SV Curvy retro racer project

[stinkerbill]

Morning all!

So I've bought myself a curvy SV to do a sort of 'future-retro' cafe racer project on.

I'm not a mechanic and this bike will be mostly cosmetically changed, and simple-to-do mods at that, but thought I'd post about it here.

First off, here's a current photo of 'before' and a Photoshopped 'after'....

http://www.eugenereisch.com/bike/sv650/sv_project_v3_before.jpg
http://www.eugenereisch.com/bike/sv650/sv_project_v3_after.jpg

[stinkerbill]

So, thus far I've done...

- Undertray and seat cowl
- Reverse cone silencer (gonna design and have fabricated a new hanger so I can remove the footpegs)

Coming in the next couple of weeks...

- Poly26 retro fairing
- Round headlight
- Brown seat and grips

Things to be painted
- Forks (will spray in situ)
- Frame (will spray in situ)
- Swingarm (will spray in situ)

MUCH further down the line, I might attempt to design and have built a new subframe/seat unit... but that's a long way off.


Quick question on spraying, anyone done their swingarm/frame/forks? What paint did you use?

(And yes,I know I can powder-coat, but I'm not mechanically skilled/experienced enough to strip my whole bike)

[maviczap]

Had mine powder coated chrome silver, there's pictures of mine in my pictures.

It's not a bad idea to do strip the back end down and at least grease all the bearings and linkages.

[andrewsmith]

As mavi says strip it to the frame and powder coat as the bearings probably need to be done

Sent from my PRA-LX1 using Tapatalk

[stinkerbill]

Yep, so I've decided to strip the swingarm and powder coat it

I've tripped at the first hurdle though! The front header stud nuts are buggered and they're not coming off without a fight. Gonna have a local pro get them off for me and basically remove/refit the exhaust, as having fought with (and eventually won) similar issues on past bikes I have neither the patience or the inclination to battle the headers off and end up drilling out the studs when they inevitably snap... my mech can have the pleasure :)

He'll also release any other horror bolts connected to the exhaust system for me so I have a clean slate... and clean bolts/nuts/studs.

I'll report on progress :)

Then I can strip the swingarm at my leisure and move forward.

[stinkerbill]

Swingarm/powder coating question, I assume to be powder-coated ALL bearings need stripping out, and attachments removed etc, they just have a 1-piece swingarm to work with?

Not sure what a powder-coat process involves

[maviczap]

I've tripped at the first hurdle though! The front header stud nuts are buggered and they're not coming off without a fight. Gonna have a local pro get them off for me and basically remove/refit the exhaust, as having fought with (and eventually won) similar issues on past bikes I have neither the patience or the inclination to battle the headers off and end up drilling out the studs when they inevitably snap... my mech can have the pleasure :)

He'll also release any other horror bolts connected to the exhaust system for me so I have a clean slate... and clean bolts/nuts/studs.

Yep, guaranteed to snap even if you wave a spanner at them

Swingarm/powder coating question, I assume to be powder-coated ALL bearings need stripping out, and attachments removed etc, they just have a 1-piece swingarm to work with?

Not sure what a powder-coat process involves

Yes, remove all bearings as powder coat will kill them, the linkage mount bearings will probably be difficult to remove without destroying them, but replacing them isn't a bad thing

[stinkerbill]

UPDATE....

So, the bolts did indeed turn to powder as soon as I waved a spanner at them. Quick trip to my local mech and they're sorted.

In the meantime, I've fit the new fairing and screen (yet to be painted) and fit a reverse cone silencer (sounds soooo good), bar-end mirrors, ditched the grab-handle, rear fender/indicator assembly, new under-tray and added some new bullet indicators.

Next step is having the fairing painted, fit (and then paint) the seat hump when it arrives and then start on the frame, wheels, swingarm and forks, paint the fairing bracket... lots to do!


Here's how she's looking currently...

http://www.eugenereisch.com/bike/sv650/sv_wip_v2.jpg
http://www.eugenereisch.com/bike/sv650/sv_wip_v1.jpg

[maviczap]

Looking mighty fine

[stinkerbill]

After much deliberation, oggling of this (http://thebikeshed.cc/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/ThruxtonR_TrackRacer_AccessoryInspirationKitlores. jpg) Triumph cafe racer and realising that the imminent birth of my second child will likely mean no time to tinker for a good long while, I've decided to keep the wheels/frame/swing-arm silver and go for a grey metallic scheme.

So, here's how I'm hoping it will eventually look...

http://www.eugenereisch.com/bike/sv650/sv_project_angled_v1.jpg

I can always add some pin-stripping tape and metallic vinyl graphics for details later

[stinkerbill]

Hmmm... or silver.... afterall...

I think I'll go silver.... or grey... or silver....

http://www.eugenereisch.com/bike/sv650/sv_project_angled_v1_silver.jpg

[maviczap]

Silver is the best colour, although I think red would go well with your project

[stinkerbill]

"Great minds..."

