Ok, this is a pretty neat story.

Almost 10 years ago I bought a gorgeous candy copper Suzuki SV650S from a fellow Sigforum member. I had always wanted to find a naked SV1000 but it just wasn’t in the cards. The SV650 was a truly superb machine and it served me well. The SV650 air box has parts compatibility with its bigger brother for many parts. The two bikes even use the same filter. One of the cheap mods people do on the 650 is install a SV1000 snorkel as it isn’t as restricted and flows more air into the air box while still offering protection from the elements. For some reason I bought a second SV1000 snorkel and stashed it in my SV parts box. Like a fool I eventually sold my SV650 I but kept all my spare parts incase I got another SV650.

Here you can see why people do this mod. SV650 snorkel left & SV1000 snorkel on the right.





After riding my R1 for a few years I REALLY began to miss my high revving 90° twin sport bike so I started looking for a SV1000. The moto Gods smiled upon me and eventually I found the exact bike down to the year that I always wanted. A one year only (higher tail) 2003 SV1000 naked. They lowered the tail for the 2004 and on models which never sat well with me as it doesn’t look as sporty.


Today while removing the terrible looking gas tank bra the previous owner had installed I noticed they had removed the snorkel entirely. This allows for more airflow (and makes a cool growl sound as it revs up) but can also let water, dust and crap from the road into the air box. I suspected the snorkel had been removed based on the mean sound the bike was making with stock cans.

That hole in the air box is where the snorkel should be.



I did a brief internet search to confirm my memory was correct and the part I had was indeed an SV1000 snorkel. I vaguely remembered doing the upgrade years ago on my bike but wanted to be 100% sure since it had been nearly a decade. I popped in the snorkel and buttoned it all back up.







I also swapped out the ugly and heavy mirrors for some bar end mirrors. Next up is a 2-1 exhaust.

Cool that worked out for you.
I had the naked version of the 650 for several years. Had it set up with Givi hard bags and did some minor touring on it. Very versatile bikes. Lots of fun in the twisties.

Generally it's the opposite for me, right after I drop my last 10MM socket into the darkness that is the engine bay, I realize the stuff I cleaned out the month before had one of whatever the heck is needed now, and, it's on back order...

I have, but it never worked out that well.

All of my other road worthy bikes have clip ons and force you into an aggressive position on the bike. I’m quite used to the monkey humping a football riding position. This bike is so different. It feels like my weight or balance point is shifted further back and to be completely upfront when I get on the throttle hard the upright riding position kind of makes me feel like I am about to fall off the back of the bike. I’m probably just not used to it yet. I took forever to get the bike street legal so I’m still getting comfortable on it.

The SV1000 seems to get trashed a lot online by the rabid SV650 fans but having owned both I think the negativity surrounding the 1000 is just ignorant as hell. The SV1000 is a torque MONSTER compared to the SV650 and from a stop it launches and accelerates just brilliantly.

The bike does feel noticeably heavier than the 650 but I am thinking this is probably because of the ridiculously heavy twin cans and beefy forks. A 2-1 race exhaust with a carbon fiber can should shed a lot of weight and get the bike closer to a SV650’s weight. If not there are other mods to help it shed some weight.

I took a year long hiatus from riding after a few close calls. I suppose I wasn’t really in a good mindset to ride so I stepped back for a bit. Coming back to it after a year away has me feeling astonished with the acceleration of the SV1000. This thing feels like a rocketship compared to my minivan and SUV. Probably because of the torque it feels faster off the line and more forgiving than my old R1. It certainly feels easier to launch from a stoplight than my 1st Gen R1.

I don’t find myself longing for more power and other than a few mods here and there the bike is practically perfect. I think I finally own my dream bike. Suzuki should consider bringing back the SV1000, I think it’s way more fun than its little brother.

Great looking bike and nice story. I too accumulate parts in hope of future use. Never had the same results as your snorkel story but it's good to hear that it can happen.