2007 Sv650s - (3000 miles + )

I picked up this Sv650s from some guy down in DC. He did not know anything about motorcycles and it was very apparent who ever own it before him did not know much either. It was definitely dropped, and it sported the cheap Chinese plastics. Other than that, it started up fine, but the shift lever was broken. I picked it up very cheap, and for good reasons, I wanted a 2007, and I wanted to be custom colors. I wanted to be done within a budget of 3000 dollars give or take. It had 5000 miles on the bike, which meant it wasn’t ridden much at all.

The Sv is not the fastest bike by any means, it will go from 0 - 100 with a lot of ooomf, and not much after 100 mph. It is the try and true Suzuki twin that they have been putting on all their Sv series and the DL vstroms. It is known for its legendary reliability and affordability to own.

 First order of business is to get rid of the lower fairing, I never really like full fair bikes, half naked bikes are my in between solution, so I will search for a belly pan. I also noticed the rear sub frame wasn’t very straight, most likely from a crash or tip over, luckily the main frame is very good, and the rear frame is bold on. Only 80 bucks on Ebay and the problem is resolved. There was a lot of hacked wiring for the LED turn signal strip the owner double sided tape to the bottom. I’m always shock at how poorly a job people can be content with, and jump on the bike and not fear of it burning down or blowing up on them.

The bike came with an expensive Yoshimura carbon exhaust, the plate was a little worn, and I bought a new plate from Yoshimura for 15 dollars shipped with the rivets. I also took out the cheap sliders that are bolted onto the wrong location. The proper slider should be through the frame not the head bolts. That was a cheap 20 dollar mod, and yes the same ebay cheap slider is the same quality as the 80 dollar expensive one. Just make sure you paint the rod they provided as it is not coated with any corrosion protection. I started to sort out the rear wiring and turn signal fiasco.

New Shift lever, coolant change, stainless steel brake line and new license plate holder with proper turn signal, and she is up and running. She runs well and very strong, and does not burn any oil. This was a success. The rest are all cosmetic that will take some time to sort out and have it up to snuff.

I found the exhaust clamps rusting badly while I was giving it a once over. If you need exhaust clamps buy them from Delkevic. Free shipping and cheaper than ebay or amazon. Unfortunately they only have two sizes, but if they fit your needs for the sizing provided this is definitely the place to buy them.

I strip the Chinese fairing, which was much thinner than oem plastics. There are also odd tabs that is on the Chinese fairing that just didn’t have the flush fit that you get from an OEM fairing. I started to learn to prep the plastic pieces and doing the body work to prep for paint. My neighbor Noah is a 40 year experienced professional auto body tech, and he coach me through each step. The process was daunting at first, but later on when you figure out what you are looking to achieve and what to look for, it really is not a black art. Experience however still matters greatly, this is not something you pick up quickly. I had Noah once over each piece I finish to make sure it would be good enough for paint.

The next big task was derusting the tank, there was a lot of surface rust in the tank, the pump prefilter and fuel filter that followed were coated in surface rust. It took a long time of soaking and shaking out filters and cleaning and polishing the fuel pump to get it to be very clean and looking new.

After removing the rust from the tank using vinegar, and then coating it with POR 15 tank sealer kit. The tank inside is now brand new.

Prepping the tank took some time, there was a dent in an awkward location. I had Noah help me do that particular spot, again experience matters. You get an appreciation for why these work cost so much money doing it right. It consist of hundreds of steps and hours and hours of detail work. It is not difficult, but it is technical and time consuming.

Next are changing the fork oil and painting the few trim pieces that didnt make it to the paint shop. I had some 2 part paint from spraying Farida’s bike that I was able to use to paint these items satin black. My shed, garage, converts well into a paint booth, and the outcome was pretty professional.

While the parts are at the paint shop, I was able to tidy up the electronics and install SVRP risers. The best part of these risers is that you can turn them around where it will now sit ontop of the fork cap. Effectively operating as a bar back but still maintaining the look of a clip on. The ride is much more comfortable now. I added my signature electronic set up for heated grip and other accessories. Accessory power - Relay - Distribution block - to individual items needing power.

Paint shop took 2 month to get my parts back, needless to say I was furious, but the paint job was immaculate. Pearl white, as close to the Ducati pearl white on my hyperstrata as I can find. New sliders and new bolts for frame to cylinder head. Took it for a test ride and i rode couple hundred miles with no problem.

Installed Oxford heated grips, because for all the heated grips I have tried they are hands down the best. I also bought a Sargeant seat. I wanted a bikini fairing for the bottom, some call it a sport fairing, belly pan, or half fairing. Unfortunately the bottom piece is NLA (not listed available), another word its no longer sold or made. I end up buying an aftermarket one that took forever to come in. Another 2 month of waiting. Ironically, two days before the aftermarket faring arrived I found someone selling new old stock sv650s belly pan fairing. I bought it instantly. I sold the aftermarket fairing to Farida, and since it was already black she did not need to paint it. Mine however was silver, back to the body shop. It was brand new with every nuts and bolt that came original from factory. I felt very lucky to get it.

Before and after photo with the belly pan. I also added the sv1000s intake breather. It did not make any difference.

The build is complete and I came in within budget. Bike is fun and capable and now fully customized for myself. I added a few decals on later but then we went into Covid 19 and it has not really seen too much action since.