check out what I found!

Ever since I bought my bike...it had what I thought was a weird idle. It would be at 1500 rpm..then be at 1000 and if I adjusted the idle it would still be unsteady or too low and cut off at a light or surge a little but wasn't anything to crazy. I didn't know much about bikes so I never could place a finger on it. However..the problem got worse recently and whenever I would ride and come to a stop..waiting for a light...or down shift..I'd be at about 4-5k rpm and it would take a few seconds to come down sometimes it wouldn't come down at all and I would have to shut off the bike and restart it or sometimes if I put in gear and open the clutch a little to inch forward..it would come down. I sprayed lube into the throttle cable and housing..on the choke cable and open/close plate/butterfly..still nothing. I could tell my throttle was closing when I let go and was snapping back when I let go but still nothing. The other day I took off the air filter housing and decided to put in new spark plugs...while in there I had a chance to look at the carbs really well and noticed something. On the top of each carb there are little metal valves (4 of them) with openings that were capped off with rubber caps..all but one of them. The first one. It appeared to have been ripped off cuz half of it was there. I capped it off with a new cap...and when I put everything together..I had to lower the idle from 4-5k rpms..and took it for a quick run. The bike rode smoother than ever b4. The idle was so steady when in nuetral...like never b4 ..and it sounded so good! And my rpms would drop quickly whenever I let go of the throttle which it has never done. It usually would hang for a couple seconds b4 coming down. Now was it the open valve or new spark plugs? Either way..this with the work I've don't to the forks...has me so estatic bcuz I've been suffering from these little problems. They were annoying and had me so worried. Plus I felt it was dangerous when I would down shift cuz it would be pushing at 4-5 rpms instead of coming down and if I clutched the rpms that high would have my engine racing loud. Well thought I'd share..sorry if its all a bit erratic but I'm trying to explain it all and I'm speeding on the keyboard.

Nice detective work!

It's really exciting when you find something like that. It can make such a huge difference in how you feel and how your bike feels.

I've got a few lil things that I know will drive me BATTY on my SV, but I've been too busy riding to be bothered with actually fixing it... that, and work has been a special challenge the last few months, and I just don't have any patience left at the end of the day to start trying to fix any other parts of my life. I can't wait until I play with it in the coming winter.

Sorry to steal your glory... At any rate, I know how exciting it is to get something like that worked out. You've gotta be geeked! :)

That's been my problem for a while now. I know the feeling very well. As far as ur lil probs..what are they?

Um, the biggest one is that the slipon exhaust has effed with my mapping, and on decel the bike backfires SOOOOOOO badly. Sometimes it makes me giggle, and sometimes it makes me shake my head and wish I could crawl in a hole and die. Word has it that there is some "mod" I have to make to my PAIR valve, but I haven't found anything that tells me specifically what to do. Supposedly the "mod" isn't exactly what you would call "50-state approved" but seeing as how I'm about to move to BFE, I'm a little less than concerned.

That, and I suspect that my clipons have been lowered, and someone said the rear suspension might also be adjusted, but never having had a bike with a lowering kit, I don't have a damn clue what I'm looking for.

Oh, and my front brake lever just plain acts funny... I adjusted it to fit my hand, but sometimes it feels like it sticks, and I think I already tried lubing it, but I don't remember if I actually went through with it or just thought of doing it.

And if I cruise to a light/stop sign/etc with the clutch in (not truly in neutral) there are times that the gears won't shift once I do get stopped unless I push the bike forward/backward for each gear.

Oh, and then there is the fact that sometimes when the bike is warm the horn stops working - like no sound at all whatsoever. I'm sure there is a short or something because it's only when the bike is hot, but I'm too busy riding to be bothered with finding the short.

Es, that missing cap was definitely the idle issue. I'm sure it was sucking air and causing an air/fuel mixture issue. Glad you got it fixed, and are happier with your bike.

