Just my opinion but the SV would probably handle better at higher speeds and the LS would be better at lower speeds due to its low center of gravity. Seating posture I guess would be recliner (LS) or bar stool (SV). Neither would be incredibly comfortable for travel but I'm leaning towards the LS because of the seating posture and other comfort mods that can be done (gel seat, highway pegs). The LS would be much more natural moving up from the Rebel than the SV because of the low center of gravity and the seating posture.

Hope that helps some!
JakeB

There is a strangley lop-sided comparison:

HP:  SV650 wins by 35hp+
Top speed:  SV650 wins by 40+
Suspension travel:  Really?!?  The LS650 has rear suspension travel?
MPG:  LS 650 wins by 10-13 mpg
Cost:  LS 650 wins by factor of 2
Looks:  Hmmm, you're own opinion?
Comfort:  LS 650 wins just as a Turkish prison wins over the stocks  
Simplicity and ease of maintenence:  LS650 WINNER!
Acceptance on this site?  Advantage LS650  
Oh, wait...I don't seem have that one  

And yet, despite all this, I still own one and won't part with it until I've thoroughly driven it into the ground, so to speak.

BTW, still have the title of "rounder" going.  Haven't missed a single month of riding since I bought it!  

Paladin,

Your points on posture are well taken. I'm not young, and I have a ruptured lower disk. My knees don't like to bend, and although I can handle just about any sort of ride so long as I can maintain the arch in my lower back, bending forward can take out that arch very quickly.

Bear_Rider wrote on 01/02/08 at 21:36:31:


With your back you might want to think long and hard.  For me a crusier style is very hard on a back.  My dad is 76 and the surgeons that look at his MRI don't see how he still functions.  He still rides an SV (2001 model) and has done some very long days (300-400 miles).  What you need to watch is what year you are looking at.  He has an '01 standard so the bars are slightly higher than the SV650S model which had clip ons.  I don't know if the standard bar option is available any more.  As long as the bars are about 1-2" above the triple clamp you end up with a comfortable seating positision.  On the standard model the pegs were in a very low position but yet under you and a slight lean to the bars.  He was always a GS rider and afraid of that position but I rode that style for years and assured him he would like it.  Like I say, as long as the bars aren't too low you really don't put much weight on your rists and at highway speed it is very neutral.  The key will be what year you are looking at buying.  There are a ton of older models (look at the frame difference (round tube vs angular)) if you want to pick up a used one and save the depreciation.

As far as power and handling it will out rock a savage in the twisties and top end but if your style is slightly more relaxed (which it sounds like it is) the savage does wonderful.   The key of course to power is usable power.  The savage has tractor pulling low end.  The SV is more low to mid with a solid hit on top.  My '86 GSXR is all top end.  I drag raced my dad on the highway from a stop light up to 70 mph (my '86 GSXR750 to his '01 SV650).

I agree with Smokin_Blue.  There is soooo much preference and give and take involved.  The most comfortable position to me is a dirt bike.  Naturally I should prefer a dual sport right?  On the road, the high profile is a curse.  Cross-winds and semi's blow you all over the place.  Not so with the LS650.  Although I've known a couple riders to take several thousand mile trips on a dual-sport riding two-up...

I took a 200-mile trip with a combined weight of rider, passanger and gear of around 450 lbs.  Still cruised at a part-throttle 70mph on the highway and got around 60 mpg.  

Gotta clear up a misunderstanding -- you should not have any weight on your hands when riding anything short of an all out race or track bike, and I'm not sure if you should even on them.  The correct riding position on a sport or sport/touring bike is actually the basic athletic position -- knees bent, body bent at the hips (not the waist), back straight or slightly arched.  On the bike, when you raise your hands, the bars should fit right there.  This is very much the position used when riding a horse with an English saddle.  It's also, except for the hands, close to the position of an outfielder, or a golfer addressing the ball.

When I had my BMW R1150RS, if my hands started tingling, I knew I had to arch my back.



Killboy caught me in good form last May!  In that wet, I had zero weight on the handlebars.