Dissapointed with SV1000 ride, loving the Trumpet Tiger 1050
Discussion
I went to test ride a mint used SV1000S at the weekend to hopefully replace my knackered SV650S with, (I need something with better M'way cruising ability as I commute a long distance every day mostly on the M'way with a few miles of slow traffic filtering into London on the A2)
I was expecting it to be a bit tougher to throw about but what I wasn't expecting was the vibration from the engine though the bars, it was horrible and made my hand semi-numb for most of the ride.
The torque from the engine was awesome but the handling seemed to be hugely different from the SV650 and I wasn't filled with confidence.
I went away to have a think about it and my brother in law let me ride his new Trumpet Tiger 1050 home as he's just finished running it in, wow, what a difference. I loved it, it was so comfortable, the upright postition felt great and it felt as chuckable as my SV650, I felt as if I'd been riding it for years whereas the SV1000 made me feel like a novice again.
I went home all positive about the Trumpet but aware that one of these will effectivly double my budget. I also noticed a mag gave the Trumpet an all round thumbs up other than the weather protection, but can it be any worse than my SVS?
I realised that I've not ridden enough bikes to make a good decision so what else should I be looking at? I need easy M'way cruising (the SV650S is getting thrased here) but needs to be small enough for easy filtering (not sure the wide Tiger bars are ideal for this) I'm doing 18-20K miles per year all weathers so longevity and protection would be ideal.
I'm thinking I need to try a Fazer thou', a faired Bandit 12 (even though its fugly), what else? I may try a Trumpet Sprint but they are up in the £8k range which I can afford, but what will it be like in 4 years time with 70,000 on the clock? likewise for a VFR. My SV was cheap and lasted 3-4 years, the engine now is totally knackered so would spending £7-8K get me double the mileage?
So many questions!!!
Mags
I was expecting it to be a bit tougher to throw about but what I wasn't expecting was the vibration from the engine though the bars, it was horrible and made my hand semi-numb for most of the ride.
The torque from the engine was awesome but the handling seemed to be hugely different from the SV650 and I wasn't filled with confidence.
I went away to have a think about it and my brother in law let me ride his new Trumpet Tiger 1050 home as he's just finished running it in, wow, what a difference. I loved it, it was so comfortable, the upright postition felt great and it felt as chuckable as my SV650, I felt as if I'd been riding it for years whereas the SV1000 made me feel like a novice again.
I went home all positive about the Trumpet but aware that one of these will effectivly double my budget. I also noticed a mag gave the Trumpet an all round thumbs up other than the weather protection, but can it be any worse than my SVS?
I realised that I've not ridden enough bikes to make a good decision so what else should I be looking at? I need easy M'way cruising (the SV650S is getting thrased here) but needs to be small enough for easy filtering (not sure the wide Tiger bars are ideal for this) I'm doing 18-20K miles per year all weathers so longevity and protection would be ideal.
I'm thinking I need to try a Fazer thou', a faired Bandit 12 (even though its fugly), what else? I may try a Trumpet Sprint but they are up in the £8k range which I can afford, but what will it be like in 4 years time with 70,000 on the clock? likewise for a VFR. My SV was cheap and lasted 3-4 years, the engine now is totally knackered so would spending £7-8K get me double the mileage?
So many questions!!!
Mags
Edited by Mags on Monday 20th August 09:53
Mags - I've got a Tiger 1050 and use it for my daily 100 mile round trip commute into central London.
I've had all sorts of bikes and had an R1 before the Tiger
So far, it's been fabulous. Engine keeps getting better and better, handling is amazing - feel far more sportsbike than tourer, 200+ mile tank range, comfortable (both on wrists and bum), hard to fault really.
If I were to have a gripe, gearbox is not the greatest especially under hard throttle, but this was just the same on my old T595 (which had its gearbox replaced under warranty).
I've got heated grips on it (brilliant) and have a low screen fitted. The standard screen caused really bad turbulence for me, but it depends on your height. Just fitted some BMW 1150GS handguards which drastically reduce wind chill and wet hands - 50 quid well spent.
Ridden in all weathers including torrential rain and weather protection isn't bad considering.
The wider bars do affect filtering a bit (compared to the R1), but not alot and its plus points outweight this 'niggle' by a mile.
All in all, a great, great bike (or should that be Grrrrrrrrreeat!
)
I've had all sorts of bikes and had an R1 before the Tiger
So far, it's been fabulous. Engine keeps getting better and better, handling is amazing - feel far more sportsbike than tourer, 200+ mile tank range, comfortable (both on wrists and bum), hard to fault really.
