My herd just grew....

Ok - I’m down for that trip. Just say the word.

...and with those knobbies, she’d be good in the snow.....

P
 
I see you have a CX500 in the background. I was in Phoenix last week and got the chanch to ride my friends 82 CX500 turbo. I was quite impressed with the power produced by this turbo. We put on 550 miles. Although not the best for the twisty roads we were on it was a blast on the open back roads. Kept up with his KTM adventure bike very well.
 
Yup, the CX500 and 650 Turbos were pretty neat bikes. They had some pretty advance technology for the day - and were quite beautiful IMO. Apparently, the power delivery was....sudden, when the turbosupercharger started to blow.
366FD83A-83B6-4C64-941A-F2346C53B42D.jpeg


The normally aspirated (i.e. non-turbo) models were much tamer - but still good bikes and very durable. The one in my garage is a 1982 CX500C (for Honda “Custom”) which is roughly equivalent to our Specials in having quasi-cruiser styling. Definitely not as appealing but it’ll make a nice little cafe bike for my son-in-law who’s just learning to ride. He’s already done the clubman bars and little bum stop seat and I fixed his brakes - just some wiring to sort out.
F74B529F-CA63-4687-94CB-4431DD7FC8DA.jpeg


Pete
 
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The normally aspirated (i.e. non-turbo) models were much tamer - but still good bikes and very durable. The one in my garage is a 1982 CX500C (for Honda “Custom”) which is roughly equivalent to our Specials in having quasi-cruiser styling. Definitely not as appealing but it’ll make a nice little cafe bike for my son-in-law who’s just learning to ride. He’s already done the clubman bars and little bum stop seat and I fixed his brakes - just some wiring to sort out.
View attachment 113201
Pete

Hi Pete,
kid across the street used to have one. He'd leave it out front all winter not even a tarp over it.
Every spring he'd wait until the snow melted off it, turn the key and it fired up right away.
I hated that kid.
And then there's you, being a helpful pa-in-law by fixing his bike's brakes.
And being a protective dad by encouraging the son-in-law's installation of a little bum-stop seat
on the cafe racer so he can't take your daughter for a ride on it.
You, I admire.
 
Oh sh!t Fred - you figured it out.

As I said, he doesn’t have an M license yet and I told him that I’d stand him to a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course - as soon as he likes. Poor kid is so busy at work that it might take....quite some time before he’s ready though.

In the meantime, the bike is in my custody and I will thus control it’s .....progress toward roadworthiness.

Tee hee.

Father-in-laws...sneaky clever bastards.

...or as they say in Germany: too soon old, too late schmardt.

Pete
 
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Oh sh!t Fred - you figured it out.

As I said, he doesn’t have an M license yet and I told him that I’d stand him to a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course - as soon as he likes. Poor kid is so busy at work that it might take....quite some time before he’s ready though.

In the meantime, the bike is in my custody and I will thus control it’s .....progress toward roadworthiness.

Tee hee.

Father-in-laws...sneaky clever bastards.

...or as they say in Germany: too soon old, too late schmardt.

Pete
Ya the safety courses are good to learn, even for us older guys who have been riding a long time. When I got my new 1970 Honda 450 I rode the city bus 20 miles across town to pick it up. I learned how to ride it the 20 miles back. Never dropped it but it stalled out several times before I got the hang of it.
 
Indeed - my first ride in 25 years was on a 730 lb, 127 HP, 245 km/hr Honda ST1300 while wearing a borrowed "beany" half-helmet on a rainy day.

In all candor, I couldn't recall if the gearshift pattern was 1-down and 4-up or 1-up and 4-down. I know that sounds crazy - but I really blanked-out on that little detail just as I hit the starter button on the ST.

Not a good recipe for a safe re-introduction to riding a motorcycle.
 
