Coverting a faired to a naked, worth the hassle?

[Taipan]

Hi All
Been looking for a cheap naked curvey SV but with no success so far. Seems cheap faired SVs are almost in abundance by comparrison though. Reading through the archives it seems a bit involved to convert a faired to naked. A quick list looks like, shorter cables, bars and naked top yoke. switch gear for mirrors. Headlight and mounts. Ideally change the rad is it has fairing mountings on it (dunno if that actually matters or shows though?). Naked gearing is different so alter that and lose a link or three from the chain. It starts to get involved an presumably costly even using 2nd hand bits.
So waddya reckon, go for it or just hang out for a naked one and save myself some time,hassle and money.
Thanks.

hi dave ...just done mine remember...LONGER hoses, i managed to reuse clutch and throttle cables, just rerouted them( lift tank and take cables opposite side of headstock)..u need a naked top yoke from same year, also u either need the naked clocks or bodge urs..gearing aint an issue..and i used bar end mirrors on the renthals..

[ophic]

Finding a naked one definitely less hassle, especially if you want it with all original suzuki parts.

But the naked needs longer cables, not shorter. Personally I wouldn't bother swapping the sprockets either as the faired gearing would be fine. So it's definitely do-able.

Things like aftermarket mirrors (bar-end?) and headlights might bring the cost down. Also some folks prefer aftermarket bars to the original SV ones, eg Renthal. I think you'll need to change the clocks. The radiator I'd leave as the fairing mounts don't make much difference.

I believe I read somewhere about a way of converting the faired top yoke to take handlebars - but changing the yoke is probably better.

just keep saving till you can afford a naked at the right price

[Taipan]

Sorry I meant longer cables and hoses. I just had an offer on my little 200 Runner but the bloody thing has an oil leak on the rear hub. Plus if I sell it I'm bikeless and that means public transport! I cant find a naked SV but can find some faired ones and local too! Maybe I should just get the faired one for now and a naked one later on? Hmmm.

Thanks for the replies.

[ophic]

Ok so you don't have an SV yet? For what reasons do you prefer the naked? If its just looks, I'd say bite the bullet and get a faired one until you can find a naked one - you won't lose much by running a faired SV for a few months.

If its another reason, such as riding position etc, its a bit more complicated. End of day, its entirely your decision.

I didn't want a faired at first ...... have to say I prefer the looks of the nakeds ... but after having my faired now for nearly a month .... I am so pleased its what I ended up with .... much nicer to ride with the screen, and the position fine once you get used to it ...

[Taipan]

Originally Posted by ophic

Ok so you don't have an SV yet? For what reasons do you prefer the naked? If its just looks, I'd say bite the bullet and get a faired one until you can find a naked one - you won't lose much by running a faired SV for a few months.

If its another reason, such as riding position etc, its a bit more complicated. End of day, its entirely your decision.

Yup, don't like the prone riding position. I had one before but got tired of it because of the riding position. I prefer a more upright bike and normally a naked one too. If the guy wants my Runner as is I'll go for a faired one and sell it later on once i've found a naked one. Or if teh guy doesn't want my Runner I'll just keep looking for naked SV. Sounds like a plan to me!

[ophic]

Originally Posted by Taipan

Yup, don't like the prone riding position. I had one before but got tired of it because of the riding position. I prefer a more upright bike and normally a naked one too. If the guy wants my Runner as is I'll go for a faired one and sell it later on once i've found a naked one. Or if teh guy doesn't want my Runner I'll just keep looking for naked SV. Sounds like a plan to me!

you can always swap the bars on a faired one to be more upright. Or you can get bar risers for the clip-ons, sort of a half way house.

Personally I find I do too many motorways to consider a naked - which is a shame cos I really like naked bikes!

is it easy to do : yes
is it costly: not particularly depends what ya pay for the svs
to do it to factory spec: pain in **** and expencive
to do using aftermarket: easy not as expencive
things that may sway you
riders peg hangers on n's are different (lower)
rentals are cheap and a improvement
vapour do a speedo get both parts 120 quid easy to fit ebay
you can drill orginal topyoke and add risers
do barend mirrors otherwise its new brake resivor
ebay headlight for 30 quid are ****
no need to change radiator you can easily grind off faring brackets if you wish
do try and get longer hoses and cables its tidyer
if for some reason you do wish to change gearing just do it when you change chain and sprockets eg number of teeth
hth