Church Of MO: 2006 Suzuki SV650S Vs 2006 Kawasaki Ninja 650R

To celebrate the imminent return of Suzuki’s beloved SV650, as well as to prepare for similar upcoming shootouts betwixt the SV and its modern counterparts, we bring you this 2006 shootout pitting the SV650 against its Kawasaki Ninja 650R nemesis. The Ninja 650 has been updated since this shootout ten years ago, and Honda now has a competitor in the form of the CBR650F. Who knows, to really stir the pot, maybe we’ll throw a KTM 690 Duke into the mix.

Today’s story starts way back in 1987, when Honda introduced an unpretentious little motorcycle with a mildly-tuned, liquid-cooled 647cc V-Twin engine in a rigid aluminum frame. Priced almost as high as its fully-faired and much more powerful cousin, the 600 Hurricane, the Hawk GT sold about as well as Ann Coulter t-shirts at a Phish concert. However, savvy enthusiasts quickly recognized that with a few choice suspension and engine modifications, the Hawk was an incredibly sweet-handling and fun bike that did double duty as a lightweight racer. Many racing clubs had classes filled completely with Honda Hawks, as no other manufacturer made a middleweight twin with the Hawk’s potential.

Last year, Kawasaki showed an interesting bike built for the European market. The ER-6n is a naked standard with a steel trellis frame and a sophisticated 650cc parallel-twin motor. Power output was claimed at 69.7 hp, clearly targeting the second-generation SV’s 71.1 claimed hp. The weird styling and lack of full fairing meant this bike probably would never come to American riders.

Imagine our surprise when we got invited to the introduction for Kawasaki’s all-new for 2006 Ninja 650R. Pete’s day aboard the new bike revealed a nice-handling little bike that was let down only by budget suspension and braking components. We also found out that a unit would be available for a full test in just a few weeks.

We knew our readers would want to know how this bike — the first serious competition for the SV available in the US — would do against the Suzuki twin, so we called up Suzuki and begged for an SV650 to test as well. All we had to decide was which flavor SV to compare it to. Some of us felt the standard SV would be a closer match, as the Kawi has tall bars that would feel very different from the S model’s clip-ons on a racetrack, where the other school of thought held the majority of readers would feel only bikes with fairings should be compared, as a buyer in the market for a faring-ed bike wouldn’t consider a naked, and vice-versa. In the end, the fairing people won, and Suzuki graciously and kindly gave up a fresh-from-the-crate 2006 SV650S.

Both Publisher Sean Alexander and I are club racers and trackday junkies with many miles on SV650s, so we wanted to see how the two bikes stacked up on the racetrack. A few phone calls secured us a trip to the Streets of Willow racetrack, courtesy of Hyperclub trackdays, and a call to Michelin got us two new sets of Pilot Power street/trackday tires.

After a week of all kinds of riding, from the track to the canyons, from bumpy LA freeways and city streets to the smooth sweepers of the Angeles Crest, we think we have enough data to have an intelligent opinion on who makes the best 650 twin streetbike. Does the Kawi have what it takes to unseat the SV from its middleweight-twins throne?

The Contenders

2006 Suzuki SV650S :: 71.15 hp :: $6,449 :: Friendly and Furious

If only a Vincent had such a good chassis. The SV’s “truss”-style frame was all-new for 2003, with a boxier, more creased appearance than the old one. It retained the aluminum swingarm and linkage-type rear suspension of the old bike, along with a 41 mm damper-rod fork. The front and rear suspensions are adjustable for preload only. Wheels are 3-spoke aluminum jobs shod with Dunlop D220s, a 120/60-17 in front followed 56.3″ behind by a 160/60-17 rear. Braking is handled by a trio of Tokico two-piston sliding-pin calipers and 290 mm front discs- the rear disc is 220 mm.

Perched on top is 1980’s-esque bodywork with lots more sharp edges. Our 2006 was in a fetching shade of red, the bodywork contrasting nicely with the black frame and wheels. There are plenty of amenities, like a metal grabrail for your passenger and a hazard light. The LCD speedometer sits above the tachometer. As a bonus, you can view the coolant temperature and clock at the same time. The bike weighs in at a claimed dry weight of just 372 pounds.

