exhaust material

[svenrico]

' A shiny bike with a rusty brown exhaust screams "neglect" to me, but it's subjective. A wrapped exhaust is even worse and means you have given up all pretense of aesthetics (imho).' Exactly what I think.

[svenrico]

Originally Posted by Seeker

It's a Givi A3111. https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/25019619120

I have to ask - what is it like for buffeting/turbulence ?

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by svenrico

' A shiny bike with a rusty brown exhaust screams "neglect" to me, but it's subjective. A wrapped exhaust is even worse and means you have given up all pretense of aesthetics (imho).' Exactly what I think.

My SV is anything but neglected ( where it matters ) twin 10 watt LED spotlights for safety, LED headlamp bulb, LED auxiliary rear brake light ( flashes for 5 seconds when brakes first applied then goes constant ), hugger, fender extender, series Electrex R/R, voltmeter, I used to have MRA screen, but made all my helmets too noisy so now it is sheltering spiders in the garage.

I just don't go for bling.....

[gadget]

Originally Posted by garynortheast

They are indeed. Get polishing!

Reeeeeesult! I am THE polishing tart. Haven't bothered up till now as I thought I might be wasting my time but now I know it's stainless ....
Tbh ... as Suzuki skimped on a few things with the SV I thought a stainless exhaust system would be on the 'savings' list also.

[svenrico]

Originally Posted by SV650rules

My SV is anything but neglected ( where it matters ) twin 10 watt LED spotlights for safety, LED headlamp bulb, LED auxiliary rear brake light ( flashes for 5 seconds when brakes first applied then goes constant ), hugger, fender extender, series Electrex R/R, voltmeter, I used to have MRA screen, but made all my helmets too noisy so now it is sheltering spiders in the garage.

I just don't go for bling.....

Don't think anybody was suggesting your bike is neglected, your exhaust isn't rusty, just turned that usual browny colour that they tend to do.

[SV650rules]

If you keep cleaning stainless steel you are removing the protective layer that naturally forms on the SS and it needs to keep re-forming itself. https://www.bssa.org.uk/topics.php?article=16

Also using Harpic power plus with Hydrochloric acid is possibly the worst thing for destroying the protective layer, if anything you should use organic acids or Nitric. But cleaning stainless is like continually scrubbing your skin with harsh chemicals, and then wondering why you get eczema

[Seeker]

My header didn't come shiny either when new - the shine is the result of hand polishing (only).

When new:



The mudflap arrangement is a Pyramid Plastic fender extender with an extra rigid plastic sheet added with a flexible rubber strip added to that. It failed because the rigid plastic broke, if I recall this was at about 15k miles.
I'd previously tried a long flexible mudflap but that would occasionally hit the header and leave black marks. The current one is another soft flexible flap with a rubber reinforcement strip to reduce flex and a thinner strip cut to match the profile sitting at the bottom. It's not quite as long as the one pictured but look a bit better. On wet roads only the header below the oil filter level picks up dirt and overall, at 4 years old/30k miles the bike looks the same as in the previous picture (and I guess I like bling, each to his own). I am not accusing anyone of neglecting their bike but I don't like to see a rusty looking exhaust and "back in the day" we would only paint exhausts when the chrome had failed.

The current SV is terrible at weather protection and after a few hundred yards of wet roads looks like it has been over a ploughed field. The bike's only failing imho.
The rear hugger is the second one I've installed - the PyramidPlastic one failed and they replaced it. I did refit the new one after reinforcing where it had failed but then decided to go with the RedFox (Gladius) hugger which was much bigger.

Regarding the Givi, the only time I get any buffeting is from crosswinds at a certain angle. When I got the Z900RS I couldn't understand why 60mph seemed so much quicker than on the SV - I've got so used to the screen's effect not realising how much wind blast has been redirected.

[svenrico]

Originally Posted by SV650rules

If you keep cleaning stainless steel you are removing the protective layer that naturally forms on the SS and it needs to keep re-forming itself. https://www.bssa.org.uk/topics.php?article=16

Also using Harpic power plus with Hydrochloric acid is possibly the worst thing for destroying the protective layer, if anything you should use organic acids or Nitric. But cleaning stainless is like continually scrubbing your skin with harsh chemicals, and then wondering why you get eczema

I think acidic cleaners are too harsh generally. Stainless steel exhausts don't need to be polished to a bright chrome looking finish anyway. Baby oil is good for cleaning stainless steel . As long as I know the exhaust is stainless steel I don't mind the slightly gold coloured appearance after it is cleaned and polished.

[svenrico]

'The current SV is terrible at weather protection and after a few hundred yards of wet roads looks like it has been over a ploughed field. The bike's only failing imho.
The rear hugger is the second one I've installed - the PyramidPlastic one failed and they replaced it. I did refit the new one after reinforcing where it had failed but then decided to go with the RedFox (Gladius) hugger which was much bigger.

Regarding the Givi, the only time I get any buffeting is from crosswinds at a certain angle. When I got the Z900RS I couldn't understand why 60mph seemed so much quicker than on the SV - I've got so used to the screen's effect not realising how much wind blast has been redirected. '
Does the Red Fox hugger keep it cleaner then ?

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by svenrico

Does the Red Fox hugger keep it cleaner then ?

the quick answer is "yes". Does it keep it as clean as I'd like "no", but that is linked to the shape of the license plate holder. The one good thing about the Pyramid hugger was that it extended under the swing arm which protected the shock and linkages. This picture shows the (broken) Pyramid hugger.



The protuding piece (where the red ring is sited) sits on top of the swing arm, so everything to the right of that sits below the arm. The RedFox doesn't have that which leaves some suspension components more exposed. The Pyramid hugger is too narrow, barely wider than the tyre and doesn't extend high enough although you can see where it fractured even with that modest height. I reinforced the next one.

The RedFox hugger (which is also the chain guard) would benefit if it the rear edge had an upwards lip, I've toyed with modifying it but never got around to it. It does allow a quick wipe to keep it clean compared to having to get into the nooks and crannies. I bought the gloss one but I think the matt finish might have been better.

At the dealers I chatted to a guy with a DL650 V-Strom who'd made an elaborate modification to his front mudguard because a lot of the bike's dirt comes from the tyre throwing the water forward and then the airstream blowing it back. He said it worked but it looked hideous even by my standards of aesthetics.

One last thing - the RedFox hugger is for the Gladius and when asked RF said it would not fit the AL7 but when pressed they said they hadn't tried it. The swing arm part numbers are similar (but not identical), the swing arms looked the same so I went for it. It's not a perfect fit but I think that is due to poor manufacturing rather than Gladius/AL7 differences. The one issue that comes to mind is the rear brake hose guide on the right hand side - it has a pin (and a bolt) designed to push into the swing arm, the bolt hole is on the hugger but not the hole for the pin - either cut the pin off or drill the hugger. I think I cut the pin off. It's been installed for over 2 years now without any problems.