RSV as a commuter

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interex2050 said:
That would be a fairly accurate statement :biggrin

All the issues are magnified due to expectations that were far from met.
In terms of reliability, etc...
But in reality it is not all that bad, just more than I was willing to deal with. :thumbup

Its hard to believe that I sold the 916 to get the SV...
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LOL, Yeah now that IS a strange choice,can see why expectations weren't met in that case.

I think it's all relative though,NOTHING as far as I know comes with any sort of satisfaction warranty. A friend of mine is a Ducati fanatic and after a 748s went with a 1098s Tricololure and he was never quite convinced by it. It wasn't till we went to an open day at a Duc race tuner/Mv dealers and got talking to people who REALLY knew about them that he found the Ohlins front end fitted to the 1098's are a heap of ***** filled with totally mismatched components.

Once he had all the internals thrown away and replaced with K-Tec springs,race dampers etc he found out how good they should be. As an aside the 1198s also suffers from the same problem ,only there the spring is generally useable,you just need the internal dampers replacing ( or was that the other way round ?) whatever, it's not exceptable on a £15000 + bike.

My Sv has the front end completely re-built by Maxton Suspension with their internals ,springs etc and it is now far more capable than I will ever be. As soon as I manage to find another job the Mille will be going in for the same treatment,far more worthwhile than an extra 10 BHP.

There is no substitute for getting your suspension working properly,set up for you,your weight,your riding style,your tyres,and for the type of roads you normally ride on.

Until you've had this done you have no idea,and once you've experienced properly set suspension you will never be happy with any off the shelf bike again.
 
IanG said:
LOL, Yeah now that IS a strange choice,can see why expectations weren't met in that case.

I think it's all relative though,NOTHING as far as I know comes with any sort of satisfaction warranty. A friend of mine is a Ducati fanatic and after a 748s went with a 1098s Tricololure and he was never quite convinced by it. It wasn't till we went to an open day at a Duc race tuner/Mv dealers and got talking to people who REALLY knew about them that he found the Ohlins front end fitted to the 1098's are a heap of ***** filled with totally mismatched components.

Once he had all the internals thrown away and replaced with K-Tec springs,race dampers etc he found out how good they should be. As an aside the 1198s also suffers from the same problem ,only there the spring is generally useable,you just need the internal dampers replacing ( or was that the other way round ?) whatever, it's not exceptable on a £15000 + bike.

My Sv has the front end completely re-built by Maxton Suspension with their internals ,springs etc and it is now far more capable than I will ever be. As soon as I manage to find another job the Mille will be going in for the same treatment,far more worthwhile than an extra 10 BHP.

There is no substitute for getting your suspension working properly,set up for you,your weight,your riding style,your tyres,and for the type of roads you normally ride on.
Until you've had this done you have no idea,and once you've experienced properly set suspension you will never be happy with any off the shelf bike again.
Click to expand...


Is the correct answer, no good havin 500 BHP if it wont get round a corner, great on straights but none of us do santa pod, a good suspension set up will give you more confidence to hit a corner harder and quicker and far out weigh any extra horses ya throw ya money at
 
IanG said:
LOL, Yeah now that IS a strange choice,can see why expectations weren't met in that case.

I think it's all relative though,NOTHING as far as I know comes with any sort of satisfaction warranty. A friend of mine is a Ducati fanatic and after a 748s went with a 1098s Tricololure and he was never quite convinced by it. It wasn't till we went to an open day at a Duc race tuner/Mv dealers and got talking to people who REALLY knew about them that he found the Ohlins front end fitted to the 1098's are a heap of ***** filled with totally mismatched components.

Once he had all the internals thrown away and replaced with K-Tec springs,race dampers etc he found out how good they should be. As an aside the 1198s also suffers from the same problem ,only there the spring is generally useable,you just need the internal dampers replacing ( or was that the other way round ?) whatever, it's not exceptable on a £15000 + bike.

My Sv has the front end completely re-built by Maxton Suspension with their internals ,springs etc and it is now far more capable than I will ever be. As soon as I manage to find another job the Mille will be going in for the same treatment,far more worthwhile than an extra 10 BHP.

There is no substitute for getting your suspension working properly,set up for you,your weight,your riding style,your tyres,and for the type of roads you normally ride on.

Until you've had this done you have no idea,and once you've experienced properly set suspension you will never be happy with any off the shelf bike again.
Click to expand...

That's great, but it doesn't help the OP pick a commuter bike...
 
DEAD RIGHT
A lot of time has been spent om my R, the chassis is now fantastic. A friend took it out at the end of last summer, I had told him his bike was a shed - when he returned he apologised, said he found my Ape breathtaking and he saw where I was coming from.

