Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128203
2003 Suzuki SV1000S Y-twin Fun Machine: Suzuki labored to produce a true 21st century Y-twin sportbike with the SV10005. Although the engine Is loosely based on the TL, it employs technology not seen In previous Suzuki products. Suzuki's new flagship V-twin packs more than just a pretty facelift. By SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTOS COURTESY OF SUZUKI Heck, lots of folks have since even warmed up to Suzuki's aborted Superbike version, the TLl OOOR. And after Suzuki's SV650 drew rave reviews around the world for its styling and perform-ance, it seems only fitting that Suzuki would consider building an open-class version to replace the departed TLl OOOS. The new flagship of the SV family, the SVI000S was conceptualized to be a "V-twin fun machine" says Suzuki. Accordingly, three design themes were adhered to: looks right, feels right and sounds right. For the "looks right" theme, Suzuki noted that V-twin sports machines are, and should be, different in both riding and feel from their four-cylinder counterparts. Il7here has to be something ironic U about the fact that Suzuki shipped the world's motorcycling press from all parts of the globe to the out-of-this-world Mediterranean Costa del Sol of southern Spain for two days of fun in the sun aboard its real world Suzuki SVI000S. But by the end of the day, nobody was complaining about the location or the subject of this particular worldwide press intro. First of all, it's not like more product-savvy journos didn't see this one coming - the SVI000S, that is, not the trip. Because, despite the ridiculous controversy over the Suzuki TLl OOOS's supposed instability problems, the machine has generally been regarded as one of the finest affordable sporting twins ever. Thus, the aim with the SV was to produce a machine with styling that would strongly project the V-twin image. Hiding the engine under the blanket of a full fairing just wouldn't do. To further enhance the image, the SV would have to "sound right." The sound comes in the form of a throughly redesigned, fuel-injected 996cc DOHC eight-valve, liquidcooled 90-degree V-twin which shares the TLl OOO's architecture but little else. Of course, looks and sounds add up to bupkiss if the package doesn't "feel right," and for Suzuki that meant fashioning the SV to appeal to a ·broad range of riders and rider skill levels, same as the SV650. The SVI000S is (Left, right) The 5Y10005 is a competent handling sporting machine, Imparting a solid and stable feel whether cornering or running in a straight line at speed. 18 MARCH 5, 2003' eye • • n e _ s therefore a dual-purpose bike of sorts, intended to be agile and sporty on winding roads but also easy to ride and friendly within the confines of city commuting. Suzuki engineers also labored to make the SV a sort of 21st century V-twin, incorporating many new technologies into the bike to make it more practical and environmentally friendly. But hey, you can read the tech boxes for all that stuff, and isn't the bottom line all about how the SV is to ride anyway? Just as you would expect from a high-performance V-twin, the SV's engine pulls cleanly from very low in the powerband and continues pulling almost all the way to the bike's 11,000 rpm redline. Suzuki said that it was shooting for a machine that could be used in a sporting manner and yet used by a wider range of skill levels. The SV engine fits the bill, producing the meat of its power in the low and middle of the rev range and then thinning out as the tach needle sweeps toward 10 grand. Throttle response from the EFI V-twin is impressive, though. Aside from a sUght catch off the bottom (closed throttle), there is little to fuss about. In fact, this could be the best Suzuki fuelie bike yet. The SV's hydraulic clutch action is sweet, offering smooth engagement from low or high revs. Less impressive is the shifting prowess of the sixspeed transmission, which imparts an overtly "cog-like" feel when you are rowing back and forth through the gears. At least the ratios seem well tailored to the SV's user-friendly power, offering a fairly close-ratio feel