If I were to have a gripe, gearbox is not the greatest especially under hard throttle, but this was just the same on my old T595 (which had its gearbox replaced under warranty).
I've got heated grips on it (brilliant) and have a low screen fitted. The standard screen caused really bad turbulence for me, but it depends on your height. Just fitted some BMW 1150GS handguards which drastically reduce wind chill and wet hands - 50 quid well spent.
Ridden in all weathers including torrential rain and weather protection isn't bad considering.
The wider bars do affect filtering a bit (compared to the R1), but not alot and its plus points outweight this 'niggle' by a mile.
All in all, a great, great bike (or should that be Grrrrrrrrreeat!
)Edited by Stig on Monday 20th August 10:57
Thanks Stig, that's good to hear, my round trip is 100 miles also.
I thought the engine felt great too, enough torque to make it lazy to ride but it picked up its skirt easy enough when I pushed it.
How many miles have you racked up then? are you taking it back to the dealer for servicing? at this sort of mileage it must be visiting them quite frequently.
I'm going to try and get a few test rides in over the coming weeks, I've got some building work going on at home, so once that's finished I'll hopefully know that its safe to throw £7K at a new bike.
Mags
I thought the engine felt great too, enough torque to make it lazy to ride but it picked up its skirt easy enough when I pushed it.
How many miles have you racked up then? are you taking it back to the dealer for servicing? at this sort of mileage it must be visiting them quite frequently.
I'm going to try and get a few test rides in over the coming weeks, I've got some building work going on at home, so once that's finished I'll hopefully know that its safe to throw £7K at a new bike.
Mags
I made almost the same change 4 months ago - changed my SV650S for a Triumph Sprint ST. My commute is 75 miles, nearly all on motorway and dual carriageway. The ST is supremely comfortable and so far have had no problems. The weather protection is very good and the heated grips are ideal for this summer.
The only drawback that the ST has is when the traffic is very tight as the mirrors are quite wide making some filtering tricky. Not a problem on the motorways but in town it does make a bit of a difference.
The only drawback that the ST has is when the traffic is very tight as the mirrors are quite wide making some filtering tricky. Not a problem on the motorways but in town it does make a bit of a difference.
Does anyone have any stories on real high mileage on bikes?
I've killed my SV in 74,000 but to be honest its been knackered for at least 20,000 of those already. I probably didn't run it in as well as I should but I think part of it is it spends too much time in the very high rev range on the M'way.
I've heard of Blackbirds and Pans on 150,000+ and so on, is this because they are 4 cylinders? (or H*ndas) are twins just prone to a shorter life?
This is a major factor for me and buying a new bike, if I spend 7-8 grand on a new bike I'd like it to do 100,000+ really to justify the extra spend, otherwise I may as well just go and get another SV or Bandit 600 for 4 grand and run it into the ground again.
2 bikes is the way to go but I've got too many cars already, adding bikes is going to get me divorced and make my money even more diluted.
Mags
I've killed my SV in 74,000 but to be honest its been knackered for at least 20,000 of those already. I probably didn't run it in as well as I should but I think part of it is it spends too much time in the very high rev range on the M'way.
I've heard of Blackbirds and Pans on 150,000+ and so on, is this because they are 4 cylinders? (or H*ndas) are twins just prone to a shorter life?
This is a major factor for me and buying a new bike, if I spend 7-8 grand on a new bike I'd like it to do 100,000+ really to justify the extra spend, otherwise I may as well just go and get another SV or Bandit 600 for 4 grand and run it into the ground again.
2 bikes is the way to go but I've got too many cars already, adding bikes is going to get me divorced and make my money even more diluted.
Mags
I used to have an SV650S so I've hopefully picked up some useful bits of info...
I've heard that SVs "can" last over 100k with relatively simple maintenance, but I've only actually heard of one guy doing it (in the US - he did 110k and then decided to get a rebuild, I think one cylinder was very down on compression but the other was OK).
Sounds like you fancy a new bike (who doesn't!) but in case it's an option, have you thought about replacing the engine? Ebay has 2nd hand engines for £300+...
Here's to the weather looking up for the weekend for me too! I just want to ride the bike I already own...!
I've heard that SVs "can" last over 100k with relatively simple maintenance, but I've only actually heard of one guy doing it (in the US - he did 110k and then decided to get a rebuild, I think one cylinder was very down on compression but the other was OK).
