SV's are usually a couple of grand less than your typical sports bikes. They were specifically built to sell for less and don't have quite the performace value that say a GSX-R, Ninja, R6 or 600RR would have, mainly due to inexpensive forks and a V-Twin engine that is more torque happy than rev happy. And while they'll hang with those (4 cylinder) bikes all day in real world street driving, and oftentimes beat them in the mountains, they don't really push the envelope the way the mainstream 600's or 1,000's (which are generally refered to as liter bikes).

Anyone who loves motorbikes can point out a hundred other differences these types of bikes have but I didn't want to get too technical with it.