the forest (ironically), but, i'm just not 'in love' with the bike anymore

I've found the roads in the new forest tend to be full of crap and not that nice to ride this time of year. Used to ride my SV through the forest all the time and loved it - I did get frustrated with it towards the end though

IC3 · 2 Feb 2018 at 23:47

The_Abyss said:
Was that on your famously long and diverse private road?

Of course

NooBish AbbZ · 3 Feb 2018 at 10:48

Yeah it’s definitely either time to get rid or at the very least just see the SV differently. Will start to have a browse around some bikes, but not sure if i’ll Actually replace it. CB1000R would be the front runners currently though I did see a very nice Kawa Z1000SX for sale. Could be a good option with wind protection just in case I need to ride the bike home at some point (Southampton to Manchester)

The_Abyss · 3 Feb 2018 at 14:14

Took the CB400 out and had as spirited a ride as the conditions would allow. Over 30 miles the electrical problem only manifested once (predictably mid-corner!) and corrected itself within half a second. Apart from that, all was fine. The speedometer feels a little ambitious but other than that everything was good.

I checked out the wiring behind the light, and couldn't see any evidence of cables rubbing or earthing. Then I had a look under the seat to check out the battery and wiring there. I found this, and assume it is the rectifier but it has no heat sink and wasn't getting warm when running the engine. There appear to be many, many wires that don't go anywhere...

tom_e · 3 Feb 2018 at 14:22

That looks like an alarm box or something, definitely not a rectifier.

TallPaul_S · 3 Feb 2018 at 16:25

Yeah that ain't original, and I'm certain it's not the rectifier.

The reg/rec was (on mine) down at the bottom of your first photo, behind the rear side fairing. it'll have metal fins on it to dissipate the heat.

.one. · 3 Feb 2018 at 17:26

Looks like a pathetic attempt of an alarm of some sorts just junk it and rewire the tail end back to stock.

Diddums · 3 Feb 2018 at 21:09

That's either an alarm or a remote start thingy. It's also 99% guaranteed the cause of your leccy fault. Disconnect it and see if the bike runs. If it does, then tidy up all the cables and make sure nothing is shorting and not able to chafe (seriously, 99% of leccy faults are caused by wiring chafing and stripping over time, and 99% of those are all caused by crap install jobs). Cable tie the lot nice and tidy and carry on with life.

If it doesn't run with it disconnected, then see if it has any identifying marks so we can find a way to get shot of it.

Nothing worse than people who think they know how to install stuff and making a mess.

The_Abyss · 3 Feb 2018 at 22:40

Thanks chaps. I'll see if I can get it removed tomorrow and then see what happens. If nothing else, another 0.1 kg saved right there!

NooBish AbbZ · 4 Feb 2018 at 09:29

so looking at CB1000R’s and Z1000SX’s whatbare the main competitors, ie other options to look into for each?

Kreeeee · 4 Feb 2018 at 09:40

One is a naked and the other is a sports tourer, so quite different bikes.

For the naked you have the tuono, s1000r, superduke and mt10 as direct competitors.

They are all much better machines than the cb1000r though.

bcjames · 4 Feb 2018 at 15:15

Passed my CBT on it today, for the second time in my life. First at 16 for my moped, and now at 30 with a view of getting my A licence.

The_Abyss · 4 Feb 2018 at 15:21

Congrats!

bcjames · 4 Feb 2018 at 15:31

The_Abyss said:
Congrats!

Thanks! Looking at potential big bikes now...