Aside from the Duran Duran-esque fairing and five extra Ben Franklins, the S differs from the standard version of the SV650 by having higher and more rearset footpegs, low clip-on handlebars, a slightly shorter swingarm, and taller gearing. It’s a complete package that looks like something much more powerful, expensive and sophisticated than it is, which partially explains the bike’s continuing success. What does the Ninja need to surpass it?

2006 Kawasaki EX650R :: 65.65 hp :: $6,299 :: Meet The New Kid

Lest Pete’s endurance of the long tech briefing go in vain, check out his coverage of the 650R’s press introduction. If you’d rather have me give you a quick rundown, we’ll start with the motor.

To inform you cynics out there, it’s not a bored-and-stroked EX500 motor. With a very oversquare 83 mm bore and 60 mm stroke, it’s a much more compact and modern design, with a cassette-style gearbox, semi-dry oil sump and liner-less cylinders to make it smaller than the 500. A 180-degree crank and balance shaft keep it smooth, and 38 mm injectors directed by a microprocessor-controlled engine management system keep it precisely fueled.

Brakes and wheels are nothing fancy. The six-spoke wheels sit just 55.3″ apart and carry Bridgestone BT-020s, a 120/70-17 in front and a 160/60-17 on the back hoop. The brake calipers look just like the two-piston units on the SV, but with the fashionable “petal”-style 300 mm rotors like those found on the ZX-6R and ZX-10R.

It’s wrapped up in a muted, sophisticated fairing with a chest-height windscreen and integrated turn signals. Large integrated footpeg brackets carry the rider and passenger pegs on one immense unit, which will be challenging for racers to modify. The seat is carefully styled to blend in with the bike’s lines and is very narrow and low at the front, but thickly padded and wider at the rear. The handlebars are high and pulled back, but not too wide.

…For $6,299, this is a nicely-finished, good-looking bike.

Instrumentation is a bit spare, with no temperature gauge to distract the rider. There is a clock, dual tripmeters, and hazard lights as well. The build quality is just OK; the unit appears nicely designed, but the plastic is thin and some plastic panels have unsightly gaps and seams. Still, for $6,299, this is a nicely-finished, good-looking bike.

The Test

We officially started our test at curvaceous Streets of Willow racetrack in Rosamond, CA, with 14 turns simulating most of the kinds of corners a street rider will encounter, with pavement varying from Autobahn silky to Alabama chain-gang-repaired bumpy. There are two decent straights on the 1.8-mile long roadcourse, so every gear and throttle position gets a workout.

Sean went out on the Suzuki first to scuff in the new tires. When he came back, he was all smiles, reliving memories of his roadracing exploits on his own SV650. “I already know which bike I like better” he said. I bundled myself up against the sub-50 degree High Desert chill and went out on the SV for a familiarization lap, but I didn’t get a good feel for the bike, with my movement restricted by too many layers and my wrist restricted by fear of a cold racetrack.

Next was a session of familiarization with the Ninja. Hopping aboard, I was struck by what is a very compact and street-oriented bike. The bars are very high and come back to meet your hands in a very neutral, almost upright position. The seat is high in the back, but narrow and low in the front, yet manages to not be too sloped forward. The pegs are pretty low. Overall, the rider is placed in a very comfortable position that doesn’t compromise control.

The motor fires up willingly with no choke or drama. After a short warm-up period that involved a few coughs and sputters, the fuel injection seemed to work without trouble or flat spots. The gearbox works nicely too, as well as the low-effort, smooth-functioning cable-actuated clutch does.

Bombing into the Street’s fast first turn, the Ninja was able to quickly get up to speed, thanks to the powerful midrange pull. “It likes to be short-shifted” was Sean’s advice, and indeed it’s a good strategy, as winding it out to the 11,000 rpm redline “just makes noise”, as a different tester noted. The nice torque surge in the mid-range lets you carry the bike a gear high, encouraging faster corner speeds. On a long straightaway, getting the bike up to 110 mph isn’t a problem; on a technical track like Streets, that’s as fast as novice and intermediate riders go on any size motorcycle. If the little Ninja has trouble on the track, it’s not power related.

