Since the SFV came out I’ve wanted to do something with that frame. I had this idea of taking a ducati 999 gas tank and mating it with the SFV frame for a Ducati look. I purchased a salvage frame and gas tank from a 749. At first it seemed the gas tank would mount up semi easy. The other challenge of the tank is fuel delivery. The thought was to use a 1st gen SV harness and carb system. Put a simple petcock on the gas tank and cover the hole for the 999 pump.
Next step is to cut some weight off the SFV’s frame. It’s heavy and with the subframe welded to the main frame it complicates dropping weight. Quick whip with the hacksaw and the frame is instantly 8 pounds less. There are many smaller mounts that can be shaved off but only for minimal savings. With 8lbs off frame and 8lbs off swing arm, we’re already looking a decent build. The bike will not shrouded in any type of race fairing. Mainly for look but cutting the calories will help with the ending weight goal.
Woodcraft rearsets from a 2004 GSXR1000 for the foot controls. These are fairly straight forward. The second mounting hole doesn’t quite line up but it’s simple enough to get mounted. A 2nd Generation SV650 Yoshimura exhaust system seems to be mounting up very well so far clearing swing arm, linkage and frame. Now comes the fun part, the motor and the front end.
Suzuki decided to make a front end swap more difficult on the SFV Gladius. A fork swap on the SV650 was very simple since the SV and GSXR shared a similar steering stem and bearings. The SFV650 on the other hand had to be different. The stem is 20mm longer and finding on of these has been near impossible. So that leave my good buddy Zoran at TWFRacing.com. He produced a beautiful custom stem that mimics a GSXR unit but 20mm longer. The bike can now be fitted with any GSXR front end. That would be a bit too easy…….
The original motor plan was to do a 694cc 3mm big bore motor with rest of the motor being stock out of a 1st gen SV. This has now gone out the window with some 87mm Wiseco pistons making their way to my door. This punches the motor out to 744 CC. To match the power of these pistons some Crower A beam rods will be used. The flywheel will be lightened as much as possible and be a total loss system. Meaning no magnets and no battery charging. The 744cc pistons are very heavy, 55 grams heavier than the stock SV650 pistons. This crank does not stand a chance…..
Quick and sloppy photoshop concept. Started with the LRG Gladius build, slapped on some ducati parts, vintage front number plate, and tyco suzuki 600 tail.
New updates soon.
