If you have a tip on the SV650 that
you would like to share, E-mail it to me at;
Ken@KGCycles.com
OOPS I messed up!
If you drilled a hole in the wrong place
or cut or chipped an edge DON'T PANIC! Some times the best of us do it. Just put
a piece of tape over the hole or cut and put some body putty on the inside. When
it sets up pull off the tape and sand it down. For larger areas it may be
necessary to use fiberglass instead.
SV 650 tip from Ben
Let me introduce
you to Ben Robi. He is a bike enthusiast from Kansas, who's passion is the
Suzuki SV650. If you haven't seen his bike yet
click here.
One of my customers recently had a problem installing his windshield, and I
asked Ben if he could help. He did such an excellent job I decided to feature it
here.
click image to enlarge.
Alternate
Windshield Installation (SVS
Fairing)
Use of the Stock Dash Panel. (SVS
Fairing)
I have been
asked about using the stock dash panel. I answered that I had not used one but
the upper portion of the fairing is a copy of the stock short fairing, so it
should work. I new that Ben had used the dash so I asked him for his thoughts.
The
stock dash works just fine. Your upper has all of the same design
characteristics as the stock, minus the upper windshield brackets - that you
have my tip for on your site (see above). the upper-corner dash pieces mount to
the upper windshield screws. As soon as it gets warmer here, I'm going to add
some more paint to my bike......
Ben
Alternate
Mounting Techniques
Here is a
few more tips with pics that I made for a few other fellow SVers.
Make this bracket to make the fairing more solid towards the front of the bike.
It simply attaches the bodywork to the lower radiator mount, much like the OEM
lower does (same basic idea). Make sure that you keep the bracket as high as
possible, or else your fender will hit it when the front forks compress. Use a
strip of aluminum to make it with.
Here is what I found
to be the best way to mount the lower rear part of the bodywork. First, get a
new bolt about 1" longer than stock (I couldn't find one in metric, so I went
with a SAE bolt and matching nut). Next, go over to the spacers and size one
that will fit snug over the bolt. Get a spacer that is around 2" long. Then find
a rubber grommet that the spacer will fit into. Get 2 washers. Cut the spacer in
half and cut one of those pieces to fit inside the rubber grommet so that it
fits flush on both sides of it. Drill the hole in the bike large enough for the
grommet. Put in the grommet, then its spacer, and then use the other piece of
spacer to go between the bike and fairing - make sure that there is a washer on
both sides of that spacer. Refer to the picture for layout. Now you can solidly
fasten the lower to the bike without cracking the fiberglass.
Another customer I
spoke to a lot about his installation was Del. He was cutting out his headlight
holes so I asked him how it was going, and he answered;
Honestly,
my tip would to pay the extra $40 and let you do it! :) But it's really easy to
do though. I used a Dremel with some cutoff wheels to cut the
bulk out of it. Then I used Dremel Sanding wheel to make everything fit. To get
an even smooth edge, I will be using sandpaper. I attached a picture of my mess
up, close and far away. You can see I still have to smooth it out some as well.
Heat
Shield Material
I have a question for you. What do you recommend to do where the
header is about 1/8" or less from the fairing? Cut a hole there? Maybe lay some
aluminum tape to reflect the heat? I ordered some Fat Mat:
I mainly got it for sound dampening cause the SV's engine is a little noisy. But
at the same time it's heat reflective, as to not mess up the paint. Not sure how
well it'll work as I haven't gotten it in yet.. But I will be putting it on the
sides.
My answer to Del
What you wrote is good and I will be
using it. I am going to ad some tips on doing the cut out myself and include
your comments and photos in the article. About half of the aftermarket exhaust
systems out there need a little trim on the bodywork. They all take a different
path and "one size fits all" doesn't work here. The heat shield sure can't hurt.
and in most cases is just a good idea.
A Few words on cutting out Headlight
Holes.
Cutting out the headlight holes is
really not that difficult. A moderately skilled builder should have no problems.
First
lets look at the tools a drill, saber saw, Dremel motor, file and sandpaper are
the Most needed. I have
done it with no more than an old hacksaw blade an a file. The type of saw blade
is important. The larger the teeth, the greater chance you will chip or crack
the part. I recommend using a carbide blade like the one shown on the right. It
has a grit instead of teeth and cuts very smooth. They are inexpensive and are
available wherever you find saber saw blades. I also like to use the drum sander
in the Dremel to clean up the cutout.
The first step is to mark
out he headlight holes. This is pretty easy on the SV, they are very easy to
see. Next you need to drill a couple of holes for the saw blade. Stay to the
inside of the line. It is better to have the cutout a little small and trim it
to fit than to cut it too big at the start. Use the saw to cut out the hole
(stay inside the lines). All that is needed now is to use the Dremel to clean up
the edges. Try now to test fit the fairing on the bike and make marks around the
cutout where you need to trim some more. Pull off the fairing and use the Dremel
to trim, and test fit again. Only remove small amounts of material each time.
This may take several tries, but you can get as good a fit as you want. Just
take it slow.
For more help see
Trimming Tips, on the install page.
If you have a tip on the SV650 that
you would like to share, E-mail it to me at;
Ken@KGCycles.com