Nor does the chassis let the rider down. The short wheelbase, stout suspension and swingarm and sporty geometry balance light steering effort and high-speed stability. None of the testers noted any headshake all day, even on the bumpiest corners. What we did notice was the way the high handlebars made the front end feel indistinct during high-speed cornering.

Ground clearance is also good, thanks to pegs that seem closer together than the SV’s and the underslung exhaust canister. Even though those pegs feel lower than the SV’s, they didn’t drag as frequently. This could be because they are closer together, or it could be that the SV has to have long peg feelers to keep its immense chrome exhaust can from dragging. Whatever the reason, the Ninja gives the rider a little more clearance, which should encourage nervous novices to charge the corners a little faster.

Where the Ninja does disappoint on the racetrack is with brakes and suspension. Although the brakes are the same as the SV’s two-piston units, they somehow seem to require extra effort and provide less feel. The lack of better brakes on both bikes is glaring, considering the track-ready touches both of these bikes have, like lugs for swingarm stand spools on the swingarms and the stout frames and forks. The rear suspension is both undersprung and underdamped, which we tried to compensate for by putting the rear shock on the stiffest setting. This just made the back wheel hop around in bumpy corners, resulting in a loss of traction at least once for me. The front suspension seemed good enough to not complain about, but this is a bike that will need re-worked suspension to be truly safe and fun on a racetrack by all but the most novice riders.

The Ninja was definitely a fun bike on the track, although there are few motorcycles not fun on a racetrack. The handling was forgiving; easy and precise at the same time, allowing the rider to make mistakes without landing him on his head.

That’s how I felt until I hopped on the SV. All the fun and ease-of-use I felt on the Ninja faded away as I folded my legs up onto the higher rearsets and leaned forward to the low but not uncomfortable clip-on handlebars. It was time to rock-and-roll. The Suzuki feels right ergonomically, placing your body in a perfect position to control the bike on a racetrack without beating your body up too badly by placing too much weight on the wrists or cramping your knees.

The motor revs smoothly, without a hitch from the nicely-dialed fuel injection. The Suzuki’s taller gearing makes it feel a bit softer in the midrange than the Ninja, but the more top-weighted powerband lets you rev the engine past 9,000 rpm, rewarding you with a bit more horsepower near the redline: at 10,250 rpm it’s still making over 65 hp. This broader powerband contributes to the SV’s superiority as a track bike, despite the Ninja making slightly more torque at lower rpms.

But the dominance doesn’t stop there. The brakes and suspension seem to work better as well. Although both of these bikes share the same brake calipers, and the Ninja has 10 mm larger-diameter discs, the SV is blessed with better feel and a stronger bite, resulting in more confidence in the brakes. The rear shock, although harder to adjust than the Ninja’s, uses a linkage, allowing it to react to bumps and whatnot with less travel, keeping the SV’s budget unit from revealing its lack of damping like the Ninja’s.

We all thought the SV would be a clear choice for track-day enthusiasts and racers, but judging on lap time alone, it isn’t such a clear choice. We sent Publisher Alexander out with the mission of getting as many good timed laps on each bike as possible, and we watched him out on the track as he wrung every second he could out of the two bikes, passing just about every rider on the track with our little twins.

After several sessions, the SV was the winner, but barely: a best time of 1:30.54 on the Suzuki was a mere .72 seconds faster than the best Kawasaki lap, and selecting the five best lap times for each bike (to correct for heavy traffic in some of the Suzuki’s sessions) reveals a mere .38 seconds difference. Keep in mind that the track lap record — on any bike — is only about 12 seconds faster than a “beginner’s” bike with stock suspension and DOT street tires. Sure, Sean is good enough to run circles around most riders on an old Panhead with a nail in the front tire, but a determined racer — with some money thrown at suspension and other goodies — should be able to be competitive on the 650 Ninja, if racing a parallel twin is what she wants to do.

