After sitting idle for too long, I was looking forward to getting a full service and any other work done so that I could enjoy the SV again on the beautiful roads of the south of France.

Unfortunately, things didn’t work out exactly as hoped.

A scheduled six weeks seemed like an eternity, but of course “time flies when you’re having fun”. I brought a new battery with me, and got it charged and into the bike fairly quickly – and that saw the bike start and run for the first time in months. I had sorted out the insurance prior to my trip, so I was legal to go down the road.

But three weeks had passed before I found myself in the workshop, badly attempting to communicate what I wanted done with the bike, and organizing a “rendezvous” (appointment) with the shop. But the guys in the busy shop, who spoke almost no English, went to great lengths to accommodate me, explaining at every step what was done, saving off old parts, and ensuring the SV – “an old lady”, as they cheerfully put it – got the treatment it deserves.

What got done? The oil & filter were the most pressing, as the SV has >50k miles on her, and this really needs to be done to ensure the motor doesn’t destroy itself; but given the amount of popping and backfiring at idle, and the general crap that had built up in the carbs due to it sitting so long, I knew there was significant work to do on the fuel system. But I also wanted the whole bike looked over, which found a couple other issues that were glaringly apparent once pointed out.

• new oil, oil and air filter
• ultrasonic cleaning of the carburetors
• new needles and seats, and a few new gaskets too
• synchronization and adjustment
• re-grease and adjust headstock bearings
• rebuild front right caliper
• replace brake fluid and front brake pads

Quite a list, and quite a final bill. But I wasn’t surprised, and the cost was very reasonable given the amount of time and parts that went into the repairs.

The bad news: all was completed on the day I had to leave! It took three weeks to get the parts, perform the work, and test it all out to make sure it was correct.

Half a bottle of fuel stabilizer in the full petrol tank for the 10kms ride home, and with the battery out and on a solar charger, she’s stored until we return for a short trip sometime in the winter; and I definitely will be taking it out for long runs in the spring, when the weather warms a little and the sun is shining. Even on the short 10kms home, there’s a thrill being on a sports bike – even “an old lady” sportsbike – that never gets old.