3 things which need sorting on my SV, cracked headlights, minging adhesive & ...

[Paul the 6th]

right, I bought the bike a month ago and didn't notice any of these things until I got it home but they're all cosmetic & don't affect the running/use of the bike in any way.


http://www.paulwilson.me.uk/1.jpg

Around the tank protector, it appears as though someone has super glued polish to the tank as a result of poor application - any advice/ideas for cleaning this off?

http://www.paulwilson.me.uk/2.jpg

This is on the offside of the fairing - looks as though it's been scraped (not dropped) at somepoint and someone has tried to seal it with some kind of black lacquer or something... not alot can be done about that me thinks...


http://www.paulwilson.me.uk/3.jpg

Also, both headlights have cracks in the glass/plastic at the top. I'm not sure what the previous owner did with this bike but it looks as if it's been rammed in the eyes to cause cracks on both - any ideas?. Only reason I missed these is because the blend into the reflective mirror effect when the lights are on. I doubt the bike has ever been dropped since the bar ends and exhaust/all other bodywork is pristine. Are replacement headlight's hard to fit/expensive?

http://www.paulwilson.me.uk/4.jpg

thanks in advance PT6^

[Sean_C]

Replacement headlights are easy to fit, at least on my curvy, but they ain't cheap. I got a second hand one for 90 quid after mine got broken. On mine there were 4 nuts to undo, the bolts were mounted into the headlight itself.

Looks a bit strange, headlights cracked like that, but the fairing is fine???

[rictus01]

I'd lay good money it has been down in the passed no matter what you were told, headlights are an expensive item to replace, pegs/ bar ends an things like that aren't, did you check the lockstops ?

the tank pad looks like it's the glue and you should be able to remove it with a bit of elbow grease and wd40 (a hair dryer sometimes helps as well), the fairing has defonately been down the road, the only way to repair that is to build up the missing material with filler/resin, then sand it back to the correct profile and blow over the whole panel (or you could just touch it up).

Cheers Mark.

[Lissa]

I'd lay good money it has been down in the passed no matter what you were told, headlights are an expensive item to replace, pegs/ bar ends an things like that aren't, did you check the lockstops ?

the tank pad looks like it's the glue and you should be able to remove it with a bit of elbow grease and wd40 (a hair dryer sometimes helps as well), the fairing has defonately been down the road, the only way to repair that is to build up the missing material with filler/resin, then sand it back to the correct profile and blow over the whole panel (or you could just touch it up).

Cheers Mark.

Same thoughts here. Sadly, by virtue of being a good bike for Newbies, there is always a chance one has been down the road.

Also, would those cracked lenses be an MOT failure?

[northwind]

I know mine was down the road before I got it, big style, and since then it's been down the road a couple of times. Doesn't matter in the slightest... At the end of the day, why worry about how the damage got there? Check the bike over fully of course- because it has been crashed- but don't get worried about it, it just saves you having to crash it yourself ;)

I think the most likely explanation is it's been dropped and bumped into the side of a car, I did exactly the same thing and because of the angle it hit, the headlight and front fairing was damaged but most of the rest of the bike was unscathed.

(why do people say "the bar ends are fine so I don't think it's been crashed" btw? Bar ends cost about a fiver. My bar ends are pristine :smt025but the bike's had enough damage over the years to write it off 3 or 4 times. Better places to look are places where it's hard or expensive to remove the marks- ie footrest bruises on the swingarm, lockstop damage, scrapes on teh fork legs, slightly bent subframes causing bad panel gaps... petrol tank and plastics. Are the levers and bar ends original. Stuff like that)

But really, don't worry if it's been crashed, bikes aren't made of glass. Except for the glass bits. It takes fire and artillery to kill an SV.

[yorkie_chris]

Or wheelies. Exploded cranks are more trouble than the odd scraped plastic bit. Other than that, bulletproof.

When I bought mine it was cat D salvage, obviously a simple slide, the usual scuffed footrest hangers and back plastics (which I've now customised by scraping the other side too lol)

I reckon northwind said it right about sliding into something, I've seen bikes hit hard enough to crack headlights, but as the nosecones comparatively flexible show no serious damamge to that.