So the story goes that she was out of commission because I had lost the rear axle nut around a turn on thunderbolt and decided to take the S1000RR with me and decided it made little sense to use the S1000RR as an everyday commuter. So I decided to turn my track-only RC51 into a half-faired street fighter thing and my S1000RR will serve as a track/Sunday rider.

Here she is in all her glory:


Beginning with a teardown (huh? what happened to the radiators?):


Drilled into the triple and put on a Renthal bar:


Hacking and slashing my made in china "race plastic" upper:


Bought an SV1000 radiator because I think it'd look doofy to retain side-mount radiators on a naked bike:


Projector retrofit from ChinaBay:


Got some lights n' stuff on the way. Lots of cutting left to do. Going to a machine shop this week (hopefully) to get some radiator brackets made and then hoping my local auto parts store will be able to help me find some radiator hoses that will work.

Between this project and track days I've run out of money, but it is what it is. This has been a great learning experience and lots of fun while I'm at it. Still have a lot of measuring/planning to do as well as a ton of cutting to do with my dinky dremel. Still have a few things to buy, but whatever... the paychecks will come.

I don't normally do these journal things, but as this is my first real project I figure it'd be nice to document it. And before you bash me for "ruining" a bike with such racing heritage, let me remind you that I'm the one who paid for it and she's been a great companion for 18k+ miles of all-day road trips, commuting, local (and not so local) twisties, and of course as a track bike.

 

Very interesting Ray. Look forward to following this.

 

Yes yes yes!

 

Ran into a couple problems. Headlight projectors I bought are a smidgen too big so I can't reseal my headlights and the tail light I bought are entirely too big.

I've contacted the seller on eBay about the projector as the dimensions he gave on the ones I bought were the size I needed instead of these which are just about an inch too long. As far as the tail light, I plan on cutting and cutting and cutting until it fits. :P

 

have to subscribe, love those SP1:s, in fact am thinking about should I get one of those, a TL1000 or a fireblade for my next bike... How's it handling in everyday drive? I've heard the torque from that v-block is just brutal!

 

This is actually an SP-2. I love the characteristics of this motor. The power does pick up a little as it revs, but it just keeps pulling all the way to redline from the start. My friend had a TL1000 and told me it feels a bit more brutal as far as the torquey feeling.

Most any v-twin sport bike is gonna have an aggressive riding position so for daily riding it's a bit rough, but I did it for a year and took a couple distance rides with it and it didn't kill me. V-twins inherently have great traction and the SP-2 has great feedback. Love it for the track as well as the twisties... well, once I got used to the characteristics of the bike itself.

 

If u cant return the Headlight projectors. I might take them off your hands. I need a new set up on mine

 

Ok, good to know. Never had the chance to test neither of them, and those SP:s are very rare round here so people are asking ridiculous money for them. What I've looked, you can get a considerably newer TL with way better miles at the same sum. The thing why I would like that VTR is it's a pretty compact bike. I'm no giant myself so having to lean too far over the tank on a long bike would destroy my wrists... Plus U wouldn't see another one in every parking lot... But we'll see, have to change my car first so it's propably coming a current issue after next summer at the earliest...

 

Just so you know, if you're looking for that lively torque coming out the wazzoo feeling, I'd consider the older SP-1. The SP-2 was given larger throttle bodies and an updated swing arm so it's a bit more of a "compliant" ride in that the power delivery comes on smoother and it feels a lot more stable as far as keeping the front wheel on the ground.

 

who in their right mind would want that?