I have just that. Just 2001 with just under 20k on the clock now (had it since 5k) and only had one niggling problem. Theyre brilliant bikes. Only 70bhp on paper, but its all very usable, so can surprise a few faster bikes on the bendy roads.

Im looking at getting rid this year and changing to a vfr800 or something like that. I wont be wanting too much. £1700 or something with the extras and standard parts chucked in.

-double bubble screen (got standard too)

-lower fairing (quite rare now, and expensive)

-beowulf end can (got standard too)

-seat cowl (still got seat)

-hand rail and infills

-fender extender (a must have on an sv)

Theyre pretty good value for money really

Have a look in my profile gallary. Theres a few pics on there .

It's a nice bike, I kind of prefer the pointy SVs, they have dropped considerably in price over the last 12 months.

I live between 3 houses which is what caused me to sell my bike last time :(

Ah yeah. The fuel injected model. They are nice

For what i paid for mine, i could of had a nice pointy, but i was restricted at the time and the curvy is much easier and cheaper to do.

Ah yeah. The fuel injected model. They are nice

For what i paid for mine, i could of had a nice pointy, but i was restricted at the time and the curvy is much easier and cheaper to do.

I had an nc30 while I was restricted. I was going for a pointy SV but the nc30 came up and I couldn't say no.

The injected one can be restricted via switching the ECUs IIRC?

Oh I didn't realise that about the KTM. That's not something I want, however it is the best looking S.M out there (imo).

I'd have a 690 SMR in a second, fantastic bikes but as Gary said, not ideal for touring.

Nearly bought an Aprilia SXV550 but there terrible for reliability and 300 miles to every oil and filter change.

I had an nc30 while I was restricted. I was going for a pointy SV but the nc30 came up and I couldn't say no.

The injected one can be restricted via switching the ECUs IIRC?

Yeah you can switch the ecu's in 5 minutes (its under the pillion seat) but the ecu's can be difficult to come by (theres 2 types. One for pre 07 and one for post 07) and can be very costly.

The carbed curvy is just 2 washers. I picked a brand new set up off ebay, with certificates, for £40. So it just made more sense to me at the time.

Oo how did the little 400 react to the washers? They rev a lot dont they?

Edited 17 April, 201412 yr by Otaylor38

Yeah you can switch the ecu's in 5 minutes (its under the pillion seat) but the ecu's can be difficult to come by (theres 2 types. One for pre 07 and one for post 07) and can be very costly.

The carbed curvy is just 2 washers. I picked a brand new set up off ebay, with certificates, for £40. So it just made more sense to me at the time.

Oo how did the little 400 react to the washers? They rev a lot dont they?

Mine was just washers aswell

Wasn't to bad a little bit flat, but still went well it's broke down one night, I got recovered seen my arse with it and left it standing for over 12 months lol. Sorted it in the end when I could be bothered and removed the washers then sold the bike to go out and buy a gsxr 600 a few months later

It used to run better on the washers with the baffles removed from the exhaust. Restricting them using washers isn't ideal IMO, a little dangerous at times when it would just bog down. How was yours on washers?

All going well I should be going bike shopping myself very

soon. So I've spent a bit of time preparing for the imminent

arrival of my two wheeled steed by making some access

alterations to my house.

With plans for the bike to be in dry dock for half the year I had to find 

a way of getting it under cover and away from the wind etc. 

The only place I have that will do (for now) is my shed which is in

the back garden. 

 

The problem I have is that my back garden is about two feet

lower than pavement level, and my front garden being mostly

gravel is entirely unsuitable for parking a bike, even just overnight.

 

The gravel/soil slopes toward the house from the street and

is kept in place by a row of railway sleepers which in turn give

me a very high 'step' to get the bike down. I'm just about to order 

a steel ramp which will fix the 'step' issue but that leaves or should I 

say left a further issue that my back gate wasn't wide enough to fit 

a large(ish) bike which is being pushed along. The bike alone would fit 

but not with me pushing it. Also the old back gate was held together by 

luck it would seem as it fell to pieces as soon as I unscrewed the old hinges.

 

The old fence panel (which had to be cut to shape 45 degrees to allow for the

slope it ran up) was held together by the ivy growing up it and not much else.

In short it was all facked, rotten and unsafe.   

 

Here's a pic to show you what I mean... 

 

And from in the side garden...

 

So while the weather was nice I popped to B and Q, bought 60 quids worth of timber and the very

last closeboard fence panel (which was actually too short so I turned it on its side and cut it that way)

they had in the entire place and one of the final 2 posts they had as well.

No more fence panels for weeks apparently.