Also spot on with the power comment, it is the speed you carry, not just how quickly you get there [though that is nice too!] :biggrin

I have used Maxton - you pay for what you get ........ superb
 
Getting back to the subject I think it all comes down to personal oppion I do commute on mine although that commute is 40 miles I also instruct on mine and it deals with it briliently my last bike was a blade and not only did it have no soul I found it uncomfortable, but this is just my oppion. If you do get a mille make sure you invest in a optimate the trouble being that because your commute is pretty sort the battery doesn't have a chance to recharge its self but it will be
the same for all bikes I had the same problem on my old zx6r when I was only doing a 15mile commute...and the blade now that I think about it. Get whatever bike you want no one can tell you what to do.:)
 
i have a 15 mile each way commute. It's mostly free flowing and i don't do rush hour, if i had to deal with traffic i'd never use a sports bike for the journey. I've always quite fancied a mille and i couldn't have one and leave it in the garage most of the year. They need to be used or the problems will mount up imo! I am thinking of getting a commute bike for next winter but only so i can take the mille to bits and have it as good as new for the next summer. Then i plan to do the same with the commuter and thats as far as my plan goes. I just like taking bikes apart and the only way to learn is by doing.
 
As a commute bike you can't get much better than a cheap old Yamaha Diversion 600 or 900 in my mind.

A friend on here has a 900 as commute and I have a 600.

Cheap to buy, run,parts,rubber,has a sidestand & centrestand. easy for luggage topbox if you want to fit one.:eek:etc.

Then get an RSV for playtime.:thumbup:thumbup

I would NEVER commute regularly anywhere near towns personally on an RSV.
As said before CB500, or the above mentioned Diversions are the best all round mile muncher in my opinion..
 
i was behind a new tdm earlier. Akros on it. Wheelie off the lights! Sounded good with both of us through rotherhithe tunnel!
 
I was in a simliar boat to yourself when I bought my 2007 RSVR. I had a GSXR 750 that I rode everyday back and forth to class (I'm a student at Baylor University). Well, after a catastrophic chain failure (brand new chain purchased from RK) that cracked my engine block in 6 separate places and took a solid square inch chunk out of the engine block, I decided to get rid of it for what it is worth. I've been dealing with RK for the past few months about this (it was not a user install error, but that's another story).

Anyways, my point being, the Aprilia has been a good commuter for me thus far (I purchased it back in mid October and have been riding it to/from class every single day). It is also my only means of transportation.

Granted I am very anal about my bikes being ***** and span, I don't really see any problem using an RSVR for daily commuting so long as you keep up with routine maintenance.

This is an honest opinion and not biased (I swear). My Aprliia is just as good, if not a better, daily commuter than my GSXR 750 was.

As for the fun factor, I think I'm missing something on the Aprlilia because it seems to be a bit laggy compared to my old GSXR's, but that's another story for another time :rant
 
FFS Baylor is in Texas and the OP is in Blackpool.............so much for meaningful comparisons.

No disrespect but this is a good example of whats wrong with a board trying to straddle the Atlantic. Then again this is a US hosted site, correct? Which makes me wonder why there isn't a decent UK board, I know there's a good French one.
 
saint nick said:
FFS Baylor is in Texas and the OP is in Blackpool.............so much for meaningful comparisons.

No disrespect but this is a good example of whats wrong with a board trying to straddle the Atlantic. Then again this is a US hosted site, correct? Which makes me wonder why there isn't a decent UK board, I know there's a good French one.
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Is it? Bikes a bike, roads a road, doesn't matter where you live. I'm sure the man in Blackpool knows what his roads and weather are like that he will personally be riding on each day. There aren't as many active US members on here as there are UK Members, so i'd suggest this is a decent UK board. Besides, where would we be without our good man superyellow! :thumbup

Were RSV's built as a commuter bike? No. Can they be used as a commuter bike? Yes. All depends on what you are prepared to put up with to ride and how important it is to have the bike you want. I've used mine to commute on through all sorts of weather from Bournemouth to Somerset, and yes sometimes it wouldn't start and i'd have to whip out the jump leads on a cold morning, but would I have wanted to have been riding for example my friends VFR800 (leave for 4 months and still starts) ?

No I bloody well wouldn't :biggrin

If the man wanted a CB500 hack to go back and forth to college he wouldn't be here asking the question would he.....

James, long and short is buy want you want to buy to suit you. Get a test ride on one and see how you go. All this crap about riding through town being problematic is rubbish. They will ride through town the same as any bike will. Will it feel good doing it? That all depends how you feel sat on it and what you are prepared to put up with, not how capable it is at doing it.

