r/SVRiders

Hello i'm looking to buy a 650s as my first bike what should i look at ? what are the places that need checking the most and questions to be asked ?

any recomendations for a taller person like me ? about 190cm ?

Hi,

I'm looking at upgrading my suspension to help on track but while still being able to comfortably (ish) ride on the road.

I'm struggling to find front forks that fit my model. If anybody has any suggestions or advice it will be much appreciated!

If there is a similar post that I can reference pls let me know. Sorry this is a long post but I want to share my journey in this post from start to finish so I want to start with the full plan.

This 2017 sv650 was bought in good condition in late 2020 rode for about a year and loved it. Then due to some personal reasons I sadly let it set outside with a cover a majority of the time since. I have no experience with motorcycle or car maintenance outside changing the battery on the bike once. I do have general maintenance exp with cooking equipment and fridges. And although I don't think that exp will translate well, I do have a knack for learning these things quickly and I think it will be a fun project to learn to get this bike running and riding again.

So after years of wanting to ride again and a few weeks of research and a million YouTube/ forum tutorials I think I can do this with out taking it to the shop, that’s my goal.

This is my plan, I have some questions along the way and pls let me know if there's anything I need to add or if there's something unnecessary on it or something I need to know before I start.

1. Rust in the gas tank as it was half full during down time.
   Found tutorials on gas tank removal and rust removal using Evaporust.
   Question. I feel I need to research this more because it’s a bit confusing and I’m seeing a lot of conflicting info about some kind of seal or neutralizer after Evaporust- if anyone has experience or info on this process lmk pls.

2. New battery.
   Easy done this one before

3. Oil change.
   Seems not too hard, found some tutorials just gotta find where to dispose oil local.
   Question. Since the oil is so old do I need to take any extra steps other than a normal oil change?

4. Spark plugs.
   May not be necessary but cheap and seems easy enough. Need to do more research

5. New chain as mine is pretty rusty.
   Question. I’m not finding any tutorials specific to my bike so would general tutorials serve me good enough? Also is there some kind of alignment process I need to do as I will do this part at the same time as I change the tires? Question 2. Sprockets** **seem to be in good shape. Not rusty just residual rust on the contact points with the chain when I moved the bike a few times. Is this a safety concern anyway?

6. Brake fluid change.
   Found some general tutorials not bike specific but it seems doable.
   Question. I did not put a lot of miles on the bike, so I need to change the brakes themselves? I’ll look into how to inspect them and that’s one thing I don’t know if I’ll be able to do myself.

7. Coolant.
   This is what I’ve done the least research on so far. So if yall know any good tutorials lmk but I’ll try to find some soon.

8. New tires
   Tires are in good condition as they were new and I was a beginner rider so never really went fast or leaned, but they’re very old so I read I need to replace them anyway.
   Found some non bike specific tutorials but I think I can figure it out with those.
   Question. Will I need to balance the tires? I will be buying new. Also is there an alignment process I need to do?
   And having a hard time finding torque specs, the manual is a bit hard to read as the torque specs look like a math equation. I can always look deeper into how to read the manual when it comes time to doing this job.

Overall I’m pretty excited to start this long term project and to learn a lot about this bike and never let it sit again lol. I wanted to run this by people with experience before I start because I don’t have anyone that knows anything about motorcycles that I can ask irl. So wishing for some wisdom posting here. Let me know if I’m about to get in over my head as im heavily relying on YouTube and random forum tutorials. And if you know any good tutorial channels or videos please lmk.

How’s my plan? Anything I need to add to the list? Or adjust?