 

So I pulled down all the old stuff

 

 

 

Got the new fencepost concreted in and cut the fence panel into the appropriate shape. 

Fortunately I'm pretty handy  so opted to make my own arrangements gate wise and after

a quick sketch and a measure up I toshed together a couple out of the timber I bought.

 

Once finished I was left with this, I'll be setting about it tomorrow with some autumn gold fence

paint so it all matches up and looks the same.

 

 

Plus some trellis (old scrap from the shed) to give the ivy something to climb

 

 

That's the access issue fixed almost, just need to get the shed cleared to make

space for a bike (tip run tomorrow, I have a vanload of rubbish from doing the fence anyway)

and the ramps ordered (in about 5 minutes time.)  

Then I am sorted short term until my purpose built bike garage has been built

(and paid for, I want a remote electric roller shutter on that sucka )   

Bit more to report today.

Mod 1 PASSED!!!

Only one minor fault,  which was 49kph in the measured speed

obstacle avoidance when it should have been 50kph.  

If I'd rolled off the throttle 1 second later I'd have got a clean sheet.

Still, I'm very happy none the less, and well on schedule to get my

licence inside of a month from start to finish. 

 

 

Fantastic news, I am way behind on this thread just been catching up. I did the new mod 1 / 2 test thing when it first came out and must have changed 49kph through the trap on first run and at time you got another attempt if you didnt attain or go beyond 50kph it was a straight fail :( I did 58kph on second pass just to be safe Was a stinking day and someone had dropped the bike I was learning on so it was another one which was the same but felt different with a rough shagged out clutch which was on or off. I was offered to rebook it or go ahead as there was torrential rain and standing water (first time I had been on 2 wheels in rain was bricking it a bit )  

47kph is the (un?)official benchmark for mandatory second attempt.

48 or 49 now count as a minor fault. But I suppose with the swerve avoidance

being the last thing on the test, even getting that 1 minor fault could fail the test

for you anyway if you'd already ballsed up some of the other tasks. 

  

Annoying thing is that during my off road training on the day before, I'd been clocking

even low 60's according to their hand held radar gun in practice.

I wasn't concerned with the speed so wasn't really monitoring it, I was easily and 

consistently fast enough in practice.

 

On the day of the actual test, while the other guy I was training with (Peter) was doing his

test, I was chatting to my instructor as we watched him out of the window as he went around.

When he did the swerve, my instructor said 'When you do yours Garry, take your time,

there's no need to do it as quickly as you were in training. Remember there's no real time

constraint so talk yourself through each thing as you do it' 

Being a PCV driver like the OP Matt, I'm no stranger to doing commentary driving. 

I had to commentate the entire time I was at the wheel of the RML I gained my PCV

in. I think it's a bit more touchy feely nowadays but I had last of the old school London

Transport instructors and that was like being taught to drive a bus..... 

 

by this bloke.---> I'm not joking either!!!

 

Anyway I digress, as I went around, in full commentary mode

as I came round the approach bend for the swerve and started 

to gather pace I said to myself, 'Easy does it, it's not a race' and

I actually did it slower on bloody purpose!!!! It was the first time I 

had done it keeping one eye on the speedo. In all honesty, by eye

I thought I was well inside with about 35mph/55kph but most likely the speedo

over reads a little on the bike which I didn't allow for. I should have

just focused on the task in hand rather than the speed, it's my own fault,

I cut it too fine. Oh well, doesn't matter, it's still a pass which is all that counts. :yes:

 

Actually, Mrs G is reassured a bit by the only fault being that I went too slow.

She is naturally a little worried, but is also very supportive and she

knows how long I've really wanted to do this and is genuinely happy I'm doing it.

We've been together for 14 of the 21 years I've been away from biking.

It's fair to say I may have brought up the subject with Mrs G once or twice

in that time :p We're into our rock music so a fair few pals in the rock crowd

have bikes so we've never been far away from them really.

Another of our 'couple friends' regularly ride all over europe on a bike and

have some great stories and adventures.  

 

In all honesty the only thing that stopped me from doing it as the expense hasn't 

been an issue for many years was my wifes mother who was VERY VERY anti

motorcycle. When I first mentioned my love of bikes when chatting to her Mum

one day about 11 odd years ago.   She went off something rotten about how

dangerous they were, and she made me promise not to talk about it anymore

and not to do it, It wasn't a long time after that that I learned of her illness. 

 

I knew she was sick and it was terminal and I didn't want to upset her by just

doing it anyway while she was so poorly. Me getting a motorcycle

would have REALLY genuinely upset her, and I didn't want to stress her out.   

