wow I can't believe I'm the first person to reply to this. anyway here's the skinny. I've ridden them both specifically to compare them. the sv feels taller, and at slow speeds, a bit more stable. also, with the FI on the SV, low rpm adjustments don't feel as abrupt as on the VTR. vtr feels a little "jumpy" in comparison although before I rode the sv I never noticed. with regard to performance, suprisingly, the hawk wins on all fronts. top speed:vtr, acceleration: vtr, handling at speed: vtr, the only thing the sv does better is conserve gas. the sv is a good bike, but as far as I can see, the only reason you would pick it over the hawk, is if you don't want to deal with carbs. magazine comparos pick the hawk too. even though its an 11 year old design.

 

One of my riding buddies hustles his SV1000 on every run. I've been meaning to switch with him and see what he thinks.

 

I just want to note that the SV engine received a makeover at one point (2005? 2006?), getting larger throttle bodies and a higher compresion ratio (if I recall corrrectly) to improve performance so that may affect the result of your comparison

cheers

 

that's a good point. the one I rode was an 03. but horsepower aside, the hawk still had its number.

 

I rode my friends and I was not impressed and apparently niether was he because he sold it to buy another tl instead, the sv just feels a lot more tame.

 

I believe that Suzuki`s very intention in creating the SV (from the TL) was to tame it down and make it more "user friendly". I would tend to think that the engine work carried out in the later years of the model (which, at a glance, brought the engine back closer to its TL spec) was an admission of sorts that perhaps they had overdone the taming.

 

A decent article comparing the VTR-1000 ,the SV-1000 and the XB12r. http://www.visordown.com/articles/vi...00sz/4644.html

 

is that the article where the riders were at the Ilse Of Man? if so I read that one. and if I recall, the hawk won right? I'd check but I'm at work and they don't like links.

 

Yes, that would be the one. I did a ton of research before buying my Hawk, it was one of the articles I came across.