The Honda as you said does get pretty lousy mileage due to small tank. If your looking to buy new Honda has corrected this for ´05 the VTR 1000 has a larger tank. The Suzuki SV 1000S is the evolution of the Suzuki´s old TL 1000. I would take the SV over the VTR by a slight margin given it´s a newer more thought out bike more poised in the v-twin. Don´t dicount the VTR it has a cult following, a huge after market, and has a long run in the market.