So for me for a lot of years biking has been something other people do.

 

The thing is, eventually losing her mum way before her time due to her illness

it's had the opposite effect and taught me to not take my time here for granted.

I want to do all the things I've wanted to do, while I am well and healthy enough

to do so, because one day I may not be up to it anymore through age and/or

illness. That in itself would suck, but I'm the type of person who would then spend

years stewing about how I should have done this and that while I had the chance! 

And I don't want to add anymore to my list of regrets in my life, the shorter that list

is the better. 

Lovely day today. Time to get this out the garage I think.

Mine was just washers aswell

Wasn't to bad a little bit flat, but still went well it's broke down one night, I got recovered seen my arse with it and left it standing for over 12 months lol. Sorted it in the end when I could be bothered and removed the washers then sold the bike to go out and buy a gsxr 600 a few months later

It used to run better on the washers with the baffles removed from the exhaust. Restricting them using washers isn't ideal IMO, a little dangerous at times when it would just bog down. How was yours on washers?

Ah yeah. Its abit of a pain isnt it mate. Just out of curiosity, would it still get to the redline? 14,000 rpm isnt it?

The wasnt too bad i suppose. It still revved, but stopped producing any power after about 6,000 rpm. So as long as you short shifted like mad, itd still go quite well.

Lookinh back at it now though, i wouldnt like to have it restricted again. Unrestricted its best making the most power between about 4 and 8,000. My riding style has adapted to that now haha.

Lovely day today. Time to get this out the garage I think.

 

 

Oooh, that's pretty. Just my colour as well. 

Lovely day today. Time to get this out the garage I think.

P6?

Looks fantastic, i really miss my 7R P5 :-(

Yep she is a p6 beauty. Just had new tyres too so its riding like a new bike with all the work ive carried out over winter.

Well Matt can have his thread back now as I've done it.

Part 2 passed, clean sheet. Full unrestricted A licence. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/284613831635661/photos/a.376667989096911.86182.284613831635661/600527993377575/?type=1&theater

 

Looks like I'm off out bike shopping.  

Thanks to everybody who has offered advice

and suggestions or even just bothered to check in and read this thread.

Come on Matt!!! You next!!! 

Bloody well done Gary!

And a clean sheet too, even better!

And as they say... Now the learning begins. Enjoy

Congratulations!!

Lovely day today. Time to get this out the garage I think.

 

One of my fav bikes ever.

 

My ZXR400 looked a ickle bit like on but the ram air hoses were fake and just blew onto the radiator.

Edited 23 April, 201412 yr by Aspman

Well done Garry. Great feeling passing your bike test. I'm glad I did mine last year, even from the point of view that's it's a good skill to have and I appreciate the other side of the fence a lot more now.

One of my fav bikes ever.

 

My ZXR400 looked a ickle bit like on but the ram air hoses were fake and just blew onto the radiator.

 

i had a l5 zxr400 import as my first bike but at 6'2" it didnt last long lol

Well after reading this thread and a few discussions,

 

My CBT's booked for end of month and i've bought myself a little YBR125,

 

Not going straight for bike test, CBT this year and get abit of experiance then do my test next year i think,

 

Don't mind rocking L plates for abit

I had L plates for a year. You cant beat getting experience before jumping into the test and getting on something quicker i dont think .

Very belated well done to Garry! Nothing like getting it done and out the way! I'm still on hold until funds arrive, but I'll update as soon as anything happens. 

Finally, 3 months after asking my money has arrived! Wasting no time I contacted Horizon, the company I dont my CBT with. Got mucked about, took 2 calls to find out when the next available space was, I said I'd call back the next day to confirm I could get the day off work. Phoned the next day to be told they were waiting on someone else who phoned after me?! So they jumped me how? Then they said they'd call me back by 2 to let me know and never called back. 

 

So I hunted about and in the end I decided on a local company. Gave them a bell and had a chat, bloke sounded nice and friendly, I was looking at the 4 day course as per the website. After a bit of juggling day off and stuff we've got it worked out. Thursday is my first lesson, then Friday doing Mod 1 bits ready for the test on the following thursday. Providing it all goes well then Friday will be my Mod 2 test, 1pm so I get a few hours practice before. Think I'm using a Fazer for it all. 

 

Mega excited now, I just want to crack on with it. Gonna get a new lid, gloves and some new trousers tomorrow or saturday then I'm all good to go. Might try and have a bit of practice on my brothers bike between now and then if I can. 

Fair shout, Matt grr666 has been on my case about it since he started on his venture but need to sort my car and camper before changing to two wheels  

 

Good luck with the first lesson