The Word On the Street

So the two bikes are about even, time-wise on the track, but which is better for street riding? Well, if the street is all about comfort, the Ninja would be a pretty clear winner. We all enjoyed the well thought-out ergonomics of the 650R. On a street ride, comfort is again the first thing you notice about that 650 Ninja. It’s a bike designed for smaller folks, with the bar very close to the rider and a small, narrow seat. But thanks to the low footpegs, big guys like Sean didn’t complain about the accommodations.

The next thing you notice is how easy this bike is to ride, and at a relaxed street pace, how smooth and silky the motor is. Short gearing helps get the softer-engined Kawi up to speed quickly as well. The transmission has a light and smooth feel, allowing both clutchless upshifts and downshifts (although they’re not so good for the bike) alike. The light-feeling clutch and adjustable clutch lever ensure that smaller riders who haven’t yet built up a seasoned motorcyclist’s Kung-fu grip can still control and modulate the clutch easily. I’ve never felt 100% good about recommending the SV as a raw beginner’s machine, but the Kawi feels closer to the mark.

Riding around town, that easiness is still apparent. The low seat and high bars make maneuvering in tight urban spaces easy, keeping the rider’s head up and looking out for trouble. Although the bike’s claimed dry weight is significantly heavier than the SV’s, it feels lighter, perhaps because of the exhaust canister being tucked under the frame like that. The narrow design also aids lane-splitting, letting the rider sneak up between lines of cars like a real-life ninja. However, leave your throwing stars at home and don’t try to kill yourself if you get caught.

On the freeway, the 650R is remarkably nice. The fairing offers the best of both worlds: it really keeps a lot of wind off the rider, but doesn’t catch side drafts that can blow around other lightweight, fully-faired motorcycles. The windscreen, though soft and floppy, doesn’t flutter noticeably at speed and puts the wind right at the top of your chest (if you’re 5’6″). Pete didn’t like the aesthetics of the screen and predicted a double-bubble type screen would be a hot-selling item for this machine. I say a Laminar Industries product will soon be available that will look great and offer even more wind protection.

…high-speed freeway riding is where the 650R really excels.

In fact, I would say high-speed freeway riding is where the 650R really excels. It’s remarkable to be able to sail along on the freeway at 80 or 90 mph on a “budget” motorcycle without it feeling like it will shake itself apart or that it’s using every last bit of power. Midrange throttle response is quite good, besting the 5 hp more-powerful SV in some impromptu roll-on contests in sixth gear. This is due to the shorter gearing of the 650R, but the motor is smooth enough so that even at about 7,500 rpm vibration is noticeable but not intrusive.

The headlight is great, too, letting you ride at speed in the dark without riding past the headlight’s illumination. Mirrors work as well as the mirrors on the SV, which shouldn’t surprise anybody who’s noticed that they are, in fact, the exact same mirrors. They give a good view to the rear, and not just of your elbows.

Fuel economy suffers a bit because of the shorter gearing. We observed 37.95 mpg from the Kawasaki, where the Suzuki used a gallon of gas to travel 39.36 miles. Having that extra midrange hit is definitely worth the four percent difference in fuel economy. Fuel range is better on the Suzuki, with its 4.5 gallon tank, unless you live in the Golden State, as Kalli-fornia models only hold 4.2 gallons, almost the same as the Kawi’s 4.1 gallon capacity.

Twisty roads are good, clean fun on the 650R. That tall handlebar lets you flick the little bike into turns easily while still keeping your head up to see through the corners. The big fat midrange and short gearing conspire to keep the Ninja boiling through turn after turn. At a brisk street pace, the budget suspension is apparent, but it’s not as glaring as it is on the track, and I was able to keep Pete on the SV in sight easily. The cheap brakes are similarly not an issue on the street either: one or two fingers are all you need to slow the bike for most corners.

The first thing you notice going from the Ninja to the SV are the much lower bars and higher footpegs. If you’re used to sportbikes they feel mild; if you are coming from a cruiser or a Ninja 250 the difference will feel pronounced at first. However, it’s really a mild seating position compared to most sportbikes, with the bars a smidge above the top triple clamp and the pegs not high enough to cramp knees.

