Alright, so I’ve been meaning to share this for a while. My little project: turning an SV650 into a proper streetfighter. It’s been a journey, let me tell ya.
Getting Started – The Why and The How
I’ve always liked the SV650. Great engine, solid frame. But the stock look? A bit too much plastic for my taste, especially on the faired models. I wanted something raw, something that looked like it meant business. A streetfighter. That was the vision. So, I picked up a used SV, one that had seen a few miles but was mechanically sound. Perfect candidate for a strip-down.
First things first, I got it into my garage, gave it a good stare-down. You gotta plan these things, even if the plan changes a dozen times. My main goal was to shed weight and get that aggressive stance.
The Teardown – Shedding Skin
This part is always kinda fun and a bit scary. Taking stuff off a perfectly good motorcycle.
I started with the easy bits:
- Fairings: All of them. Side fairings, belly pan, the whole shebang. Lots of bolts, lots of plastic clips. Good riddance. The bike instantly looked leaner.
- Stock headlight and instrument cluster: Big, bulky. Knew I wanted something smaller, more modern looking.
- Rear fender and indicators: That massive plastic thing at the back? Had to go. Tail tidy was definitely on the list.
It’s amazing how much stuff you can pull off a bike. The pile of parts grew pretty quickly. Felt like I was making progress, even though it looked like a mess for a while.
Building it Back Up – The Fun Part (Mostly)
Okay, with a bare-ish bike, it was time to start adding the good stuff. This is where your vision starts to take shape, or you realize some of your ideas were a bit daft.
Handlebars and Controls: Swapped out the stock bars for some wider, lower streetfighter-style handlebars. This made a huge difference to the riding position. More aggressive, more in control. Had to reroute some cables, which is always a bit fiddly. New grips, new bar-end mirrors. Clean.
Headlight and Dash: This was a bit of a hunt. Wanted a single round headlight, classic streetfighter look. Found a decent LED unit. Wiring it up took some patience and a multimeter. For the dash, I went with a small, digital one. Much sleeker than the old clocks.
The Tail End: Got a tail tidy kit. This cleans up the back end massively. Integrated taillight with turn signals. Again, wiring. Always with the wiring. Had to chop the subframe a tiny bit to make it all fit nicely. Measured twice, cut once… well, mostly.
Exhaust: The stock SV exhaust is… polite. I wanted something with a bit more character. A slip-on was the way to go. Found a nice shorty can. Oh boy, did that wake the V-twin up. Sounds proper mean now. Not obnoxiously loud, but definitely has a bark.
Other bits and bobs: New levers, smaller indicators for the front, painted a few bits and pieces black to get that meaner look. It’s the little things that often tie it all together, you know?
Challenges and “Learning Opportunities”
Yeah, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Of course not. When is it ever?
Stripped a bolt on the exhaust hanger. That was a fun hour with a screw extractor. Then there was the time I wired the rear indicators the wrong way round. Classic. And don’t get me started on trying to find space to tuck away all the wiring neatly under the tank and seat. That’s like a game of Tetris, but with wires that don’t want to bend the way you want them to.
But hey, that’s part of the process, right? You fix it, you learn, you move on. And you probably cuss a bit too.
The Reveal – First Ride
After what felt like ages of tinkering, tightening, and testing, it was finally done. Rolled it out of the garage. Stood back. Yeah. That’s what I was aiming for. It looked lean, aggressive, and a hell of a lot more fun.
The first ride was something else. The new riding position, the sound, the feel of it being so much lighter and more direct. It just felt… right. Way more engaging than the stock bike. Turns heads too, which is always a nice little bonus.
So yeah, that’s my SV650 streetfighter story. Lots of work, a few headaches, but totally worth it in the end. Now, what’s the next project…?