But it'd be around £1500 to do, so I think silver it is.

http://www.eugenereisch.com/bike/sv650/sv_project_angled_v1_red.jpg

[stinkerbill]

Well, having done a bit of design work for a member on another forum, (who happens to be a spray painter) I've got a good quote on a grey with silver detailing paint job.

Hoping to have the parts done in the next week or so, so I'll post pics once it's ready!

In the meantime, I've bought a second-hand swing arm for £15 which is gonna be powder coated black...

It's all coming together!

[stinkerbill]

Righto... paint job done!

http://www.eugenereisch.com/bike/sv650vr/1.jpg
http://www.eugenereisch.com/bike/sv650vr/2.jpg
http://www.eugenereisch.com/bike/sv650vr/3.jpg
http://www.eugenereisch.com/bike/sv650vr/4.jpg
http://www.eugenereisch.com/bike/sv650vr/5.jpg


Lots yet to do, but with a new baby due any day I'll be taking my time over the next few months...

- Black swingarm
- Polish/refurb/coat headers
- custom exhaust hanger (so I can remove the pillion peg hangers)
- paint/polish/coat lots of other various parts

Anyhoo, hope you like.

[maviczap]

Very nice, bet you're happy with that

[garynortheast]

That's very nice indeed!

[stinkerbill]

Very nice, bet you're happy with that


yeah, I'm pretty happy with it!

Got lots of smaller jobs I want to do, but for a 'phase 1' I'm really chuffed :)

[shiftin_gear98]

Looks nice.

[TamSV]

Lovely that.

Get those downpipes polished and it'll be perfect :cool:

[SV650rules]

Lovely that.

Get those downpipes polished and it'll be perfect :cool:

Get those downpipes polished with Harpic Max strength and a green scourer pad.

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=225176&highlight=harpic

[Bibio]

Lovely that.

Get those downpipes polished and it'll be perfect :cool:

fek me its Tam... how do lover :smt064

[TamSV]

fek me its Tam... how do lover :smt064



Alright matey. Not been on here for a while but my curvy cafe spidey senses were tingling :)

[dirtydog]

Alright matey. Not been on here for a while but my curvy cafe spidey senses were tingling :)

Funnily enough when I saw this thread I thought of your SV Tam, still one of my favourite bikes

[stinkerbill]

I did a test spot on my headers with Autosol and it came up a treat, so I can see some tedious polishing in my future!

Black swingarm is (hopefully) going on in the next couple of weeks.

I need to design an exhaust hanger then have it laser-cut (I’ve got a good company I’ve used before) then a few more bits to be powder-coated.

It’s taking shape :)

[maviczap]

I did a test spot on my headers with Autosol and it came up a treat, so I can see some tedious polishing in my future!e :)

Save yourself some time and effort, use some Harpic Power toilet cleaner to get the worst of the brown gunk off, then finish it off will Autosol

[stinkerbill]

Been busy, but here's a pic showing the black swingarm fitted:

http://www.eugenereisch.com/bike/racer_swingarm.jpg

Next, new brake fluid pot (silver/aluminium) and I'm designing a bracket so I can fit a SW Motech Legend bag to the left-hand side - having sold my other bikes this will now become my daily ride, so I need some carrying capacity - the Legend bag will look good :)

(I might buy some darker faux leather for the seat to match the bag)

Then... more farkles... I'm thinking silver trim rings for the clocks, tidy up the wiring loom inside the fairing and probably heated grips, but I really like the brown grips I have... will need to look at what options there are out there, but I'm guessing no-one does brown heated grips.

Oh, and a 'halo style' LED headlight and LED turn signals would be nice...

Eventually I'd love to do spoked wheels too, but that's big money!

[squirrel_hunter]

Thats a nice looking bike. I would look to the exhaust next though, the can, link pipe, and headers don't match. The can goes nicely with the bike, but the different materials let it down a bit. Not sure if you can get polished stainless like the can through the rest of the system, but I'd look to that.

[Geodude]

Nice :) where did you get the TL looking seat hump?

EDIT: Looks like its part of the poly26 kit :( I thought it was separate plug n play job, ahh well i'll get round to making one one day :)

[TamSV]

Nice :) where did you get the TL looking seat hump?


Looks like the Airtech Streamlining seat hump.

[stinkerbill]

Yep it's the Airtech one :)

[Geodude]

Looks like the Airtech Streamlining seat hump.

Yep it's the Airtech one :)


Cheers lads :)

[stinkerbill]

Thats a nice looking bike. I would look to the exhaust next though, the can, link pipe, and headers don't match. The can goes nicely with the bike, but the different materials let it down a bit. Not sure if you can get polished stainless like the can through the rest of the system, but I'd look to that.



Yep - would be nice... but they’ll turnto crap again soon enough