SV vs R1

[Flange]

Aint life crap when your mates ride bikes like VTRs, GSX-R1000s and R1s and are happy to swap bikes for a while. After last Sunday's comparison between my SV and Ralph's VTR, with Steve's GSX thrown in for good measure, Monday was a public holiday here in NZ so John and I went "around the coast" to Waihau Bay, about an hour and a half of twisty, undulating coastal road away. John's got an '01 R1 with Suspension Tech internals in the front end. We swapped at Omaio, about half an hour out on the outwards leg , partly because John's looking for something a bit more pillion-friendly than the R1 so that he can take his missus on rides.

John's comments when we got to Waihau Bay ? "Best bike I've ever ridden"! Not bad from an R1 rider.

Flange's unbiased evaluation ? Even I wouldn't kid myself that an SV would keep up with an R1 on the track in the hands of a good rider. However, in the hands of a mug, it might be a different story. On a twisty, undulating coastal road with other traffic to consider and the law of the road to be given lip service at least, the SV gives away nothing to the R1. Specifically:

Pickup. Low and mid-range, there wouldn't be much in it at all. John's R1 has about 10,000k on the clock and so is fully free. It also has a can (Yoshi I think) and so it at least sounds faster than a fully silenced SV. I think my SV with 2000km on the clocks at that stage was probably a bit quicker out of the corners and thereafter could hold the R1 for a while, but ultimately the R1 will hit it's straps and the effects of 150bhp/175kg would surely overcome the effects of 120bhp/190kg.

Top speed. Same applies, although on the way home (on a private section of road of course) I gave the SV a good squirt & shortly after shifting up from 5th to 6th, glanced briefly at the speedo to see 247km/hr and it was still pulling really strongly. The R1 will have a higher top speed, without doubt, but the SV definately has "sufficient" for the street.

Brakes. Those Yamaha brakes are damned good, but the SV was more stable under brakes than the R1, particularly when leaned over. Certainly I would brake harder and later on the SV than on the R1.

Cornering. Again, the SV felt "nicer" in the corner and so I would say that in a road environment, give me the SV every time. Maybe Troy Bayliss would get an R1 around the corners on a race track faster than the SV but I wouldn't put too much money on it. Dunno about the journo referred elsewhere on this site who suggested that the SV was vague and lacked feedback in corners, maybe he got a Friday SV. Maybe he didn't set up the suspension. I needed to wind on quite a bit of preload to get the sags close on mine, and backed the front compression damping off a half turn to calm a bucking front end. Without that, who knows ? The R1 could be made to shake it's head a bit gassing hard out of bumpy corners but I couldnt get the SV to shake. Again we must bear in mind the power and weight differences, but in the road environment, the SV was more stable, despite the R1 having a lot more damping wound in on the Ohlins adjustable steering damper that John has fitted.

Aesthetics. Cindy Crawford or Elle McPherson ? Ya wouldn't gnaw your arm off to escape either now would you ?

Cheers
Flange

[Nico]

Good one Flange,
That's the sort of comparo I like to here and although I've had no direct comparo as yet I cant help but agree with what your saying about the SV.

Nico. :niceone:

[alvah]

nice one Flange.
After going for a midnight hoon around the city i pulled in the last stop ahead of 15 other bikes and hot on the heels of an R1 and GSXR1k. ...and i'm still running it in HAHAHAAAAAAA. On the race track it's probably a different story on the track, but no-one ever called it a race bike
As for lack of feel....BOLLOCKS...this thing has more feel than a paedophile and is the most stable bike under brakes i have ever ridden.
I find it takes a bit to get it tipping though but once over it just wants more, anyone else find this...?maybe i just have to get my slack butt out of the seat more :blink:

keep up the good comparo's Flange.

[BJAM]

I find my SV just loves being on it's side. Weight shifting just tips it over even more. Some people have complained about understeer but if you hang off just a little bit more or at least push on the inside bar over she goes and hits the apex. It takes a lot of confidence but with practice becomes very rewarding.

When riding with my partner as pillion I don't have to do anything. She moves her head to the correct side for the next bend and that movement alone is enough - she does the leaning for me - GREAT FUN.

The comparisons are very revealing about form over function. Most of the time, in relation to street bikes, less is more....

[rjk]

Absolutely correct!! I found myself eating up the straights a little faster than expected...and then having to hit a little break while starting to lean. Pleasantly surprised that it wasn't unsettled at all! Now if I can just not attract the fricken cops!! (w00t)

[Flange]

Blair takes delivery of his SV tomorrow, so once it's run in, watch for a comparo SV vs SV. It will answer the question on everybody's lips, "which colour is faster, blue or silver"......
Cheers
Flange

[Schneegz]

alvah:
As for lack of feel....BOLLOCKS...this thing has more feel than a paedophile and is the most stable bike under brakes i have ever ridden.
:lol: I really need to make a trip down to NZ and Australia. All you people on this board are freakin' HILARIOUS! :lol:

[jimbo77]

Schneegz

I agree with you completely. I don't think its the words the blokes from down under are using, I think it's the flat out, in your face delivery, backed up with a bit of "who gives a sh** what the rest of the world thinks"...

