Wanted to share another of my passions - Project SV650 "Cafe Fighter"

[c_morse]

Not much of an update, but I'm still waiting on a lot of stuff and/or the money to get stuff I'm still needing. Received my black parts back from the powder coater the other day. Here's what we've got:

Swingarm and fender delete

Fork legs, braces, triples, kickstand, etc

Subframe, radiator guards, etc.

Picture of everything just returned from powdercoating.

The beginnings of reassembly on the subframe. Still need to modify the battery box to fit the new battery and clear the new shock.

Anyway, as of today I sent out the frame, wheels, cush drive housing, and front brake discs for powdercoating in the flat anodized red shown above. I'll hopefully have them back next week.

Side note: Anyone know how far one needs to take brake calipers down in order to powdercoat them?

 

[c_morse]

Received my new billet integrated rear brake reservoir in the mail today and had to get it bolted up to see what I thought. I reallllllllly like this little piece!

 

[c_morse]

And once again, small progress... but progress nonetheless. Tonight I built the battery box to hold my new MDA123 battery, and also assembled the swingarm as much as possible. Without further wait, some pics:

Profiled the right side (in the picture) to match the architecture of the plastic, then sanded smooth. Cut away the floor on two sides, about 2/3 of the way across on the back plate, then made a shallow cut along the floor to facilitate bending it up.

This is the finished product. I did drill holes after this to later add a zip tie to secure the battery, but you get the idea. I plastic welded the sides and bottom, then sanded most of it smooth, finally using a heat gun to melt and smooth the plastic.

Here's a close up of the side and bottom plastic welds that are holding everything together now.

Inside the battery box.

 

[c_morse]

And here is underneath.

Repacked all the bearings on the swingarm, then added the chain guide and also the main bearing caps. Installed the rear spools as well. Finally installed the rear caps and chain adjusters. Swingarm is pretty much ready to install now.

Picture from the back of the swingarm.

Anyway, I spent several hours on this, and I'm happy with the results. Back on hold until I get some more parts in to work with.

 

[c_morse]

Alright,

Got most of my parts back from the powder coater today! The only exception was the front wheel. It pitted and has to be reshot. Was able to start on assembly. Got the rear wheel mostly reassembled, installed the swingarm on the frame, installed the new shock, links, etc... and installed the rear subframe. Got it up on stands at the end of the night. Anyway, some pics!

Frame. It's coated in Aussie's Flat Red Anodized, and it looks simply stunning in person!

Picture of the frame with flash off.

Rear wheel... Done the same color.

I also asked them to coat the centers of the front rotors the same color. They did... and then some. Going to have to sit down with a razor and remove the powder coat from the inner edges of the friction surface, but that'll be another day!

 

[c_morse]

Bike at the end of the night. Got a little bit together for sure.

I sat staring at the assembled parts like this for a good little bit. This bike is going to be sexy!

Shock, etc... Installed on the bike.

Oh yeah, that's my 2007 Triumph Daytona 675 in the background.

 

[c_morse]

Tank and plastics are back from paint. New matte black finish. Went ahead and installed the new gas cap as well. Excuse the parts being dirty already, it's pollen season in SC.

 

[c_morse]

Still pretty slow, but did manage to get the tires back on the wheels and the wheels mostly reassembled. Still need the new wheel bearings and also the new sprocket for the rear wheel.

 

[c_morse]

Another update: Got the engine degreased and cleaned up last night. Primered/painted and installed today! On to the pics:

Motor after being degreased, dried overnight, and then high-heat primered.

About half of the motor painted with high temp matte black.

Finished engine after high temp matte black.

 

[c_morse]

Motor, radiator, and overflow installed.

Up close view.

Up close view of the other side.

View from the top.

Headers heat wrapped.

Tomorrow I will seal and install the headers. Still can't see the end of the tunnel, but I know I'm getting closer!

 

[c_morse]

As promised, headers are now done and installed:

Headers after sealing the heat wrap.

Front header back on the bike.

Rear header back on the bike.

More to come sooner than later hopefully!

 

[c_morse]

Well guys, I might've crashed my other bike last weekend and fractured some vertebra and all, but I'm still getting stuff done on the bike. It's just really easy going right now so as to not hurt the back or be in pain.

That being said, here's another small update. Got the front turn signals mounted up and wired, and also finally got the Delkevic exhaust installed.

On to the pics:

Back side of the freshly powdercoated radiator guards after mounting the new LED turn signals and wiring them.

Front side of the guards after mounting/wiring the new signals.

Wiring after cutting the wires to length/adding connectors/installing and taping the wire loom.

