I've been riding the last 16 years on a Harley Low Rider Sport and had been looking for something to get as a second bike that was a little sportier and that I could do some light touring on. I considered all the standards such as the Bandit 1200, ZRX, FZ1, Speed triple, and even an FJR 1300. I chose the SV650 based on all the great press, I liked the light weight, and to be honest, I bought the SV because it was so inexpensive. It's also really cheap to insure and operate, I'm averaging 60mpg! It has the smallest motor of the bikes I was looking at but it isn't slow by any means, I have never felt that I needed more power for the riding I do. The handling is amazing, so light and flickable, great power out of corners. The bike shines on tight, twisty roads. It's great on the highway too, the mirrors don't blur, (you can see more than elbows) and only a light vibration comes through, it's not bothersome because it's a lower frequency vibration than on the in line fours. The wind blast even helps to pull pressure off your wrists. It's not so good in city or stop and go traffic where the braking throws pressure on your wrists, bar risers would help with this. Overall, I love this bike, it's a great bike for anybody and it's as fun as everyone says. If it has one flaw, it would be the seat. It's good for about an hour and then butt pain sets in and there's no relief. The big problem is that I like to go on 9 or 10 hour rides for 300 or 400 miles, which is rough on this bike. I bought Suzuki's gel seat but that's just as bad. If I fix the seat problem this could be the perfect bike.
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