1999 suzuki sv650

This is the most recent addition to my lifelong collection of powersports junk, i grew up on quads, dirtbikes, sleds, all that jazz, but never had a street bike unil now. Ive always wanted one and kind of had a soft spot for the SV, they’re cheap, dead reliable, not too slow but not too fast and they sound cool. So last summer i was offered one for a song and i couldnt say no, so it followed me home. A few parts orders of gaskets, seals, tires and such, i had it running well and started to put around town while i bought better riding gear. I soon found out how bad the suspension really is, even though i read about it for years from people complaining online.

As of April 2020, i ordered everything to replace the suspension on the bike, so i Ebay’ed the shit out of it starting with a 2013 Kawisaki ZX14R rear shock that offered a high spring rate for my fat ass, as well as damping adjustments. Then to address the front end, early gen 1 (curvy) SV’s had different upper head bearings so an order for a bearing from TWF racing sorted that out, then a pair of K5 GSXR750 fork legs to sit inside a 1996 SRAD triple set. To match the wider width of the triples you need an SRAD generation axle, and wheel. The SRAD wheels use 320mm rotors as opposed to the 310mm on the new GSXRS, but alas you can bolt up 08-16 Yamaha R6 front calipers to fit the larger rotor. I threw on some CBR 929 clip ons which are 1.5″ higher than GSXR pieces, which will let me sit up a bit higher.

7-13-20

I broke my foot back in May so once i was able to hop around again, i started working on the bike. The vacuum petcock failed and filled the motor with fuel, a common problem. I ran new fuel lines with a manual petcock and mini filter to hopefully keep that from happening. I also decided the OE gauges needed to go, i bought a Trailtech Vapor setup and a new Trucklite 7″ headlight. The headlight housing is 3D printed so it needs some sanding/fitting and paint, but ill post links to everything i used. Fork seals werent as bad as everyone made them out to be, i did make my own spring compression tool but aside from hanging the bike it wasnt bad. I think stiffer springs may be in my future!

4/11/21

I felt the CBR bars were a little short so i ordered a set of Woodcraft clip ons, also in a CBR height. With the added width i now have to relearn how to ride, i didnt think the difference would be that much but it was. Also boredom got the best of me so i whipped up some little rad shrouds in Fusion, even adding a little SV logo to top it off.

3/8/22

Havent done much aside from chain/sprockets but i did find a factory rear cowl which was nice, luckily 99 Red is easy to match with vinyl wrap! Its nice having a reliable bike that really only needs basic maintenance and has no issue taking a beating!