My first bike was a 2007 Suzuki SV650s, I really loved the engine of this torqy 2 cylinder which gave the bike a huge fun factor. But there where a lot of things I did not like: It had an awful riding position, sloppy suspension, simply no brake power at all and the looks never satisfied me. So when I stumbled upon this Suzuki SV650 Café Racer on the Bikeshed, I fell of my chair.
Nick Gravely from ClayMoto is a well known designer who works with clay modelling. This SV650 Café Racer was his first project of building a “real” bike. His mission was very simple: building a relatively light single-seater, with around 60 to 80hp, predictable handling and an amazing design.
Nick worked on his project in a lot of stolen hours in the evening and the weekends. The motto of the bike was to have “fun under a ton”: a bike that is a lot fun to ride, without losing your drivers license.
As I mentioned, the SV has a sloppy stock suspension and poor stopping power. To upgrade these essential parts, Nick used a complete GSXR750 K5 front with a KTM 125 Duke headlight. Not only great for handling and braking, since these gold USD forks always look good. The rear shock is an adjustable Öhlins.
As designing is in his blood, Nick created an awesome bodywork, shaped with clay, to form the fiberglass body parts.
And of course Nick worked with clay modeling:
Cool timelapse video of the building process:
Custom Suzuki SV650 build timelapse from Nick Graveley on Vimeo.
If I new this was possible with my SV, I probably never sold it…
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About the Author: Ron Betist