Good luck and enjoy :thumbup
 
caterpillar said:
I've used mine to commute on through all sorts of weather from Bournemouth to Somerset,
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me too, I live in West Dorset and to be honest its a liability riding on frozen fookin cowshit and saline encrusted roads. I ride all the year round, often on Bs and unclassifieds, and I think its insanely frustrating to ride a sportsbike in those conditions because you can't open it up and you risk damage and corrosion. It isn't cool, just stupid. An old KTM or CRF with Scorpions on and suddenly its fun and just as quick. Or even a CB500 :)

caterpillar said:
If the man wanted a CB500 hack to go back and forth to college he wouldn't be here asking the question would he.....
Click to expand...

He was asking for opinion, and if someone's opinion is that he might be better off using something else for the job thats fair comment, surely?

In fact, he might well think you know what? Play my cards right and I can pick up a cheap CB for commuting and with the money saved have a decent bike for the summer. A capable rider on a CB500 is gonna be as fast on winter roads anyway most of the time. Specially round here...... Like I said on the Divvy 900 thread, they're bombproof when looked after, and when its pissing down or freezing you don't want to be ******* around with something more exotic which has given up the ghost because its a bit cold/wet.

As regards the USA thing, from other forum experience its not the just the roads that are different ;) Just IMO, of course.
 
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saint nick said:
me too, I live in West Dorset and to be honest its a liability riding on frozen fookin cowshit and saline encrusted roads. I ride all the year round, often on Bs and unclassifieds, and I think its insanely frustrating to ride a sportsbike in those conditions because you can't open it up and you risk damage and corrosion. It isn't cool, just stupid. An old KTM or CRF with Scorpions on and suddenly its fun and just as quick. Or even a CB500 :)



He was asking for opinion, and if someone's opinion is that he might be better off using something else for the job thats fair comment, surely?

In fact, he might well think you know what? Play my cards right and I can pick up a cheap CB for commuting and with the money saved have a decent bike for the summer. A capable rider on a CB500 is gonna be as fast on winter roads anyway most of the time. Specially round here...... Like I said on the Divvy 900 thread, they're bombproof when looked after, and when its pissing down or freezing you don't want to be ******* around with something more exotic which has given up the ghost because its a bit cold/wet.

As regards the USA thing, from other forum experience its not the just the roads that are different ;) Just IMO, of course.
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I totally agree Saint Nick. :thumbup:thumbup


A capable rider on a CB500 is gonna be as fast on winter roads anyway most of the time. Specially round here...... Like I said on the Divvy 900 thread, they're bombproof when looked after, and when its pissing down or freezing you don't want to be ******* around with something more exotic which has given up the ghost because its a bit cold/wet.
 
Sigh, it wasn't a question about what would be fastest, or cool, or whether your roads are worse than my roads, or my teddy is bigger than your teddy.....I believe the question was

Will an RSV be able to be used as a commuter bike and a reliable one at that?
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As regards this

He was asking for opinion, and if someone's opinion is that he might be better off using something else for the job thats fair comment, surely?
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Nobody is saying that anyone's opinion is not valid or fair comment, unless of course you happen to be in the US? Or did I misunderstand again :nana

Seriously gents, there are hundreds of bikes that would be a better choice, but he did ask specifically about an RSV and I am pretty sure he'd know if he was planning on green laneing to college and that he has many many other choices. I'd happily have settled for the CB500 at Cadwell this Sunday gone :pirate
 
Damn, thought I had the biggest teddy ;)

At least the OP has had the options discussed. If he was commuting around here he might as well be green laneing to college - point was that the type of commute involved has to play a part in the decision. Which is why I'm not sure that road conditions in Texas or Timbuktu or wherever are that relevant, however interesting.

Bournemouth to Cadwell, did you stay over? The problem from this neck of the woods is that Castle Combe apart by the time you get to a track you're done in, and thats before a wheel has turned (apart from the ones on the LDV). There are a couple of drag strips west of here but tracks are very thin on the ground, sadly.
 
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I don't disagree with you Saint Nick, I just would of hoped that the guy in question knows what types of roads he is going to commute on and what he is prepared to put up with to have the bike he wants to commute on. Horses for courses and after all, we are a discussion board :thumbup

We drove up the day before and stayed at The Green Man just a mile from the track. Great day despite the weather. Haven't laughed so much in ages. You are quite right though, the boys that live around the Midlands and up areas really don't know how lucky they are. If I lived within 3 hours of Cadwell i'd be there all summer long :laugh

Have to meet up down at West Bay sometime squire :thumbup
 
Roads are roads, no matter which side you ride on. Winter weather is just that: Freezing, rainy, windy. Traffic........What's the bloody difference? Point is, there are better commuters than the RSV-R, but you CAN still commute on this bike. Ride what you want.
 

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