I finally picked up my bike after having the stock ECU cracked with a new tune.
OMFG! It just leaps forward. I hardly have to twist the throttle and it just wants to go. Even while cruising, again it seems I hardly have to move the throttle and it always feels like it's pulling. And when I do whack the throttle open, it just goes a LOT faster and in a hurry. Oddly enough, with the extra power it's faster and yet seems more relaxed, like it's not working hard at all.
When the bike was stock it would eventually go faster, but not by much. I found myself hesitating and/or unable to pass or accelerate up hills without serious downshifting and planning, and even then, sometimes it would just run out of power and bog down. I could have lived with it the way it was, but a voice in my ear kept saying we could make it better. That voice, Wrenchjockie, can be very persistent, and he has the knowledge and tools to back it up with an actual ability to get the work done. And we did.
Steve was able to change the ignition timing and tune each cylinder individually, he said they were very different, and the result is that now it's smoother everywhere on the tach, and with all on and off the throttle transitions. There used to be a bit of a buzz in the left bar that would bother my hand and make it a numb, and now it's gone completely. He took the pile of parts we put on the bike and made them all work in harmony.
I'm so happy with the work we did, and with the result. It's all I could have hoped for, still friendly, civilized and linear as the day it rolled off the assembly line, but now even more so. It's making 60 hp and 47 ft lbs of torque. Similar power to my stock 1st gen SV650, but with almost 10 ft lbs more torque, and I don't have to rev the hell out of it.
Here is a list of changes made to hardware: S&S mufflers and 650 High Compression Pistons, Hitchcocks/Kent Stage II Cam, Hitchcocks headers and air injection delete kit, DNA air filter and air box snorkel delete plate, Recluse clutch, plus Wrenchjockie cleaned up the intake and exhaust ports on the head and honed the cylinders.
The tuner is Steve Saucier who is the service manager at hudsonvalleymotorcycles.com in Ossining NY. He runs his own dyno tune shop in Chester NY. If anyone is interested, you can reach him at steve@hvmotorcycles.com. He is deeply knowledgable and has decades of tuning experience.
After my next ride or two I'll report back with fuel mileage as compared to the previous iteration.