Why Does My SV1000 feel So Slow

497 Views 15 Replies 8 Participants Last post by GDCobra, 3 d ago

priisen

Discussion Starter · 7 d ago

Hi All,

I've got a SV1000 (SK4 55 plate) and a Triumph Thruxton R and the latter feels a lot quicker (especially in sport mode) than the supposedly more powerful SV.

I had an SV650 (07 plate sport) in the past and loved it. When the chance for an SV1000 came up, I grabbed it with both hands, but I can't say I'm all that impressed. It doesn't really feel any faster or more powerful than the SV650 (which did have a smaller front sprocket) even though it's meant to have ~120bhp vs 70bhp.

I even tried deleting the secondary throttle plates and fitting a TRE, which I've seem mixed messages about. Again, neither of these things made much of a difference. Is my SV1000 broken or were my expectations too high?

Cheers
Paul

1 - 16 of 16 Posts

schmidt314

· #2 · 7 d ago

priisen said:
Hi All,

I've got a SV1000 (SK4 55 plate) and a Triumph Thruxton R and the latter feels a lot quicker (especially in sport mode) than the supposedly more powerful SV.

I had an SV650 (07 plate sport) in the past and loved it. When the chance for an SV1000 came up, I grabbed it with both hands, but I can't say I'm all that impressed. It doesn't really feel any faster or more powerful than the SV650 (which did have a smaller front sprocket) even though it's meant to have ~120bhp vs 70bhp.

I even tried deleting the secondary throttle plates and fitting a TRE, which I've seem mixed messages about. Again, neither of these things made much of a difference. Is my SV1000 broken or were my expectations too high?

Cheers
Paul

If your SV1000 feels no quicker than an SV650, you have problems.

-ms

Reactions: 2

GDCobra

· #3 · 6 d ago

I must admit I've always felt a bit underwhelmed by mine, doesn't exactly feel over endowed with get up and go, even if you drop a gear or two it never feels so responsive for overtakes. I had intended to get it onto a dyno this year to investigate but an injury has put a stop to that as I can’t ride at the moment.

It seems to run OK and I’ve not investigated its top speed as I’m not really interested in that, but it does give the impression of being a heavy bike which it shouldn’t be. I had a 650 (curvy/carb’ bike) a good while back and remember feeling just the opposite on this, it seemed to have more to offer than expected. Maybe I’ve just been spoilt in between time and got used to more powerful machinery but I’m not convinced by that.

I'll keep you posted if I do get around to getting it dyno'ed

Pantera93

· #4 · 6 d ago

Hmmm, well I've never been on a GSXR or an R1 but I wouldn't try myself on anything faster than my SV!! I've always had big cruisers so maybe thats why I think its so fast but no complaints here! Have you done your valve clearance checks? Mine were pretty tight.

Reactions: 1

GDCobra

· #5 · 6 d ago

Pantera93 said:
Hmmm, well I've never been on a GSXR or an R1 but I wouldn't try myself on anything faster than my SV!! I've always had big cruisers so maybe thats why I think its so fast but no complaints here! Have you done your valve clearance checks? Mine were pretty tight.

I haven't personally checked the valves but they were (supposed to have been) done not long (in miles) before I got the bike and none of them seem to be complaining noise wise. I'm not exactly a speed freak myself which is partly the reason for swapping out my BMW S1000R as that made going to fast too easy but this does. The SV seems to be able to get up to a respectable speed and seems quite happy doing it but it's when you come to overtake another vehicle I seem to need way more room than on previous bikes even dropping one or two gears. As I say the best way I can put it is as though the bike is very heavy, and I seem to recall having the oposite sensations on my 650, even at higher speeds (80+) I seem to recall that bike taking off quite well. Next stop is to get it dynoed at least then I'll know where I am.

Missing Link

· #6 · 5 d ago

I have never felt that mine was underpowered, and compared to the 650, streets ahead.
Mine got flogged from the time of birth to time of death just recently, and always put a grin on my dial.

