V twins

So, umm, bearing in mind my current predicament as regards insurance,
third-party responsibility and generally having had a fucking big scare,
are they a chuckle?

I've ridden nothing but jap fours since my TZR125 (and nothing at all
since The Big One) and wonder if it's time for a change. At the same
time, I'm liable to be absolutely crucified as regards insurance, and
wonder whether plan A (supermoto) or plan B (some V twin or other) is
worth a punt come spring.

The obvious cheap thrills (for some value thereof) answer seems to be
the likes of an SV650, but having gone from a B12 to a 7R, would it bore
me to shit?

Answers on a postcard...

Ta.

 

Vee twins are just.... different. That's all. I mean you can get slow
ones, fast ones, big ones, little ones, but all are about as far
removed from a four, in feel, as you can get.

Me, I like 'em. It's all to do with the pleasure of riding one, and I
don't think anyone has ever made a dull vee-twin. And that includes
Honda CXs. Whereas there are a helluva lot of boring fours out there.

Not ridden an SV650, but they seem to be incredibly highly rated by
anyone from racers to novices. Performance-wise, about the same as my
Ducati 750SS. That is, maybe 130 flat out on a good day, but just
incredibly satisfying to ride.

You could do worse than check out a 750SS as well - easily the best
balanced of the old two-valver series, and mechanically stronger than
the 900.

Guzzis? Um, the bikes using the small (750cc) engine are best avoided,
and the other ones are a bit pricey for what they deliver, but a used
fuel-injected California is incredible fun, and you really don't expect
a sit-up-and-beg cruiser to handle and stop the way it does.

 

Yes, you don't ride the revs like you do a four, you need to
ride on the torque. It'll totally screw you up the first time you
ride one as it will feel slow and you'll keep hitting the rev
limit, but the speed is deceptive.

The 750 and 900 (carbed) shared the same bottom end, so the
750 lasts longer because it puts less power through beefy
bearings. The 400 (not a UK import) and 600 had a different
bottom end with smaller bearings, so were not as reliable.

When Ducati changed to fuel injection, they made the bottom
end common across the whole range, so the 620 shares
the cases and bearings of the 900/1000 engine. That makes
it almost bullet proof now, and they give 62bhp out of the box
which is about the same as a 750SS carbed bike.

When you can pick them up for £1500 and they last forever,
with a little care, that makes a pretty good purchase.

I'd go for an FI engine over a carbed engine, just because
they're now as cheap as a decent carbed bike, but the parts
availability and longevity is so much better.

 

If you get your thrills from doing 140mph+ or acceleration that rips
your head off, then yes, a 650 v-twin will most likely bore you to
shit. However if sub-120mph bends are your thing, the twistier the
better, then you'll be delighted with one.

I can higly recommend a Raptor 650 if you want something a little
different. SO's got one & it's a blast.

--
Krusty
www.MuddyStuff.co.uk
Off-Road Classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tiger 955i '96 Tiger '79 Fantic Hiro 250

 

yes, I expect so. You're a bit stumpy for a supermoto though...

 

Given my sig you can probably guess my view on this one. Plan A or B
appeals to me. Champ will say all twins are rubbish and singles not
worthy of consideration - for fast road riding. We had this discussion
some time ago.

I love singles, but once they get much over 650 they are too slow
revving even for me. Having said that a supermoto is great, great fun on
the right road.

My FI v-twin floats my boat. Pulls well from low revs, flexible
mid-range and then takes off over 7000 towards the red line.

The SV650 gets praise from a lot of the hill climb lot and one or two
have them as road bikes.

As TOG said though you would find it different to a four. If you are in
to motorways and 'A' roads it may bore you.


--

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Probably less so than the depreciation and insurance costs of keeping
one over the winter.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 (slightly broken, currently missing)
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

Quite. Not to mention that I expect my finances to be comparatively rosy
by then as well.

 

Why Spring? Aren't bike dearer then?

--

Paul.
CBR1100XX SuperBlackbird
BOTAFOT #4
BOTAFOF #30
MRO #24
OMF #15
UKRMMA #30

 

After revisiting the 2V or not 2V thread I concede that I do you an
injustice.

