Building My R6 for the 2011 Season

For 2011 I'm building a Yamaha R6 from parts. Follow along below as I assemble the bike.

Here we go again, after a year

off its time to build another SV 650 race bike. Things will move pretty fast now as there are only 8 weeks left until the first race.

For me, the first step is to get a frame &swing arm, remove all the old bearings run down to the powder coater and have some tuff satin black sprayed on. The coat is just bling and not mandatory but if you want to look good for the camera it’s a must! After powder coating all the threaded holes must be chased with a tap to clean the sand out of the holes left over from the process. Now that you have a clean frame, the next step is to install all new bearings in the swing arm and linkage.

Now is the time to spend some cash on the rear shock; I have the best luck with a Penske rear shock, triple adjustable works best.

As for the front end, GSXR 600 or 750 triple clamps and forks are really easy to adapt and work very well. In this case I used 2005 GSXR 750 forks & triples. All you need to adapt the triples to the SV frame is an adapter bearing. I bought mine from Zoran at Twin Works Factory. The Penske shock and GSXR forks were completely set up by Zoran from TWF. I could tell you what he did but then he’d have to kill me! Take my word for it, talk to Zoran and just pay him, it’s well worth it.

Now for wheels, in the past I have used high dollar aftermarket hoops but I don’t think it’s necessary. This year we decided to use  - you guessed it GSXR wheels. I searched eBay for about 5 minutes and got a set of ‘06 750 wheels. The rear is 5.5x17 in wide to accommodate a 180 rear tire and the front is 3.5x17.

The stock SV 650 caliper and bracket make it tough to fit a 180 rear tire, so about 2 years ago Zoran and I came up with a nice caliper setup. Our set up eliminates the torque arm style caliper bracket; get a Ducati 749/999 rear caliper and bracket and take it to Zoran at TWF, again, money well spent.

If you have any questions just shoot me an email, and if it’s not a trade secrete of Zoran’s I will get back soon as I can.

Stay tuned more to come.