Suzuki SV650 2022 FULL Review! V-Twin Fun!

Welcome back to Bike Matters. Today we're looking at a highly accessible budget middleweight from Suzuki. It's the SV650. One of the immediate strengths of the SV650 is the tried and tested engine. It's a 645cc liquid-cooled V-twin and as of the latest update it's now fully Euro 5 compliant. They'll put out a claimed 72 brake horsepower at 8,500 rpm and it's got 64 newton meters of torque at 6,800 rpm. So there's plenty of performance here especially for UK road riding. It'll reach the national speed limit nice and swiftly and it can cruise on those dual carriageways no problem at all. The next obvious strength for me is in the styling. While most of its rivals have kind of gone for this very futuristic look it's a much more classic design here and the new paint jobs that they've put on this back in 2021 look absolutely phenomenal for me. We've got it in white here and we've got this lovely sort of metallic crimson frame and wheels that really pops out. You can get it in a matte black with a blue metallic frame or you can get it in a gloss black with a gold frame. All three look tremendous so take your pick. I am definitely a fan of the way this bike looks and if you're looking for that more sort of classic traditional style then this does stand out on its own amongst some of its major rivals. Now while we're on the subject of style there's also the SV650X. Now they're essentially the exact same bike, all the same components, the same engine, so most of what I'm going to say in this review can be applied to both the SV650 and the SV650X. The main difference is the X comes with clip-on bars, it's got a cool little front fairing, it's got a retro looking seat and it just gives it a kind of cafe racer vibe but when it comes to the way the bike performs it's pretty much the same as one of these. Now one thing to bear in mind is if you do want to opt for the 650X version it is an extra 400 quid but we'll talk about that later. For brakes we've got a 240mm disc on the rear and twin 290mm discs up front with twin pot calipers. Now the brakes I'll describe as being adequate. They get the job done, nothing stand out. You do with the levers need to crunch it on a little bit. Some bikes I've ridden in this category you just need a couple of fingers and it instantly responds but with this you just need to squeeze it a little bit harder but once you do squeeze it down it will get you stopped relatively swiftly so the brakes are absolutely fine. For suspension we've got a 41mm telescopic fork on the front. It's not adjustable but for this price point that's what you'd expect. On the rear we've got a preload adjustable monoshock. When it comes to how the performance of the suspension is in the real world when you're riding it, again similar to the brakes I'd describe it as adequate. It's not amazing but it's certainly not bad. We're in Norfolk so there's a lot of lumpy bumpy roads and I did push it along the back roads and when you hit a bump you do feel it on this. You know it bounced me around a little bit but nothing too extreme. Overall I would say the suspension is fine. We've got a 14.5 litre tank here which is decent and I actually think that the fuel economy is pretty good here. Now Suzuki claim you can reach about 69mpg which is pretty good for a bike like this. I think if you're riding it a little bit more aggressively, which most people probably are, I think you'll still get around 60mpg so it does have a slight advantage over some of its competition there. I think it's going to be quite cheap and economical to run. So the SV650 is a very accessible bike and it's accessible in a whole plethora of ways. One of those ways, straightaway, is the seat height. It's only 785mm so it's pretty ideal for shorter riders. Around average height I'm 5'10". I can flatfoot it no problem but Brett's a little bit shorter than me. He actually got in it and he just about managed to flatfoot it as well. I think on the other side of the scale, if you're a taller rider, definitely check it for your legroom. It might feel a little bit cramped but I think for shorter riders and average height riders it's going to be pretty spot on. The SV650, with a full tank of fuel, weighs in at 200kg so it's a little bit on the heavy side for this category. Once you're away and riding, it's not exactly cumbersome. It's still pretty agile and feels pretty comfortable to ride but it's just a little bit heavier than some of its rivals and you can feel that when you're out on the road. When it comes to the spec, it keeps things relatively basic. There's not much in the way of high-tech features. We don't even have LED lights, there's no ride modes or anything like that. It's got ABS as standard but that's mandatory these days. One thing it does have is Suzuki have put this low RPM assist in there and it does actually work. What it does, it just keeps the revs up at low speeds and makes it a lot harder to stall and I tested it in first gear. I got it as low as six miles per hour, still didn't need to hit that clutch and there was no sign of any stalling. You can pull away in second