Madmax11

· #7 · 5 d ago

Missing Link said:
I have never felt that mine was underpowered, and compared to the 650, streets ahead.
Mine got flogged from the time of birth to time of death just recently, and always put a grin on my dial.

What. She's givin up the ghost finally? K's at death?

Madmax11

· #8 · 5 d ago

I would compare my 07 sv1000 as similar to a 2010 ish 600 inline 4 for acceleration and top speed. I've always found I need to ride it like a 600 when out with my buddies on their inline 4 1000's.
I'd say you got something wrong. Sv1000 blows sv650 away in a straight line.

Missing Link

· #9 · 5 d ago

Madmax11 said:
What. She's givin up the ghost finally? K's at death?

The motor was still going....ecu and loom and probbly other things died at 343776km

miata76

· #10 · 4 d ago

Priisen -

If you think your SV1000 is low on power, you might want to consider perusing a recent thread I started (not too long ago) titled “No Power”. In the end, it seemed there were several issues with the bike that were masking one another for YEARS. Power was low, but I didn’t realize it because (even limited) it was the most powerful bike I’d ridden to date. Now that all of the issues have been addressed, the bike has so much power I consider it downright “twitchy” & have had to change some of my habits to compensate. It could be you have some of these same/similar issues masking each other.

Just a thought. Best of luck to you on your pursuit & let me know if you think I might be able to help.

Reactions: 1

RecoilRob

· #11 · 4 d ago

Fuel filter clogging is very common and will slowly strangle the power. That would be the first place to go. Valves on the SV's don't get noisy when they need adjusted....it's the opposite as the seats are what wears so the valves sink and the clearance goes away. If you can't hear them happily ticking in there....better give them a check for yourself. Wouldn't be the first bike sold to someone which 'just had them checked' when they weren't.
And the SV1K is heavier than the 650....but not by that much that it should be so obvious. They 'feel' heavy because they're set up for high speed stability so they don't 'flick' like the 650's and people often attribute this to weight...but it's not. Larger tires and steering damper both change how they respond...it's a different bike.

Reactions: 1

priisen

Discussion Starter · #12 · 4 d ago

Thanks for the input all, looks like I have a few things to check out. I'll keep this post updated.

Reactions: 1

GDCobra

· #13 · 4 d ago (Edited)

miata76 said:
Priisen -

If you think your SV1000 is low on power, you might want to consider perusing a recent thread I started (not too long ago) titled “No Power”. In the end, it seemed there were several issues with the bike that were masking one another for YEARS. Power was low, but I didn’t realize it because (even limited) it was the most powerful bike I’d ridden to date. Now that all of the issues have been addressed, the bike has so much power I consider it downright “twitchy” & have had to change some of my habits to compensate. It could be you have some of these same/similar issues masking each other.

Just a thought. Best of luck to you on your pursuit & let me know if you think I might be able to help.

I'll certainly be checking that out, think I may have viewed this already.

Just went and had a look and it all came flooding back, my bike is certainly not as bad as yours was, it doesn't have a problem reaching speeds of 80MPH or more (I don't tend to go over that on the road) it's just not as quick getting there as I'd expect (or maybe it just doesn't feel quick).

GDCobra

· #14 · 3 d ago

RecoilRob said:
Fuel filter clogging is very common and will slowly strangle the power. That would be the first place to go. Valves on the SV's don't get noisy when they need adjusted....it's the opposite as the seats are what wears so the valves sink and the clearance goes away. If you can't hear them happily ticking in there....better give them a check for yourself. Wouldn't be the first bike sold to someone which 'just had them checked' when they weren't.
And the SV1K is heavier than the 650....but not by that much that it should be so obvious. They 'feel' heavy because they're set up for high speed stability so they don't 'flick' like the 650's and people often attribute this to weight...but it's not. Larger tires and steering damper both change how they respond...it's a different bike.

