Finally modding the SV just a little bit

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 6:06 pm

So this is not a posting about my beloved R, nor is the work earthshattering as far as motorcycle modifications go. But I am embarking on the first set of mods for my '01 model year Suzuki SV650 to inject a little bit of renewed interest and spark in my relationship with the girl.

First off, I've been wanting a freer breathing exhaust system including a freer breathing exhaust manifold. A friend who owns a Suzook/Yammy dealer is ordering up a Yoshimura carbon fiber setup. This will require a rejetting. The combination yield about 10% more power, and require me to revv the 90 deg. V-twin a little higher than I normally do, but with the promise of a bigger surge as the tach needle swings past 6.5k rpm.

Second, the stock front forks on the '99-'01 SV are universally panned for showing one of the few signs of where this bike was targeted price-wise. So I ask for a pair of Race Tech springs and the preload caps that came standard on the '02 models onward.

The SV now has 14k miles on it, so I decide to go ahead and get the 15k mile tune-up while I have it in the shop. I also tell the mechanic to go ahead and replace the chain and sprocket with an aftermarket brand known for using a harder grade of steel for the chain for longer adjustment intervals.

The front MEZ4 needs replacing, so I ask for Metzeler's Sportec M3 tire instead of the Z6. The Sportec is supposedly stickier and correspondingly offers a slightly shorter life span. No matter. I don't use the SV to tour with, so stickier compound for tooling around in the mountains is what I want.

My SV already has frame sliders, a National Cycle deflector shield, a fork brace, and a rear hugger for the back tire.

The bike is a blast to ride, but the oldest girl in my stable often gets overlooked for the bigger, more expensive bikes I have. My intent is to go to the track and learn better technique with the SV as well as having a more interesting commuting bike. I'm looking forward to the louder bark she'll have with the Yoshimuras, not to mention the increased power.

Ain't motorcycling grand?

R4R&R · Post by **R4R&R** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 6:19 pm

Yong,
I'd love to have one of the first generation SV650's - I love those bikes. I'm just not sure how IT would like my big butt riding around on it.

I think overall you're doing mostly maintenance with the exception of the exhaust/jetting. You may want to look into a K&N filter while you're at it.

If you ever need tires changed, I have the setup to do it in my garage if you're interested.

Let us know how it turns out.

BigC · Post by **BigC** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 6:24 pm

The SV sounds like a great grocery getter! i.e. the ultimate in functionality and a great general purpose bike. Actually, that's the bike I would own if the R hadn't popped up on Craigslist at what I considered the same price I would have paid for a new SV. If I could trade out my '82 GL500 behemoth for an SV and not have the wife kill me, I'd do it

Good luck with the mods! Post some pics if you have time

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 9:12 pm

John - Yeah, I'm not much of a fan of the current-gen SV. Too angular and IMO not much of an improvement over the first iteration. And no, I'm really not doing much in the way of mods other than the exhaust. I'll see how the bike does with the new exhaust setup, and consider some carburetor and cam mods in the future. One thing I considered was grafting a GSXR-600 front fork onto the SV, but I'm not that aggressive of a rider.

I"ll have to come over for a visit to check out your garage. Sounds like you've got a pretty good setup if you can change tires.

Brent - well, the SV will certainly take up less space in your garage, so your boss, er, I mean your wife may prefer the smaller bike!

BigC · Post by **BigC** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 9:42 pm

yjleesvrr wrote:
Brent - well, the SV will certainly take up less space in your garage, so your boss, er, I mean your wife may prefer the smaller bike!

The wife has no dominion over the garage

That belongs to me and everything in it is mine

If she thinks otherwise, then she can take her car to jiffy lube for oil changes, wash and wax it herself, etc, etc....

