After removing the stock exhaust from my SV1000S and replacing it with a Yoshimura 3/4 system, I have to say, the stock system is a mess.
Have look at the pictures below and imagine you are a molecule of combustion gas trying to escape an engine through the labyrinth of flattened, bent, twisted and hideously ugly [...]

The stock exhaust on the SV1000S definitely gives the bike some of its “big twin” character, thanks to the dual pipes – but the sound from those pipes does not do justice to the motor, and the pipes are so low and wide as to severely limit cornering clearance at the track.
To remedy this, I [...]

After having crashed my SV650 on track due to a nasty headshake, I was determined to never again get a bike without some kind of steering damper installed. The SV1000S had such a damper, and I was therefore reassured that horrific headshake would be less likely to toss me off.
Well, turns out that after [...]

I have already posted pictures of my SV1000 on track, but I didn’t post any “Hey, it looks like this” kind of shots.
So, uh… Hey, it looks like this.
Well, it did. Before I started modifying it. Stupid winter. Too wet to ride, but not too wet to spend money. Damn.

My first street bike experience was aboard a Honda CBR600 F4i. I had only learned how to operate a motorcycle the day before, in the dirt on a tiny pit bike, and I was completely terrified to ride the Honda. The terror subsided about 5 seconds after I let the clutch out.
While not [...]