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In all honesty, the SVS is a decent bike, but I wouldn't buy one new.
I'm pretty sure the body style changed in 04 (current body), and I'm almost positive you could pick one up for half that price. If you came up with $2k, you could get a bank to finance the remaining $1500 and have a super cheap payment.
As far as the R6 not being forgiving, any bike can and will kill you if you let it. You could hop on any bike right now and be just fine if you learn respect for self and bike. Once you get the 'I'm a good rider, I know this road' attitude, that's usually when it bites you in the ass.
The SVS is balanced and a lot of people use them on the track because of the amount of torque they have.
Anyway, here's all I'm saying:
Buy used, it will save you thousands of dollars in the long run.
If you want to learn to ride on the street (twisties), take the MSF course, get about 3000-5000 miles under your belt, then go to a track day (road course) that has instructional training. You'll learn more in that 8 hours at the track than any amount of time on the street, and you'll learn to respect street riding a lot more and probably won't street ride as much because you'll realize how dangerous it is.
I've been down twice and luckily walked away twice, and a really close call a third time that I probably wouldn't have walked away from. First time was the close call where I scraped the cement guard rail and almost went over the edge of a high-rise interchange (riding outside of my ability), second was me thinkin I was hot shit and straightened out a corner (again, outside of my ability), and third being t-boned by a car.
Most people aren't as lucky as me. I know a guy that lost the use of his left arm, a chick that got road rashed up and lost a part of her breast, and another guy that lost one arm and one leg, and several that had surgeries and out of work for months at a time.
Now, that being said, here's what I feel about the SVS's abilities. It has quite a bit of torque that's great for pulling out of corners faster than most i4 bikes (except 1k+). Since it's a V-twin, it has a power band that starts low and drops off too soon. It has enough to really get you going, though, I'm not saying it's a slow bike. The suspension, however, SUCKS (unless the 07's are different), you can't adjust anything. For your first few months, it probably won't matter, but getting the suspension tuned for your weight is probably one of the best things you can do on a bike. They are easy to upgrade, which is why I say buy used and use the money to upgrade the suspension. ~Luke Facebook 1969 Cougar - 11.91 - 380HP 2007 GSXR 750 1999 OZ - SOLD - 15.26 NA - 14.71 on 75 shot
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