upgrading

how exciting, im counting down the days till i get something large.

im a big fan of yamahas fz6 and fz1. got a mate with one... with an r6 front end on it, and its tight. the one without the front cowling is the best imo.

 

OK David, You will find the SV an easy upgrade from the FZR as it will be a similar riding style but with a lot more pulling power down low. They pull strongly from 3000 to 11000rpm so gear changes need to be less frequent. However, if you are a larger person like me (over 80k) you will find the suspension is a bit soft, and while being fairly good, a popular upgrade is to put GSX-R front end and rear mono-shock into these babies and improve them outa sight.

Weight wise the bikes are similar. Another all round bike worth considering might be the triumph street triple. They are dearer but certainly have the suspension worked out properly.

I am considering a new bike towards the end of the year if finances allow but as i do a lot of longer distance rides was leaning towards the Suzuki Bandit ABS as a more comfortable sports/tourer.

P.S. An FZ1 would not be out of the question either.

 

The sv650 is a very good way to go and as has been suggested go the gsxr front forks as they are direct slip in as far as i've been told and if you are a little heavy go the rear as well, you'll also find some very affordable sv650 low k's out there, head over to ausfr.com and start dreaming.

The fz6 is a nice bit of kit as well, its a little underpowered for my liking though the fz1 is the go of the yamaha naked's, enough easy power, and torque.

what i would do is find a cheap low k's gsxr750, gsxr600, gsxr1000, r6, r1, cbr600, cbr1000, cbr929 and streetfighter that, preferably a fuel injected model with a usd front.

As streetfightering is about the journey not the destination, the dreams and visions of a man turned into reality through the grit and imaginative engineering of the possessed motorcycling dreamer. <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s -->

Not the purchased mainstream, water-downed, mass produced "factory fighter" that is the fz6, fz1, z750, z1000 etc. <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_mad.gif" alt="" title="Mad" /><!-- s -->

 

Some good advice from _M_ on potential streetfighter paths.

If you are serious about a streetfighter then i'd highly recommend building it up before your actually off restrictions. Building a proper fighter takes a serious amount of time and effort, and an inordinate amount of money if that's the path you decide to take.

The best streetfighter i've seen in recent times was a CBR1000RR that had none of the original panels except for the tail. I was checking it out with my mate who rides an SV1000N and we couldn't pick what the headlight was off. It was a magnificent piece of custom work involving mainly duct/fibre tape, automotive mesh, a couple of air horns (magnificent!!!), and this unidentifiable headlight.
A couple of minutes later the owner of the bike rocks up whilst i'm still inspecting it. I think he might've thought i was just some bogan passer-by looking to insult his creation, but i introduced myself and told him that it was one of the most magnificent home-grown fighters i'd ever seen - he warmed up quite a bit. Got talking and he said that he got the headlight off a Guilera of some sort... didn't look like a scooter headlight though.

Anyway, what i was trying to get across is that a streetfighter is really the product of it's owner and should be a functional artwork of sorts when finished. If your serious about owning a fighter then start checking out Rapid! magazine for some inspiration. You'll need to figure out what genre or direction you want to take it as the style's vary greatly from the Frankenstein-style German fighters, to the minimalistic but brute force Euro/Ital fighters, to the more muscular and aesthetically-challenged stunter-fighters.
Once you've done that, photoshop is your friend. Mock up whatever you like until you find something that works for you, then break it down into bits and write up a shopping list. Then get to it!

I will say that after all of the customs and ratrods that i've worked with over the years that it can be quite a tiring and costly experience, but if you want something unique on the road and take pride in the build then you'll love it.

 

ohhh yeah and if you do go down the streetfighter route, ill warn you now that its a disease <!-- s:army: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_twisted.gif" alt=":army:" title="Army" /><!-- s:army: -->and ery addictive, once you start you can not stop, and as koma has said it can get very expensive.

Ill also stat that i went from an fzr250 straight to a fighter, and dont regret a thing, the amount of info and knowledge that i have acquired since i started about modification, motorbike physics, etc. is unparalleled.

But as i've and koma have stated it can get quite expensive if you take myself as an example. I started off with a fzr400, put in a yzf600 motor, cbr 600 front forks, yzf600 suspension, had a kawasaki dash (now its a dirtbike mini dash), dual fighter headlights( now its a harley wave headlight), ktm rear, custom led tail light, and it just keeps on going on and on.

And as you've seen once you decided on a look, two months later you'll want to go another direction, then 6months later another direction....

In saying all that my bike so far has cost me $5000 all up including all mods, how? by doing my research (when i set out i really new nothing mechanical), buying from america, and doing all the work myself.