Keep it up mates, it's one of the main reasons I spend time on this forum... And if I ever get your way, we'll have to hook up, have a few pints, a laugh our a**es off....

[Schneegz]

Jimbo,

Count me in! I'll meet you at LAX. We can start the 1st ever inter-continental SV riders meet from there!

[mainmansvman]

Aint life crap when your mates ride bikes like VTRs, GSX-R1000s and R1s and are happy to swap bikes for a while. After last Sunday's comparison between my SV and Ralph's VTR, with Steve's GSX thrown in for good measure, Monday was a public holiday here in NZ so John and I went "around the coast" to Waihau Bay, about an hour and a half of twisty, undulating coastal road away. John's got an '01 R1 with Suspension Tech internals in the front end. We swapped at Omaio, about half an hour out on the outwards leg , partly because John's looking for something a bit more pillion-friendly than the R1 so that he can take his missus on rides.

John's comments when we got to Waihau Bay ? "Best bike I've ever ridden"! Not bad from an R1 rider.

Flange's unbiased evaluation ? Even I wouldn't kid myself that an SV would keep up with an R1 on the track in the hands of a good rider. However, in the hands of a mug, it might be a different story. On a twisty, undulating coastal road with other traffic to consider and the law of the road to be given lip service at least, the SV gives away nothing to the R1. Specifically:

Pickup. Low and mid-range, there wouldn't be much in it at all. John's R1 has about 10,000k on the clock and so is fully free. It also has a can (Yoshi I think) and so it at least sounds faster than a fully silenced SV. I think my SV with 2000km on the clocks at that stage was probably a bit quicker out of the corners and thereafter could hold the R1 for a while, but ultimately the R1 will hit it's straps and the effects of 150bhp/175kg would surely overcome the effects of 120bhp/190kg.

Top speed. Same applies, although on the way home (on a private section of road of course) I gave the SV a good squirt & shortly after shifting up from 5th to 6th, glanced briefly at the speedo to see 247km/hr and it was still pulling really strongly. The R1 will have a higher top speed, without doubt, but the SV definately has "sufficient" for the street.

Brakes. Those Yamaha brakes are damned good, but the SV was more stable under brakes than the R1, particularly when leaned over. Certainly I would brake harder and later on the SV than on the R1.

Cornering. Again, the SV felt "nicer" in the corner and so I would say that in a road environment, give me the SV every time. Maybe Troy Bayliss would get an R1 around the corners on a race track faster than the SV but I wouldn't put too much money on it. Dunno about the journo referred elsewhere on this site who suggested that the SV was vague and lacked feedback in corners, maybe he got a Friday SV. Maybe he didn't set up the suspension. I needed to wind on quite a bit of preload to get the sags close on mine, and backed the front compression damping off a half turn to calm a bucking front end. Without that, who knows ? The R1 could be made to shake it's head a bit gassing hard out of bumpy corners but I couldnt get the SV to shake. Again we must bear in mind the power and weight differences, but in the road environment, the SV was more stable, despite the R1 having a lot more damping wound in on the Ohlins adjustable steering damper that John has fitted.

Aesthetics. Cindy Crawford or Elle McPherson ? Ya wouldn't gnaw your arm off to escape either now would you ?

Cheers
Flange


I bought the sv about 6 weeks ago coming from a 95 urbantiger blade, two of my mates had r6 's' and with in one week one of them changed to a r1 2002 model, and belevie me we thrash them and the r1 does not get that far away if i can get in front on the twisties he dont get past, cant shake him mind, soon as we hit long staight and reach high speeds (70 mph) lol he starts pulling away, and as the old blade went i ride this baby much better i think it handles a treat, it got yoshi rs3 on and one of those timing retard things on, and i changed the tyres to brigestone 010s i find them much better on these roads up north :niceone:

[ST]

I too have had the pleasure of a free ride on a mates new 04' R1......to be honest it scared the shit out of me. It was far too much for the road.
I have been riding big bikes for 17 years and that naughty R1 was lifting the front in 3rd at silly speeds. Brakes are effing marvellous though, handles as effing good an all....... try staying at legal speeds and your a clever guy it just wants to get you in trouble.
Not being biased but i prefer the sv to ride, so predictable with ample grunt and handling for the road and a unique style with a V2 thump that turns heads with ' wot the fugginells that' comments...... instead of'theres another R1'
The R1 seems to be the headbangers tool of today......problem is you can only bang yer head for so long then its game over. :wallbash:

I suppose its each to their own but im happy with the £4000 i saved not buying a new R1 or one of those italian V twins in red/yellow that the breakdown recovery truck drivers seem to know ....... :D

[one2many]

R1's are for girlie men :nutkick:

[CraigBellamy]

Doesnt Capt_Gentry own both bikes?