Any time I hear the title ST1300 I cringe. Maybe its because I was hit at an angle by one 6 years ago which broke the femur and ankle, almost lost my left foot among other things, believe me I know how heavy it is. 650 Ninja didnt stand a chance. Right before he hit me I vividly remember seeing and thinking silver ST1300. The guys I ride with picked up pieces of it which hang on my wall. When I started looking for a sport tour i opted for the FJR1300
 
Eeeeeyyyyyeahhhhh - the Honda ST1300 is sort of the Klingon Battlecruiser of sport touring bikes. It is not (quite) as big and heavy as a Gold Wing but it is much faster and handles much better. It has ABS and an electrically adjustable windscreen plus it carries around 30 litres of fuel (around 7.85 US gallons) which gives it a range of around 530 KM (about 330 miles).

It isn’t (quite) the fastest, nor (quite) the most powerful bike on the market, but the above features combined with the on-board restroom, galley, officer’s wardroom, quartet of 15” naval rifles, plus the guided missile anti-aircraft system, along with that “YOU CAN’T BREAK IT” Honda build quality, it sure isn’t a bike with which I’d want to be involved in a collision.

Note the GET THE F@CK OUT OF MY WAY visage that this motorcycle presents to anything in front of it.
899C47E4-286D-4DF4-A46A-E4DCBC80D8C8.jpeg

I wish it wasn’t quite so ferocious - but against some cell phone yacking twit in a Nissan Maxima, I guess it’s OK.

....BTW....each year featured a different coloured ST1300 and the silver ones were built in 2007.....

aaaaannnnnddd....mine is a 2007 model - but I promise - it wasn’t me who took you out.

No hard feelings...OK?

Pete
 
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Indeed Mailman - I saw a couple of LEO ST1300s on my recent trip to Phoenix AZ.

Several of my daughters (I have a lot of daughters) noted that the local fuzz were riding the same bike as the “Old Man”. We saw them as we were whizzing past in our rented minivan during our recent trip to the Desert Paradise in Dec. 2017.

I can confirm that I have NEVER actually used full throttle on my ST (although I sure have on my XS650s and all of my other bikes). I know there are folks (likely the coppers) who wish for even more power - but mine has more than I could (or would) ever use.

Anyhow, enough of crazy-fast nutty powerful sport touring bikes - shall we return to 40 year old 49 HP 360 degree 653CC vertical twin paint-shakers?
 
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...yes indeed...at a speed that was juuuussssttt below the legal speed limit.

....and the LEO was stopped beside the highway with a radar unit.
 
...yes indeed...at a speed that was juuuussssttt below the legal speed limit.

....and the LEO was stopped beside the highway with a radar unit.
How did you manage to stay below the legal speed limit in Phoenix. When I was there last week traffic was always moving at 85. Crazy drivers.
 
Hi JRay,
fwiw, my son's '80 XS650 sidecar rig starts every time as does the '74 CB750 his ex-boss gave him because it'd been parked in the ex-boss's back yard for a decade or more. Which is just as well because his allegedly reliable 2005 Speedmaster won't start at all because it's electronic modules won't talk to each other and there's three of the expensive little bastards.
Yessir, I'm in the same boat with the Triumph. My issues with XS 650's are how I bought em. I bought a collection off an old flat track guy. Various stages of being stripped. Bought a few hardtail, bobber chops off of CL. Got them running good but hardtails for long rides ain't no joke. Stuff (collection)had sat outside for years so all the charging systems (fart noise) are whack. Almost done with a more stock XS. Rebuilt the top of the motor. Jugs,pistons, cam chain, relaped the valves. All new PMA with Boyer ignition. This should be a solid ride. I was just at a Triumph dealer yesterday. It was tempting, they make a sexy line of bikes, but damn it! I'm still shitty about the Speedmaster.
 
BACKGROUND & HISTORY
The SV650 has or has had several related models in the Suzuki line-up. There was big displacement sport bike with a 1000cc engine (I think it was called the TL1000), a 1000cc version of the SV street-only bike like mine, cleverly called the SV1000, and the V-Strom adventure bikes which also come in 650 and 1000cc variants. Oddly, the SV1000 was never a really big seller - despite having no fundamental technical problems, as far as a I know, and the TL1000S and 1000R were only on the market for 3-5 years in the period 1998-2003 or so. I have never even seen an example of any of the 1000cc bikes - except for one V-Strom 1000 as a used bike.

