51 plate curvy suspension change

[stevenford_uk]

hey everyone i have been reading loads on what suspension to upgrade to on the sv and i have a complete setup off a k1 gsxr600, and i am going to swap the rear end completly, the swingarm is the same dimensions as the sv but i am not sure about the swingarm spindle, and i want to change the front for the gsxr forks, brakes and wheel.
however the headstock shaft seems to be a bigger diameter and i dont know if the sv headstock bearings will fit.
so my question to you all

will the sv swingarm spindle interchange with the gsxr600 k1 spindle?
will the 51 plate sv650s headstock bearings interchange with the gsxr ones?
once i have fitted the gsxr forks etc i need raised clipons so the bars wont scrape the fairing, i have seen that the tl1000 ones with the usd forks but no mention of what fits the smaller gsxr600 ones?

cheers

[BILLY]

Are you sure the swing arm will work as the SV has an offset shock! as for the clipons how about early VFR750.

[yorkie_chris]

K1 gixer I'm not sure what you need to do to the head bearings, using SRAD stuff you use a conversion bearing from twinworksfactory

I think the swingarm is going to need more work than you reckon

[stevenford_uk]

we had both singarms up against each other and they are deffo the same mounts .
the headstem off the gixxer has a much bigger diameter and the sv top bearing wont fit, so i need to know if the k1 600 top bearing is the same as the srad.

[yorkie_chris]

Even the dogbone mounts and such?

TWF state the conversion bearing is for 96> gixxers. Email them, zoran seems to be a knowledgeable and helpful feller.

[northwind]

I bet you a shiny scottish penny that the swingarm won't fit- shock clearance is likely to be the issue, also the SV exhaust passes through the arm, I'm fairly sure that even if there is room for the shock to pass through in the right place (which I doubt, I think it'll foul the left arm) the exhaust won't. But, I've been wrong before ;)

I reckon the sensible thing to do with that front end would be to use a set of SRAD 600 yokes, which are a better fit for the carbed SV. I'm pretty sure the TWF top bearing will work with either but the SRAD yokes are simpler for the lock stops and steering lock.

[zadar]

all gsxr's from 96 to present use same bearings.
gsxr swingarm will not work without some creative cutting and welding.

[yorkie_chris]

Need this bit then I tihnk.

http://twinworksfactory.com/store/product/steer_head_bearing.html

Couldn't fault the delivery time when I ordered one.

[stevenford_uk]

ok fair enough, i will just use the rear shock and the k1 front with the twf bearing then,
cheers

[Dangerous Dave]

The front end will fit but the lock stops won't work and nor will the barrel/ignition lock. you want SRAD stuff and the top bearing conversion for TWF to make it easier, you could remove the SV steering stem braze on some metal and mill it down to shape and make a spacer for the top but its to much work for something that can be done with a bearing swap.

As for the swingarm it won't work, the SV's rear shock is offset and the GSXR's shock isn't designed to that type of spec. If you are after a bigger rear wheel, not worth it in my opinion as its just for show, then go for the Bandit 1200 wheel conversion on the CBR600 wheel conversion (both use standard SV swingarm).

[yorkie_chris]

Can you use SRAD yokes and spindle with the K1 forks? that would keep the lockstops and parking lock.

If so then I've an SRAD 600 bottom yoke spare

[zadar]

Can you use SRAD yokes and spindle with the K1 forks? that would keep the lockstops and parking lock.

If so then I've an SRAD 600 bottom yoke spare
you can but you need to shim calipers.

[yorkie_chris]

Worth it then IMO, I use parking lock all the time

[stevenford_uk]

i wasn't bothered about the extra size of the rear wheel, i wanted the gsxr stuff so i had a lighter bike, as the gsxr swingarm and wheel is much loghter than the std sv stuff.
i may have a set of showa gixxy 750 forks available but i am not sure on the yolks.
i have now added some pre-tensioners to the sv forks and changed the oil.
i have fitted some 15mm spacers into the forks to add the preload and changed the fork oil for ATF (auto trans fluid), it has stiffened up the front no end and seems to be much better than it was before but unless i am riding fairly spirited its not too nice tends to be a little hard but when riding hard its great. unfortunatly the rear is on max adjustment and is still too soft.
i have a gixxy 750 rear shock with the separate resevoir too but its about 50mm shorter than the sv one so to raise the rear back up would i need shorter dogbones ?
cheers

[northwind]

OK, a few things here... preload can't make forks or suspension stiffer unless you have progressive springs, it just moves the starting point within the fork travel... The SV swingarm's actually a pretty good weight, interested to hear how much weight you'll save there, did you weigh 'em up for a comparison? The wheel I don't know about, SV wheel is pretty weighty for what it is.

Do you know what year shock it is? The more recent ones are really too short, 636 is a much better choice for the curvy. You could try dogbones but with the larger shock you might find you have swingarm clearance issues- personally I'd strongly recommend you sell the shock and get one more suited. It's a good mod IMO, obviously a bodge but quite an effective one.

[stevenford_uk]

my dad owns a breaking business so all these bits are just lying around and if i can get them to fit i will so i am not losing or making any money from trying anything.
there is a noticable difference in weight when you pick them up i would think its about half kg lighter.
the forks are noticably harder to compress but a little too bumpy when going slow.

[northwind]

Oh, sounds like you're a useful person to know then :D See if you can track down a C1 636 shock then, it's an easy fit in the SV and works pretty well. The B1 shock also works but it's a less good item generally.

[stevenford_uk]

what do you mean when you say C1

[northwind]

It's the model code, B is 03-04, C is 05-06. The 03-04 is the one famous for it's "exciting" handling, because the shock's rubbish and poorly specced to boot- bizarrely it works better in an SV than in the Ninja, IMO. They replaced it with a massively better Showa shock in 05.