I bypassed the fuel filter and fitted an external one over winter, I also did the mod' to the regulator which I think you recommend @RecoilRob. Unfortunately I've not been able to ride since due to smashed pelvis, I do have high hopes for it though.
I hadn't bothered with the valve clearances as there is an indication in the service book that these were done at the last service however I looked through the documentation I have at the weekend, found the documented receipt which does not mention the valve service. Perhaps the previous owner simply wrote this on to help the sale! I'll be looking into this soon, however if the valves have not been closing I suspect simply sorting them out now won't help too much as the seats will probably be damaged by now.

RecoilRob

· #15 · 3 d ago

Sorry to hear about the pelvis injury...that's a BAD one! More than likely your power concerns will be greatly reduced once you get back to riding with a free flowing fuel system. The regulator venting did help quite a bit to quiet down the pressure pulsing and for sure I'd recommend it if anyone is into the pump module. Can't hurt.

When I first got my bike out of curiosity I checked the valve clearances at less than 1500 miles....all were within spec but right on the tight limit. Idle speed, TB synch and TPS settings all checked and set...then I adjusted the valves to the wide end of the spec...and the idle speed went up over 300 rpm! Absolutely pulled harder down low and in the midrange and later when degreeing the cams after fitting the WebCam adjustable gears it showed that adjusting from the tight side to loose side of spec changed the duration about 4 degrees IIRC. So if all are on the tight side you have quite a bit more overlap which can sap power if the exhaust system isn't tuned to handle it. Anyone telling you that 'anywhere in spec is the same' isn't someone I'd want to take advice from. You can do fine tuning with the valve adjustments and my preference is to run them on the wide side of spec. Like the old saying goes 'A tappy valve is a happy valve'.

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Reactions: 1

GDCobra

· #16 · 3 d ago

RecoilRob said:
Sorry to hear about the pelvis injury...that's a BAD one! More than likely your power concerns will be greatly reduced once you get back to riding with a free flowing fuel system. The regulator venting did help quite a bit to quiet down the pressure pulsing and for sure I'd recommend it if anyone is into the pump module. Can't hurt.

When I first got my bike out of curiosity I checked the valve clearances at less than 1500 miles....all were within spec but right on the tight limit. Idle speed, TB synch and TPS settings all checked and set...then I adjusted the valves to the wide end of the spec...and the idle speed went up over 300 rpm! Absolutely pulled harder down low and in the midrange and later when degreeing the cams after fitting the WebCam adjustable gears it showed that adjusting from the tight side to loose side of spec changed the duration about 4 degrees IIRC. So if all are on the tight side you have quite a bit more overlap which can sap power if the exhaust system isn't tuned to handle it. Anyone telling you that 'anywhere in spec is the same' isn't someone I'd want to take advice from. You can do fine tuning with the valve adjustments and my preference is to run them on the wide side of spec. Like the old saying goes 'A tappy valve is a happy valve'.

Cheers RR, yeah it is a bad one, 3 and a half months in and I'm still struggling, I just keep reminding myself there are folk much worse off which helps me to stop moaning so much!
I suspect once I get back to riding even an asthmatic 125 would probably feel too fast!
I totally agree with you feelings about the regulator cover, it can't do any halm and may do some good.
Managed to check today with the company who did the preivous service (before my ownership) and they assure me the valve clearances were done. I do accept this but deep down I know I won't be happy until I've checked them and as I don't have any riding opportunities at the moment it may be a reasonable time to check them.
That's a good point you make about the clearances, although tight should be good for maximum power reducing the clearance will improve the low down breathing. Bit like a poor man's VTEC!
Actually in the V8 car engine world there is a company (or used to be) which make hydraulic followers which pump down at low RPM giving just the characteristic you describe, at higher RPM they pump up and give more lift and duration. Never used them myself though.

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