Just thought this would be a cool new topic. If there is already one in existence please let me know so I can delete this one, or a mod can do it. As for me I finished my under tail project and rode the crap out of it.
What did you do to your SV today? (mods, farkles, maintenance, etc)
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On1wheel01
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My holiday project was to install a stealthy heated grip setup. I really don't like the bulky look of the controllers systems like Oxford use. Koso grips look good, but with everything integrated you now have a really expensive wear item. So I bought a set of grip heater elements and a cheap PWM controller and wired up something custom.
A fused relay powers the circuit when the bike is on, and the PWM controller has a control dial, off->100% with off being a positive 'off' position. Install grips of your choice, in my case a set of $20 grips from my local shop and I have controllable heat in a clean, stealthy package.
The controller is easy to reach but pretty well hidden from sight here. This is a simple 12v 5A LED dimmer circuit that uses pulse width modulation (PWM) to control LED intensity, or in my case cycles power to the heater elements to control heat level instead of using resistors or rheostats. The elements will only draw 3.6A max so still plenty of headroom in the system.
I used a expandable braided wire sleeve material to keep the wires tidy but still allow for movement at the throttle as seen here. I used this to protect the whole run of wire, but still soldered and heat shrunk all joints.
Heater elements were $20, 50' of sleeve material was $9, PWM controller was $5, waterproof relay and various connectors were $12. Add $20 for grips and the project was under $70 and looks cleaner than anything I was able to find in a kit.
A fused relay powers the circuit when the bike is on, and the PWM controller has a control dial, off->100% with off being a positive 'off' position. Install grips of your choice, in my case a set of $20 grips from my local shop and I have controllable heat in a clean, stealthy package.
The controller is easy to reach but pretty well hidden from sight here. This is a simple 12v 5A LED dimmer circuit that uses pulse width modulation (PWM) to control LED intensity, or in my case cycles power to the heater elements to control heat level instead of using resistors or rheostats. The elements will only draw 3.6A max so still plenty of headroom in the system.
I used a expandable braided wire sleeve material to keep the wires tidy but still allow for movement at the throttle as seen here. I used this to protect the whole run of wire, but still soldered and heat shrunk all joints.
Heater elements were $20, 50' of sleeve material was $9, PWM controller was $5, waterproof relay and various connectors were $12. Add $20 for grips and the project was under $70 and looks cleaner than anything I was able to find in a kit.
14" SS Delkevic slip on. I like the look and with the baffle in it's only a but louder than stock with a nice deep tone. I thought about the 18" but it looked a bit too long in the pictures and after hearing this one, I don't think the added length was needed. I honestly don't understand why a major brand muffler has to cost what they do. Yes, the fit and finish can be a bit better but styling ought to count for a modest price increase, not 2 to 3x. I guess it's just a luxury item thing. OEM's get hundreds for plastic bits that probably cost them 10's.
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I thought about doing something like that but ended up getting this.
Motorcycle Heated Hand Grips, Universal 1 Pair 7/8 Inch Motorcycle Atv Hand Warmers Electric Hot Heated Warm Hand Grips Handlebar Warmers Heated Hand Grips Atv Motorcycle Heated Hand Grips, Universal 1 Pair 7/8 Inch Motorcycle Atv Hand Warmers Electric Hot Heated Warm Hand Grips Handlebar Warmers Heated Hand Grips Atv, Grips - Amazon Canada
There are same grips under different seller/brand and I got mine for 20.
Gets really hot. There's a YouTube comparison video where it's described it as hot as Oxford and gets to temp fast.
I rode maybe 5 times and they were excellent. Cheap Chinese part got me worried on longevity but if they break, I'm only out 20 bucks.
Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
Motorcycle Heated Hand Grips, Universal 1 Pair 7/8 Inch Motorcycle Atv Hand Warmers Electric Hot Heated Warm Hand Grips Handlebar Warmers Heated Hand Grips Atv Motorcycle Heated Hand Grips, Universal 1 Pair 7/8 Inch Motorcycle Atv Hand Warmers Electric Hot Heated Warm Hand Grips Handlebar Warmers Heated Hand Grips Atv, Grips - Amazon Canada
There are same grips under different seller/brand and I got mine for 20.
Gets really hot. There's a YouTube comparison video where it's described it as hot as Oxford and gets to temp fast.
I rode maybe 5 times and they were excellent. Cheap Chinese part got me worried on longevity but if they break, I'm only out 20 bucks.
Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
With all the social distancing, I pulled my SV out from under the porch.
I'd parked it when the fork tubes started leaking nearly 4 years ago. 2 years ago I rebuilt them with CBR600 F3 internals and tubes, but then life got in the way. The lithium battery I bought 5 years ago still works like nearly new.
