Buying a Svartpilen Second Hand from Original Owner - Lots of Questions!

c3powil

c3powil

contributing rider
Joined
Apr 23, 2024
Messages
8
Location
Atlanta, Georgia. USA
Hello, and thank you for taking the time to help me.

I'm selling my '13 Suzuki TU250X to "upgrade" to a 2023 Svartpilen 401, which a fellow has for sale near me. I am not new to motorcycles. I have an '07 Suzuki V-Strom 650 for long distance, so I don't expect the criticisms of the Svart's comfort and highway usability I have heard about to apply to me very much. The seller claims the reason why his is selling is because it is uncomfortable. He purchased the bike brand new last July in Ohio and had it trailered down to Georgia. Since then he has only ridden it 10-12 times, he says.

The Svart in question is a 2023 model with only 700-ish "kmmiles" on the odometer. Is this kilometers or miles? I was told it was kilometers, but why would they sell a bike in the US with km as the default distance unit? I'm sure it can be changed easily, but still, weird. Regardless of the distance, I'm sure I'll need to perform the 1st service myself, since the dealership he purchased it from is so far away, and I prefer to do my own servicing anyway. Can anyone let me know what that entails and what to look out for? I've heard the first oil change usually results in a lot of metal debris, which isn't a cause for concern.

I already met the guy and took it on a test ride. It feels jerky, and I stalled it out a number of times just trying to get out of the driveway. Is this normal for new Svarts? I am by no means inexperienced, so stalling is not something I have had trouble with for a long time. I have a feeling this is what contributed to the "uncomfortableness" the owner is experiencing. Perhaps it is in a sport mode, which might contribute to that feeling? I also noticed a red light blinking on the dash when I revved it up. I thought, that's a bit early to shift, but now it is dawning on me that could be because the "break in" service hasn't been performed yet.

Otherwise, I enjoyed riding it around town on my test ride, and it definitely feels like fun "hooner" of a street bike. Definitely a far cry from the laid back "putzy" Suzuki TU250X.

Any comments are welcome!
 
Hello,

Not an expert by any means but I've seen a couple of things that might help.
Was recently at a dealer (in Europe) and saw a svart with a big plastic cover on the speedo that sported a bright red sticker reading something along the lines of "Warning: speed set to km/h". It may be the case that the odometers are also set to km as standard. I believe page 81 of the user manual tells you how to change the units displayed (https://www.manualslib.com/manual/2180306/Husqvarna-Svartpilen-401.html?page=81#manual), maybe a quick fiddle can help clear this up.

Red light is automatically set to a lower RPM during the break-in period and should automatically skip to a higher RPM once said period is over. I believe it is at 1'000 km or 620 mi (which could indicate that the ODO is reading km come to think of it). Cf page 61 of the user manual.

Service schedules and work required are also specified - from page 108 on. I guess what a dealer could do for you after the break-in period is clearing codes and, more importantly, activating the quick shifter if not already done.

Hope this helps!

PS: only recently got hold of a vit' of my own, but spent months reading up stuff and geeking out on these little machines.
 
My 2022 had the quickshifter available from start but the max rpm was restricted. I’m pretty sure you need to take it to the dealer for the first service to get the rpm unrestricted and to adjust the quick shifter sensor. During that service they’ll probably be able to fix the stalling issue as well.

And yes, km / miles, is just a dash setting. The speed displayed should be the same as the distance traveled.

First service is around 1000km, the one after that is maximum within a year or every 6000km.
 
Thank you for your comment, Yonsson. I was afraid there would be some dealer specific maintenance items needed on the first service. Is there any way I can enable the quick shifter and fix the stalling issue myself? I have a hunch that the clutch just needs to be adjusted for the stalling.

The confusing thing about the odometer is that it does't just say "km' or "miles", but "kmmiles".

I've attached a picture
 

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I have no idea about how to fix the software yourself or if it’s possible, I always turn in my bike for service. Now I’m getting worried I might remember it wrong, but I’m pretty sure I was able to use the quick shifter from the start. I remember adjusting the gear lever to get the quick shifter working better before I turned it in for the first service.

Yeah, that looks a little strange. Mine says “km” and the speed is displayed in km/h.
 
Hi there,

I bought my 2021 new and the max rpm was not restricted, I could rev all the way to the end of the range if I wanted. That being said, the red light at the top of the dash was flashing much earlier than it does now after the first 600mi/1000km. When I reached the 600mi/1000km the red light flashed for a minute or two and then stopped, it then automatically adjusted when the red light comes on so I don't think there is anything you need to do for this to happen.
My quickshifter was not active during the break in period, however, when I took it to the dealer for the first service they told me it should have been on, there was a software malfunction which prevented it from working so I was told they reset something with shifting within the software and that fixed it.
The first service report (and I think the manual states this too) showed that they checked for errors and cleared the log.

If you scroll down a bit on this thread: https://hqvadventure.com/forum/thre...g-ive-finally-found-one.903/page-3#post-10335 you will find a screenshot of the service intervals and the list of items performed in each. You may notice it includes items such as "Retighten spokes", if you go through each item and have confidence in your abilities I don't see why you couldn't do the first service yourself. I am sure there's people on here who have done this try a little search in this forum.

On a separate note, my stock suspension leaked out completely with less than 2k miles on the clock, do check that everything "bounces" as it should as if it's shot this will be a costly repair!

Hope it all goes well, good luck and keep us posted.
 
IMG_0025.jpeg

From owners manual, it is available to download online from Husqvarna. I do not know where ATL is in the world but you can put the year of your bike then scroll the download menu for the country code, ie. UK - USA - FRA etc.
 
Thank you for the recent replies.

Yes, I think I will be doing the initial serving myself as long as I don't need a special tool or computer dongle to do any of the software updates.

ATL is in reference to Atlanta, Georgia in the USA. We Americans tend to think everyone knows all of our geography and abbreviations. I apologize for that!

I did receive the manual already from user adrianmgs. The screenshot posted by jester shows the ODO reading either "km" or 'miles', which makes me wary of the 'kmmiles' ODO reading on the Svartpilen in question. See the screenshot I posted earlier.
 
I'm not sure, as I have not bought it yet. I did test ride it, and I think it was in miles.

Edit: the owner got back to me and said it is reading in miles. No service has been done yet, and it is reading over 700 miles now. Cause for concern?
 
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I would not know if it is a cause for concern.
Here in the UK they are doing great deals on brand new 2023 svartpilens and vitpilens. Now the all new 2024 ones are in showrooms the old stock is being sold very cheap. Price for 2023 svartpilen was £5600 in April ‘23 then down to £5000 in September’23 ( this is when I bought mine) and down to £4300 in January ‘24..
 
c3powil said:
I'm not sure, as I have not bought it yet. I did test ride it, and I think it was in miles.

Edit: the owner got back to me and said it is reading in miles. No service has been done yet, and it is reading over 700 miles now. Cause for concern?
Click to expand...
Depends on if you care about the warranty, but I guess you don’t since you are planning to service it yourself.
 
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True! I have never owned a motorcycle with any kind of warranty despite riding for over a decade and owning over 20 different motorcycles.
 
Well, in the end I decided not to go through with it. The seller and I had agreed to meet Friday since his car was in the shop until then. On Friday he messaged me to say he needed to postpone another week, because he was getting another car and didn't want to be left without a vehicle. I didn't like the idea of waiting an additional week, while he rides the bike without getting it serviced, while it is already 100 miles over the break-in service date.

He was offering a really good deal, but all of these small issues compounded. I ended up with a 2013 triumph street triple. It rips!

I appreciate all the the helpful members here.
 
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