I wanted you to send some more pictures of my yellow SV650S of 2004. Here is a list of all the modifications:

• - Belly pan by Suzuki
• - Mirrors by FAQ
• - Radiator Fan
• - Wheel Hugger by JMV Concept
• - Undertray with blinkers by JMV Concept
• - Crash Bobbins by the Belgian Bike Design

I hope to see the pictures back on your lovely website.

kind regards.

Jan Goris Antwerp Belgium

Jan, sent me some photos back in February and the new ones were very similar except for this shot of a replacement wing mirror, which sadly isn't listed above.

I note however you have an article shortage and not wanting you to give up the site, rattled this lad off.

I'm also looking into the chemical reasons why stainless goes off - and can be restored; also am half way through an article on biking in Costa Rica - it's a long un.

Even furthermore, I wrote a book some years back that never got published despite publishers liking it. It wasn't commercial enough, they said. There might be something we could do there?

Best wishes,

Alex

PS I never finish things, do I? Just remembered: Re Mirror kit. (see last month on cheap mirror extenders)

Once fitted, the mirror extenders made from exhaust hangers seem fairly slack unless the rubber is compressed. This can throw the mirrors out of alignment.

* The best procedure is to nip the bolts, slightly compressing the rubber until all the slack has gone. Then check the view. I found my preferred setting has a tiny amount of bike showing at the inner edge of each mirror. It allows for fairly widely over-taking vehicles and most inside lane/bicycle clutter.

* To obtain this, I tighten the rear bolts - the ones nearest the rider - to pull the top edges of the mirrors inwards and slightly downwards. Once adjusted, the mirrors stay firm despite the apparent slackness caused when folding them. You might use threadlock to be sure..

* When fitting a bike cover or parking in restricted space, the mirrors can be folded in. I have one hand on the body, the other on the mounting shaft to steady it and avoid strain the screen. The covers that go over the bolts need not be replaced until final adjustments have been made.

How are you. Hope the bike is healing up OK.

Took a couple of pics of the bike. Hope you like although I should have cleaned the flies off first !!

Anyway.... I am off to Corfu for a couple of weeks and I am already experiencing SV650 withdrawal symptoms. :-(.

Cheers

Grant Watson (aka Blue Flame)

This is part 2 of the tale of a born again biker (I haven't fallen off yet.) (see last month)

I only have 400 miles on the clock, what with the amount of rain over the last 2 weeks. I don't have any rain gear and I don't want to get her wet!

Well, I'm getting the hang of leaning again, the only problem I have is trying to change gear with my right foot! and braking with the left, that caused a few scares I can tell you, the engine is getting a little looser now and I've let it go to 6,500 a couple of times (so much for less than 5,000) well, it helps to "bed" in don't you know!

I still have aching wrists and forearms after a ride, but its getting better.

Still not as gutsy as a Brit big twin or triple that I can remember, it all seems to be about revs, just like the CB900 Honda I had for a while nothing much below 9,000 then all at once, but it's smoother, quieter (for now :-)) and the steering is nice and quick the suspension seems very comfy but I'm not going fast enough round bumpy roads to give a good try out (or confident enough yet, If the truth be told!)

All in all the body and mind is starting to remember what to do after all these years, slow but its still there

I just need to learn about lots of gears and using all the revs (when she's run in)

Meanwhile I have been fitting new LED indicators and a neat undertray to get rid of the standard monstrosity Suzuki call a rear fender (pics to follow - by the way John what size and type is best for the site, I do a lot of digital photography so I can do whatever you want!) (I tend to resize photos down to roughly 800x500 or 700x500 and use a lot of jpg compression)

I'll give a complete parts list and suppliers along with the pictures

Anyway the Sun is shining and I can hear the hot sticky tarmac calling, so I'm off to get a few more miles on the clock so I get the first service out the way and start revving to 7 thou (maybe 8 :-))

By the way John do you know where can I get the adjustable clutch lever from a Kawa GPz500 that's in your FAQs and How too's? (no Idea, but I guess I'd try a Kwaka dealer first)

Later

Peter

Happy summer to you. Here's a couple pics of me on my '03 SV track bike at Thunderhill Raceway in CA. Thought you and the visitors to the site might enjoy them. Ride safely,

Chris Baker

I'd hoped to say this month that my SV was back on the road. It sort of is. I got it back from the local Honda dealer minus an MOT last week and then went straight onto a weeks holiday with the family.

