Gone Naked.

[CheGuevara]

Just thought I'd post up the latest changes. It started originally like this (ignore my wife's Mx helmet -her road lid hand't arrived when that pic was taken):

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t247/bigfastyellow2/SV650/IMG00021_sm.jpg

And has now gone naked :w00t: :riding:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t247/bigfastyellow2/SV650/P1010383.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t247/bigfastyellow2/SV650/P1010388.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t247/bigfastyellow2/SV650/P1010389.jpg

That's the headlight off of a V-Rod, and the silver bucket will be painted black. The brackets are a first quick effort to test overall fit - I'll be remaking them a bit tidier, and also moving them a little bit lower down the forks. I also still need to sort out the wiring, and figure out if I want to re-install the stock gauges, or maybe a TrailTech.

GSXR rear wheel is next...

[noob-saibot]

Nice job. Yeah definitely down and in a bit. Where'd ya pick it up/was it pricey by the way? Tis a nice alternative to the round bucket.

[Sean_C]

Nice. If you're painting the bucket of the light unit black, get the bottom yoke done black too, then it'll look great :)

[CheGuevara]

get the bottom yoke done black too, then it'll look great :)

Yeah I thought so too, but being a bit lazy I'll probably wait till winter when the bike's off the road.

[CheGuevara]

Nice job. Yeah definitely down and in a bit. Where'd ya pick it up/was it pricey by the way? Tis a nice alternative to the round bucket.

I bought the reflector/lens unit for £35 off ebay, waited for a bit to find the bucket but no joy so bit the bullet and ordered it from the dealer: £40 worht of plastic. I still need to buy an H9 & H11 bulb, plus the respective connectors to splice into the loom.

[noob-saibot]

I bought the reflector/lens unit for £35 off ebay, waited for a bit to find the bucket but no joy so bit the bullet and ordered it from the dealer: £40 worht of plastic. I still need to buy an H9 & H11 bulb, plus the respective connectors to splice into the loom.

Nice, usable light though so worth the £75! Have thought about it as i reckon it would look well on a curvy but they're shocking expensive new :(

[monkey]

Out of interest why did you do it?

[DarrenSV650S]

Big improvement. Looking great :)

[CheGuevara]

Out of interest why did you do it?

1) I wanted a naked for a change, and I can't leave well enough alone :)

2) I don't need the wind/weather protection of the fairing - I ride it to work on sunny days, and the backroads on sunny weekends.

3) It's a bit different sensation without the fairing. You're more exposed and perhaps connected to what's around you - a greater sensation of speed maybe and seemingly more exciting at lower relative speeds. 75mph feels plenty fast, which is good for my licence: Having owned several fast sportbikes over 20+ years of riding in Canada, I've suffered many bans, countless points, thousands in fines, and one arrest (250kph+ police "chase" -but who's looking in the mirrors at those speeds) -so I'm eager to keep my licence clean in the UK, and happy to do what it takes to get my kicks at lower speeds - which is what attracted me to supermoto (cheap track time) and the SV650.

4) It's now much less of a change in riding position between this and my supermoto. In fact I'm now tempted to try and start backing it in (maybe not a good idea granted :) ). It also wheelies quite easily with the riser bars. These are activities I restrict to isolated backroads, in keeping with the clean-licence theme.

5) I think it looks good. With the riser bars and fairing it was looking a bit like an FZ6 (testosterone-lite). Was out riding yesterday with a buddy on an RSV who wasn't sure when he saw the pics, but warmed up to it in person, and actually thought it looked quite "menacing" coming up from behind. On the flipside my wife (who knows little about bikes) is not that fond of it and thinks it looks like "...one of those Sons of Anarchy bikes. If you wanted one of those why didn't you just get one in the first place?" :rolleyes:

6) Did I mention I can't leave well enough alone? I like to modify/tweak/customise things. It gives me an excuse to putter around the garage and justifies spending money on tools. Before I left Canada I managed to shoehorn a bored out XR650 motor into a '92/'01 TZ250 chassis. It was a fun project, but my garage here is small and without power so I'm consigned to bolting bits on (or off as the case may be).

[lee67]

ive just done the very same thing to my k4, for the exact same reasons...really enjoying riding it now!!..and looks great i reckon
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/2053/fighteredsv017.jpg (http://img12.imageshack.us/i/fighteredsv017.jpg/)

[lee67]

forgot to ask, what did u do with your rad cap' cos yours looks like a naked one?? unless the later faired ones were short unlike my long one....

[CheGuevara]

forgot to ask, what did u do with your rad cap' cos yours looks like a naked one?? unless the later faired ones were short unlike my long one....

I'm pretty sure it's stock - at least I didn't change it and I seriously doubt the PO did - the bike was very much stock aside from the exhaust, and I think the rad cap would be an odd thing to choose to modify first.

I really like your headlight (saw it in a few threads here before making my choice)- spotted it on ebay as well and it's one I considered. You've got the stock gauges behind there right? I might actually pikc one up to get me through MOT next year as I think my lamp might dip the wrong way. I'm not too fussed about it as I don't ride at night, so can just aim it a bit low if it rises on the right -but if that's the case I'll def need to swap something on for MOT.

Have you got any pics of yours installed? Did you use a stock naked triple/bracket to mount the gauges? I'm looking for ideas to mount my gauges (or aftermarket ones) cleanly.

[lee67]

i sourced a naked top yoke and a naked clock bracket( this bolts to underside of yoke and holds clocks in right position) clock bracket's are £26 roughly from dealers...as for this headlight...its been getting alot of attention out and about, now ive fitted better bulbs( came with 18/18w) it works great at night and its just flown thru the mot (cat c check)...my question as regards the rad cap is im led to believe all faired pointys have a long hose to rad cap as like im my piccy!!..and urs is low to top of rad like naked's do..this is one bit i wanna change asap as mine looks silly 3" higher than rad..what pics do u need? clocks/headlight??

[Spiderman]

Looks very individual for sure Che and having just gone froma anked bike to a faired one i can tell you that you will feel the senstaion of speed fr more without the fairing. At about a ton your neck will know about it and hence keep you nearer to legal speeds than the fairing does.

You'll be pleased to know your forks are now on my bike and havane felt the pain of seperation from you too much since they are in a red faired one, and got taken to Brands a couple of weeks ago too.