Plopping it into gear with the not-as-nice-as-the Kawi’s six-speed gearbox and simple but smooth clutch reveals the second main difference; a motor that has a true V-twin sound and feel. You really might as well be on a small Ducati, with the sound of the 90-degree V rumbling behind you and the airbox making nice noises in front. Power delivery is different as well, with the thumping a little more pronounced and a powerband that starts way down around 3,000 rpm and doesn’t seem to taper off until you hit the rev limiter.

With your head down and weight close to the bike, thanks to those low bars, the SV turns into a slice n’ dice tool so effective they should have an infomercial for it. (“Do you mean to tell me I can slice through traffic at 80 mph and never have to use the transmission? That’s incredible!”) The SV feels light, precise and totally predictable. Around town, it’s not as fun as the Ninja, since low speeds exacerbate the weight on your back and wrists, but it’s still plenty of fun with the flexible, quick-revving motor. The taller gearing means shifting, at city speeds, is optional.

On a twisty road the SV is almost magical. Its mild and un-intimidating character fools you into going much faster than is probably prudent, and the slight extra effort required by the lower bars encourages the rider to focus a bit more on his cornering technique. On a smooth, curving, high-speed road like Angeles Forest Highway, the SV can keep a good pace up at super-legal speeds. A good rider should need nothing more to keep up with almost anybody on anything.

Michelin Pilot Power Tires

The SV650 and Ninja 650R are tied in one area: they both come stock with pretty ho-hum tires. Suzuki uses Dunlop D220s, a sport-touring compound that promises long tire life but limited racetrack grip. The Kawasaki comes equipped with Bridgestone BT-020s, also sport-touring tires designed to balance tire life with performance.

We wanted to compare the two motorcycles on the racetrack, and since so much of a bike’s feel and performance can be influenced by tire choice, we decided to mount the same tires on both machines. We made a call to Michelin, asking for a couple of sets of their Pilot Power street/trackday tire.

Michelin claims the Power provides maximum handling, as well as maximum wet and dry grip, while offering very good durability and a good price. They also claim that the Power quickly reaches its optimum temperature, and remains soft even in cold environments. These would be great features riding at Willow Springs, where temperatures hovered around 50 degrees, and up on the Angeles Crest Highway, where you sometimes see a powdering of snow in the winter.

We received a 120/70-17 front for the SV, which is designed for the 120/60-17. To prevent any ugly incidents, we compensated for this by pushing the triple clamps about 12 mm lower. On track, the SV didn’t exhibit any symptoms of maladjusted steering geometry, with no tankslappers or wobbles of note. The Kawi calls for a 120/70-17 front, so we could just put the tire on with no trouble other than removing a front axle that was tightened to about 200 foot-pounds of torque with the crummy little tool from the Kawasaki’s toolkit.

On the racetrack, the Powers did what Michelin claims they will do. They came up to temperature quickly and stuck predictably. Our faster testers had no complaints about the level of grip offered, regardless of tire temperature. After a full trackday, where the two bikes were almost constantly on track due to a certain tester hogging the SV all day, the tread at the edge of the tires showed a bit of wear, but there was no chunking, splitting or scalloping I could see on either tire. Michelin also says the tire will maintain a constant level of grip as the tire wears, so I’d feel good about doing several track days on the same tire, spread out over a few months of trackdays.

On the street, the tires work as well as they do on the track, requiring little warm-up time. That’s a refreshing change from older race-compound tires, which would sometimes never get up to temperature at a street pace. I’d expect 3,000-5,000 miles of wear from these tires, although over-inflating and careful riding would probably increase this figure.

As good as motorcycles are these days, the tires are even better. A tire this good would have beaten slicks for grip and wear 10 years ago, without costing $400 a set or requiring tire warmers. Life is good. At an MSRP of $137.99 – $142.99 for a front tire and $167.99 – $216.99 for a rear, the Powers come in most sizes for modern radial-equipped motorcycles. You can get more information on Michelin’s website.

