My "New" 2000 SV650

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Same reason that I'd advise against trading it for a 1992 Ford Contour - cuz it's a bucket of shit.

That old GSXR isn't going to have much more power than you can get out of your SV, and it weighs a TON more....and more front straight speed does NOT make up for less corner speed, ask any novice racer with a 1000. You will NOT progress anymore by getting a heavier, poorer-handling bike just because it makes a little more power out of the box; if anything, you'll only hold yourself back. You get on the gas early enough coming out of a corner and get the drive onto the straight, and then brake late enough and carry enough speed out of the straight, and you won't NEED more horsepower to stay in the lead. I've won races against bikes making 20-25hp more than me MULTIPLE times, and they key is getting on the gas early, braking late, and carrying corner speed. I'd be curious to hear more of what the instructor/ex-racer that said you'd be better off with more power and corner speed has to say, and see how many (if any) championships he's won and with what organizations. That sounds like 'I can go fast at a trackday, but I don't race' instructor advice.

Additionally, there are still PLENTY of organizations with classes for SV's to race in; pretty much EVERY major club racing org has lightweight and SV classes - shit, CMRA has 4 classes that ANYONE with an SV can race in and be competitive(Formula 2, Lightweight Twins, Superbike D, Superstock D), and I've even seen super-fast guys on SV's do well in the 600 classes at smaller tracks. Old GSXR's, on the other hand - well, there aren't a lot of classes for 'em. You won't have ANY hope of being REMOTELY competitive in any 600 class, and even in some orgs that allow old 600's to ride down a class and run with the lightweights you won't be that competitive, because the bike just isn't capable of going as fast as a well-built SV.

On TOP of that, when you eventually get ready to sell that SV, there will be TONS of opportunities to sell it - people STILL buy those things all day, because they're EXCELLENT beginner racebikes, and even for an experienced expert racer SV's are fun and inexpensive to race. Try selling a 12 year old GSXR 600 - it won't be an easy sell. Honestly, I'd be surprised if you would even BE able to sell it, unless it was to someone who didn't know any better.

Ok, all very valid points. And I know for a fact that none of them won any Championships or what have you. So score a point for you ;).

I'm not looking to race, just looking for a fun bike to ride. So I'm not too worried about competition :p. Just looking to have fun.

Not sure about your horsepower comparison. From what I've read the approximate whp figures for my SV650 are in the 60-65ish range. I've NEVER seen a non SBK SV650 that's made much more than 80 hp.

The GSXR750 I'm looking at dynoed @ 125 whp and the guy selling it is a member of my local racing club WMRRA (Washington Motorcycle Road Racing Assocation).

The claimed dry weight of my SV650 is 375 from what I've seen, (from bikez.com). The claimed dry weight of the GSXR750 is 395, (from a Sportrider article on the bike).

So we're not talking a huge increase in weight here (at least, it doesn't seem so to me).

Now I do agree with your resale value. He's asking $3k for his (his has been for sale for awhile on the forums, but it doesn't seem like he's pushing to sell it hard either). Were I to sell mine, I'd ask roughly the same price and I'm sure I could sell mine relatively quickly (at least I THINK I could, that remains to be seen).

Remember, my current bike is the one you told me to stay away from ;). It's served me very well and has had no issues and has been an absolute blast.

Thanks for your input. I'm not trying to argue with you, I'm just bouncing my thoughts off of you since you're an intelligent individual with mucho experience.

I appreciate your long-winded posts and they are very informative. Wish you didn't live across the country.
 
Not only is that, going from the numbers you posted, a 5% weight increase, it's WHERE the weight is (even though 20lbs on a bike is a LOT more than 20lbs on a car). See if you can get a test ride, and you'll immediately see that it takes a LOT more work to lug a big, clunky old GSXR around the track and you'll see what I mean.