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 6:12 pm

Got to pick the SV back up from my friend's dealership today. Man, the new Yoshimura exhaust sounds great! Revving the engine beyond 5k rpm emits a baritone bark that's quite nice. With nearly 10% more power, I should now have at least 73 horsepower at the rear wheel - about the same as the Roaster and my HD with the stage 1 kit. Peak torque with the new exhaust should be around 47 - 48 ft. lbs. Considering the bike weighs about 410 lbs. wet, this should translate to an appreciable increase in the amount of oomph. Looking forward to take her out for a serious spin.

BigC · Post by **BigC** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:06 pm

73hp from a 650 is outstanding! Enjoy the makeover

I got to ride to work one day last week and this upcoming week looks very promising

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:49 pm

Brent - The weather around the mid-Atlantic has been phenomenal lately. It was 72 degrees today in the D.C. area, with one local area swimming pool having been opened for the day! Actually, I prefer my winters cold, but it's hard not to appreciate a very spring-like day. I saw so many motorcycles on the road today.

I just took the SV for a spin this evening. The bike sounds and feels great. With stiffer springs with preload adjustment, freer-breathing exhaust, and a thorough tune-up, the bike has a noticeably stronger surge of acceleration. IMO, L-twins sound the best. While the 650 doesn't have the bark of, say, the RC51's engine, it's still delectable sounding.

I think the best time to do mods on a bike is a few years after you first buy it. That way you can renew the enthusiasm for a particular machine. I for one feel like I've almost gotten a new bike. I've had my SV five years now.

BigC · Post by **BigC** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:37 pm

Yong, I didn't know you had the power mods along with all the other things

Very Nice!! The climate that you enjoy..doesn't exist here. I try and make the most of it but if it hits below 20 I have issue's....

I just bought a cage for Christmas that came with a turbo so I'm still trying to sort out that fun

Enjoy the SV! Sounds like a great investment to me

Ric · Post by **Ric** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 8:24 am

Hey yjleesvrr...

I have an 01 SV...I love it but thinking about selling to acquire a RR.

Here are my mods thanks to Jack Roe's hard work on the dyno....

A full Yosh exhaust system.
Snorkelectomy
3 turns out on the fuel screws,
stock # 15 pilot jets,
two .020" shims under the needle clip,
stock 7 mm float level,
152.5 main jets.

The bike runs great on this setup. No more torque fall out in the middle of the rev range. The bike wheelies in second !

For those who think the little SV650 is a great grocery getter or learner bike.....A mod'ed SV650 is such a sleeper, a real stump puller that will put tears in the eyes of R6's, ZX6R's and the like, at least where most hot-roding around counts. it burns them up to have to get all the way to 100 mph before they can catch me.

Stiffen up the suspension and the little bike is hard for anyone to catch in the twisties. With so much low end grunt it's easy to keep smooth while the modern 600's are having to upset their chassis trying to stay above 6k.

I live in North Alabama. If anyone is interested in a very well kept and mod'ed 01 SV, let me know.

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 11:01 pm

Hey Ric - Your SV looks just like mine, except that my Yoshi is carbon fiber. I tell you what. I can definitely tell a difference with the new exhaust setup. The SV with the freer-breathing exhaust sounds great too. There is no substitute for the sound of a v-twin, even if it's "only" 650cc. It feels great to have the engine in 4th gear between 40 - 60 mph and letting her rip as the motor gets into the meat of the torque band. I rode around yesterday without earplugs to hear the engine sing in 2nd and 3rd gear while accelerating hard. The bike is definitely a lot louder than stock. I love it.

Methinks you should hold onto your SV. You'd be hard pressed to get more than 3k out of it considering it cost $5.7k when new. The bike is worth more as a bike than as a commodity for exchange.

Ric · Post by **Ric** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 9:31 am

yjleesvrr...
Thats an old picture...my SV now has a full Yosh SS header and pipe system.

ya gotta to the Snorkelectomy too really free up the breathing. those number on my post above came from a guy who conducted something like 50 dyno runs with every config imaginable. In the end they were the best numbers.