Speed, I thought your bike was brand new, not just new to you?
I believe the SV's have an adjustable rear suspension, sounds like it's time to buy a manual for it so you can figure out how to do so. Fuel Injection is nice for a lot of reasons, but it can be a PITA when it comes to mods. On the brake lever sticking, check to see if there is supposed to be a bushing in there. My Harley has bushings on both levers (clutch and brake) and they were whopped out, causing them to stick. It was kinda cool going to a Harley dealer and spending less than $1 on a part.

No, my SV is an 05. It only had 8101 on the clock when I bought it. It had all the mods done before I bought it, so I don't know anything on the history of it. I rather don't like that aspect, but with 8101 on the clock, I figured they couldn't have done TOO much damage to it. I know it was dropped on the right-hand side, but not at speed (based on the collateral damage).

At any rate, I'm too busy riding to be bothered with fixing anything - especially since the bike runs without making any changes.

I feel u speediva but I got with a friend and 2 hrs later I found the problems that turned out to be simple things. Do u have anyone u can hang with for a few hrs and get into ur issues? It makes it so much easier and u know the saying..2 heads, better than 1..depending on where ur head is at..lol. Tazz...I figured that but non the less...it feels good to be a few steps closer to my perfect ride and personal feel. I just relocated...again..to albany....tried too many times to make It work with my lady but I don't think it ever will so..I'm moving again. There are some nice roads and highways up this way so hopefully it will be some good therapy to get out and ride over here.

Um, the biggest one is that the slipon exhaust has effed with my mapping, and on decel the bike backfires SOOOOOOO badly. Sometimes it makes me giggle, and sometimes it makes me shake my head and wish I could crawl in a hole and die. Word has it that there is some "mod" I have to make to my PAIR valve, but I haven't found anything that tells me specifically what to do. Supposedly the "mod" isn't exactly what you would call "50-state approved" but seeing as how I'm about to move to BFE, I'm a little less than concerned.

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all right miss diva. this one is super easy to fix. pop your gas tank off. pull the air box lid and pull the air filter. now when you look in there you will see a whole in the lower right hand corner. it is about as round as my pinky is. go to you local hardware store and buy a bolt a little bit wider than the whole along with some silicone. take the bolt put the silicone on it and screw it in to the hole nice and tight. let it dry and put everything back together. that should take care of your popping noise. or if you want to save a couple of pounds you can go onto sv-portal.com and buy chewy's pair removal tool. and get rid of the whole pair system;)

w00t! I figured I'd bring this back to life to let you know that I found a solution for the backfiring. Yes, I did have to remove the tank completely (which btw is a real bitch) but my dad discovered that some knucklehead didn't put 2 hoses back on last time the tank was off.

Longer version: My dad and I went in for an antifreeze flush and fill. We couldn't fill the reservoir and only after that did we realize that we had to remove the tank to get to it (rather than only filling at the radiator cap). In trying to get the tank off we found out one of the bolts holding on a little plastic piece was stripped so we had to mess around with that for an hour or so. Then we finally got the seat off so we could fully remove the tank. In so doing, my dad noticed that there was oil residue all over the inside of the plastics (which I had just noticed dripping down the other day, but figured it had to have come from something else). Anyhoo, there were 2 hoses that were supposed to be going into the airbox that were completely disconnected. After that we opened up the airbox to find that there was a metal mesh that was probably drier than it should have been since it wasn't being fed oil. Anyhoo, we replaced the really dirty air filter, got replacement bolts for a bunch of shit that was either stripped or afro-engineered prior, put the hoses back on the airbox, and once everything was back on, started the bike (and adjusted the idle b/c it had been low before the whole ordeal). It's like a whole new bike. It doesn't choke and sputter as much anymore. It doesn't backfire (at least I couldn't get it to backfire like it had under circumstances that it had before).

Now if only my chain would decide what it wants... First it was WAAAAAY too tight and had pretty much no play. So a month or so ago my dad and I adjusted it to have better play. Now the damn thing is too loose and has too much play. :( Oh, aren't motorsports fun? LOL