Shall I get the Nordwest ready for your speed hill climb guest debut
next year? You can share it with Krusty at Wiscombe Park in May.

--

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Yes, for relatively short-distance tooling around, they rock. They're
great in town, and you can carve through traffic with ease - though I
suspect your traffic-carving days may be behind you. Insurance is
fairly cheap too, certainly for mine.

I wouldn't bother, unless you're planning to become a girl.

 

And mine. Um, the dirt. Snarled-up city traffic. Really small twisty
country lanes. And...

And...

And...

<throws hands in air>

Nope, that's it.

I enjoyed by SR500, but I'd never have a road single as my "only" bike.

Oh! Just thought of another worthwhile environment.

Leaking oil on a museum display stand while old codgers say: "They
don't make 'em like that any more....."

 

This here SV650S is really rather good. Recommend.

 

Think of them as God's own training wheels.

It'll never feel fast, and it'll always appear to be a bit bland, but a
well ridden SV can keep in touch with just about any 600 on the road, up
to the wrong side of a ton.

Given the situation, you should get one and call it purgatory.

 

<shuffles off and peers in to garage>

OK - it will give me the incentive to get it sorted. I will probably get
it MoT worthy as well while I am at it so the cobwebs can be well and
truly blown out.

Wiscombe is a good hill for a try out. Not quite so much MX bike
territory as some of the others. Might be a problem getting a ride at
the May meeting (probably the weekend after the French run) though as it
is a joint do with a car club. September (second weekend usually) would
be easier, but no doubt you are doing the Manx again.

Prescott is the obvious choice for you, but once again entries can be
tight on numbers.

You would probably enjoy Loton Park (Shrewsbury) the most, as the
longest hill. Might be able to get a ride if you were entered in good
time, but may not be a 'have a go' deal available. Still you already
have a licence so a day NHCA membership would do.

Provisional meeting dates calendar will be published in January.

--

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

 

What he said. I switch between the Suz and the Duc quite frequently and
find the Duc and myself in 100+ territory without realising it.

I'd have either in preference to a SV650 - a completely uninformed
choice seeing as I've never tried one, mind.

Good FSM, a biased and uninformed post in ukrm, whatever next?

 

[SV650]
Try one, see what you think. I thought it was very well geared to make
the most of the engine, and it'll only do about 120 but it seemed to
get near that pretty quick. It's not the best of everything, but the
model I had (2000) was a very good match of components.

Having gone up in cylinders and power I'd say that they're better
suited to road riding in that you can make more of it. It used to cope
well with less than perfect road surfaces which was very confidence
inspiring. I've not ridden anything that was so easy to knee down at
any given opportunity with so little effort.

I'm not sure what I'd think of one now I've gone onto harder stuff, but
it might satisfy the cravings for a while.

 

On 13 Nov 2006 10:09:02 GMT, "Krusty" <>
wrote:

snip>

My experience tells me different. If you're used to revving **** out
of an in line 4, braking to an apex and banging the throttle open then
a v twin is abysmal. I hated my 748 even after having it tuned to ****
by someone who knew what they were doing and the only thing I could
blame it on was my inability to ride it correctly through corners at
speed.

I really wanted to like the piece of shit but after 2 years all I
wanted to do was get back on a decent 4 cylinder Jap bike.

 

No it won't.

A decent rider will be a lot faster on an in line 600 than he will on
an SV650 on 99% of roads. SV 650's are forgiving for a novice to ride
but anyone with a fair degree of experience will be able to use the
superior power of a CBR6 etc to **** all over the SV.

 

<TOG@toil>; <>; <>
wrote in message

I've got a VTR1000 Firestorm - it's a v-twin and it's very cheap (2K for a
low mileage, never seen the rain, FSH etc) for what you get.

But, and I don't know how, but Honda do seem to have pulled the stops out
and made a 1000cc v-twin sports bike a bit boring though.

I do think they are amzing value for money though - you ought to check them
out