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I've had my 2005 sv650 for about a year now and absolutely love it. It's loads of fun, however I'm wanting to now start doing my own maintenance on my bike; I just seem to suck at it. For example, I noticed a couple weeks ago my oil gauge was low; now I didn't actually know that was my oil gauge, and the instruction manual mentioned that my coolant would need to be replaced if the window was on "low" Fortunately I did a little bit more investigation before destroying my bike by pouring coolant fluid into the oil tank. So what are some good beginner maintenance things I can start doing on my bike manually?
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Oct 22, 2012 20:59
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| # ? May 28, 2024 07:19 |
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Changing your oil and oil filter is probably one of the easiest things you can do. Here's a good how-to tutorial to get you started: http://bolty.net/2009/04/15/how-to-change-the-oil-in-your-sv650/ This person has a fancy oil pan to drain into, but you can get much cheaper ones at a hardware or auto parts store.
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Oct 22, 2012 21:42
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kenny powerzzz posted:So after installing a givi top rack and case I find that the givi side racks are no longer available and the swmotech sideracks apparently won't work with the givi top. Has anyone here made it work or maybe know where to get a givi side rack?
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Oct 23, 2012 03:48
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bsamu posted:Changing your oil and oil filter is probably one of the easiest things you can do. The only thing I'll add that a lot of people miss, is that when checking the oil level, the bike needs to be not only level, but perfectly upright. If you check the sight glass with it on the sidestand, you'll add way too much. Kneel down to the sight glass and bring it upright while holding the front brake.
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Oct 23, 2012 05:44
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Forgot to ask when I posted it up first, but when I finally get my SV started, is it going to be obnoxiously loud? I can't find any videos of this particular V&H model.
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Oct 23, 2012 08:09
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Oh yes. It will be obnoxiously loud.
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Oct 23, 2012 17:57
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bsamu posted:Changing your oil and oil filter is probably one of the easiest things you can do. Thanks for this bsamu. That's the best tutorial I've seen so far. I'll try it out next time I need to change the oil. I usually do it around 2,000 miles. Two question however, what do I do with the old oil? What places take your old motor oil? And how do you clean oil off? By that I mean in the link, the guy mentioned cleaning the drainplug. Do I just run it under water, or do I need to grab a rag and clean it that way? And after you guys finish changing your oil, do you just wash your hands in the sink with soap, or is there something else I need to be buying to get rid of the residue?
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Oct 23, 2012 18:17
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fullTimeLurker posted:Thanks for this bsamu. That's the best tutorial I've seen so far. I'll try it out next time I need to change the oil. I usually do it around 2,000 miles. For oil disposal, I'd look up your town's website and see how they dispose of oil, you might be able to pay a small fee to have a mechanic get rid of it for you. To clean the drain plug I usually just use clean paper towels or a rag and try to wipe it off really good. As for cleaning yourself up afterwards, I like Lava brand soap, it's really good at cleaning off things like oil.
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Oct 23, 2012 18:23
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Auto parts stores usually take your old oil, in containers. Call around in your area and you'll find those that accept oil. With your drainplug, you wipe it off with a rag so it's all clean and free of any debris. You should buy a jug of Gojo pumice hand soap beforehand, it'll sweep your hands clean. Essential addition to your shop.
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Oct 23, 2012 18:23
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I just wear some nitrile gloves whenever doing greasy work on my cars or bike. But I can't stand the oily greasy feeling on my hands, and especially getting it under my hands blarfff yes I know I'm a woman.
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Oct 24, 2012 06:13
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I always felt Thicksters were the way better option. Nitrile and latex gloves rip so easily they just aren't worth it over bareback in combination with some pine tar soap, which is essential for getting off whatever Gojo couldn't reach. I learned this the hard way working around 200,000 miles of oil leaks in a car.  
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Oct 24, 2012 06:51
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opengl128 posted:I just wear some nitrile gloves whenever doing greasy work on my cars or bike. But I can't stand the oily greasy feeling on my hands, and especially getting it under my hands blarfff yes I know I'm a woman. I also wear latex gloves when doing work.
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Oct 24, 2012 20:01
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I always wear nitrile where I can. It helps so much on oil changes so the oil won't burn you and there's no mess to clean off afterwards. Also makes chain lubing wayyy better.
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Oct 24, 2012 20:37
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So I just picked up an '04 N, trying to figure out exactly what the two previous owners have done to it. Is the stock shock spring grey? He says new springs in the forks, but didn't say anything about the rear at all.
