Minimum Cost SV650 Racebike « velociRaptor Racing

Minimum Cost SV650 Racebike

This page is designed to document the absolute minimum cost to take a stock SV650 and race it in the WERA Superstock class (or AFM’s 650 Production class, although I don’t recommend them for new racers). These instructions are likely to work fine for WSMRC, OMRRA or CCS although I haven’t compared the rules to be certain.

Clutch Cover

First generation 99-02 SV650s require an after-market clutch cover for racing. You can install this in about 5 minutes, just leave the bike on its kickstand.

$160 Woodcraft Clutch Cover

Belly Pan

You may want to get a full set of racing skins, but these are generally quite expensive. The absolute minimum entry point is a legal bellypan. Here are some options.

$225 BRG Racing’s Belly Panz (US)
$180 Twinshack’s Belly Pan (UK) for 2nd Gen 03-08 or for 1st Gen 99-02

Number Plates

If you invest in full race bodywork, you can put the numbers on the bodywork. But the cheap option is to mount number plates on the stock bodywork. I wish I could find some links to online places, but my searches are coming up short.

For now, I recommend going to the local dirt bike shop and purchasing the number plates there. They should only run $10-20 apiece. You need 3 – one for the front, and one for each side in the back.

Safety Wire

If you search the Internet you can find many guides for how to safety wire your bike. But honestly you’ll be better off just taking the bike to a local racer shop and having them do the safety wiring for you. The following places are known for doing a good job, and seem to be in the $100 range.

Twinworks Reno, NV
KC Engineering San Francisco, CA
BRG Racing Pacheco, CA

There is another argument that says that doing this yourself is a great way to get a feel for what is on the bike and how it is put together. It’s all part of become one with the machine. WERA has posted some good examples of how to do it right.

Things to Remove

All of the above places can remove all of these items for you, and it’s probably easier just to have them do it. But if you want to do it yourself, the following things must be removed:

All lights — headlights, tail lights, turn signals, etc
License plate and mounting bracket
Mirrors
Passenger footrests
Side stand

All told it’s only a half-hour of work to do it yourself.

Steering Damper

AFM does not require a steering damper, but WERA and most other organizations do. Here are the best choices for steering dampers.

Pit Bull $405 from Kneedraggers
GPR $395 from Viets Performance (not listed on page but contact them and they’ll order it)
Scotts works fine but has some clearance problems, especially if you install a GSXR front end.
Ohlins is available but very expensive

NOTE: Do not try to mount up a cheap side-mount steering damper. I did this and it seemed to work until I was racing at Fontana, where I came in from the last race to find the cyclinder burst and oil all over my front fork. I got lucky, save yourself the drama and don’t go there.

Leathers

This isn’t SV-specific, but you’ll need a full set of racing leathers, back protector, gloves, boots and a Snell 2010-certified helmet. For the cheap route you can purchase a premade suite (like Fieldsheer or Dainese) for $600 new, or $100-300 off ebay. Always buy a helmet new.

Requirements

Now that the bike is ready, you need to get your WERA license. With WERA it’s really quite easy — You can just show up 7am Saturday for registration and they will point you in the right direction. All you really need is your gear per the rules, your bike safety wired and that’s it.

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