Conclusions

The votes are in. The Ninja 650R is an outstanding motorcycle, especially for the price. It’s a bike we here at MO can feel very good about recommending to first-time riders, the kind of riders who recognize that it will take many years of building skill to outgrow this versatile and enjoyable little machine. It’s also a great-looking bike that will hopefully be a sign of things to come from Kawasaki. The sparkly red frame and two-tone fairing look great, and the clean, simple look of the exhaust-free tail section make the Suzuki’s styling seem old-fashioned and clunky.

However, we can’t just judge a bike by appearance and how novice and intermediate riders will like it; many of our readers are expert riders, racers and trackday enthusiasts who value handling, ease of use and value more than just raw horsepower or fancy styling. Taking that standard into account, the Suzuki is the bike to have. It’s the bike almost all of us would want to own if it were our six grand to spend, with proven performance, charisma and value that the Kawi can’t beat without plenty of expensive modifications. Sean put it best when we asked him to compare the two bikes on the track: “The slower you go the more you like the Ninja. The faster you go the more you like the SV.” And another tester said, with blunt-instrument simplicity, that switching from the Ninja to the SV “was like going from a Ford Escort to a Ferrari”.

If there were no SV650, we would be gushing about the Ninja. Unfortunately for Kawasaki, there’s already a middleweight twin on the block, and it’s a very good one. The SV is good enough to not only be a class standard, but also a benchmark for all motorcycles. It’s fast, fun, easy to ride, reliable, a good value and one of the best-handling motorcycles around once you throw a few bucks at the suspension.

If you want a good-looking, sufficiently fast and very comfortable budget commuter and weekend fun-bike, and have a thing for parallel twins, get the 650R. However, the SV650S, judged by almost any criteria — handling, power, brakes, or suspension — is a clear winner here. If you’re a hen-pecked spouse limited to just one bike in your garage, the SV has enough do-it-all versatility so that unreasonable limitation won’t hurt you that much

What I’d Buy

Pete Chooses not to Rock the Boat

I’m usually one to cheer for the underdog. And I also like it when someone challenges the status quo. After riding Kawasaki’s newest Ninja about a month ago, I walked away with the conviction that this bike would storm the marketplace and give Suzuki’s formidable SV a serious run for the money. Indeed, after having spent more time on an SV than ever before, I still think the 650R will be a big presence in this category but more so because of its ultra user friendliness and emotional appeal than from a sheer performance standpoint.

The Ninja’s low saddle height, upright bars and narrow “waist” are inviting and comforting. It’s easy to ride due in large part to the very neutral riding position (it’s like riding a 650 cc office chair) that kept me comfortable and relaxed. That’s a very important state of mind to be in for new, mild-mannered, or any rider for that matter. I would vote the Ninja Commuter King as well as Comfort King.

Of nearly equal importance to new riders is how their new bike looks. The color matched frame, forks, triple clamps and wheels blend perfectly with the two-tone paint on this fully faired bike. Throw in the trick petal rotors borrowed from its bigger ZX-6R and ZX-10R brothers, the visually demanding shock location and the almost invisible exhaust and the Ninja is by far the better looking bike to me.

When push comes to shove, the SV can push harder. Where the Ninja’s power reserves are just about tapped at 9,700rpm, the SV is much more exhilarating to ride as its great intake note howls up to and beyond 11,000. I’m still disappointed with the Ninja’s Spartan suspension, especially when it would begin to unwind and protest with its less-than-stable rear end or transmit a harsh jolt from high-speed bumps. The SV is much more supple and stable. The SV, whether through a different master cylinder ratio, pad compound or otherwise, inspired me to brake much later than on the Ninja with its underpowered and “wooden” feel in the brakes. I still say one higher quality opposed piston and rotor would’ve been the way to go in lieu of the fancy petal rotors. If you find yourself one gear too high coming out of a corner (as I invariably do) the SV’s V-twin mill comes to the rescue with plenty of grunt from down low as it pulls in an exceptionally smooth and linear manner. Lastly, the SV’s digital speedo and tachometer configuration are perfect.

