Stick It
Cyber-Tribal Style.
Streetfightin' SV650
Shawn Stinnett of Lynchburg, Virginia, has been a longtime lover of streetfighter-style motorcycles, but as a club roadracer his cash was always tied up in track fees and race rubber. That changed recently, though, when he was able to embrace both of his biking loves after finding a crash-damaged 2002 Suzuki SV650 for just $1500. The salvage bike was the same model that Shawn raced on weekends, so he was able to trade parts from the two machines to create this beautiful, almost factory-looking 'fighter. "My goal was to build a custom bike that looked like what Suzuki might do if they produced streetfighters from the factory," said Stennitt. We'd say he did a pretty fine job of that. With the salvage SV's front forks bent like pretzels, Shawn hunted down a set of inverted fork legs from a GSX-R1000 to replace them and bolted a set of radial brake calipers from a 2004 GSX-R600 for plenty of pucker power. Stinnett's real investment in time and engineering came at the bike's rear end, though, where he fabricated a one-off undertail (consuming 40 hours) to house a Yoshimura exhaust originally intended for a Honda CBR600RR. Underneath the custom exhaust is an eye-catching single-sided swingarm that started life aboard one of Honda's VFR 750 sport-tourers fitted with a three-spoke wheel from a Ducati superbike. The engine was also upgraded using plenty of salvage parts, including a set of pistons from a Hayabusa. "The 'Busa pistons dropped right into the SV block with no boring needed," Stinnett says. "The only other internal motor modification I did was moving the stock intake cam to the exhaust side, and that gave the same lift I would have gotten from a set of expensive Yoshimura cams." The results are a thumping 74 dynoed horsepower, plenty for a bike this small and light. Besides the Herculean time investment in building custom parts, Shawn has about $9000 wrapped up in his machine, which he says is about twice what he'd intended to spend. The whole machine was sprayed the same shade of silver used on Chevy Silverado pick-ups trucks, furthering the factory 'fighter look the builder was shooting for. "For me, the most fun is running this bike through some sharp turns. You'd be surprised at how good the handling is," he says.
Hand Job
Stinnett fabricated this bike by hand in his garage.
Fast Times
The overwhelming popularity of the Suzuki GSX-R1000 model can be both a blessing and a curse. Because of the large amount of Gixxer Thous sold, there is a huge selection of aftermarket parts available, and custom accessories are easy to find. On the other hand, unless you really do something wild, your bike pretty much looks like everyone else's, which can be a problem. Chris Ramon from Robstown, Texas, found out firsthand the pitfall of riding such a familiar bike: "The original color of my bike was silver," Ramon says, "and I kept getting mixed up with another local rider on a silver GSX-R who liked to run from the cops, so I was constantly being mistaken for this other guy and getting pulled over." After being stopped for the fourth time, Ramon decided to get his bike painted. The bodywork was taken to Westside Kustom Works in Corpus Christi, Texas, and silver metal graphics were laid on top of a blue base. After adding chrome rear sets and pegs to match the chrome rims, Ramon no longer liked the factory black finish of the frame and had it polished by Andrew's Polishing in Corpus Christi, Texas. Then Ramon hit Google hard to locate every piece of bolt-on chrome available for the GSX-R, including the swingarm-mounted license plate relocator, CRG Roll-a-Click levers, heel guards, grips, axle covers, Vortex polished stator cover, flame mirrors and frame sliders that you see in the pictures here. Any stock parts that still remained, including the fork, brake components and bunch of other pieces, were sent out for a chrome dip too, courtesy of RevLimit Cycles in Mocksville, North Carolina, and Chrome Pros in Corpus Christi. Under the seat lies a Dynojet Power Commander III USB, and a K&N high-flow air filter and Yoshimura TRS exhaust were also added to spike the bike's performance. Finally, to help watch his six and keep from being pulled over again, an AnT Racing Cyclops monitor and rearview camera help keep track of what's going on out back behind the bike. "I have won several awards at bike shows and still love to ride this beast," Ramon tells us. "It does not stay in the garage. Although it is custom, bikes are meant to be ridden, and that is something I'll continue to do with my boys from FT (Fast Times) Ryderz."
Smile!
Unblinking eye in the center of the Hotbodies undertail is an AnT Racing rearview camera.
Perfect Record
Bill Holderby of Moreno Valley, California, the owner of this clean 2002 Honda CBR954RR, has entered this bike in three shows so far and has been rewarded with three first-place trophies-how's that for a winning average? Much credit goes out to airbrush artist "Bones" in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who laid down the custom orange skull graphics over an Infiniti-blue basecoat. Loads of chrome, a Yosh RS3 exhaust, Texas Fairing undertail, and flush-mount turn signals wrap Holderby's hot Honda up.
Three For Three
That's this CBR's record for winning shows, thanks to sick paint and plenty of bling to catch the judge's eye.
Tangerine Dream
Built by BreakLites Motorsports in Peabody, Massachusetts, Mike Fernandez's sick 2005 Suzuki GSX-R1000 was a show winner right out of the shop, taking home the top prize at a NOPI show at New England Dragway just days after it was finished and following that win up with a second place at the DUB magazine show in Boston a few weeks later. Knocked out in tangerine candy paint with airbrushed graphics and plenty of chrome, Fernandez's ride also sports a Trac Dynamics extended swingarm with Performance Machine Marquee wheels (250 width in the rear) and a Hickman air ride rear suspension.
Kolor Jam
Nothing makes a bike pop like two deep, contrasting colors such as the purple and orange shades applied to Mike Stevens' 2004 Kawasaki Ninja 636. Done in House of Kolor hues and set apart with tasteful flames and subtle skull and eyeball graphics on the lower half, Stevens' Ninja is pure eye candy. In addition to the tasty paint, this Ninja also rocks a chromed frame, swingarm and wheels, purple-anodized rearsets, levers and brackets, and titanium exhaust system from Arata. A custom saddle, billet mirror blanks and frame sliders (of course!) to protect that gorgeous paint in the event of a tip-over finish Stevens' fine ride off.
Six Appeal
Who Needs A Liter?