HEY....the Yosh pipe sounds awsome doesn't it !!!

Post by **CycleRob** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 9:53 pm

yjleesvrr,

The SV-650 was the only other bike I was going to buy when I bought my new 02 R1150R.

In my shop I retired from in 05 I've race prepped over 17 of the SV-650 gems, thru and including the new EFI models. The best money spent is on an M4 exhaust system, RaceTech springs & gold valves for the front forks. Money left over goes to a Penske or Ohlins rear shock, which are very close in price.. Do NOT get a jetkit for your bike!! I Dyno'd them all and stock mains, pilots and needles with ONE .022" washer under each slide needle made the best full aftermarket exhaust system power with clean throttle response and driveability. Jet kitted bikes all made less HP. The before/after on the dyno chart was very upsetting to one internet informed customer that ordered and installed the perfect jetkit against our advice.
People that remove the snorkels crucify the factory's million dollar rocket science tuning that utilizes the energy from the high amplitude intake pulses to dynamically increase airflow over the full throttle & RPM range while reducing noise. Wack open the throttle at 4,000 without the snorkel and you get a big stumble unless it's jetted over-rich, which they then do with extra washers or larger mainjets. Tank lift spacer kits, to increase airflow and power are also bogus. The idle mixture screws can and should only be "smooth" run set 2 minutes after starting a cool room temperature engine.

Your "piped" SV should push out 70--71, stock is 68--69.

The SV-650 is THE cheapest way to go racing at a level that never gets tame. Because of the sweet sounds it makes, it was one of my favorite bikes to dyno. The stock suspension is sub-par for performance but because it is balanced front-2-rear from Suzuki, the flaws aren't dangerous. The Gold Valves (they're actually made of brass) sucessfully emulate more expensive cartridge type suspensions and allow the installers to fine tune the compression & rebound rates for your weight, expertise and riding style. The fork oil weight and level is part of that tuning and must be right too. The bumpy curve confidence and stability improvement is dramatic and we got used to the wide eyed customer's enthusiastic responses.

E-Mail me if you need more info or shop phones to impartially guide your much needed suspension mods.

Ric · Post by **Ric** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:40 pm

I AGREE...DO NOT USE A "JET KIT" BUT...YOU WILL NEED TO CHANGE YOUR MAIN JET IF YOU DECREASE AIR FLOW RESTRICTION.

FROM A GUY WHO DID ROUGHLY 50 DYNO RUNS OF EVERY CONFIGURATION ON FIRST GEN SV650.

ALL USING A FULL HEADER/EXHAUST SYSTEM.

HERE ARE EIGHT OF THE DYNO RUN NUMBERS

WITH A SLIGHT CHANGE ON THE PILOT CIRCUIT
I USED THE STAGE II. D. VERSION WHICH DOES NOT USE A DYNO-JET KIT.

Stage III is with the airbox removed and using individual pod filters on the carbs:
Stage I - stock air filter:
A) Fuel screws: 2-1/2 turns out, 17.5 Mikuni pilot jets, two .020" shims under the needle clip, 140 Mikuni main jets.
B) Factory Configuration 10 jet kit. Fuel screws: 2-1/2 turns out, 17.5 pilot jets, # 3 groove on the needle, 140 mains.
C) Dynojet kit. Fuel screws: 3 turns out, stock pilot jets (DJ doesn't change the stock # 15 pilot), # 3 groove on the needle, the small air hole in the slide drilled to .054" (drill supplied in the jet kit), and DJ's # 138 main jets.

