The Transformation Has Begun

I traded my 01 RC51 for an 06 SV650s back in November and haven't looked back. It's such a great street bike. Lots of usable power, balanced with great fuel economy and ease of use. One of the things that attracted me to the bike so much was that it has a laundry list of modifications that can be made to it. Another benefit being that most of the parts are stock parts from other bikes. I won't go in to lots of details about the benefits or reasons for the parts, but here's a run down of what's on the bike now:
01 GSXR750 forks, triples, wheel, rotors, calipers. Forks built for 175lb rider with gear.
04 GSXR front fender
Galfer SS brake lines
CBR954RR clipons
RC51 (SP1) master cylinder w/ pro tek billet resevoir cap
R6 throttle tube
z1000 bar ends
Custom tank risers and de-snorkelled airbox
pro grip tank pad
integrated tail light and custom fender eliminator
Kawasaki 636 rear shock
CBR F3 rear wheel with 46 525 sprocket on stock chain
Unfortunately running stock tires
Custom painted bronze wheels
Yoshimura TRS slip on
Used chin spoiler painted to match
new speed sesnor pieced together by yours truly
Sylvannia silverstar headlights
amber LED running lights
black short stalk turn signals
Factory frame sliders (yuck)

All of the following pictures are property of Peter Lombardi. Finally I got a real photographer to take some pictures for my blog. Check out more of his photos at his website


















All photos property of Peter Lombardi.


*UPDATE*
I started selling off stock parts and quickly made enough money to buy these new PP tuning rearsets. They're really nice. They came with a stainless steel rear brake line that I hope to install soon. The first two pictures are mine, and the last picture is courtesy of aquamarine_hg2085 from Flickr.




*UPDATE* 8/30/07

More parts coming in then going out now. I did get a new jacket, but I need to put some time in with it before a review can be made. In the meantime, here's updated pictures of my bike with a complete mod list.
Here's my list of things
Mod list:
01 GSXR750 forks/front end reworked by GP suspension, 04 GSXR springs, GP suspension valves
04-05 GSXR fender
carbon fiber triple cover
CBR954 clipons
R6 throttle tube
Pieced together speedo kit with home made bracket
Galfer SS brake lines
RC51 SP1 master cylinder
Pazzo shorty levers
Pro tek resevoir cover
Traxxion preload knobs
Puig dark smoke windscreen
short stalk front signals
amber LED running lights tucked in front fairing vents
amber LED running lights in headlight
silverstar headlights
personally made tank risers
desnorkeled and enlarged airbox opening
pp tuning rearsets with SS rear brake line
galfer rear rotor
F3 wheel conversion
both wheels painted bronze
+2 rear sprocket
zx-10r rear shock
M4 carbon fiber slip-on
custom made carbon fiber pipe guard
integrated tail lights
factory seat cowl
factory chin spoiler painted with color-rite
vortex fuel cap
custom asymmetrical stripe

and I made the rearstand




That's all for now!

Hats off to Suomy (Suomy Spec1R)

My first helmet was a pretty horrible considering it was my introduction in to the motorcycling world. It was loose, loud, and horrendous looking. What more could go wrong? It was one of the most recalled helmets from KBC. Not a real confidence instilling piece of hardware. When I finally upgraded to my Shoei RF-1000 it took all the stress out of wearing a helmet. It fit snugly, without pressure points. It blocked a decent amount of noise, looked good, and had a lighter weight. Absolutely fantastic helmet, especially when you consider what price you can get for them. It wasn’t until the end of the summer of 2006 that I started lusting after some of the higher end companies and their eye-popping graphics. I tried on Arai’s and Suomys, but unfortunately my local Cycle Gear didn’t have anything smaller than a XL in the Suomys, so I just assumed that a medium would be fine. I was absolutely in love with Suomy’s designs and could not be convinced to settle for anything else, even after I was told that the particular one I wanted was back ordered for months. I waited for almost two whole months before it even struck me that the medium might not fit me. I frantically called around trying to find a local store that stocked Suomys. Finally I went to a dealership and was able to try on a medium Suomy. My face immediately turned red. I don’t know if it was the sudden realization that I had made a mistake, or that the helmet was just far too tight. When I took it off there were perforation marks in my forehead from the lining. They had a large as well and I tried it on, and it fit very snugly. I was a little shocked, and maybe a tad insulted, that Suomy felt that my head was large while other brands seemed confident in the mediumness of my cantaloupe. The store clerk was kind enough to measure my head for me, which came out at 58.4cm around. This was a perfect size for storing all that gray matter but apparently just .4cm too big to fit in Suomy’s medium.
After changing my order with ridersinc.com to reflect the correct size the non-backordered large Suomy Spec1R arrived at my door in just a few days. Nick and Andrew at ridersinc were able to sell me this helmet for $400 shipped which is an absolutely amazing price. I also had them add in a dark smoke visor which I believe was about $35.

