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Why is the SV1000S so slow!

24413 Views 99 Replies 45 Participants Last post by  Missing Link
I'm sure I’ll generate a lot of ill feelings on this post. Don't get me wrong, I love my SV1000S and didn't regret purchasing it.

Here's the story....

I managed to hit 165mph on my bike last weekend. I had a GPS with me and it registered in at 141mph. This is the fasted that I've had my bike up to and it was topped out. I think the only thing holding me back a little was the fact that I was not able to fully tuck in due to my tank bag. Even if I was I don't think I would hit more than 145mph, true speed.

Before I go any further I must say that I only hit top speed runs about once every two months. I do this in is a secluded road far away from the city limits and you can see for miles. I'll make these runs where there are no cars on the road, early Sunday mornings. I realize that there is an inherent risk doing this, but I try to be as safe as possible.

I have done a lot of mods to the bike and my last dyno run produced 117hp and 73torque. With this kind of power I would expect to see higher top speeds. The last run that I did was a 638 ft above sea level on a cool day. I weigh 235 pounds with gear on, however, I have shed about 20 pounds of bike weight after my mods. I have actually read an article in one of the sport bike magazines that say larger rides can sometimes reach higher speed than lighter rides when they tuck in as it helps remove the void between the rider and the wind screen, less of a wind vortex.

Since the last dyno run I have made some other mods to the bike. They include a BMC filter, lifted tank and snorkel removed. I do plan to have it remapped here in a couple of weeks.

I look at the current production of 600's out there and they are able to achieve high speeds than my bike, not to mention the 1000cc class bikes. So why is my top speed so low? Is it the lack of a RAM air induction or even full fairings? I do have a 16T on the front sprocket and when at top speed I'm about 1000rpm's away from my redline.

Any well thought out responses would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Rocket 6R
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Rocket 6R said:
I was not trying to disrespect our bikes by comparing them to the I-4's and the speed or power issue.

Thanks for all the responses thus far. I love you guys! This is the best forum and I'll never leave.

Thanks, Rocket 6R
Dude,

Your original post was a good one with a legitimate question. Those guys are a bunch of asses! The only one I truely respect was the Devo quoting dude. What a band! :headbang:

CJ
The real question for me is whether you were going 165 or 141. Do your dyno prints offer mph at a certain rpm? My SV has seen an indicated 150mph with heli bars, a givi screen and givi hard bags packed full. The motor is stock. My buddy on his older k100 said his speedo read 140 and I was still pulling away.
Most speedos are optimistic but 25mph? Maybe you didn't run long enough at top speed to get the gps to register accurately?

Just some thoughts from the peanut gallery.
Frisco said:
Those guys are a bunch of asses! CJ
Hey I belong to the other site too! :shutup: :msn-wink: And to be fair most of the folks there that I've met and ridden with are pretty cool. Not really sure why they went off like that...
Malkey said:
Hey I belong to the other site too! :shutup: :msn-wink: And to be fair most of the folks there that I've met and ridden with are pretty cool. Not really sure why they went off like that...
For you, Malkey, I'll recind my comment and trust your opinion. Out of context, though, they didn't come off too well.

CJ
jthayer said:
Maybe you didn't run long enough at top speed to get the gps to register accurately?

You could be right about the GPS issue.

I do have the mph graph for the bike. However, it was done in 4th gear. The standard hp/torque test on a dyno is to do a 4th gear roll-on. So, I only have that speed, it's around 120mph+. You really can't rely on the dyno for a max speed run in 6th gear as there is no wind resistance or road resistance.

Thanks, Rocket 6R
Try changing your gearing. If you can't red line, then you need to go lower. Try a 15t front sprocket.
Malkey said:
Hey I belong to the other site too! :shutup: :msn-wink: And to be fair most of the folks there that I've met and ridden with are pretty cool. Not really sure why they went off like that...
I reckon it was the guy that hit a cat earlier.