One of the LED turn signal/guard combos installed on the radiator.

Front shot of the signals/guards installed. These will be equally visible from the sides and rear. Should be very nice!

 

[c_morse]

Wiring harness where it now goes. I'm going to have to relocate the two turn signal connectors in the harness, but that should be extremely easy to do as they don't have to move too awfully far.

Delkevic 200mm slash-cut carbon fiber exhaust installed on the bike with a new SV Racing Parts black anodized exhaust hanger. Sourced all new stainless hardware to put this all on. Turned out awesome!

Top shot of the setup.

Shot from the rear. I really like the look of this exhaust!

Anyway, that's it for now. I have all the parts ready and waiting to reassemble the front forks and install them. Went with Racetech .95 springs, Racetech Emulators, Motul 15 weight fork oil, and all new seals. Also got the SV Racing Parts Front Wheel Captive Spacer/Bearing Kit.

New bearings have been installed on both wheels along with the captive spacers on the front, and I also had the cush drive bearings re-packed. I also got all new oil seals and a few other goodies from bikebandit for the forks.

I'll hopefully have the triples/forks/front wheel installed sometime this week. Really just depends on how I feel.

Hope y'all enjoy the little I did get done though!

 

[c_morse]

Another small update. Just having to be pretty easy around the house, but was able to get the forks reassembled today. Wasn't that bad on my back, just a little hotter in the garage than I would've liked. Regardless they're done and I'm not hurting much more (if any) for it. On to the pics:

Fork dampers after I drilled out the original four holes to 5/16" then added an additional two 5/16" holes on them to accommodate the new Racetech emulators. Also took the time to debur all the holes and clean all the shavings out of these.

The modified fork dampers along with the new Racetech dampers.

Racetech emulator on top of the fork damper in the fork tube.

New Racetech .95 kg/mm fork springs and spacer material (before I cut it to length for preload, etc).

Nice little tool I had my roommate make for me. Inner diameter is just slightly larger than the inner fork tube, outer diameter is just slightly smaller than the outer fork tube. It's stainless, and pretty hefty. Was able to use it very effectively as a slide hammer to install the new fork seals, although I did use an old fork seal on top of the new seals to protect them. Didn't take a lot of hits to get the new seals in place at all!

 

[c_morse]

Inner and outer fork tubes put back together.

Used Motul Expert 15W fork oil, 491 mL worth in each fork.

And the finished forks ready to be installed on the bike.

More to come soon!

 

[c_morse]

Got a little bit more done with the help of my roommate tonight. Triples got reassembled with their bearings and installed, forks were installed, then the front wheel was installed along with the front fender.

Also picked up a set of Nissin brake calipers and SV Racing Parts Adapter Brackets to install. If the hardware arrives tomorrow, those will go on.

On to the pics!

Shot of the whole front.

Closeup of the left side.

Triples. Top is just sitting there for now. No need in bolting it down yet as it has to come back off for a few more things.

Right side.

New calipers and adapter brackets I picked up.

That's it for now. Should be able to do some light stuff on it tomorrow.

 

[c_morse]

Well guys I got bored again and decided to go ahead and get some more done on the bike. That said, I actually did more than I set out to, and I'm starting to really fall in love with the way this thing is looking! Here's some pics of what I got done tonight:

Picture of the bike with all of the work I did.

First things first, got the 4-piston calipers and adapter brackets installed on the bike, then went ahead and routed the braided stainless front lines.

Here's a shot of a lot of the stuff I got mounted. I went with Vortex 10 degree clip-on brackets this time, those are completely lined up where I want them and tightened. Also in this picture are the new Aztec8 Headlight mounts. I like that they have a single attachment point on the forks, and they just offer a cleaner install. You can also see the new Acewell 2853 gauge in this picture. It's mounted using some bracketry I came up with under the top triple.

Here's a head-on shot. This is looking so clean!

This picture details the new gauge, the quick release tank pin set, etc, etc.

 

[c_morse]

Here's a little bit out of focus picture looking forward on the bike. Tank is now mounted. Threw the Corbin seat on momentarily just to get a feel for how the bike is going to ride. It's not too bad at all!

And finally a picture of the other side.

Next up I need to have the carbs cleaned and rejetted and square away all of the wiring changes and get the carbs/wiring harness installed.

Things are slowly but surely coming together!

 

[F=ma]

Nice work!

 

[c_morse]

Thanks!

It's really starting to come together quite nicely. The plan has been to finish and sell this, but as it comes further and further along, I'm less and less inclined to follow through with that plan.