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View Full Version : K3 copper body swap onto a K5 naked


Dante
Sun 12/4/05, 12:07PM
Warning -- shameless chest beating ahead. :D

I finally got all of my copper body pieces in, so yesterday I stripped down the bike, took off all the yellow parts, pulled the cap and fuel pump off the tank, and installed all the K3 copper parts. I posted a bunch of pictures into my gallery. Please check it out, let me know what you think.

http://www.socalsvriders.org/modules.php?set_albumName=albux53&op=modload&name=Photo_Gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php

Here's what I learned from the process:

The tank was from a K3 SV1000. I am not sure if the SV1k is different in every year or if K3 is different from K5, but the tank had these "wings" where it mounts under the seat that got in the way of the rear cowl. I had to bend these wings down on the end (used a brass hammer to inflict minimal damage, but still cracked the paint all to hell). I need to buy some touch-up paint now... oops!

Once I got the wings on the tank out of the way, all the other factory parts bolted right up perfectly. The front fender was a no-brainer, the rear cowl worked just fine. The taillight assembly fit in there just fine, all the holes lined up just right. I'm expecting my racinteach FE in the next few days, so I went ahead and took off that awful fender, and I'll get the FE hooked up this week *yay*

The rear cowl part that I found on eBay had some damage to the left side, but it's workable for now, I just need to find another at some point so I can pretend not to be squidly anymore. :cool:

The rear hugger that I bought was for a K3, painted copper to match, and the paint matches very well. The only problem is that it does NOT fit... like at all. I had to bust out the mini-hacksaw and get creative with mounting to get that to work. I won't go into my methods to make it work, as I don't wanna look ghetto, but unless you are under the bike, you can't even tell it's not a perfect bolt-on fit, so I'm really happy.

My pillion handle was previously scuffed to hell from my fall, so I sanded it down to bare metal (damn that took forever), sprayed it with black primer (2 coats), then black glossy paint (2 coats), and then clear coat (2 coats). I think it turned out really well, looks good next to the black seat, and is a salute to the 1st-gen SV. :D

Cost of the body swap was just over $400, including shipping. The tank was by far the most expensive, at $200, and the rear hugger was $90. Gotta love eBay!!

Anybody got a left-side copper cowl they wanna sell? ;)

99x
Sun 12/4/05, 12:49PM
Nice work! It's good to see people sport the copper, too many people dis a nice looking color.
Yeah, the K3s have a higher subframe than k4 and on. I'm suprised the tanks are different,, though. If you ever decide you need a copper grab bar, let me know.

Darth Lefty
Sun 12/4/05, 12:58PM
Very nice...

NiteQwill
Sun 12/4/05, 1:58PM
Wow, looks real nice, i've been debating the transformation too!

Dante
Sun 12/4/05, 4:43PM
Thanks for the comments. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Aside from the hugger being a total PITA, it went pretty well. I recommend it, if you aren't afraid of hammering on a gas tank and ripping everything apart! :D My bike came disassembled, so I had to get intimate with her just to ride her. ;)

J_C
Sun 12/4/05, 5:52PM
Dude... that's HOT. Get some more pics up in that gallery!!

jperkey
Sun 12/4/05, 6:13PM
I REALLY lilke that color on your bike! That color will knock at least a full second off your quarter mile time. Enjoy!

Dante
Sun 12/4/05, 8:58PM
Originally posted by jperkey
I REALLY lilke that color on your bike! That color will knock at least a full second off your quarter mile time. Enjoy!

Dude, it's gonna be worth a second and a half when I get all the decals on there!! LOL

Unfortunatly, shortly after I finished putting it all together and took a spin around the block, the weather turned to total ass, so I didn't have time for any glamour shots. :P

I think the copper on black frame looks sweet too. I like the black frame better than the silver on all the bikes except the silver ones, of course. :cool: :cool:

voda
Mon 12/5/05, 9:44AM
The mods look good. What kind of barend mirrors that you have installed on her?

Dante
Mon 12/5/05, 1:55PM
"EMGO NR" according to the seller... I'd never heard of them. Here's the eBay auction link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=4588558433&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT

That will probably only work for another week...

I am glad I had some good aftermarket bar-end weights, since I had to "engineer" a better way of attaching them to the bars, since the screw & butterfly setup they came with was inadequate for triple-digit speeds. :D

If you're curious as to what I had to do to make them work and why the original setup didn't quite work out, let me know and I'll take pictures of how I fixed them.

Thanks for the props, voda. :cool: