EOFY price drop on full power SV650. For just $10,990 Ride Away you can own this nimble supertwin, with its characteristic steel trellis frame and classic naked styling!
The full power model makes 56kW @ 8,500 RPM and 64Nm of torque @ 8,100RPM. It also comes with a 3 year warranty.
Just not the Gladius, right?
Yeh the ‘03 to was it ‘08’re my fave
The Gladdie’s its own thing and I’m not gonna hate on it (I’ve not ridden one but willing to believe they’re fun) but it’s not my bag at all.
On my L's I was on the CB400 SF… loved the thing, but always liked the trellis look on the SV650… thought of getting one when I got my fulls, the derestricted one, but then jumped on a Street Triple R and that was it. :)
@freesteakknives: Ok, maybe you are right lol. I had a rvf400 a few years back. Wish I never sold it
Same thoughts - wasn't a fan of the Gladius.
I like the return to more of a UJM look.
@ihfree: It’s the dilemma with such a classic design. Can’t keep it on forever but it’s a terrible thing to kill it off.
@0jay: I've never owned an SV650 myself, but testimony to Suzuki's design and development philosophy that, albeit with modification, it has been in continuous production now for a quarter of a century! Still a purposeful everyday bike, guessing a sales driven decision to make this its final production year vs the plethora of more technologically sophisticated parallel twins in class entering the market from all the manufacturers.
@odal: It’s a stone cold classic. Started out as a 400 or 450 for the Japanese market (I forget the details).
I’ve owned a SV1000 as well and although they’re a good bike the 650’s just a class of its own.
@0jay: I don't disagree with you. I've still got two bikes, but at the current price am considering one for riding in my dotage as I slow down and am looking for a different pace. I've ridden alongside a very skilled and experienced friend who bought the venerable SV650 circa pre 2000. He was on a ex service Gold card which afforded it pragmatic to trade his bike every two years, usually riding much more agressive sports bikes like the Yamaha R6 or R1. He could make it perform. If you look at the specs, the current full power version puts out similar power for less weight with vastly superior reliability and greater agility than either my venerable Ducati 860GTS of 1977 or 750SS of 1978. A proven funster.
@odal: Capacity is only a small part of the equation as y know. I’ve had 14 bikes over the years and my favourites, the most fun to commute and scratch on, were well south of litre capacity.
If I had a garage and no shortage of funds I’d have a couple of bikes and one would be a 2nd gen SV
@0jay: Totally concur. Over the past 50 years of riding contiguously throughout those years, owned more bikes than I'd care to count of all brands, capacities and genres including dirt. The two favourites I ended up never selling which are still sitting here in my garage and which I still enjoy riding are my 1985 Suzuki RG500 Gamma and 1998 Suzuki RGV250T both bought new in 1986 and 2000 respectively. Chose the RGV at the time over everything else from an Aprilia RSV Mille 1000 through any of the Suzuki GSX-Rs et al. Both are much lower capacity the litre big bores, but never boring.
Trying to persuade my wife to permit me to buy that full power 2023 SV650 now. Back to the future. Going down to my dealer this week to also check out Honda's CB750 Hornet and GSX8-S as well. Not at all interested in the quickshifter feature of the GSX8, but I like the screen, and in theory SDMS (ride modes) although don't know if I'd ever use or need to use other than in A. Significant $3+k difference in price between the venerable SV650 and GSX8-S. Honda is about $1k less than the GSX8. Worth it if it's what I want, but I'll assess hands on. Just looking for a cruisy lower intensity fun to ride reliable recreational bike. SV seems that still.
@odal: Ha. The absolutely edgiest (read suicidal) rider I’ve known had those same two favourites. Of all my bikes only 3 were not writeoffs by the time I was done (some more than once) so I’ve been a pretty stupid rider myself but this fella actually had the talent to juice an RGV.
Good luck with your new prospect, the wife’ll come around to be sure :)
@0jay: Pleased to hear you've survived those years.
And thanks. I'm excited at the prospect of an SV if I can swing it with the missus. I won't buy on finance. Cash only..
I like the concept of all three of the above potentially for my intended purpose, although the exhaust note of the Honda I do find irritating. Plus having to wring its neck top end to extract its advantage from what I've seen (YT) and read is less appealing. I just wish the GSX8-S at the same price point.
That said, Honda always make a quality bike, or used to, so difficult to be disappointed I suspect. I started (road) riding on a Honda parallel twin, a venerable 1972 CB350K4 in, how's this for a colour profile, "Gentle Maroon Metallic", so I've a soft spot for parallel twins as well as V twins although I've owned most other types as well from singles to transverse and square fours along with riding the KR tandem twin and KH triples. Never owned a hoizontally opposed machine i.e. BMW by choice. Not disparaging them, just touring isn't and never was my motorcycling raison 'detre thing.
That SV650 is very appealing to me for my Indian Summer purpose in so many ways.
@odal: Always had a soft spot for the KH. I love the smell of two stroke in the morning.
I used to have a French comic book from Superbike mag calle Joe Bar Team where all the characters had an iconic seventies bike (set in 70s) and KH was one. They'd drag one another off and outsmart the cops and each bike's idiosyncracies was magnified for effect.
Great series.
@0jay: The KH series legend was superior to the bikes themselves. Perfect subject for a comic book. For the technology and their time they were VERY fast, but dreadful to ride. 'Bump' steered with utterly unstable frame geometry and total absence of stability under braking. I did get to ride the KH350 owned by a very good friend I frequently rode with, and knew two others with respectively the KH500 H1 Mach III 'Widowmaker' and another with a T350 Rebel (Suzuki). But everyone I knew who owned a KH including the aforementioned went down the road multiple times before they either totalled it and sent it to the wrecker or sold it. The Suzuki Rebel T350 (a parallel twin) was a nicer handling bike and blazingly fast for its capacity, although the idiot I knew who owned that totaled his. Way too much bike for him and his experience level at the time.
My own very first two stroke was a gorgeous dark Metallic Green 1973 Yamaha RD350A, a much nicer machine than the KH series and the second bike I owned actually equipped with a front disc brake! Spoilt since by liquid cooling of the RG & RGV, nevertheless I appreciated that the RDs didn't rattle or seem to get near as hot at idle as the KH triples. Loved the RD's distinctive ring-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding. = ]
Great times!
@odal: As a kid I could do the Rriinng-ding-ding-ding in the back of my throat so it sounded a lot like my RD250. Trashed it pretty quickly and grafted the front end to a DT250 which was all I could afford at the time and which was the strangest bike I’d ever seen with it’s enormous semi-transparent agri tank and RD front-end until AWoL magazine started up and was chockers full of weird-ass bikes in every issue.
I sold off my bikes a year before the pandemic, swapped out 2 wheels for 5 doors and suspect that’s it for me. I was an all weather rider and loved it for sure but I reckon those days are gone. I salute your ongoing commitment to biking, yours and your wife’s I just don’t have the resources for more than one reg and after having a bike I’d put a lot of work into stolen I’m not keen on owning anything without a lockup which is out of my budget as well.
It’s allgood. life goes on and things change, it’s not that big a deal. Enjoy your SV!
@0jay: Now on a fixed retirement income, affordability is an issue for me too. Fortunately long ago I took the step of having both of my bikes compliance plated for single seat rego which saves a packet. Also fortunate to have an attached dual bay garage where they are secured.
A cage is our everyday transport. Don't live in the city nor have that daily commute, so comfort and safety at work there. All weather in my commuting and limited touring bike time, but haven't needed to be other than a sport rec rider for nearly decades now. When I lived in Sydney I used to have a Suzuki TS185ER (another two stroke, trail bike) which I used for commuting. It had it all. Nippy as begeezus off the mark to 80kph, incredibly agile, reliable, ran on the smell of an oily rag, simple & cheap to maintain. Perfect in Sydney traffic and for finding easy parking. Wish I still had it, but long gone under wifeful duress. That said, not sure I'd enjoy commuting on any bike in any capital city with today's driver attitudes and traffic density.
My wife doesn't pillion any longer. Hasn't for a long time. I suspect she lost/I destroyed any enthusiasm she may have had long ago after pillioning for 15 hours straight from BTH-BN via the Newell Hwy on my Ducati 860GTS stopping only for fuel despite her protestation and my false promises that we'd stop and find accomodation at every 'next town' along the route. She has been on the back of the RG with me since on numerous occasions until I single seat registered it, but it likes to naturally wheelie in 1st and 2nd with a pax on the back under even moderate acceleration, something she could never share the same enthusiasm for that I did.
As you say. Things change. One cuts one's coat according to one's cloth. Appreciating how lucky I've been throughout 50 years of riding suffering only a single broken bone (greenstick wrist fracture) through an inadvertant unavoidable self-inititiated highside. I'm wise enough to recognise it's 5 minutes past time to slow down to less than edge of RGV envelope style riding and will have similar SA to acknowledge when it's hang up the boots entirely. Hence the potential SV or GSX-8, if I buy either. Thanks for the conversation. Cheers.
Had a Gladius. Loved the V twin.
Great learner bike (full power) not sure if there is an actual L model.
Bring back the alloy frame, lighter weight and, nicer styling.
I concur. I had an 02 and 06 s variant. Sporty yet practical.
Ahh miss my 1999 SV650S. Had the old rounded TLR shaped fairings. Was so much more reliable and predictable than my Ducati 600 SS. Was thinking of getting a new bike after many years of not having one but something like the DL650 VStrom rather than naked.
the SV650S was nice. A baby TL1000S. Once it went from rounded to angular styling it lost it's appeal for me
Great bikes for anyone that hasn't ridden one, that goldilocks level of power and handling for street use.
Perfect summary, bravo
Could out ride most other bigger 4 strokes in corners but lost to then in the straight away but we all know where the fun is…….
Haha preach!
Keep your license a bit longer too!
Wow the LAMS version is more expensive? Kind of makes sense if you think about demand
yeah, when i went from my P's to my fulls, i found the sweet spot for bikes (on the 2nd hand market), was most things in the 600-800cc range unrestricted. Because most people either want a learner approved bike, or jump straight up to the 1000's, so that market in the middle had missed opportunity and was excellent bang for buck. Just a few years ago (before covid prices), i scored an all stock, great condition with 25kkms honda cbr600f for just $1500.
Love it when supply and demand works in your favor
Even the big bikes are going cheaper now that people have to offload them to pay their mortgage. Just recently saw a dyna wide glide sell for 14 k pretty recent model and not much on the clock. Same with rolexes and luxury handbags.
To think that during covid even dog bikes were going for two or three times their normal value.
IMHO, Naked bikes suck for any sort of distance… and 10k gets you a good low klm bike with fairing/screen/luggage..
I've ridden my naked for 400km rides and haven't had any issues with it.
It’s tiring.
If it doesn’t bother you then more power to y but I prefer a screen
Fair enough, to each their own. Also depends what speeds you're doing.
110km/h is very different to 80km/h as far as impact from wind is concerned.
@0jay: I recently sold my 2018 MT-07 HO.. I used to commute on long 100km/h freeway Mon-Fri for an hour each way. Never had this issue! Obviously had no screen. But not all Nakeds are built the same. Aerodynamics of the bike play a part.
@Justin9mm: Mate there are a ton of riders who like a naked bike and I’m not willing to fight every one of them. It’s great there’re lots of options on the market to keep us all happy.
Not 400km, but I've never had issues with nakeds at distance
How much difference is that little screen going to make anyway? Sitting position more important I feel.
@cannedhams: An SVs’s sport pos so you’re naturally leaned right over the tank into the protection zone. You get plenty of benefit from the deflection that screen provides in that stance which you can vary further on very long rides by taking a rest, chest on the tank.
Makes for a really nice little breather without needing to get off the bike and if it’s raining it can mean the difference between getting to where you’re going and pulling over
A while back I did ~1000km in a day for a graduate job interview on my 2001 vtr250. Yes, I was successful
Those are very underrated bikes! Light and snappy!
i loved my vrt 250, was a nice bike. was sad to sell it but the roads are way too busy in my area now to ride safely :(
I've only ever owned nakeds, and an SV1000S which I promptly converted to a naked a month after purchase. Would regularly do 500km rides with no issues
Agree, wind becomes damn annoying after a while. Have had both and any decent distance or speed full fairing ftw
Yep, I did many Syd/Melb trips on many of my bikes only stoppin for fuel and squirt…
The worst was GSX1100E … only did it once without a screen, quickly sold it after that, never again LOL
I ride my bike naked all the time
Yes….makes you wonder how bike riders survived from the start, through the golden years, and up to the 80s+!
Though I don't wonder too much, because I remember. The last new bike I bought was a monster, and that has done fine without lots of plastic.
Anything in the development of bikes causes some folks to wonder how did we survive without this.
Perhaps some folks like cars more.
Never intended as a touring bike. Save the LAMS version, it's a commuter and weekend ride bike for the moderately skilled or casual experienced rider not wanting a sports blaster. Reliable, low maintenance, decent handling, easy riding with sufficient power.
Love to see a motorbike on here. Not a huge saving. Would love a discount on a zx-6r
Got mine a few months ago. Definitely won't be seeing any discounts on them! I had to pay extra to get mine shipped from VIC to QLD. It was the last one in the country at the time.
had a mate get a grand off his 2months ago weird?
I feel like we spoke on reddit aha.
Good specs for the price but I just can't deal with the aesthetic, or lack thereof. It's like they designed it to just be a motorbike with no character.
I was looking at it like, eh, its simplistic styling. But then I saw that exhaust can. 🤢
Stock cans are often incurably whack though, especially about the last 15 years imo
Cure it by removing it.
@0jay: They dont do the exhaust under the pillion seat anymore I think, but the Ninja 650's exhaust under the frame is a good way to blend it into the bike.
Who cares? The stock exhaust is always the first thing to go anyway
I quite like the aesthetics of this one.
Color matched wheels with the tube trellis frame is a great place to start for a naked.
Ditch the can, mirrors, trim the rear guard and lower the ride height, tightening up the factory stuff makes it look fantastic imo
Always room for improvement
Did someone recently get their license ?
My test is coming up :)
Damn. I don't like this post. Now I've got to decide if I want this motorcycle or my wife.
Edit: I'm really going to miss her guys & I'll forever love her, so anyway….any good ideas of where I should look for the right gear to wear?.
I reckon it’s fair to say that if you’re attracted to the aesthetics of this bike you may well have no interest in investing in pose gear in which case RST is great, genuinely waterproof and if you’re willing to hold out for last year’s design can be had pretty cheap on eBay
How about the Suzuki dealer where you would buy your shiny new SV650 from? I’m sure they would love to bundle in some motorcycle gear for a little extra in the sale…..
Sir, surrender your OzB credentials immediately and leave the premises
This. Dealers usually have higher margins on gear than bikes so will likely be willing/able to do you a deal
Unlikely at that price. That SV650 deal is already at significantly reduced.runout price.
Please do not buy a second hand helmet.
Steal one. Got it.
Still chuckling over this 5 minutes later
@seamonkey: quite unexpected’s what gave it a good charge
I’ve no doubt it’s well worn over the years
I’ve no doubt it’s well worn over the years
Literally no clue, as I haven't even stolen it yet. Will update on it's condition though.
How much have they improved? I just got a new HJc-20 and wow , so much better than my old beast. Lighter and more comfy.
Crazy good price here. Overseas this is the same price as the MT07 in all markets - USA, UK, EU but for some reason Aussies dont like it and hence it gets heavily discounted!
Eg USA MSRP US$7,400 + $590 delivery = US$7,990 + rego/us ctp etc = US $8,600 = AU$12,285 then you add GST for us = AU$13,514 which is what the MT07 HO should cost but because everyone here wants Yamaha MT07 HO is going for A$14.5k and this poor SV is dropped to $11k
thing is an MT07 is like a 5-6 yr old bike?
vs. this 20yr old thing? dont get me wrong I think the SV650 is a classic and would take it any day over these newer things but many people do not like 'old bikes' and really love the new 'streetfighter' look, which I hate
this gen sv650 is from 2016.
Are you referring to the engine? This is one of teh best engines in motorcycling history.
Why bother redesigning? I mean they did otherwise they wouldnt be able to satisfy the emmissions restrictions over the 20 years
This engine is the same power/torque specs as the MT but V-twin not parallel twin so sounds better
Should you buy a bike that redesigns its engines calls it new just for the sake of it?
This bike doesn’t sound better than a mt07. The stock can kills any semblance of 270° firing order.
But isnt the MT-07 LAMS while this bike isn't? (maybe there's a restricted LAMS version)
As someone who now has an MT-09 but back when he was on LAMS rode a Hyosung GT650R, my strong recommendation if you are on LAMS is to stick with a lower powered unrestricted bike - otherwise you are just pulling around lots of extra weight for no real power benefit.
(Thankfully the GT650R, in both carburetted and fuel injected spec, was crazy easy to de-restrict).
Trivia fact. Hyosung used to make V twin engines for Suzuki for the SV. Then they decided to go out on their own. 😉
and look how it ended up for them!
love your madvillian inspired AVI
Why not the GSXS750 instead of this? I know it's a v twin vs an inline 4. Never had a chance to test ride either of them
There is, as they say, something about a twin
GSX EVERY TIME….
Fantastic bikes, though I prefer the old S styling.