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Oct 30, 2012 17:34
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Nur_Neerg posted:So I just picked up an '04 N, trying to figure out exactly what the two previous owners have done to it. Is the stock shock spring grey? He says new springs in the forks, but didn't say anything about the rear at all.
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Oct 30, 2012 22:05
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What's a good price for a shop installing new springs and emulators if I supply the parts? The shop would be buying the oil and fork seals. My local shop quoted $350 which seems high, but the whole installation process seems daunting and I'd rather not do it myself.
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Nov 1, 2012 16:51
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bsamu posted:What's a good price for a shop installing new springs and emulators if I supply the parts? The shop would be buying the oil and fork seals. My local shop quoted $350 which seems high, but the whole installation process seems daunting and I'd rather not do it myself. My shop charged me like 140 for fork seal replacements and that was with new OEM seals and new wipers plus oil. I'd say they're ripping you off. Pro Tip though - remove your forks yourself and take them in. That should cut labor down quite a bit. Borrow a triple tree stand from someone with a similar sized pin for your bike and it's easy as hell.
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Nov 1, 2012 18:05
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That's roughly reasonable as a roll in, roll out setup. .75 hours of shop labor to pull the forks, 1.5 hours of R/R on the foks, including brazing the damping rods if you're running racetech emulators, .75 hours of reinstallation, plus parts. If you pull the forks off yourself, I'd expect it to be a little more than half that.
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Nov 1, 2012 18:35
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I forgot about the extra labor required for installing the emulators. I'll talk to them to make sure they're including that in their price. Thanks for the input!
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Nov 1, 2012 22:07
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I want an sv650n headlight and mounting bracket. Will pay dollars for it.
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Nov 2, 2012 01:58
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Looking for a stock red lens for a SV tail light. Anyone know where I could find one? Reference:  
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Nov 3, 2012 06:53
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Detroit117 posted:Looking for a stock red lens for a SV tail light. Anyone know where I could find one? Is that your clear one? I'll trade you.
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Nov 3, 2012 17:20
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My front turn signals are poo poo and taking on water for fun. Any recommendations for models y'all like? I've only ever tried random ebay ones from China, and they worked okay, but would like to see some options.
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Nov 4, 2012 06:55
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Nur_Neerg posted:My front turn signals are poo poo and taking on water for fun. Any recommendations for models y'all like? I've only ever tried random ebay ones from China, and they worked okay, but would like to see some options. I've got flushmounts I'll sell you
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Nov 4, 2012 22:36
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invision posted:I've got flushmounts I'll sell you How do they fit on an N?
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Nov 5, 2012 01:15
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Nur_Neerg posted:How do they fit on an N? Very flush. e: 
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Nov 5, 2012 02:15
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So my biek developed a periodic thock noise over the weekend. Said noise seems to happen every second or so and feels like the bike loses power for a tenth of a second when it happens. This only happens while the bike is in motion and doesn't seem to increase with RPM. I haven't ridden for longer than ten minutes like this for fear of causing damage. I took a look at the chain since I saw earlier in the thread someone had a similar problem and the solution was to lube the chain again to work out some tight kinks. When I went to inspect it, I found something even more horrifying than a tight chain: the slack on the chain was so large that I could easily work the chain off the rear sprocket with my bare hands. I measured about 70mm of slack, which I'd expect to be more like 85mm if the swingarm didn't stop it. There is no more room to pull the wheel axle back and tighten up the chain, but even if there was I don't think it's possible to make up 40mm of slack holy poo poo. So I'm thinking this would probably explain the weird periodic thock as the chain jumping a tooth and also my terrible gas mileage (This is a '03 and I get about 40mpg commuting on the freeway at 70-80mph). At this point, I'm probably going to order a new sprocket set and chain from sprocketcenter.com, unless any of you Bay Area goons can recommend a local place to source the parts. I figure I should also consider a ratio change while I'm at it. If I understand gearing correctly, ratios are taken as number of rear teeth/number of front teeth. Higher numbers (or "shorter" gearing) generally means you trade top end speed for acceleration. You also have to shift more often since you're revving higher than you would with taller gearing. Lastly, your fuel economy goes to poo poo because your RPMs are higher. Well, that last part doesn't apply to much to me since my fuel economy already is poo poo but I'm hoping having a chain with a proper amount of slack will help out greatly there. Someone please reassure me on this  Currently, I do mostly just commute on the highway, but I like the idea of having more acceleration for when I'm on the street or going on gentle twisties like Skyline Boulevard. It looks like a common change is going 15/47. Someone else also mentioned in this thread that 14/47 is a ton of fun, but it's probably not a good idea for someone like me who just started riding three months ago. I've been playing with the numbers at https://www.gearingcommander.com for a bit, but I feel like I can stare at numbers all day and not really associate them with how the gearing will actually feel. Help me make life decisions, goons. yergacheffe fucked around with this message at 11:55 on Nov 6, 2012 |
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Nov 6, 2012 11:18
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IMO, 15/45 is perfect for all around commuting and performance riding. The sv is already nice and torquey on the bottom end so changing the gearing doesn't make it feel all that much faster. Fixing your chain and sprockets should fix your issues 
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Nov 6, 2012 16:39
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yergacheffe posted:So my biek developed a periodic thock noise over the weekend. Said noise seems to happen every second or so and feels like the bike loses power for a tenth of a second when it happens. This only happens while the bike is in motion and doesn't seem to increase with RPM. I haven't ridden for longer than ten minutes like this for fear of causing damage. DON'T RIDE UNTIL YOUR CHAIN IS FIXED. -1/+2 is pretty fun imo and I commute superslab about 80 miles both ways every day. e:everytime i get on the bike i kick the bottom of the chain to check tension/slack. loose chains can and will come off and gently caress poo poo up. I'm lucky that when it happened to me it didn't break the case open or take my foot off.