“I demand as much performance as I can get for my money…”

If track time is on the itinerary the SV will ultimately be the better choice. With the exceptions of poor ground clearance, low clip-ons (as compared to the Ninja’s “sit up and take notice” bars) and a slightly finicky transmission, the SV needs little if anything to enhance or improve upon. I demand as much performance as I can get for my money and the $150.00 price difference separating the SV650S from the Ninja650R is negligible for such a well-sorted motorcycle as the Suzuki. And although I prefer a windscreen, the $5,949 required to purchase the fully naked SV650 model makes the choice even easier.

-Pete Brissette, Migraine Editor

I doubt Kawasaki will sell more than 5,000 Ninja 650Rs nationwide this year, and that’s a shame. It’s a very nice bike, the kind of bike a first-time or re-entry rider would be foolish to dismiss out of hand. It’s incredibly versatile and comfortable, and has the best parallel-twin powerplant I’ve experienced since the Yamaha TDM 850. Racers develop EX 500 powerplants, dumping thousands of dollars into them to make them 65 hp grenades. The Ninja feels like a well-developed EX 500 motor, except much smoother. This bike will challenge the SV’s dominance on club-racing circuits, once the same modifications that racing SVs get are applied to it.

Still, the Ninja is a well-developed bike that is fun to ride and has a nice little personality, but it’s no SV650. Everything the Ninja does, the SV just does better, and that’s a tribute in itself to the SV when you realize how well the Ninja does what it does. But in terms of brakes, motor, chassis and suspension, the SV is better. Sure, the Ninja is a nicer-looking, more comfortable bike, but if we had tested it against the standard SV650, with the higher bars, lower pegs, taller gearing and svelte, clean looks, the Ninja probably wouldn’t have bothered to show up.

That naked SV650 is just $5,949. For another $1,500 you could do suspension, a better windscreen and a high-mount exhaust. The resulting bike would handle better than many bikes costing $10,000 while being cheap as buttons to insure and maintain. It could commute, tour and slay giants at trackdays and on Sunday mornings. That and a dirtbike in an enthusiast’s garage would be a sure ticket to moto-bliss.

If the Gods allow it.

-Gabe Ets-Hokin, Featureless Editor

Al Swims Upstream

Everybody here was talking about how comfortable the 650 Ninja was, but hopping on the little go-getter of a Ninja directly from the saddle of a Harley-Davidson Road King, I thought the bar ends were far too close together; eventually that changed as the miles piled up and my elbows expanded back to a bent outward position.

Once they had, I noticed how light the steering was. Matched to a lightweight bike with a heap of torque, it makes a flickable canyon and city ride.

Only after a 100 mile day did I begin to feel that the geometry between the foot pegs and saddle was a smidgen tight, wearing my ankles sore with what I thought was a tight bend.

However, many of those miles were done in third or fourth gear in the canyons while I planted the balls of my feet on the peg often – making this measure much shorter.

I personally could get away with a saddle change, adding an inch, but others will love the shorter stand-over height and never be affected by this condition.

My opinion of the styling and paint on the 650R is a happy one. It’s a tight-looking bike for not a lot of dough – the black model being my favorite over the silver.

The cherry red trellis frame visually pops out from beneath the black and silver plastic, getting attention without being overbearing and in your face. The offset shock and asymmetric swingarm make for handy adjustments, sparing your knuckles for another day.

As for the Suzuki, the standard SV was once my favorite ride around MO.

The “S” model SV is quite different in seating position and intent from the model I once loved and it had only taken a ride of 10 miles before my wrists ached with the weight of my shoulders and backpack.

The Kawasaki was the better bike for my type of riding and what I’d buy with my meager artiste’s paycheck.

-Alfonse Palaima, Art Dictator

Afront With The Style Conscious…

The SV650? It’s stuck in some East-German mid-1990s bad style nightmare — too new to be disco, too dated to look modern, it needs either a whole new fairing to bring it up to date or, better yet for you hooligan streetsters, some carpet glued to the fairing.

Whatever, you’ll note my vote doesn’t count here because I don’t care what you buy. Get a bike, go ride, paint it pink and black for all I care. Have some fun and if you’ve got something epic planned, be sure to invite me!

-Ashley Hamilton, Maven