SV 650

[tnutz]

all the plastics are interchangable. but you would have to ask. i thought Kurt at Tc told me they are giving a set of free plastics (color of your choice) with new monsters.   http://www.ducati.com/bikes/monster/696/index.do

i guess it sucks you live in saskatoon, cause it would suck to have to drive down here.  

but really, it wouldn't stop me from buying a new Triumph and i live in Regina.  

I'll tell ya now though, your service costs are bit more.  not a ton on a simple 2 valve air cooled ....but your looking at probably 400-500 dollars give or take to perform your 24,000 km service.  (timing belts, Valve lash check and replace all fluids)  and every 24,000kms it HAS to be done (not so much the fork oil change)...those are the big services...  so make sure if you do decide to go that route, it is something you can afford to do and dont mind paying the extra cost.  If your a flat broke student barely squeaking by, ask yourself the questions you need to and buy something that you can ride twice as far before service is required.

Now, that being said, i know a ton of people who say "all i ever do is change oil and thats it" to their Japanese bike, but they risk alot by never getting their scheduled maint. done. (especially valve lash checks)


so it's pay to play...just a little more for ducs.

Go for a test ride next summer when demo days is in regina or saskatoon.  I will tell you though, all ducatis need to be geared up about 2-3 teeth in the back.  They gear them for top end speed due to noise testing in europe.

[aveldina]

I am FINALLY done being a flat broke student as of May, so it's less of an issue. It'll be awhile before a 24,000 km service would need to be done for me anyway, by the time comes I'm sure I can afford it. That's great that they're throwing in the plastics, I'll go for that for sure. I love that idea, would make it so easy to get some to custom paint.

When it comes to air cooled vs liquid cooled what's the major difference in terms of use? My bike is liquid cooled, as is the sv and gladius, I haven't owned one that is air cooled.

[tnutz]

sorry i took so long.   Liquid cooling is necessary on large cc high hp motors to shed heat efficiently.  Hp makes heat.  It is a nice feature to have on a commuter in a large city (say L.A.  and it still doesn't stop people from using aircooled anyways) if you did stop and go traffic as radiator fans can cool the bike while stationary.  Aircooled needs air to flow over the cooling fins on the motor to cool it(movement obviously).  But i have owned my share of both and have never had any issues even in stop and go traffic on super hot days.  Air cooled is also nice as it makes for less weight as you have no radiator, coolant, pump , and associated plumbing for it.  As stated, i have owned both and really have no preference.

[dizzieb]

Well, I started this post a few months ago after i bought a new 08 sv650s, long before i ever sat on one or picked it up.  I've been out tooling around on my bike since then, and I have to say I love it.  I had read some really good reviews and some bad reviews of what the bike is supposed to be, and to be honest i don't have much to say bad about it.  Only thing that was a bit weak on it was it came with a 15/45 gear set up and rolling in town fairly slow when you would ease into the throttle it would shutter a bit.  i went -1 on the front and cured that.  in fact now its kind of a monster for being a 650.  I may have seen some of you out this weekend in Regina, me and my wife were up there riding around the south end and through wascana a bit, was good to see all the bikes out and about.  well i just wanted to add an update on my 650 deal and say i love it.