RPM A B C
4000 31.5 32.5 32.2
5000 37.5 38.4 37.9
6000 48.9 50.4 50.1
7000 57.1 58.7 58.2
8000 64.6 65.5 65.7
9000 67.3 69.0 69.4
10000 66.1 67.8 67.1
Peak 67.9 69.5 69.5
@RPM 9130 9135 9085
Stage II - snorkelectomy:
D) Fuel screws: 2-1/2 turns out, 17.5 pilots, two shims under the needle clip, 152.5 main jets.
E) Fuel screws: 2-1/2 turns out, 17.5 pilots, # 3 groove on the Factory needle, 152.5 mains.
F) Fuel screws: 2-1/2 turns out, 17.5 pilots, # 3 groove on the Factory needle, 152.5 mains, small air hole in slides drilled to .054."
RPM D E F
4000 32.5 32.9 33.0
5000 40.7 40.9 40.7
6000 51.2 51.7 52.3
7000 60.4 59.9 60.2
8000 66.3 65.8 66.7
9000 70.6 69.3 69.8
10000 67.1 68.2 68.7
Peak 70.7 70.1 70.9
@RPM 9000 9215 9520

Stage III - Factory Configuration 30 kit with individual pod filters
H) Fuel screws: 2-1/2 turns out, 17.5 pilots, # 2 groove on the Factory needle, front cyl. main jet: 220, rear cyl. main jet: 215, small air hole in slides drilled to .054."
I) Same as (H) except the TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) has been disconnected.
RPM H I
4000 32.8 31.2
5000 39.5 37.7
6000 52.5 49.7
7000 61.7 58.4
8000 68.7 66.4
9000 70.9 68.3
Peak 71.0 68.9
@RPM 9090 9075

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 5:06 pm

Rob - My mechanic already installed a jet kit for the carb as part of the whole pipe install. And she is running slightly rich. Can I simply adjust what is currently installed to make her run leaner?

p.s. - I had Race Tech springs installed along with preload adjusters, but not the Gold Valves.

Post by **CycleRob** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 1:47 am

Can I simply adjust what is currently installed to make her run leaner?

yjleesvrr,
Without a dyno to compare power curves it would be trial-n-error choosing to lean the slide needle, the main or both. Definitely run-set the pilot screws. You will get an improvement by run-setting, rather than turns-out setting, the idle mixture screws. The turns-out setting is for people that won't or are unable to run-set the pilot screws. How the engine runs when cold is a good indication if it's too rich, but the mech must fully understand CV carbs to segregate the overlapping pilotjet, slide needle and mainjet fuel metering systems if any time & labor will be invested. If the JetKit was installed without Before & After dynoruns there is most likely the same or less power than stock. I hope you were given the stock needles, mains and slide springs back. Any performance work my shop did always included the Stock or "Before" dynoruns. Very few modified bikes show NO improvement with a JetKit, rather than just shimming the slideneedles, but the SV-650 is one. Did you notce the omission of the stock HP readings above?

I will call you Saturday (today) at 2pm and we can straighten this whole thing out.

Ric · Post by **Ric** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 8:58 am

CycleRob wrote:
Did you notce the omission of the stock HP readings above?

HEY ! Scooter-breath ! I just happened not to have the first "Stock" dyno run on file of the 57+ different dyno runs performed by Jack Roe on the first gen SV650. Jack Roe is well known and respected in many SV circles. Just because you worked as a motorcycle mechanic in some shop doesn't make you the only expert game in town. I gave what I know and I did so without claiming to be Mr. Expert.

yjleesvrr.....After riding, racing, building motors since 1965 ! And as an R&D Test Engineer in the automotive industry for 25 years, I can safely tell you...It ain't rocket science ! If you live anywhere near sea level, and if you have a full header & pipe system...desnorkle, put two 0.02 shims under the needle clip, put your fuel screws between 2.5 and 3 turns out, and install 152.5 mains. Everything else should remain stock (i.e. ditch the jet kit). Take that back to the dyno and see if it doesn't smooth out your torque curve and add a few ponies when compared to your stock dyno run. Unless you live above 2,500 feet that setup will be about as good as you're gonna get with these simple mods.

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 11:02 am

Woah, let's chill here. No need to get in an exchange over this. I appreciate both your inputs and want to learn more from those far more experienced than me.