Fitting mini indicators and comfort - Curvy

[liammatador]

Hi all,

I've ridden scrappy bikes for most of my teens and twenties but have recently got hold of a curvy 2002 SV650S off my dad that is basically still new! To cut a long story short it was his mid life crisis purchase and sat in his garage for years unused. I recently pushed it to a garage and paid them to clean the carb out, put a new battery in etc so it's running now and it's mine!

It's been used so little that I'm having to run the engine in!!! Unbelievable!! Anyway I'm getting used to it and love it. At some point pushing it around his garage he's broken one of the front indicators, so it's bodged back on. I want to replace the lot with mini indicators as it'd be a cheaper option. I was looking at these, but am not sure how easy it is to fit the relay, or if they'd even fit at all.

Indicators on ebay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-16-LED-Motorcycle-Motorbike-Turn-Signals-Indicators-Indicator-Flasher-Relay-/251043462752?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item3a735b3e60#ht_4820wt_1124)

I understand I need spacers for the front, and have bought some already.

People talk about comfort on here a lot too, but I went out for 2-3 hours yesterday and haven't found it unbearable. Is it worth getting a gel seat etc? Should I wait it out to see about handlebars as well depending on how uncomfortable I find it? I do like the odd trip to France and other stuff. I even went to Greece on a Honda cub in 2008 so I'm not adverse to long journeys!

Any other tips would be greatly received. It's literally as new apart from the indicator, but I'm enjoying it greatly anyway. It's much more suitable for me than my impulse buy of a knackered old Yamaha Tenere a couple years back (HUGE seat height and I'm average height, dropped it several times) so I'm happy with it either since all I paid was the garage fee.

Any help would be amazing!

[jambo]

Hello and welcome!

Gel seats, loud exhausts, suspension work, all are documented here. But if it was me I'd ride it as is and see what you think. I don't feel the need to alter any of the pegs, seat, or bars on the SV and I've done some reasonable trips.

One point I'd make is that it's possible the bike is sat on 10 year old Metzler MEZ4s, these tyres are considered pretty poor on here (though a lot of people that say that haven't actually ridden on a set that weren't knackered),

Again, I'd ride and see what I thought, but I'd consider changing the tyres to ones that are a little newer if they didn't feel, or look good

Jambo

[Steve]

mini indicators just change over, mini LED you need resistors wired inline ore a new relay as the LEDs use less power they flash to fast
or just ride it for now.

[liammatador]

Ah thanks for the advice.

I think you're right I should probably just keep riding and figure things out gradually. Like I say I haven't found it particularly awful or anything yet, I cruised around a load of country lanes yesterday with ease and it felt pretty nice, I read up a little on body position for sports bikes as well since I've never had one (no pressure on bars etc) so that has helped a ton.

Good good I'll keep going! Even the tyres are being worn in by me so it's again it's quite difficult to know. My dad is a loon, but it has got me a pretty sweet bike, just wait for it to be run in so that I can open it up a little. Understandably I'm being pretty tentative.

Cheers!

Liam

[garynortheast]

On the comfort issue; a number of people here do complain of the seat/riding position being uncomfortable. Personally I've never found this to be so. I'm a gnat's whisker under 6' and around 11½st in weight and I can honestly say that the curvy S model I have is one of the most comfortable bikes I have owned in more than 40 years of riding. I have standard bars, seat and footrests on it, and have ridden the best part of 500 miles in one day on it on several occasions without any problems.

As for indicators, I have a set of these (http://www.busters-accessories.co.uk/productinfo/FMBKA/Bodywork/Indicators/On-Two-Wheels) on the front of my bike. Unobtrusive but do the job well. I prefer to have the standard items on the rear as they are large and highly visible.

[liammatador]

Hi Gary,

How is the visibility on the flush mount ones? And how would I install them on my curvy?

Thanks

[garynortheast]

Visiblity seems to be pretty good, just keep them clean (as you would for all of your lights anyway). They'll fit over the existing mounting hole in the fairing but you'll need to drill two small holes either side of it for the new mounting screws. The ones I bought from Busters came with the additional option of sticky pads for mounting to the fairing but I opted for the screw mounts as I didn't trust the sticky option.

[liammatador]

Ok cool I think I'll get some.

I haven't got a drill at the moment (could borrow one though) and wouldn't mind the idea of something that doesn't modify anything at the moment, but hey maybe I'll drill if the sticky pads look rubbish.

Also what about wiring? I noticed there are small plastic clips that connect to the indicators. I presume these wouldn't come with them and thus would need snipping and what not? How did you do that bit?

Sorry for all the questions I just don't want to bugger anything up being a novice. Many thanks for your help.

[Jayneflakes]

When I fitted new indicators to my bike, I cut the clips off the standard units and soldered them on to the new lamps. It was simple and easy to do.