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Nov 6, 2012 21:04
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Thanks for the advice guys. I definitely stopped riding when I saw how bad the chain was since I've read too many horror stories of legs getting turned into ground beef or engine cases being cracked open. I think I'll go with 15/47 to get a bit more acceleration since I'm 240lb geared up.
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Nov 7, 2012 21:16
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invision posted:Is that your clear one? I'll trade you. Yes, the one in the photo is mine. I am just looking for a lens. Not completely sure, but I don't think they are supposed to come apart with out a bit of cutting(breaking). So that might make trading difficult. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.
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Nov 8, 2012 11:42
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So, due to not being able to find a willing welder, a quickly approaching winter break of free time, and a desire to tear into my first engine, I'm considering just replacing the cases on my SV instead of getting the coolant hole patched up. Barring anything else being broken, would I have to do/replace anything else if I take the engine apart? Gaskets, seals, etc. Also roughly how many hours of work would I be looking at?
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Nov 8, 2012 17:14
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Why don't you just swap me the entire thing?
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Nov 9, 2012 19:44
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invision posted:Why don't you just swap me the entire thing? Mine is an integrated tail light. I don't think they make them with red lenses, so I am guessing yours is a stock one. Let me know if I am wrong.
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Nov 9, 2012 23:48
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Detroit117 posted:Mine is an integrated tail light. I don't think they make them with red lenses, so I am guessing yours is a stock one. Mines stock from the S. They look the exact same though. How is it integrated? I'm not trying to be snarky im honestly curious.
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Nov 10, 2012 07:03
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No worries. Integrated tail lights have the turn signals built in to them. I am pretty sure it is illegal to have them with red lenses. So no one produces them like that. Reference:  Might want to pick one up for your bike. Relatively inexpensive mod, and it really cleans up the back of your bike.
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Nov 10, 2012 12:12
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Detroit117 posted:No worries. Oh, that's cool. I'm about to switch to an LED strip with integrated signals after I get the rear of my bike chopped completely off and re-welded. It'll prob be the first of next month but I could sell you the tail light for cheap after I get the LED strip in. I'd imagine the cover would fit. Take pictures of how the cover comes off and I'll see if I can pull mine if they match up.
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Nov 10, 2012 18:48
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So the little springloaded guard plate in my ignition seems like it's stuck somewhere down in the cylinder. Anyone have any tips for trying to work it free? Not so excited about water being in there constanly. Oh, and is the hardware for the whole lock set the same for both generations?
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Nov 12, 2012 08:29
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I'm pretty sure the locksets are different between the generations, and I'd spray some graphite or similar into the lock to try and work the spring cover loose.
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Nov 12, 2012 18:10
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Z3n posted:I'm pretty sure the locksets are different between the generations, and I'd spray some graphite or similar into the lock to try and work the spring cover loose. Yeah, gonna give that a shot when I get home. Thanks for the info about the lockset, was thinking about buying yours if I can't work the bitch free. E: Got it to pop back out at least. It's not 100% covering the key hole, but it's most of the way out, which is way better than it was before. Guess I'm just gonna keep slowly working it. Nur_Neerg fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Nov 13, 2012 |
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Nov 12, 2012 21:59
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