New tires (cracking), new fender eliminator (old one had no plate light and signals didn't pass inspection), new LED headlight with integrated turn signals/DRL. Fresh coolant, oil, filter, and air filter. Re-oiled chain.
My back couldn't handle long rides anymore, so new-used Corbin seats, swapped back from clip-ons to handlebars with risers, added an F-16 windshield.
Next is to lower the pegs and pull off the giant front stock signals to replace with flush ones, now that there are signals in the headlight. Almost ready for the 400 mile days my riding partner wants to do this summer... I gotta get back in practice!
Oh yeah, and need to replace this 11 year old HJC helmet
I'd parked it when the fork tubes started leaking nearly 4 years ago. 2 years ago I rebuilt them with CBR600 F3 internals and tubes, but then life got in the way. The lithium battery I bought 5 years ago still works like nearly new.
New tires (cracking), new fender eliminator (old one had no plate light and signals didn't pass inspection), new LED headlight with integrated turn signals/DRL. Fresh coolant, oil, filter, and air filter. Re-oiled chain.
My back couldn't handle long rides anymore, so new-used Corbin seats, swapped back from clip-ons to handlebars with risers, added an F-16 windshield.
Next is to lower the pegs and pull off the giant front stock signals to replace with flush ones, now that there are signals in the headlight. Almost ready for the 400 mile days my riding partner wants to do this summer... I gotta get back in practice!
Oh yeah, and need to replace this 11 year old HJC helmet
This was a couple weeks ago but I thought I would share. Lately all I've done to my SV has been ride!
Do you need lowered pegs? I have a pair that I removed (kept dragging the stupid things). Got any details on the F3 internals? I've heard of the swap, it interests me...
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I put in a headlight modulator gizmo and a smart TRE unit then I took a 90 mile ride out in the countryside. Good therapy. Weather finally warming here in the Arizona high country and even on a Monday I saw more motorcycles on the road than cars once I got outta town.
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I fit some bags for some trips to the mountains this summer. Old roadgear high adventure,they don’t seem to be around any longer the quality is top notch.
![52973]( "52973")
What mountains?
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Sierra Nevada mountain range that separates California and Nevada. I’m right at the base about a 10 minute ride and I’m in the twisties heading up to 10,000 ft elevation.
Isn't it great out west? I'm about 15 minutes from twisties down here in SoCal, but I can't hit those elevations for about an hour and a half.
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So I thought it would be a good idea to rebuild the calipers on the Southwest Bicycle / Absolute Sixpack.com SV650 race bike since it has not been done sinc I bought the bike 7 years ago. Like most things I do, once I get started, I tend to go full on to the end so I contacted Braketech about their cool runnin', fast retractin' caliper pistons but they said they didn't have any for the 2nd gen SV and could I send them the dimensions in case some other pistons might fit. I did and they suggested I get newer 4 piston calipers. I'm not ruling that out but in the meantime, I'll just polish the crap out of the pistons I have so they retract more smoothly. Then I thought, as long as I have them apart, I'll paint them a fun color! And maybe sand the logo so it shows through the paint as brushed aluminum then clear coat to prevent oxidization. Then I learned there was such a thing as caliper paint that withstands high heat so I began shopping for that. I always to buy at the local retailer first so I went to 3 stores looking for fluorescent green caliper paint. No luck. So I searched online and Amazon. No luck but I found engine paint that withstands even more heat than the caliper paint and VHT has something called "grabber green" that looks great on the computer screen and the cap on the can looks right. I painstakingly masked off all the machined surfaces, threads and so forth, hung the caliper blocks from the ceiling in my garage and sprayed the calipers. I was immediately disappointed with the color. It's not flouro and it doesn't look like the cap at all. It's abright green but not the "neon" I was going for.. I think perhaps if I had painted them silver first, that would brighten up a bit but still not the Flouro neon I want. I guess the next step is a trip to the professional auto body paint supply store and have them mix a custom can for me.
Another idea I had was to attach magnets to help retract the pistons so they don't drag on the rotors at all. Then I thought I could use magnets to hold the brake pads to the pistons to aid wheel changes because the rear pads especially are always getting in the way of the rotor when I'm trying to install the wheel. I need one hand to hold the wheel, another hand to manage the chain and a third hand to guide the rotor between the pads that are flopping around. I got the idea from some bicycle calipers that have magnets to hold the pads in place. Brilliant! So I looked up magnets and found a company that sells disc shaped nickle plated magnets you can order in specific diameters and thicknesses. I was going to put them in the pistons to secure the brake pads and on the outside of the brake blocks to help retract the pads away from the rotors for zero drag. Then later I got to thinking, what if the magnets pull the pads so far back that that I have to pump the brakes to get the pads to squeeze the rotor? I could be be heading into turn 1 at 135mph and have no brakes! For that reason I thought maybe the designers didn't use magnets or springs like on bicycle for good reason. I abandoned the retracting magnet idea but I'm still getting the pad retaining magnets to put in the pistons to aid wheel changes and hopefully result in less drag. That's what I'm dong to my SV now.
