As part of my quest to be debt-free, I sold my 2007 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R (which I owed about $7000 on) and bought a used 2003 Suzuki SV650 ($3500). I had the money left from a house refinance so I didn't have to go into more debt. But anyway, here are pictures. The first one is the Ninja I sold and the second is the SV650 I just bought.





The SV650 is a lot slower, but has more torque and grunt at low RPMs. It's a much more relaxed riding position and is a lot more comfortable. I'm hoping I get less attention from the cops on the new one!

Good choice, I've always liked the SV's. Nice choice financially too.

You just got a little hotter.

That bike also has a wider set ratio transmission.

Was it hard to get used to shifting less often after riding the ninja?

that turns me on

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
  do her}
elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
  do other babe}
else{
  do a dude}

Brian is getting old, he's caring more about comfort than looks/power now!

My uncle knows a guy selling a 2000 SV650 for 500 bucks...apparently he tried to do a valve job on it, then the motor wouldn't turn over. It hasn't ran since, so it's had no more than starter pressure on it. I'm awfully tempted to snag it and drop it off at a motorcycle shop...I can't imagine it'll cost too much to fix it..what do you think?

That is an amazing deal dude.

I'd go for it.

I can't imagine you'd be able to any serious damage on the engine with a valve job.

If he was really retarded he probably broke or dislodged the cam chain or something.

If I lived closer I'd be all over that deal like crazy.

Yeah..and I just so happen to be getting a mileage reimbursement check this week..for $521.xx...

harley davidson softail crossbones

I'm telling you, find a BMW

I think you may be confused. I actually have to shift a lot more. The gears on the ninja are really "tall" and the redline is so high, I could do any legal speed in first gear. On this bike, the redline is only like 11k. I don't know exactly at what speed I hit the redline starting from a stop, but it's definitely way before the ninja. I basically redline it in 1st and 2nd before I'm up to speed. So it seems like it has "shorter" gears but they are more usable - the ninja was gutless under 7k-8k rpm, but this bike has its peak power at about 7k. The ninja goes up to 17,500 and the sv650 is only 11000.

It's nicer riding it because of the comfort and low/midrange powerband. Definitely a lot less "sporty."

I'm not entirely sure. If you know someone who knows about working on bikes it sounds like a decent deal, but perhaps he misdiagnosed the original problem? Maybe it didn't really need a valve job, but something else? Who knows. Also if he left the whole thing uncovered in his garage for a few weeks the motor is probably full of dirt and crap

Very smart post. Also, what is the link to your debt free blog? I wanted to check it out and the search function here is way too difficult. You know, find all thread by user... Could take seconds.

Read the thread, Wookie.

Oh, thanks. I read that but wasn't thinking about it after I got distracted by the $500 motorcycle tangent. Old age.

Thats a bummer, but comfort is a plus. Ninja's are hot, I'd like one but fast bikes scare me, I don't want to end up pavement paste by means of me getting speed greedy or someone else plastering me in their car.

Thats really weird.

Any ninja I've been on has had a very close set racing style gear ratio.

Most standards/nakeds have taller further set apart gears.

I may be messing up the "tall" and "short" terminology. All I know is that on the SV I use the entire 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear, from when I shift all the way up to redline. On the ninja I wouldn't use the whole gear because it was just pointless. I'd use half of 1st and be going the speed limit already (mostly 40s around here). I'd then immediately upshift 2 more gears to get better gas mileage.

Did you have trouble adjusting to an unfaired bike?

Not as easy to keep going ultra sonic super fast, huh


I really want a honda 599 Hornet.

Naked bikes are cool.

I looked into the 599 (not called hornet over here). It's a cool, comfortable bike, but I really wanted a vtwin. Plus there just aren't any used ones for sale, and I was committed to buying a cheaper used bike (paying off debt). No, it's not hard to get used to a naked bike. I had a Buell before my ninja and I loved it other than the fact that it wouldn't run right in the rain/cold. This one isn't quite as powerful as the buell, but it also runs better, is liquid cooled, and is japanese so it will likely last longer. We'll see.

In addition to the 599 I was also looking into 919, those bikes are so rad. But all the ones for sale were over 5k and I really wanted to be around 3k. Plus it has undertail exhaust which I really hate (makes me smell like exhaust all the time).

I hate undertail exhaust because it cooks your ***, personally.

599 sounds so lame. I'm calling it the hornet!

You can get one new for about $5000. (All you have to do is bring cash. But even then you can talk them down ALOT, because the last year they shipped here was 2006)

A 919 is too big for me, and it doesn't get as good of mileage as the Hornet.

Dealers here in WA don't seem to want to deal, I've tried everything and never manage much The most I can do is get them to throw away freight & setup and then maybe take a hundred or so off MSRP. Everyone else I've talked to is in the same boat. Blarg.

You have to go out of state.

Show up in shorts and a t-shirt with sandals. Pretend like you're just breezing through, checking things out.

If it seems like you aren't going to buy they're more than likely going to negotiate with you. Especially if you can present them with cash.

Make sure they know that you know that they're all 06's, and you know damn well no one wants them.

I think a dealer here has a new 05 still. They seriously don't deal, it's annoying. I've seen them with 3 year old brand new ones. Anyway, I don't want a 599, I'm happy with my vtwin

Speaking of which, some ******* on a stupid huge cruiser bike rear-ended me on my bike tonight. I was stopped at a red light and he came roaring up behind me, locked up his rear tire and smashed into the back... Moron. I just have a bent exhaust pipe, which I was going to replace anyway. Lucky for him I didn't get knocked over, I was able to hold the bike up. Idiot.

You should have beat his ***.

At the very least, pay for a new exhaust.


Also, I'm a big fan of Honda 4 cylinders, because they're so incredibly smooth. Their 4 cylinder design basically goes all the way back to the late 60's when they came out with the CB750. Honda 599's are all CB600-F3 engines, with about 15-25 horses tuned out of them. The 08's are actually detunned Honda CB600RR's, you'll want to avoid them if they ever come here probably for that reason.

In 1968 the CB750 was like owning an exotic sports car. There really weren't any other 4 cylinder motorcycles. The CB750 is really what made Japanese motorcycles what they are today, it was basically the last nail in the coffin for Triumph, Norton, etc.

Brian, please tell me you're a helmet guy, please oh please

Yeah, I always wear a helmet. WA is a "protect yourself from yourself" state so it's law here

You could move here to Arkansas where we allow you to splatter your brains on the road if you're on a motorcycle, but require seatbelts if you're in a car. :downs:

Also, Bri, we're getting closer to the first emergency fund goal. Good job selling the bike!