Y'all know from my old F/trade post what I was looking for - a less expensive streetbike.
Well, after selling the FZ outright, I went looking. I found a bike for very, very cheap. It was cheap mostly because it had been sitting out in this guy's yard and looked very, very nasty. It happened to be copper, which was good, as I like that color a lot.
I've never had to clean spiders, dirt, dead leaves, webs, and bits of goop I couldn't identify out of a bike before. But I've never bought a bike that was living outside way out in the middle of nowhere before. The fellow who bought it rode it once or twice, then left it to sit. We had to take off the fairings and go at the thing with a vacuum and a lot of Simple Green to make it... not-nasty.
Once that was done... and the rusty chain replaced (sprockets on order)... and the oil and brake fluid changed... and the wonky speedo fixed... and the stickers removed...
It turned out to be a very good deal.
It seems to be an ex-race bike - it has a very pro safety-wire job, the Yosh is a full system with a PC, and the suspension has been done at some point (it actually works). So, by accident, I found a rather good track bike.
I'll nick the calipers off of Slydrite's SV1K (don't look at me like that, he has other brakes) and mount them (with the requisite adapters). The new bigger windscreen I got off of CL, the Givi luggage (rear installed, side soon to be installed), some rearsets, and I'll have a streetbike I can take to the big track.
The GS500 went on the block because this can serve as a street bike and a track bike - and since the only racing I'm in a financial position to do in the foreseeable future is SMUSA and SMRRC.
I took it out for a photoshoot over the weekend, and found a modern-art pen0r.
(http://www.roadstergal.info/4_9_09/1sv2.jpg)
(http://www.roadstergal.info/4_9_09/1sv3.jpg)
(http://www.roadstergal.info/4_9_09/1sv1.jpg)
(http://www.roadstergal.info/4_9_09/1sv5.jpg)
Great bike. Great find.
Did you take a before pic?
No - all I could think at the time was, "Ew, I need to clean this."
I did take a 'during' pic.
(http://i43.tinypic.com/21ovns7.jpg)
sweet ride i really really want one. :bowdown:
Would you mind comparing it to the FZ6? I'm sure I'm not the only one who isn't sure whether they want an FZ6 or SV650 for their next bike.
Stock for stock, for street/sport touring use - 2nd gen FZ6, hands down.
What the SV650 needs more than gasoline is a better suspension. If you can find one where that's been done - and done properly - it's a viable alternative. But the upright position on the FZ6 and big gas tank put it on the comfy end of sport touring. The SV650S's clipons, while not as agro as a real race replica's, aren't as comfy as the FZ. The FZ nicely hits that point where comfy is king but sporty hasn't been lost.
If I were still doing as many moto miles as I used to, I'd stick with the FZ.