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By Hollywood
08/2003
After a lot of cussing, fussing and generally disassembling just
about every part of the bike except motor removal, I've finally got
the conversion complete to the 1-1/8", top mounted handlebars.
The kit does away with the stock clipons and stock top tripleclamp
and replaces the top tripleclamp with a machined piece of Art. The
new bars then mount on top of the tripleclamp similar to the naked
sv1k.
Overall the fit/finish is superb. The seating position is
unbelievable. It's exactly what I'd hoped the bike would be when I
bought it originally.
If anyone can post my pics, let me know, I have some good ones of
the installation.
Overall, it took a 12 pack of Corona and two evenings, a couple of
calls to Speigler for some directions, some cussing when replacing
the front brake lines... I give it 5 out of 5 beach chairs for the
finished product.
Actually, the Corona helped to ease the process along - it's hot in
the SouthEast this time of year.
As for the cables, the kit includes replacement brake lines, which
are longer. It replaces the stock rubber lines with braided steel
lines, which are really nice. They are a lot thinner than the stock
rubber lines, so they don't fit in the holders that well, but
nothing a few zipties couldn't take care of.
The throttle cables had to be rerouted. OEM has them coming out of
the left side of the frame and to have enough slack, they need to
come out of the right side of the frame, through the fork tubes and
up to the bar from there. That was the reason for having to remove
the airbox - to get to them.
The clutch hose was no big deal, but did have to be rerouted from
passing through the forks to the master cylinder to where it comes
out of the frame and shoots directly up to the master cylinder.
The funky bracket that holds the master cylinder in place on the
stock clipons is done away with by using a new bracket that attaches
to the pinch bolt of the master cylinder - where it's held on to the
handlebar. It's a pretty clean setup.
There is plenty of room, ~ 1" before the switches would touch the
tank at full lock on either side. As for the fairing, it's no where
close.
The kit cost ~$400 usd for everything. It was expensive, but worth
every penny. Hell, I was about to trade or sell the bike for
something more comfortable and not quite as sporty, so this was a
lot cheaper. The seating position is in between the stock "s" model
and the stock "n" model. Not as high as the naked and not as low as
the s. You're up a few inches and back a few inches. It feels like
you're riding the motorcycle now vs. laying on the tank - much much
better imho. I'm now ready to do some serious sport-touring, which
is why I bought the bike to begin with.
You will need a t40 safety torx tool to remove the ignition switch.
I did have to buy new barends, which was a few dollars more.
http://www.spieglerusa.com/cfm/sbk.cfm ...and
fitted to rjhowell's SV:
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