I'm quickly getting used to the SV650S, its a really sweet bike. Shifting was a tad difficult, the bike was due for its next oil change in about 300 miles, so I figured I'd take care of it myself. Now the bike shifts very slickly.
Changing the oil on the SV is MUCH easiler than on the GS500. The GS500 you have to remove the drainbolt, which is buried between the hot headers of the exhaust. Then you have to remove 3 10mm nuts to remove the oil filter cover plate. If the 10mm nuts have seized, prying them loose with a breaker bar will probably snap the stem off, and then you need to take the bike to a shop to have them fabricate a new stem and weld it to the engine. If you manage to get the nuts off (which are behind the hot headers also), you have to carefully remove the hot oil filter cover and pull out the oil soaked filter with your gloved hand. Put a new one in, grease a new oil filter cover o-ring, replace the cover, taking care to gradually tighten the nuts to avoid snapping the stem. Put in the drain bolt (with a new crush washer), which is tough because the nut is slick from the residual oil, and finding the threads for the 21mm bolt is no simple feat. The add oil and go. Meanwhile, the oil you unavoidably dripped onto the headers is now burning and smelling wretched.
On the SV, you take out the drainbolt, which after loosening a bit with a ratchet, comes by turning it with your fingers. The suzuki oil filter wrench slips right on the end of the OEM filter, a few turns with the ratchet and its off. Let it drain. Screw a new filter on, put the drain bolt back in, add oil, and your done. So easy I did it while I was making stirfry last night.
atek3
