Judging by that,I say you didn't know how to approach a new bike.
I've ridden 4L before riding the VTR and my first encounter with the VTR didn't end in an uncontrolled wheelie.
Key element when riding a new bike for the first time is go gentle with it and tease it gradually...
The only times my front wheel was off the ground when doing controlled wheelies...

And speaking of wheelies,I believe this is the perfect example to prove that VTR is more twitchy than 4L.

Can we agree that it's harder to maintain a longer wheelie on a VTR than on a 600 RR for example?
I mean we know it's easy to rise the front wheel for a couple of feet, but I'm talking about a controlled wheelie for 50m-70m...
I believe a rider can do this easier on the 'less twitchy' bike..

@Tweety: please give me some input on both SV650 and SV 1000 (which version were they N/S ? what year, etc etc...) If it's a lot to type,PM me.. or we can just bore everyone else here )

 

I get what insider is trying to say.

I went to a bike shop a couple of weeks ago to test ride some bikes to replace my SV650S

I took out a VTR and a ZX6R.

In comparison to the strong, torquey engine in the VTR the ZX6R just felt boring and lifeless even though I redlined it every gear until I hit 140MPH.

The VTR has a nice flat torque curve that pulls from almost idle RPM, you just don't get that with an IL4 engine.

IL4s will probably use less fuel, but V2s are more fun, sound a hell of a lot better and don't need you to work the gearbox constantly to get the best out of them.

 

I believe absolutely opposite on this. more torque means easier to manage the height of the front. With all the power on hand, it's far easier to pull the front end back up as it starts to go down.

In reading through all the posts, it's appears that you are trying to convince us to agree with your personal views of the SH compared to other bikes. It ain't gonna happen. I don't begrudge you your opinions on the subject, but I don't think your generalizations apply to many of the rest of us.

Is it possible that you have some nuances of your throttle cables and carbs that is making your SH more sensitive than others?

 

I have ridden all of them, at various times... It's been a while on all but the 03' SV650S which is my trackbike, so I cant say to much specifics, but my lasting impression of SV1000 was like I described, more "IL4" in the character, and more Supersport character, ie it has a softer bottom end than the VTR and a more pronounced top end rush, but still very, very smooth apart from a few "intown FI glitches"... It revs a little higher than the VTR, but not much... It more or less felt like the VTR felt with a lighter flywheel... If you are looking for a more forgiving bike than the VTR, this isn't the right choice really, it's too similar, and the fuel consumption is about the same unless you ride like Granny Anny, yeah FI can cut consumption, but it's all in the wrist, and this begs to be flogged...

The SV650 is the ultimate trackbike for me, it turns on a dime once you have swapped on a decent fork, and it beats a lot of bikes twice it's displacement if you corner agressively (Ie don't use the brake too much)... ith the correct springs for you weight, the 650 will be a very, very nice roadbike for you... It's definetly more forgiving than the VTR, but still loads of fun... Fuel cost is less than the VTR, but again, not much due to the fact that this bike also begs to be ridden hard...

Oh, and about the wheelies... Well, the longest one I rode was 2.2 km or a little less for take-off and landing, so say 2 km (old airfield, not public road)... So I'd say the VTR is pretty easy to control... But we have different opinions there...

 

I've only expressed my opinions here. Which I believe i'm entitled to, freedom of speech & all.

I never tried to change your perception or opinion regarding the VTR or biking, and I never tried to express a personal opinion with the role of a 'general rule'.

Motorcycling and bikes are perceived differently among individuals.
The most basic example is that some choose enduro and go into the forests, others buy gixxers and go on the track,other get a simple bike and tour the heck out of it,going places...

I only started this topic to see what other alternatives I might have to the VTR,since it has a high fuel consumption butI don't want to part the v-twin family.

Some discussions perhaps got out of hand and some of us got carried away offtopic, discussing other matters...but that's not an odd thing online..

 

I think we need more beer before any additional conversation.

 

Tweety,you got the wrong idea. I'm not looking for a 'less forgiving' bike than the VTR (whatever you might think of the term 'forgiving',since we all have our opinions)...

I strongly believe that the VTR has way to high fuel consumption in-town, even compared to the SV 1000 N. I know there is no such thing as 1000cc fuel-efficient-V-twin. But I do believe life is easier with some,at this department.

To be honest, looking back at the VTR there is nothing that I don't like at this bike.
I love it's classic sport lines (specific to that era, '97), I love its simple way,unlike the complicated FI modern bikes, I love it's torque, throughout the powerband, I like it's heavier handling, I feel that it stays the way I plant it, and not leaning all by itself, like lighter/modern bikes...

Only thing I didn't like was that it was a bit harder to mount bags on it, than on other SPORTIER bikes, and that it eats gas like sh*t.

It's a wonderful machine, but I feel like I want to change style, I wanna have a go at the naked style and the riding style imposed by that sort of bike..

I'm not an experienced rider,I don't wanna pull 2 km wheelies, I have nothing to prove.
With the money I'll have I hope to get a decent bike,decent riding gear and try to travel as much.
If I lived somewhere else, perhaps I would have taken some serious riding classes, perhaps I'd have gotten a 2nd cheaper bike & turned it into a track bike, and perhaps I could have tackled motorcycling in more ways...

But there are to many "if's and but's" involved...The reality is different...

All in all thank you all for your answers,and opinions...and I do believe we can wrap this one out

 

The VTR is actually known by many as "The Wheelie King", and since it's debut of that title in 1998, it has held onto it very strongly. I love it when I watch people slip the clutch in different gears to get wheelies, more power to them I guess, it goes to show that they have control. All it takes on the mean V-twin though is a crank of the wrist. The only other bike I've known that comes up this easy from experience is a ZX-14, but that's because that bike is ungodly. And I don't think it's harder to maintain the wheelie on the VTR. There's something about the throttle, it just feels sturdier? I don't know how to explain it, like you actually have control, compared to a CBR 1000rr where a blip in the throttle will cause a rise in 14K RPMs. I think the smaller power band difference allows you to keep it in that area, as opposed have to judge the same twist rate for a power band that's 1.5 times as great.