On the other hand, the SV650 has been a huge seller since 1999 and continues to do well in markets everywhere with more than 400,000 units sold to date. All of the SV650 models and V-Strom 650 use the same 6-speed tranny and 645cc, 90 degree liquid-cooled, fuel injected, DOHC, 8-valve v-twin engine. Interestingly, the more recent SV650 engine has two spark plugs/cylinder - and it makes around 75 HP on just about the same displacement that the Yamaha XS650s use to achieve 48-52 HP (depending on which magazine test you read). I have searched the web and found no real difficulties with the SV650 except some early models had alternator issues and that is about it. My bike is the ABS version - but apparently, in some markets, the SV650 can be had without ABS (although I cannot understand why someone would choose to do without this important safety feature).

All-in-all, I guess those wacky engineers :D know their stuff because modern bikes are pretty darned good ya' know!

There have been fully-faired and half-faired SV650 models (known as the "S" variant) and the SFV650 Gladius (which some people feel is a bit on the homely side) as well as the naked version that I bought. The downside of the faired "S" models is that they have low-set clip-on bars and a pretty cramped riding position which I simply cannot do with my knee issues. Oh well, the naked SV650 feels just a wee bit more cramped that the Yamaha XS650 Standard - but it’s still OK for me. I will likely make up a set of peg lowering blocks to just try out a more relaxed position. These narrow vee-twin bikes have enormous ground clearance on both sides and I’m not a peg-scraper anyway.

I think that several XS650 Forum members have either SVs or the related V-Strom model.

FIRST RIDE REPORT - SV650
From my brief (about 35 km) ride this morning, it seems clear that I am going have A LOT of fun on this thing. The bike was delivered to me from the dealer in London a couple of weeks ago and it has sat in the cold garage with no battery tender ever since. It started on the first poke this morning and idled like a perfect little lady. At that point, she had about 0.2km on her (i.e. 200 meters or around 700 feet) which I guess is from rolling around in various parking lots to get her to me. Readers of this thread may recall that my original SV650 was destroyed in a warehouse fire at the dealer on Dec. 27, 2017 - juuuustt before I made the final payment on it. Thankfully, they were able to find me another blue one - but that is a two-beer story.

This morning, I togged-up and set off to the breakfast diner in LaSalle, Ontario for my vintage bike club Sunday breakfast meeting. I kept everything pretty sedate because she isn't broken in yet. I did do "The Ton" (metric version ;) ) - but didn't push it beyond that. Also - the temperature was a "fresh" +2C or around 37 deg. F - so I was keeping a close eye on the road for patches of black ice. I got to my destination safely and found that my Suzuki along with a little 1972 Lambretta scooter were the only bikes out this morning out of around 12 breakfast attendees. The Lambretta is the 150cc version and began life as a Meter Maid scooter in a city in neighbouring Michigan. It is fully restored mechanically and was cute as a bug's ear. It ran like a top and re-started on the first kick after being shut down for over an hour during breakfast.

The ride after the meal was "bracing" - but quite pleasant and the SV ran great and handles like a feather. It feels like it has a good deal more power than the XS650 <surprise> - and yet, it is light, nimble, has great brakes and is steady as a rock in the very strong winds coming off the Detroit River and Lake Erie. I went for a brief boot around Essex County alone after breakfast to try everything out - and it all works as advertised. She now has about 37.3 km on her and I just went on-line and ordered a new license sticker for two years ($84 Cdn) - since mine expires on my birthday in mid-April. BTW - that license fee doesn't include any insurance - which is mandatory here and is entirely separate from the license plate validation sticker fee.

At least those vultures in Toronto haven't found a way to require an exhaust emissions test on motorcycles - yet. :yikes:

This bike will not replace either of the XS650s - rather it will be used as a commuter and for short boots here and there to hold down the mileage on the older bikes (they are only insured for 3000 km/year each) and on the big Honda ST1300 which I use for long trips.

Anyhow - here is a photo of me this morning shot by the wife of another CVMG member.

Cheers,

Pete
First_Ride - Feb-25-2018.jpg
 
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