From the ground up: Suzuki SP370

M

miob

Been Around the Block
DTT BOTM WINNER
I've already build a few bikes. The lates t(finished) one is my BMW caferacer:

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I really love that bike. It's brutal to ride, but it's also not build to be in bad weather with the velocitystacks and all. Besides, I really wanted to continue building after finishing the Beamer. The problem is: I'm a student, so I'm always broke :D. I build the BMW out of the money I had gotten from selling some stuff, but didn't really have money for a new project. After some asking around someone offered me a Suzuki SP370, or better: some parts of a Suzuki SP370. It was just too tempting, so:

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That's the stack of parts in my garden.

Started of by making a rear and and fitting a tank:

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Turned old CX500 bars I already had into new bars and made a headlightbracket for a headlight I had aswell:

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Started on the exhaust and fitted a revcounter:

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Bought a wheel on Ebay.de (Germany) and made an airscoop:

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Than decided I didn't like the rear/seat area, so I changed it:

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And that's where I'm at now. Still plenty to do obviously, so plenty advice left for you guys to give me :D
 
Man, you weren't kidding when you said from the ground up! This thing is gonna look amazing - keep up the good work. And nice Beemer too!
 
Love SP370's, bit underpowered but what a fun motor.
The stock ones will wheelie until you loose taillight and still come back down onto wheels ;D. ( probably well past vertical?)
If you ever have to go inside top end, there was a service bulletin warning about thin casting on cam chain side, people would pry on it and destroy cylinder.

PJ
 
Thanx for the advice.


Did some more work on the rear today and started making the tank longer. The tank in the photo is not in the position it will be in the end by the way:

img3150u.jpg
 
That BMW makes me weep like a child each time I see it. It's so raw and authentic.

I have a friend who used to have a perfect SP370. That bike was an absolute torque monster--just like PJ described.

Personally, on your bike, I like the original seat design better. It looked much more like your BMW seat, which is one of the better features of the bike. Also, I think you should not extend the tank. Instead, chop it up so it sits down low over the steering neck brace and parallel with the seat frame rail.

I don't mean to come off like I'm telling you what to do; I'm just offering my thoughts.

--Chris
 
chrisf said:
That BMW makes me weep like a child each time I see it. It's so raw and authentic.

I have a friend who used to have a perfect SP370. That bike was an absolute torque monster--just like PJ described.

Personally, on your bike, I like the original seat design better. It looked much more like your BMW seat, which is one of the better features of the bike. Also, I think you should not extend the tank. Instead, chop it up so it sits down low over the steering neck brace and parallel with the seat frame rail.

I don't mean to come off like I'm telling you what to do; I'm just offering my thoughts.

--Chris
Click to expand...

And I welcome those thoughts! That's why this topic exists in the first place.
I changed the seat design because it looked too much like the BMW's. I think it looks great on the BMW, but I don't want to build a second BMW, so I changed it very deliberately.

About the tank: It's going to be shorter than it is now, I'm just not finished yet. I get what you say about cutting it up and making the tank sit lower, but I don't want the top tree clamp (or however it's called in english) to sit higher than the tank. I would prefer to go and look for another tank, but my budget is too limited for that, so I'll have to do with what I've got. Making it longer is just an experiment. I don't design and than build a bike, I just start building and see how it ends up, than change some stuff, and than some more... For example: the BMW wasn't really build, it was more like it's slowly grown into what it is now.

So I really don't mind suggestions, in the contrary. I just might not always listen ;) (or, as my girlfriend always says; I never listen ;))
 
Hey, awesome build...that thing is gonna look sweet! Also, I love the BMW...do you by chance have any more pictures that you can post (of the BMW)?

Thanks,
Ryan
 
Judging on the prior build, I think we are willing to suspend any disbelief long enough to see what you come up with. I am all for letting an idea evolve, and cannot wait to see what you figure out.
 
rizzlo34 said:
Hey, awesome build...that thing is gonna look sweet! Also, I love the BMW...do you by chance have any more pictures that you can post (of the BMW)?

Thanks,
Ryan
Click to expand...

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b93hh8m3HA

pictures:
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More pictures here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Michiel4001/BlogphotoS#

There's also some pictures in there of the CX500 cafe I build for my girlfriend, a cx500 chopper wich I build with a friend and a XV920 I'm building with that same guy at this moment (sometimes it's fun to have ADHD ;))
 
Thanx :)

back to the Suzuki. I was hoping that my rear wheel and front tire would arrive today, they didn't. :(. Decided to use an old BMW front wheel for a mock up (it's roughly the same size).

I'm having trouble with the position of the tank, or better: the position of the seatrails. I would like them to be in line with the backbone, but an adaption like that is not allowed by Dutch Law. (it's only allowed when you can pay for retesting, new type cerifications and taxes). Two options:

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I prefer the second option, but I'm also weary of the starting o look too much like a streetfighter.
 
that bmw is so raw, so beautiful, and absolutely amazing.

nearly brought a tear to my eye. :'(
 
the first one is much better if you can mold that into the frame like you did on the tail piece that would be money! what size front wheel is that? is that a 21 that sucker looks awesome!!!
I am also a HUGE fan of those bars! what are they?
 
I agree. Keep it as close to the original position as possible. The tank position created some pretty decent lines stock. I'm sure you will find an ingenius way to intergrate the seat.

Looks like it is headed in a nice direction, but it is going to be hard to get away fron the fighter look with that tail section. i say go for it and if it is confused with a fighter so be it! Nice work all around.
 
JRK5892 said:
the first one is much better if you can mold that into the frame like you did on the tail piece that would be money! what size front wheel is that? is that a 21 that sucker looks awesome!!!
I am also a HUGE fan of those bars! what are they?
Click to expand...

Thanx! I'll look into it some more (the molding the tank into the frame).

And yes, the front wheel is 21 inches 8) (I've always wanted a bike with spoked wheels, would like them on the beemer too, but that's not going to happen anytime soon). The bars used to be stock CX500 bars, but I changed them 'a bit'.
 
CresentSon said:
I agree. Keep it as close to the original position as possible. The tank position created some pretty decent lines stock. I'm sure you will find an ingenius way to intergrate the seat.

Looks like it is headed in a nice direction, but it is going to be hard to get away fron the fighter look with that tail section. i say go for it and if it is confused with a fighter so be it! Nice work all around.
Click to expand...

I dont mind if it looks a bit like a fighter, just don't want it to look too much like a fighter. I've already got a very good cafe, the BMW, so I don't want this to be a pure cafe. I think building a cafe bike means leaving off as much as possible, that makes them relatively easy to build and the Suzuki is also meant to help my trough the rainy, gray, dark Dutch winter. So I don't want an easy build that I can finish in a few weeks :)
 
Question:

I don't want the bars mounted in the risers, they'll be too high up, so I looked at some options. I realy like this option:

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But to do that I'll have to mount them using these holes:

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Will that be strong enough?
 
Im keen on the stock tank.

This bike is rad. That mag is incredible!!

You could do an headlight/bar mount. Build something up that holds both?`
 
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