SV650 TO S2R1000

[derj]

My name is Danny. I'm an older guy who lives on Long Island. After 25 years out of the saddle I climbed back on in '02 with a Bonneville. 4 years and 40,000 wonderful miles later I was smitten with the GT1000. The GT and I had a love/hate type of relationship so I put on 6,000 miles and traded it in for an 07 Triumph Tiger 1050. Even though it was a bit too large a motorcycle for me (I'm 5'8" w/ a 30" inseam) I liked it a lot EXCEPT for the fact that it was one of a handful of the Tiger 1050's which were oil burners.....a quart per 1250 miles. So I bought an '03 Suzuki SV650N with less than 2,000 miles in Feb of '09. As of now the SV has 27,000 happy miles. As I always do, I farkled the heck out of it......a very long list of mostly functional stuff.....I'm an older guy in case you forgot.
Two days ago I stopped by my local BMW/Triumph/Ducati dealer where I have purchased all of my Triumphs and the Ducatis (4 in all).....all new. He has an '06 s2r1000 with less than 10,000 miles and in remarkable shape. I don't think I can resist it. With the twin Arrow cans it's beautiful.
From what I can see the engine is identical to my GT but the bargain basement suspension that came with the GT....at least seems to be a bit upgraded (adjustable front preload with a monoshock in the back). Can anyone here possibly give me some sort of comparrison between my GT1000 and this s2r. The bars and pegs on the Duc are a bit too aggressive for my aging and noncompliant body. I fixed that in a jiffy on my SV. On my GT I went down a tooth on the front sprocket to smooth out a bit of the "character" that the bike exhibited at 3500-4000 RPM (a nice improvement IMO). I'm aware of the fuel tank situation. Can anybody that has ridden the s2r and the GT1000 compare the two. And I would love if somebody were able give a comparison between the SV and the s2r1000......of course leaving out the extreme "cool" factor of the S2R. One more thing: The SV650 was usually given the nod over the SV1000 for total lack of driveability problems and nimbleness. Would anybody care to opine regarding the s2r1000 vs. the s2r800?
Sorry for the long post.....thanks for any and all feedback.
Danny
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[stopintime]

Others will answer more of your questions, but as an S2R800 rider I suggest choosing a 1000 if you can. Much more and much better bike

Despite "being old", you have some balls coming here and ask us to leave out the Monster "cool factor"  

And about age.... you're not old around here before you turn 400

Welcome!

[Curmudgeon]

From one old bod to another, and identical height and inseam too, if your wallet permits, try a 796 ABS demo if you can. It's more nimble but needed a 14T and cheap Ohlins dialed into my weight (175#) and a Rizoma bar, etc. (see my signature line).

I still have a T-100 in the stable but the 796 is all grins. Just goes too fast. 

Welcome and best wishes!

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/lambroving/Miscellany/Various+Bikes/M-796-260GT.jpg

http://gallery.leica-users.org/d/275076-2/DB-Brewery.jpg

[Slide Panda]

The engine in the GT and S2R1000 are basically identical, depending on the age of the GT. One probable big difference is that the Monster has a dry clutch vs the wet used on most of the sport classics.

800 vs 1000. The 1000 has better suspension components and better brakes than the 800. Engine size, dry clutch vs wet, and better suspension and front brakes are what makes up the difference between the 1000 and 800. And a bit of weight as well.

You'd probably want to change the gearing -1 in front or +3 in the rear. It's something that just about every Duc benefits from. They are geared tall as part of the measures to meet emissions specs.

It's easy to add a bit more rise under the bars of a Monster to give a bit more upright position. There are some tall risers riser available - but if you go past a point you'll be looking at new lines. 

[derj]

Thanks for the replies.  From everything that I've read here it would seem that the 1000 would be a better choice for me than the 800.  Yes, that black with the white stripe s2r at my dealer is mighty tasty looking.  I told him today to let me know if somebody else expresses interest in it.  I would prefer selling my mint condition, beautiful and lovingly maintained, silver '03 SV naked first (hint, hint ).  If I remember correctly on my '06 GT, that low rpm vibration was very annoying....."character" or otherwise.  Whether I change the gearing immediately or wait till I do it's first chain will depend on how it feels on the s2r.  I'm glad to know that some have raised the bars a bit without having to get longer lines and cables.....it did look tight in there.  Lowering the pegs on my SV was a simple matter of installing Buell pegs in place of the originals....... that lowered things by about an inch.  I'll see what could be done.     

[stopintime]

.................

  Lowering the pegs on my SV was a simple matter of installing Buell pegs in place of the originals....... that lowered things by about an inch.  I'll see what could be done.     

You can lower the pegs on an S2R, but it will limit the lean angle a lot. If you put the pegs rearward, it will open your hip joint, but sharpen your knee angle - don't know what you need.

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=54573.0

[derj]

Thanks for the link.  Those ebay ones look to be the same as the ones I just took a look at on twisted throttle.  Relatively inexpensive and flexible.  It's the KNEES!  I also saw some bar risers there.  I never thought (as TT claims) that the bars could be raised over an inch and brought back 3/4" without line and cable problems.  But that doesn't mean that cables and lines won't be too tight for my liking.

[stopintime]

Usually the lines and cables are long enough, maybe some rerouting and finally new lines(/hoses).

If it's the knees, you need down or back+down. You could raise your seat, but that would work against the bar raising.
(Rizoma bars are not only higher, they are also swept backward a little - better wrist angle and closer to you)