Later, I'll write about the new gas tank and the paint job.
Another idea I had was to attach magnets to help retract the pistons so they don't drag on the rotors at all. Then I thought I could use magnets to hold the brake pads to the pistons to aid wheel changes because the rear pads especially are always getting in the way of the rotor when I'm trying to install the wheel. I need one hand to hold the wheel, another hand to manage the chain and a third hand to guide the rotor between the pads that are flopping around. I got the idea from some bicycle calipers that have magnets to hold the pads in place. Brilliant! So I looked up magnets and found a company that sells disc shaped nickle plated magnets you can order in specific diameters and thicknesses. I was going to put them in the pistons to secure the brake pads and on the outside of the brake blocks to help retract the pads away from the rotors for zero drag. Then later I got to thinking, what if the magnets pull the pads so far back that that I have to pump the brakes to get the pads to squeeze the rotor? I could be be heading into turn 1 at 135mph and have no brakes! For that reason I thought maybe the designers didn't use magnets or springs like on bicycle for good reason. I abandoned the retracting magnet idea but I'm still getting the pad retaining magnets to put in the pistons to aid wheel changes and hopefully result in less drag. That's what I'm dong to my SV now.
Later, I'll write about the new gas tank and the paint job.
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Exactly, good call. Folks sometimes see this problem with warped rotors. The warp pushes the pistons back further than normal causing excessive brake lever travel to get engagement.
Good luck with your project, sounds like fun!
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First round of racing is cancelled and 2 round is in serious jeopardy so like a lot of people, I find I have some time to work on the the bike. I asked my LBS if they thought it was worth while to dyno tune the bike even though nothing had really changed snice the last time they did it 3 or 4 years ago. They said it would be a good idea to "clean up the mapping" so I agreed to let them do it. ("mapping"? Does MAP not stand for Manifold Absolute Pressure? Therefore the term "mapping" is nonsensical, no?) Anyway, It turns out the PC III I had purchased used from eBay had, as the tuner put it, "shit the bed". It was giving erroneous readings and dropping in and out. Fast forward, I now have a brand new PC V in it's place and the tuning resumed. But there was another problem. The throttle tube was only pulling about 80% of the cable. I had been racing and finishing on the podium for YEARS without ever using full throttle!. I don't remember exactly when (make notes) I replaced the throttle tube because it was dragging as a result of being broken/cracked. I think I bought a Motion Control aftermarket stock replacement thinking it was basically the same as original. I knew a lot of people liked to get R6 tubes that pulled more cable faster so they wouldn't have to twist the throttle as far to get full gas but the initial throttle is twitchy already, I wanted a more gradual roll on and I never had a problem twisting the throttle full on so I got the stock SV tube. The tuner replaced the tube with a Motion Control R6 tube so now I have 100% gas but I'll have to get used to it. If I could have anything I wanted, I'd have programmable throttle by wire so I could put the curve anywhere I wanted to. Second choice would be a throttle cam the starts out slow for finer control out of the corner then ramps up for full gas down the straight. You are thinking, "who cares? you had your bike dynoed, what's the result?". Here's the specs from intake to exhaust: Stock air box with snorkle, K&N air filter, Spears thinner head gaskest, with claimed 12.5:1 compression ratio, 3 angle grind valve seats and full Leo Vince stainless steel exhaust. Everything else is stock. Max RWHP is 72 at 9500rpm. It starts dropping off after that. I think it will get 74HP without the snorkel but then it's not super sport legal. A few of the guys I race with have decked cylinders, shaved heads and timed cams and I would guess they are pushing close to 80HP but I have a shiny new transmission in my van so I can get my bike the races whenever they start again.
Here's the F3 swap thread I followed: Converting SV forks to cartridge via F3 forks
Very happy with it. Total spend was like $220 including the used f3 forks/springs/new oil/new seals/etc
I got a set of svrp adjustable plates for the pegs, will see if those give me enough adjustment. Tempted to pick up K3 rearsets to replace my K7's, which would bring the pegs forward and down a good bit. What pegs do you have? Might be interested depending how the plates work out.
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Started her up and rode her around the block...she's been sitting lonely without love for months...unfortunately!
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