gear. It just adds to how user-friendly the bike is. I do feel like it's definitely aimed towards the newer riders and little touches like that just make it a little bit more manageable and a little more easy to use. So we've got an LCD dash, it's pretty basic but we've got a nice large speedo and I do like that. I want to be able to just glance down and see exactly where I'm at. There's a fuel indicator underneath it which shows where you are on the fuel and it's also got an estimated mile range as well so it'll tell you how many miles you're going to be able to do on your remaining fuel which is a pretty cool feature. We've got a gear indicator which is always nice but aside from that it's just the basics. The switch gear also just the basics. It feels pretty good, not the most expensive switch gear in the world but it doesn't feel cheap either. It's pretty comfortable and what I do like about this switch gear is it all feels very intuitive to use. You know, everything is just there at the end of your thumb. No problem finding anything without looking. Yeah, it all feels pretty comfortable so I'm happy with all of that. Let's talk about some of the strong points of the SV650. Straight away the first one is going to be the price. It's £6,999 brand new and that means that amongst the budget middleweight bikes, it's one of the cheapest ones out there and when you combine that with its great fuel economy, I do think it's a good option for anyone who's looking to save a bit of money and they want a bike that can commute, that can be a run around, that can still have some fun when you're out riding it. It can kind of do all those things and it's relatively cheap. Now, if you're wanting to upgrade to that SV650X which has the Cafe Racer styling, I say upgrade, it's the same performance-wise, it just has a different look to it. That is an extra £400 so when you're upping the price to that point, perhaps some of this value for money starts to disappear but, you know, if you want a bike that looks that way you usually do have to pay for it so something to think about there. Now, the budget middleweight naked category is absolutely stacked right now. I've already mentioned some of the rivals. We've got the Yamaha MT07, we've got the Triumph Trident of course, we've got Kawasaki Z650. They've all been updated recently and I feel like the Suzuki SV650 has kind of been left behind a little bit, especially with this 200 kilo weight. To put that into perspective, the MT07 is 16 kilos lighter and you do feel that when you're riding it, you know, it's just a little bit more agile, it's got more pull to it, it's a little bit faster all the way across the spectrum, just performs a little bit better across the board. However, I feel like Suzuki aren't necessarily trying to compete with these bikes. Where this bike really shines is from a beginner perspective. It's extremely easy to ride, it's extremely forgiving, you've got a lovely forgiving clutch, the power delivery is really smooth and linear, there's no surprises, no power bands or anything like that. The gearbox is effortless, it changes gear really easily, really precisely and I already talked about the low rpm mode which makes it extremely hard to stall. So, if you're a new rider looking for your first big bike perhaps, I feel like this is pretty much perfect. On the other side, if you're coming up perhaps from an A2 bike looking to get a slightly larger machine, if you're an experienced rider looking to have a little bit of fun on something that maybe do your commute as well, then you're probably better off looking elsewhere because some of the other bikes have just got more in terms of raw power. Now, one final thing I'll say is this bike does have that V-twin engine, so it has that going for it. It's tried, it's tested, it feels great and it has an amazing exhaust note. Especially in the mid-range, when you crank that throttle you hear that throaty growl and none of the other bikes in the category really have that, so it's got that going for it. Combined with the overall looks and aesthetics, I feel like if you put a pipe on this thing it would sound delightful. So what do you guys think about the SV650? Is it the best beginner bike out there? It's certainly a contender. How do you think it compares to some of the other bikes in this category? I'd love to hear. Leave us a comment down below, I'll check them all out. For me, I think it's an excellent beginner choice. It's forgiving, it's easy to ride, very difficult to get into trouble on one of these, but it still has plenty of power for UK riding. I feel its only weakness is, in terms of raw performance, it's just starting to fall behind some of those class leaders right now, so it could be time for Suzuki to give it a little bit of an update. But if you are a beginner looking for a first big bike, this could be pretty ideal. Alright guys, if you enjoyed this video or found it at all helpful, do me a favour and hit that thumbs up button. We've got plenty more content on the channel, plenty more content on the way, so feel free to subscribe, ring the bell, and I'll see you in the next one.