Would be interesting to hear his comments.....

Craig

[dougie111]

As i've posted previously, i've owned an R1(blue 01) put 10k on it before i sold it! I have 2.4k on my 03 sv1ks(silver). i've also ridden an 04 r1(my buddies before he wreck it!!!!). so here's my evlauation:

ENGINE:
on the street, canyons, my sv has as much grunt as my 01R1 40-80mph, under 40(say tight 1st/2nd gear stuff) sv's actually stronger, more responsive, after 90, o1r1 pulls away. compared to 04 r1, sv's considerably stronger in low to mid speed ( 04r1 has ridicously tall 1st gear--good for 100mph, and frankly, below say, 8k rpm feels flat next to sv and 01 r1). after 120mph in say 3rd gear, 04r1 will tear apart sv and pull well on 01r1.( 150rwhp will do that for you). The point is though, you have to be moving on the far side of 100 for a new r1 to feel noticeable faster than sv. How often can you really do that? Not much. real world riding isn't all about top end.
SUSPENSION/HANDLING:
well. it's a toss up. in sv's favor you get fairly agile steering, great mid corner stability, and no fear of highsiding yourself into the next zip code and hence make better time on roads. 01r1 had slightly quicker steering but bone stock shook it head over bunps/ripples hard on the gas( great fun, but ultimately wearing and kills rythm). in it's favor, r1's shorter wheelbase, more aggressive geometry and lighter weight meant better overall handling but again, you have to be riding very agressively to appreciate the difference. Ditto for 04r1, minus the headshake( revised trail and stock dampner on new model)
BRAKES:
forget it. no comparo. both 01r1 brakes and especially 04's make the sv's feel unimpressive. i've stomp on brakes from 50, 100 and 150+(on r1's) on all 3 bikes and the sv's brakes take longer to scrub speed and don't provide as much feel either. here, even for the street, sv's brakes aren't the equal of the engine.
COMFORT:
huge advantage for sv!!!! i just did a 300+mile day today with the tri-state sv rider group up from ct to mass back to new york and i feel fairly fresh. my butt isn't sore and my arms and legs feel fine. r1's have insidious buzz at highway speed and couple with the stink-bug riding position you start to hurt after 45minutes to 1hr. and i ride an S model sv1000, not the naked and still i feel physically intact tonight. V-twin vibes are much smoother at 70-100 cruising than inline 4 of r1's. plus higher clip-ons and slighter roomrier pegs all add up to much better comfort on sv.

[YellowFever]

R1's are for girlie men :nutkick:

I know you're not talking about me... :bleh:

[one2many]

I know you're not talking about me... :bleh:


You know Steve, we do have an online trading section where you can sell that baby. :D

[YellowFever]

You know Steve, we do have an online trading section where you can sell that baby. :D

Hey, that's a good idea... anyone wanna buy a slightly used, but never wheelied '04 R1?????

[JeffSV]

What was that post I recall about you zipping past O2M on a mono????

[YellowFever]

What was that post I recall about you zipping past O2M on a mono????

Who, Me?????????? :whistle:

[Brugal]

Sunday morning, 8am and I've been out for two hours alone because the lazy arse next door couldn't get out of bed (or his blade out of the garage).

Came across a '03 Ducati 998 with full carbon race thingys, a yellow Triumph 955i and a brand new Honda CBR600RR near Wetherby. Decided to follow them and see if I could keep with them for a while as they looked rather serious. They headed out on a 'B' road I've never seen before but after about 7 miles the 955 and CBR were no where to be seen and the Ducati was looking a little worried...he didn't seem to have the same confidence in the front end that the SV gives and was braking before corners that really didn't need it. The Duke was looking a little raggedy getting around them too whilst the SV just leant over and stayed calm (it actually felt as though the SV was laughing at me in a "Is that your best?" kind of way). The Duke eventually pulled in and had a quick chat whilst he waited for the others to catch up. He was a little complementary about the SV... When we set off again I only saw them for approx 30 seconds in the mirror before they were gone.

I'm no hero on a bike (although I try) and I really think the SV is just ideally suited to real road riding whereas other more sporty concoctions are too temperamental. The brand new CBR was a classic example of the wrong type of bike for the wrong type of rider. I think I'd be just as bad on a bike like that. I've nearly three years riding experience and the SV has brought me on in leaps and bounds.

Cheers, Steve.

[Metastable]

I think the SV is a great road bike, but to be honest.... it is MUCH easier to go faster at the track on a true supersport. I was at the same track twice this year, with the SV being the 2nd time there and I was WAY WAY slower (~5 seconds per lap) on the SV. The stock suspension just isn't up to par IMO.