So, why's it taken this long to sort out? As I reported last month, my lovely wife knocked over the bike in my drive whilst it was on it's stands minus wheels, which had gone away for new rubber.  The bike had further to fall because of this and a fair amount of damage was done to the left hand side.  Getting the bike upright was a problem, so I attached the wheels whilst it was on it's side and then heaved it up.  I then noticed a fair amount of oil on the floor. The sump oil had travelled up the breather pipe into the air box and also filled the front carb.

Broken parts so far include the fairing panel, wing mirror, left Sunriser bar and clutch lever. A new fairing panel was sourced on Ebay and a quick email to Johan and Peter at Sunrisers soon had a new clamp on it's way to the UK.  Next job was to remove the oil from the front carb. It's not a good idea to try and start an engine that has fluids above the piston. Oil does not compress and there is the possibility of damage if you try.  I removed the air box and then squirted some petrol into the front carb to try and dilute the oil. I reasoned that this may help clear some of the small airways such as the choke system. I then removed the front spark plug and turned the engine over by hand. A nice cascade of oil and petrol shot out of the cylinder head over the rad and down the front mudguard. I then did the same using the electric starter after removing the rear HT lead. The engine spun happily and vomited more oil. I carried on until nothing more appeared. Spark plugs where then replaced along with HT leads and I attempted to start the engine. Lot's of loud bangs and coughs but the engine burst into life. The amount of smoke coming from the engine must have looked impressive from many miles away, not sure my neighbours appreciated it though.

I gave it a rest and came back later that day. Another engine start and this time the unmistakable sound of metal banging against metal. Oh dear.  The sound only occurred when the bike started and again when it stopped. I reasoned it must have something to do with the starter motor. I pulled out the motor and found metal fillings. I took off the alternator cover and found this. Two teeth missing off the starter clutch.  I can only conclude that this happened whilst starting the bike for the first time. It's very surprising given the amount of care I took. Sid Squid made the comment that the starter motor wouldn't have had the power to do this even if the front cylinder had been full of oil. So I can only assume that the backfire I heard earlier tried to kick back against the starter motor as the engine started.  I gave up at this point and went off to order a new clutch and idler cog. I should mention that I found the two missing teeth.

A new starter clutch, alternator gasket, clutch lever and an air filter cost £250. Ouch.  I need a special puller to get at the clutch and it seemed pointless buying one. So I arranged for the Honda centre to fit the bits, flush out the engine and inspect it for any more damage. This is where the delay came in. All the parts turned up within a week except the idler gear. Two weeks later and it still wasn't in. Honda chased it for me and it turns out that the warehouse swears blind that they'd already sent it. It arrived the next day.

Honda centre did the job and mentioned that they too had a small mushroom cloud of dense smoke to contend with but gave the SV a clean bill of health. I paid the bill (another £130) and rode the bike home. The ride home was interesting. I forgot that I had two brand new tyres and I was soon reminded at the next turn when the bike fell into the bend like I was riding on ice. I drove home very carefully after that. Good news is that the engine feels fine and may even be better than before (new air filter). I checked the tyre pressures when I got home, 40+ psi in the front and 46+psi in the back, no wonder it handled like a pig on roller skates.

So next job is to get it back to the shop for an MOT. As the shop is right next to my work place, this can wait until I get back to work tomorrow. The total repair bill so far is £430. I still have to replace or repaint the left hand seat cowling and get a new wing mirror. The indicators are a bit scratched, but I may be able to polish out the worst of it.

It's been an emotional and frustrating month and of course now that the bike is back on the road the weather has gone sour.

Tip of the month. If you ever need to remove both wheels off your bike, do it in the garage, lock the doors and hide the keys. Simply asking someone to not go near it, doesn't seem to work.

John