Latios - SV650SF

[Daschicken]

Finally I have a fuel injected motorcycle! I got myself a 2008 Suzuki SV650SF. Liquid cooled, fuel injected V-twin, full fairings, twin spark heads, blah blah blah.




The modding begins!


The bike came with what appears to be a Yoshimura full system, but I wanted a catalytic converter, so I ghetto rigged a stock pipe on there. The newer suzuki 650's come with a cat in the midpipe, but my generation has it in the muffler. It looks like crap and leaks exhaust, but it works.I did take it for a ride and confirmed the cat lights off. A gasket and band style clamps should fix the problems until I can get it welded, if I decide to go that route.





I changed the oil and found the same filter situation as I had with my VFR 400, not compatible with a sandwich oil cooler/heater unless you get a special nut that likely no one makes. Threads are part of the block, so I would need a block from a model that came with the cooler/heater to install one.



Some proposed mods:


Engine:
Shorten stock exhaust leaving CAT in place
DL 650 cam swap(put SV exhaust on intake, put DL exhaust on exhaust)?
^Buy all DL cams to match timing easily^
DL 650 intake trumpets
Hotter thermostat from 2003-2006 model
Block radiator partially
Block oil cooler completely


Drivetrain:
17/42 gearing
Michelin Road 5 tires
Brake drag reduction springs
Higher tire pressures

Aero:
Aero front fender(might need front fork swap for options)
Space fairings out at end to ensure complete leg coverage
Rear tire hugger(pyramid?)

Comfort:
Lowered pegs
Tank rubber(also for tank protection)
Better seat

Other: TeeRiver Fuelbot


Hoping to hit 100 MPG!

[19bonestock88]

Looking good man! Just curious, but why add the OEM cat back on? Wouldn’t the exhaust restrictions make the engine less efficient?

[jkv357]

If it has a full Yosh system on it, you are going to want to put a full factory system back on it. Typically aftermarket performance exhaust systems are going to have large diameter header pipes. You aren't going to want that for maximum efficiency.

Could also bump the heat range of the plugs up one if you plan to keep the revs way down.

I'd go with a lighter full synthetic 5W-30 cycle oil like Motul 300V (pretty sure you can get it in a cycle oil).

A taller windscreen may help also.

Rear fender and grab bar should go...

[Daschicken]

Originally Posted by 19bonestock88

Looking good man! Just curious, but why add the OEM cat back on? Wouldn’t the exhaust restrictions make the engine less efficient?

I want the cat to reduce emissions. A huge reduction in emissions at the cost of ever so slightly reduced performance and increased weight is a trade off I am willing to make. Going to a free flowing pipe on my CBR dropped gas mileage. Of course I jetted it richer, but it did lose some low end power.

Originally Posted by jkv357

If it has a full Yosh system on it, you are going to want to put a full factory system back on it. Typically aftermarket performance exhaust systems are going to have large diameter header pipes. You aren't going to want that for maximum efficiency.

Could also bump the heat range of the plugs up one if you plan to keep the revs way down.

I'd go with a lighter full synthetic 5W-30 cycle oil like Motul 300V (pretty sure you can get it in a cycle oil).

A taller windscreen may help also.

Good point about the header diameter, I will have to check that. Luckily I have a bike to compare it to. The headers do have little h-pipes in them, which might be helpful. I think the bends are more gradual too, gotta check it out after work. If the stock headers seem better for low end power, I could always trade the yoshi for my brother’s stock pipes. That is where the muffler came from anyways! I don’t think he would say no.

[Daschicken]

Tires showed up. Finally...

Will be mounting them up tomorrow at work.



17/42 Sprockets and a DID(?) chain on their way. Thermostat and DL650 parts come later.

Originally Posted by jkv357

If it has a full Yosh system on it, you are going to want to put a full factory system back on it. Typically aftermarket performance exhaust systems are going to have large diameter header pipes. You aren't going to want that for maximum efficiency.

I went and measured the pipes, and believe it or not, the yoshi system appears ever so slightly smaller. Something like 40.9mm outer diameter vs 41.1mm.


Some exhaust pictures:


Back of stock pipes


Side of stock pipes


Back of Yoshi


Side of Yoshi

Originally Posted by jkv357

Could also bump the heat range of the plugs up one if you plan to keep the revs way down.

I plan on bumping the operating temperature up with the new thermostat, as well as completely blocking off the oil cooler, I think the engine will be hot enough that the stock heat range is still a good choice.

Originally Posted by jkv357

I'd go with a lighter full synthetic 5W-30 cycle oil like Motul 300V (pretty sure you can get it in a cycle oil).

A little late to put different oil in it now! Next time I change the oil i'll probably put a 5w-30 or 10w-30 motorcycle oil in it, like Honda HP4. On the subject of oil, I brought out my 1"x5" oil heater pad and it looks like I may be able to stick it on.

Originally Posted by jkv357

A taller windscreen may help also.

Rear fender and grab bar should go...

