New bike

[dapearson]

Silver993tt said:

If the van & car were 'queuing up' at some traffic lights they must have been still or nearly still. How fast were you filtering past in order to hist & throw a person onto the curb? Surely you don't filter at more than 5-10mph past other vehicles?

Wide road. Line of traffic approx 200metres long at a complete stop queuing up to a pedestrian crossing. I was doing around 20-25 mph in the opposing lane heading down to the front of the queue.

Several witnesses approached me after and said i'd done nothing wrong, and that he ran across without looking, nothing i could have done, etc.

The police investigated and took no action.

I ride along that road to work all the time. I do the same thing quite regularly, and have done for 7 years.

[.blue]

How are you getting on with the 650 DG?

I am still umming and ahhing over upgrading to something bigger, most likely an SV650.

The Ninja just takes so much st (knocked over 4 times in past year) and keeps going and it's also not been stolen (no attempts as far as I know) and all that's great for peace of mind. I'd also really miss the pops and bangs if I made the change.

[Mr2Mike]

.blue said:

How are you getting on with the 650 DG?

I am still umming and ahhing over upgrading to something bigger, most likely an SV650.

The Ninja just takes so much st (knocked over 4 times in past year) and keeps going and it's also not been stolen (no attempts as far as I know) and all that's great for peace of mind. I'd also really miss the pops and bangs if I made the change.

You get plenty of pops and bangs on the overrun with an SV if you put an aftermarket can on it.

[3DP]

.blue said:

How are you getting on with the 650 DG?

I am still umming and ahhing over upgrading to something bigger, most likely an SV650.

The Ninja just takes so much st (knocked over 4 times in past year) and keeps going and it's also not been stolen (no attempts as far as I know) and all that's great for peace of mind. I'd also really miss the pops and bangs if I made the change.

He was hammering along on it last weekend

Missed this thread first time around. Belated congrats!

[Deranged Granny]

3DP said:

.blue said:

How are you getting on with the 650 DG?

I am still umming and ahhing over upgrading to something bigger, most likely an SV650.

The Ninja just takes so much st (knocked over 4 times in past year) and keeps going and it's also not been stolen (no attempts as far as I know) and all that's great for peace of mind. I'd also really miss the pops and bangs if I made the change.

He was hammering along on it last weekend

Missed this thread first time around. Belated congrats!

Blue - it is up to you. I am loving the SV. It has taken a lot longer to grow on me than the Ninja did, but maybe that's just because I haven't been able to ride it quite as much.

Pretty much everything I said earlier on still stands. I DO still miss the pops and bangs of the carbon can on the 250; the SV only very rarely wants to play in that respect, despite having a shorty can. I still think it sounds great, though.

Performance wise, it's still entertaining. You are always going to want more speed up to a point, but I find that the grunty delivery of the v-twin is such that it is only really found wanting when you are ragging it above 10k (redline at 11800) - there isn't much of a top end rush. It's much more about midrange grunt. There's a kick at 7k that lasts till about 10k, where it starts to tail off, and any bigger/IL4 bikes will leave you standing. But for linking 2nd/3rd gear corners, the SV's power delivery is bang on. You can absolutely rag it and make great progress, without going stupidly fast. For me, it's a perfect blend of power and fun. Those with bigger bikes may laugh, but I can't think there are many overtakes, for example, that I wouldn't be able make due to the bike not having enough power, that I would still be happy to make on a quicker bike. For the road, it's great.

Handling is more wallowy than the 250 was, but then most things will be. I am going to give the suspension a refresh at some point, as I think it could do with thicker fork oil at least; the front end is quite soft. I have yet to fiddle with the preload, but that might help reduce front end dive. Brakes could also do with a rebuild as I did feel them sticking once, and the road salt this year has given them a hard time.

In terms of "toughness", it is surprisingly durable. Aside from the brakes and engine casing etc, it is holding up fairly well, and I'm not the best at cleaning it after a ride.

I am getting consistent high 50s/ lows 60s mpg, giving a theoretical range of about 235 miles from brimmed to conking out. That is riding fairly briskly, but doing so doesn't seem to affect the fuel consumption noticeably.

All in all, I am happy I made the change. Maybe I changed a bit early after only a year on the 250; I still had a lot to learn on the bike. But for various reasons, it made sense to make the change when I did. I can see myself holding on to the bike for a while to come, which I didn't initially expect. It's a great bike. You only stand to gain by making the change.

Edited by Deranged Granny on Tuesday 17th March 18:29