IIRC KurtsSV is one of a couple of guys on the site planning on joining the CHP, I guess he already kicked into cop mode.
cyclerider105 said:
Try changing your gearing. If you can't red line, then you need to go lower. Try a 15t front sprocket.
That's about the same as going 6 up on the back. You'd never keep the front wheel down.:devil2: Must check out the renthal website...
I have no idea what top speed is for this bike . I've seen 157 indicated on the street ,how far off that is I have no idea . But I've seen 124 at the drag strip and that was their reading and I was banging off the limiter in 3rd. So, I'd say it's as fast as I want to go .
Since we are talking about top speed and gearing, with stock gearing will your bike pull to red line in 6th gear? I don't think mine will, if it will it would take a few miles. If it won't pull all the way wouldn't it help to gear the bike down so you can make use of all of 6th gear?
elp_jc said:
Hey Taxman, are you saying the tach is off buddy? Never heard of that before. I've heard not being able to keep up in 1st gear or so, but never been off. So that means that the SV doesn't rev to 11K? Has anybody used a digital tachometer to confirm that? Just curious.
JC

Yes, it is. Every dyno graph for the SV1000S I have ever seen shows the engine bumping into the rev limiter just past 10K.
cyclerider105 said:
Try changing your gearing. If you can't red line, then you need to go lower. Try a 15t front sprocket.
That's a good way of messing up your 530 chain...

That is way small. 16t is as low as I would go with a 530.
What are we asking for here? Are we looking for top speed? OR, just trying to see if we can hit the rev limiter in high gear. If you put on a 15t, I guarantee that you'll hit the limiter in high gear. If it's top speed you're looking for, you'll want to be at the top limit of the HP curve with whatever gearing that it takes to get the job done.

Have I confused anyone?
If there isn't enough horsepower to pull 6th gear redline it's not going to happen.

On my XT, I tried this summer to redline each gear. I only redlined 3rd gear. 4th gear I only got 6200, and 5th I only got 5500 rpm. I was 1 toof down on the front too..
Hey Taxman, I believe you buddy, but I think rather than the tach being off, Suzuki lied to us about the redline, no? :argh:
That also happened in one of my ex-bikes, but can't remember which one. Limiter kicked in about 500 short of redline.
The racier RC51 only goes to 10K, with identical bore/stroke dimensions; 11K sounds a bit high, huh? Maybe Suzuki didn't even want to bother changing the redline from the 650 to the 1000.
JC
elp_jc said:
Hey Taxman, I believe you buddy, but I think rather than the tach being off, Suzuki lied to us about the redline, no? :argh:
That also happened in one of my ex-bikes, but can't remember which one. Limiter kicked in about 500 short of redline.
The racier RC51 only goes to 10K, with identical bore/stroke dimensions; 11K sounds a bit high, huh? Maybe Suzuki didn't even want to bother changing the redline from the 650 to the 1000.
JC
I think when they hook up a bike to a dyno, they also hook up to its electronics to get an accurate rpm count. I would trust the dyno charts over anything else.

No trouble getting my tach to read 11K+ in the lower gears. But I know from the dyno charts that I am still shy of an actual 10K, for I haven't hit the limiter as yet. That don't happen till about 11,400 on the tach. (Mind you, I am usually concentrating somewhere other than my gauges when that happens. lol)
V twins just are not for top speed, they are best for bottom and mid range.

My bike has started to show a 172 top speed in the last 2000 miles, making me think it's just run in, I have now done 18000 miles, and for the first 16000 I only ever managed to get to 165 indicated on the speedo.


I go through a speed indicator sign every morning,it displays what speed we are doing, and no matter what speed I do through it my speedo is always 12mph over what the indicator displays, wether I'm doing 10mph or 99 mph, the speedo will show 22mph, or 111 mph.

The indicator only goes upto 99mph!

Remeber those widely published roll-on figures, at any speed from and upto 90mph, the svthou is faster than the hayabusa!
sinic said:
Remeber those widely published roll-on figures, at any speed from and upto 90mph, the svthou is faster than the hayabusa!

Who claims this? Sounds a little off to me...



Anyhow, I don't hink my SV would pull top gear to redline(stock) unless the hill was steep enough. But I would also rather have the SV for thrusting out of turns and fairly easy (shifting wise) backroad sessions. It handles those much better than top speed runs, thats just a V-Twin sportbike for ya...
Like Bloodhound, I didn't buy the thing for top speed, whether it's 150 or 200mph, you're not likely to see either of those figures on the road and if a cop sees you doing it, you're fucked.

That's why I don't understand people who talk about their turbocharged busa that does 230mph, who cares? Anywhere other than a drag strip it's completely useless, you wouldn't even get it up to that speed on a race track.
jrl305 said:
What are we asking for here? Are we looking for top speed? OR, just trying to see if we can hit the rev limiter in high gear. If you put on a 15t, I guarantee that you'll hit the limiter in high gear. If it's top speed you're looking for, you'll want to be at the top limit of the HP curve with whatever gearing that it takes to get the job done.

Have I confused anyone?
Nope......
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