I am not afraid to go into a full tuck, so a taller windscreen would likely not be helpful. The grab bar has already come in handy to pick up the rear of the bike and shift it around, and the rear fender stays.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Looking good!

[jkv357]

Originally Posted by Daschicken

17/42 Sprockets and a DID(?) chain on their way. Thermostat and DL650 parts come later.

I went and measured the pipes, and believe it or not, the yoshi system appears ever so slightly smaller. Something like 40.9mm outer diameter vs 41.1mm.

I plan on bumping the operating temperature up with the new thermostat, as well as completely blocking off the oil cooler, I think the engine will be hot enough that the stock heat range is still a good choice.

I am not afraid to go into a full tuck, so a taller windscreen would likely not be helpful. The grab bar has already come in handy to pick up the rear of the bike and shift it around, and the rear fender stays.

Non o-ring chain?

The tubing wall thickness may be different between the factory and Yosh systems, but it sounds like they are close.

Rear fender removal would be mostly for aero reasons. I never used the grab bar. Even with the blocked cooling a hotter plug may still help with combustion efficiency at low RPMs.

Flush mount front signals and smaller more areo mirrors would be an improvement.

You will need to pull out all the stops to get to 100 MPG with the SV, but it should be interesting.

[jimhs]

Nice bike mate!
Safe rides
That is a very interesting project, keep us updated please

[Daschicken]

First tank was some putting around the neighborhood, spirited twisties, and 70+ mph highway plus a good amount of tucking. 70.4 MPG. It is important to mention that this was a slight overfill. I had the radiator blocked a little more than halfway, but the 60-65 degree ambient temperature was enough to keep coolant temps around high 190s. I went down to 1/4 block to keep temps around 170. Oil cooler was probably 80% blocked.

Michelin road 5s are on and scrubbed in. They had been ridden for 40 miles or so before the twisties, so I can't comment on warmup time, however, once they were there, they performed excellently. I never slipped on them, and they gave enough confident traction to allow me to scrape the exhaust clamp bolts! I thought I had finally scraped pegs, guess not!




The matching set of road 5s is definitely a better fit than the road 5 front and Shinko raven rear on my brother's SV. The other setup needs more bar effort to crank it over, the road 5 set feels more natural. That Shinko, despite being a rather flat profile still gave good grip when leaned over. Wet roads were the only situation where I doubted that tire.

Originally Posted by jkv357

Non o-ring chain?

Nope, its got o-rings. This bike is intended to be my reliable long distance bike, so a non o-ring chain that wears out quickly is not really exciting. If I get an auto oiler rigged up, I would consider it, but not until then. Current chain is freshly cleaned and lubed, so if I run another tank through it before changing the gearing it may help give better mileage.

Originally Posted by jkv357

Rear fender removal would be mostly for aero reasons. I never used the grab bar. Even with the blocked cooling a hotter plug may still help with combustion efficiency at low RPMs.

Yes, I figured it may help aero. I still like the idea of a functional rear fender complete with reflectors. Flush mount signals can make it difficult to tell which way you are turning. When I replace the 4 plugs, i'll consider getting hotter ones.

Originally Posted by jkv357

Flush mount front signals and smaller more areo mirrors would be an improvement.

Originally Posted by jkv357

You will need to pull out all the stops to get to 100 MPG with the SV, but it should be interesting.

It might be as much work as getting my accord to 50 MPG was, which took 2 years. We will see!


I still have two other motorcycles that need to be ridden, and as they are carbureted, they should be ridden often to keep problems at bay. It may take a while before I can run another tank through this thing.

[Daschicken]

17T front sprocket installed with new chain. The 42T rear sprocket is still on the way, might take a while.



I didn't get the rubber cushioned sprocket, so it is a little louder.


There really is a ton of room for front sprockets on this bike. Even the 17T has plenty of room. An 18T would probably fit.


This is the closest hard part to the chain, at the closest it will ever get, as long as it isn't loose. As I discovered when reassembling it, the closest thing to the chain is not a hard part, but the cable for the sidestand switch. I ziptied it to another cable to help keep it further away, but I don't know how well it is working.



As far as riding impressions, I like it! The tach shows roughly a 500 RPM drop at 45 MPH. I can use 4th gear at neighborhood speeds, but I have to be careful to not drop below 25 MPH or it gets too rattly. Haven't gone on the highway yet, but it should be much the same, a more pleasant and less buzzy experience. Dropping below 2200 indicated in higher gears results in rattling, the rattling is a little more prominent now that the gearing is taller, so the load is higher for the same RPM. Pulling away from a stop is just fine with the taller gearing. Low speed traffic will suck i'm sure though.

My brother's SV can get away with lower RPM before being rattly, so i'll have to check out the chain tension on that bike and compare it to mine. Maybe mine needs a throttle body sync or something. Hopefully the DL650 cams and velocity stacks will improve low RPM rideability.

Gearingcommander.com says the 17/45 will be at 4512 RPM at 70 MPH, which is already lower than my dad's VFR 800 which does 4820 at 70. The 17/45 setup is 11.76% taller, and the 17/42 will be 17.64% taller.