Sounds like you fancy a new bike (who doesn't!) but in case it's an option, have you thought about replacing the engine? Ebay has 2nd hand engines for £300+...
Here's to the weather looking up for the weekend for me too! I just want to ride the bike I already own...!
Yeah, I'm off to the BM dealer on Saturday, they've been great so far (South London M/Cycles) they've offered me a ride on anything, I can keep the bike for the whole day (just not overnight which is a bummer as I'd really like to do my commute on one) and the thought of a belt/shaft drive is great as go through a chain every 10 months or so (with Scottoiler)
I have thought about a new engine, I was offered one pretty cheap but the rest of bike is pretty tired too, corrosion etc and I've had a couple of electric gremlins from corrosion/water ingress so I decided not to bother with this.
Fingers crossed the forecast is good so I can get some riding done.
I have thought about a new engine, I was offered one pretty cheap but the rest of bike is pretty tired too, corrosion etc and I've had a couple of electric gremlins from corrosion/water ingress so I decided not to bother with this.
Fingers crossed the forecast is good so I can get some riding done.
Mags said:
Does anyone have any stories on real high mileage on bikes?
I've killed my SV in 74,000 but to be honest its been knackered for at least 20,000 of those already. I probably didn't run it in as well as I should but I think part of it is it spends too much time in the very high rev range on the M'way.
I've heard of Blackbirds and Pans on 150,000+ and so on, is this because they are 4 cylinders? (or H*ndas) are twins just prone to a shorter life?
This is a major factor for me and buying a new bike, if I spend 7-8 grand on a new bike I'd like it to do 100,000+ really to justify the extra spend, otherwise I may as well just go and get another SV or Bandit 600 for 4 grand and run it into the ground again.
2 bikes is the way to go but I've got too many cars already, adding bikes is going to get me divorced and make my money even more diluted.
Mags
I remember a few years ago Nick Saunders (I think it was him) did a round-the-world trip on one of the (then) new Triumphs. When he got back it was stripped down, and it looked as if it had just been run in. No reason why any bike shouldn't manage big mileages if it's properly maintained (maybe not the latest raft of Chinese copies, but give it time...)I've killed my SV in 74,000 but to be honest its been knackered for at least 20,000 of those already. I probably didn't run it in as well as I should but I think part of it is it spends too much time in the very high rev range on the M'way.
I've heard of Blackbirds and Pans on 150,000+ and so on, is this because they are 4 cylinders? (or H*ndas) are twins just prone to a shorter life?
This is a major factor for me and buying a new bike, if I spend 7-8 grand on a new bike I'd like it to do 100,000+ really to justify the extra spend, otherwise I may as well just go and get another SV or Bandit 600 for 4 grand and run it into the ground again.
2 bikes is the way to go but I've got too many cars already, adding bikes is going to get me divorced and make my money even more diluted.
Mags
Mags said:
Yeah, I'm off to the BM dealer on Saturday, they've been great so far (South London M/Cycles) they've offered me a ride on anything, I can keep the bike for the whole day (just not overnight which is a bummer as I'd really like to do my commute on one) and the thought of a belt/shaft drive is great as go through a chain every 10 months or so (with Scottoiler)
Good luck on the BMW's. I hate to say it, but after years on every hot-sh*t superbike, I bought an old R1150GS a few months back, and absolutely love it. It's got >35,000 miles up, and rides like new. Must be getting old! (though I've got a B-King arriving in a couple of weeks, so there's hope yet.)You could also do worse that a look at an Aprilia Tuono. I had one for three years and it'll do anything you want. Just watch your license though. You can't help riding it like a hooligan.
Post back after your BM rides to let us know what you think..
Mags said:
Yeah, I'm off to the BM dealer on Saturday, they've been great so far (South London M/Cycles) they've offered me a ride on anything, I can keep the bike for the whole day (just not overnight which is a bummer as I'd really like to do my commute on one) and the thought of a belt/shaft drive is great as go through a chain every 10 months or so (with Scottoiler)
eh? My last bike, ZX12R had the original chain and sprockets after 29,000 miles. It had a scotoiler and the chain & sprockets still had loads of life in them The guy at the bike shop thought I should have been getting more mileage from it as well.
I never clean the chain and I'm probably not adjusting it enough as well so appreciate I'm being a bit of a spanner here.
If I get a bike with a chain again I'll have to be a bit more sympathetic with it.
I never clean the chain and I'm probably not adjusting it enough as well so appreciate I'm being a bit of a spanner here.
If I get a bike with a chain again I'll have to be a bit more sympathetic with it.
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