I still think you would have been better off with something else that was a little better put together, but you do seem to be getting it cleaned up and pieced together properly - although that GSXR is an even WORSE buy than a not-all-together SV...it's also going to be harder to replace parts when you break stuff (bust something up on your SV in the morning on a trackday, and there will almost certainly be someone with spares for it for you to buy or borrow - try looking for a rearset for a 2000 GSXR at the track). Also, if that turd really IS shitting out 125hp (which, bike hp numbers translated into the real world is a COMPLETELY different discussion that I don't feel like getting into at the moment), that's a LOT of stress on that motor, and I wouldn't expect it to be reliable.


Here's a good example for you. This is a CMRA race from a few years back, the camera bike is Chris Romeo. He held the #1 overall plate in CMRA a few years back (in 2008, if memory serves correct), and was THE guy to beat on an SV (still is, on the rare occasion he drags his ass out to the track). Rumor has it that his 2nd gen SV makes in the neighborhood of 100hp, but I won't confirm or deny that (I know what it was making then, and I've seen the engine torn apart, and it's insane and impressive to say the least). The blue bike is Rich Desmond's old 1st gen endurance SV, which is STOCK motor with exhaust - other than that, NO motor work. Zero. They did a 6 hour endurance race on that bike the day before, and let Dustin Dominguez (who grew up with the CMRA, and has been dominating in AMA SS this year) take it out for some fun in the D Superbike race.

This is a stock, 50-ish 'real' wheel horsepower 1st gen SV up against an insanely built superbike 2nd gen.

Viddler.com - 2009-10-18 Race #10 - Superbike D EX

This was also, at that time, THE fastest laptime ever put down by an SV at Texas World Speedway. Dominguez dropped it by another second or 2 the following year on another SV. TWS is a HUGE horsepower track, and is the highest-speed track that we race at. Granted, there aren't many folks in the country at the moment that can ride a bike like Dustin can - Dustin's fastest in this race was a 1:52.4 and Chris's was a 1:51.9 (Dustin won the race) - those times would have put them finishing top 10 in the 600 classes - and that's at a track where 9 times out of 10 horsepower DOES win the race. There weren't any older GSXR's there that day, however there were a handful of F3's (ridden by Cameron Kirk, son of former AMA fast guy Rick Kirk; and Dave Wilson, another old-school crazy-fast guy), and the best they were doing was 1:57's. In 2011, Bill Erzal (another ex-AMA fast guy) raced a GSXR600 in the Classic Unlimited class and ran a best time of 1:52.8. Fun fact about Bill's bike, it's an ex-Nicky Hayden AMA superbike (he has an article on the internet somewhere about the GSXR, I believe it was posted on ApriliaForum.com) - that gives you an idea of essentially what these bikes are capable of - I don't doubt that the folks I've listed here are anything but THE absolute FASTEST guys on these particular bikes.


But, ultimately, it's whatever YOU like. Do what makes you happy, either way you're having more fun than most other folks on 2 wheels are :thumbs:
 
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Ok, you've convinced me to keep it for a little while longer... :p. The track day on Sunday is the last one of the season. What can I do to the SV over the winter to make it faster? Besides a rider upgrade that is...
 
Service your suspension, flush all your fluids (including brakes), make sure the bike is tip top...

Also, get a pedal bike and start riding. That's hands down the best way to build up your body for racing/track riding.
 
Service your suspension, flush all your fluids (including brakes), make sure the bike is tip top...

Also, get a pedal bike and start riding. That's hands down the best way to build up your body for racing/track riding.

Ok, I was planning all of those.

And done. I have a road bike I ride during the summer and a trainer for the winter ;).

Any horsepower suggestions?
 
Hmm.. Mildly inspired to pick up an SV from this thread. Even though I've had my heart set on a rocket. I think I just like the flash and the pretty of them though.
 
Do it! The SV handles awesome and it is insanely fun to rip past someone through the corners that's riding a liter bike.
 
There are several posts by him that made me say that.
 
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