SV650.org - SV650 & Gladius 650 Forum - Finally fitted the bling!

After a couple of weeks of trying to gather the courage to dismantle my toy i finally had a bash. I had a full Zard Penta system, race ECU, and Ducati modified airbox with MWR race filter to fit. The full system was a doddle to fit and it all lined up perfectly. The ECU simply just plugged in, a 5 min job. I had to remove the lambda sensor and the butterfly valve connector as the ECU disables both for the full system. I decided to remove the entire butterly/flapper valve motor from the rear subframe in the end rather than just disconnect it to save weight. However the airbox replacement was a little more challenging for a mechanical numpty like myself.

Basically had to remove and unplug everything electrical which was wrapped around the tank,which had to be removed just to get to the airbox. Then nimble fingers were required to unclamp all the hoses beneath it. All quite daunting stuff on my new-ish bike.

This is how it looked just trying to get at the airbox.

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/8720/img0461u.jpg

Note the shiny shiny modified free-flowing airbox with MWR filter for comparison with the standard one. :cool: You can see why the standard airbox is so restrictive! I have highlighted the inlet area, bloody tiny!

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/8...jpgrrrrrrr.jpg

Modified airbox/filter fitted after a bit of a fiddle!

http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/7...jpgrrrrrrr.jpg

And the final result, looks quite purdy...

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/841...rrrrrggggg.jpg

The verdict.
The bike was an absolute pig to ride through town, jerky throttle and pretty much un-rideable at 3k RPM. Its now a completely different bike, i can pootle around at 2k, the snatchy throttle is smoothed out (though not totally cured, its now similar to how my street triple was. Do-able) and obviously the bike climbs through the revs at a much much quicker pace. The front comes up a lot easier too. :cool:

I have a Power Commander 5 to fit and i intended to get some dyno time on it for maximum effect. TBH, i am unsure if its necessary as the race ECU doesnt do a bad job. (i was told the fuelling is appalling on these)

As for the noise, when i started the bike in the garage the windows in the house shook. Its not ridiculously loud but more a thunderous rumble. Very happy!