Suomy Spec1R Bostrom Tattoo

As soon as I took the helmet out of its box I knew I had purchased something phenomenal. The helmet truly is one of the lightest lids on the market. Pulling back the supplied carrying pouch revealed the gorgeous paint job I had been eye humping for months now. I suddenly wished I had a glass case in which to display the helmet all the time for all to see. There’s no question that cagers would be looking at me now I’d be sporting this helmet. The first thing I went to do was try it on and of course, it fit great. The large I tried on at the store had obviously been tried on a lot before and was broken in a bit. The helmet I had just received was brand new and very snug. The next thing I wanted to do was put my smoke visor on. This proved to be more difficult than I was expecting. Suomy helmets, in case you didn’t know, take a special tool in order to remove the visor. You have to lift the visor all the way up and then jam the supplied tool in to the side pods to pop them off, then you can move another piece around to get the visor off. This isn’t such a big deal if you only ride with one visor on, but I had become very accustomed to swapping visors out on my Shoei and even carrying an extra visor with me. The visor swap on the Suomy causes enough frustration that I’ve pretty much resolved not to change the visors on it. I had a very hard time getting my side pods back on and was worried the entire time that I was going to break something. Beyond that little issue everything else about the helmet is top notch. The lining is very soft, especially around the neck. This means there’s no chaffing or rubbing of any kind when rolling your head around. The straps are also very soft so that they don’t irritate the underside of your chin. Once on, the helmet provides plenty of space for my mouth and nose and even just sitting in my living room doesn’t fog up. After taking the helmet out for a few rides I was able to gather some initial impressions, if I come up with more after this post I’ll make an update. This helmet is light. You hardly feel that you’re wearing when checking both ways at a stop sign. I love the locking mechanism for the visor. You can pull the visor all the way down and not click the lock shut and this will allow quite a bit of air to creep in and cool your face, but even at highway speeds the visor didn’t flip up. To lock the visor shut you just have to place one finger on the large knob and click down. Get your thumb under it and press up and the visor clicks right open and slides smoothly to full open. I personally prefer the smooth action of the Suomy visor of the ratcheting action of the Shoei. The only air vent on the helmet the user has control over is the mouth vent, but opening or closing this actually makes quite a difference. It was probably around 70 degrees out when I was doing my rides and I actually found myself closing the mouth vent because my face was cold. Opening or closing the vent is easy even with gloves on which I appreciated. I was only able to move my Shoei’s mouth vent once before it seemed to get stuck in the open position. The only thing the Suomy is missing is a chin screen to keep turbulent air out. I think the lack of a chin screen attributed to the frigidness. Another draw back to the Spec1R is that it lets in a lot more sound than the Shoei. This is most likely why it is a lighter helmet. But to a person like me, who wears ear plugs every ride, it’s of no consequence. I tried a ride without plugs just to experience it and it was very loud. I would not recommend riding without ear plugs in this helmet. However, I prefer riding with ear plugs in the Suomy now because it lets in just slightly more sound in comparison to my Shoei. This makes me feel more aware of my surrounds and better able to hear things like car horns, screeching tires, and bike related noises. The Spec1R is very aerodynamic and actually exhibits no wobble, even at 100+mph speeds sitting fully upright. You can turn your head in any direction at any speed while riding and the wind seems to just move around the helmet rather than in to it. I never had any problems with the visor fogging up either. The only thing I noticed was that I was seeing reflections of my own sunlit face in the smoke visor while looking through it. This wasn’t a huge issue, but it’s not something I noticed on my Shoei. Could be the difference between the Spec1R visors and the Extreme visors. All in all the Suomy is an amazing helmet and I will definitely be buying another one in my lifetime.

The Good

Light weight. Awesome graphics. Lots of replacement shields to pick from. Comfortable interior. Removable/washable interior. User controllable mouth vent. BSI/DOT rated. Awesome aerodynamics and breathing. Couldn’t argue with ridersinc’s price.

The Bad

The actual retail price. Noisy. Needs chin screen for less wind turbulence. User controllable top vents would be nice, but that comes on the Extreme instead. Fussy visor removable makes for frustrated end-user. Possibly breathes too well, making for a poor all weather helmet.





*UPDATE*

I've had the helmet for almost a year now with pretty steady use during the summer and a quite a few cold weather rides. This helmet is still a great looker, and I've become very proficient at changing visors out in a short amount of time. In the summer the excellent breathing is much appreciated and with the mouth vent fully open my face is about the coldest part of my body, even on a 100 degree day.
However, now that it is winter out the ability of this helmet to allow air to pass through it without resistance has become a bit of a trouble. With no way to close any of the vents when the weather turns sour it can get a little on the chilly side. Fogging up is a non-issue due to Suomy's film that they place on the inside of their visors. Mine recently peeled back slightly along the top edge, which I admittedly picked at, but it's still functioning, regardless of aesthetics.
Also, after wearing the helmet for long periods of time I've discovered that it pinches my head front-to-back. This is more than likely due to the shape of my individual head. It does lead to a headache if I wear the helmet for longer than 45 minutes at a time and it has led me to order another RF-1000 from Shoei which is in the mail presently. This is just another testament to the idea that it is important to try a helmet on before you buy it and try and wear it as long as you can to identify any pressure points.
I'll probably still wear the Suomy when the weather warms up again as it does provide excellent cooling. But the versatility of the RF-1000, coupled with the bang-for-the-buck factor, just can't be beat in my opinion.