JoelF

I ran them for 6 months or so, they bolt on and I've already drilled them for the slightly different locator pin hole vs. the stock clip-ons. Shipping overseas is kind of a pain but I'll do it. SV650 clip on (with sharp bend and weld) VF1000F (2 tone) and stock

I have a set of VF1000F clip ons, similar to Helibars, and a set of Helibars for an SV650 I ended up not using as I went with a bar conversion. Happy to sell either/both.

The brake lever is easy to heat and bend with a propane torch. Heat until it looks kinda sweaty. I bent mine to adjust for lowered pegs, never removed it from the bike.

Removing the upper cowl and mirrors rather than the lowers? Sounds... harder.

I'm indifferent to the linked brakes, they are complicated but functionally they are kinda nice for street riding. If I had a problem with my linked brakes I'd fix it rather than properly de-link as I think to do it properly would be a large undertaking. Plus these are old bikes and there are tons of cheap used parts out there to fix any aspect of this system. Getting new fluid into all the far reaches is the hard part of the linked brakes and I suppose things get stuck due to the lack of this maintenance. You might want to take apart and clean both the stuck one and the ebay valve and install whichever one is the least sketch.

How pooched is the front sprocket?

Nice purchase. Rather than a higher seat I run lowered pegs, Buell pegs. They need to be belt sanded at the mount to fit but other than that they are fine. Around $50/pair. I also have a bar conversion on my bike for a more upright position. There are some clip-on options to address this as well, I have a couple I tried before putting the bars on (I should get these up for sale).

Mine had a newer stock unit in place when I bought the bike and after reading the forums I decided to change it before it failed again. I found a Chinese knock-off FH020AA for cheap from a USA seller with a good rep and who had sold loads and loads of them. I figured they must work or the seller would have a list of complaints as long as my arm. Well it lasted one ride to work, or part of one, and shorted internally, got really hot, dragged the voltage down. The bike still ran and while riding made enough voltage to get home and the knock-off reg didn't melt anything. I got a partial refund since I kept the (acceptable quality) harness and bought a used FZ-07 regulator off ebay and that's worked well. Just swapped for the shunted regulator, nothing rewired. I wired the replacement to the bike's harness with an old regulator harness but I also added an extra ground to the frame local to the regulator and an extra fused power straight to the battery. I also added a fused trickle charger SAE plug to the bike at the same time. There is one small wire in the OEM harness I forget what you need to do with (ground or no connection?) the rest are 3 obvious AC inputs and power or ground outputs. The new regulator is bolted where the old one was (had to drill one hole I think) and runs cool with no fan or anything. All's well many miles later. Lots of newer bikes have these better voltage regulators and used ones are $30-ish on Ebay. A wiring harness should be available there as well for a few bucks. Cheers, -Joel.

Check the airbox for a mouse nest.

My 2000 is the same but I do not know if it's a CA model or not.

Hmm, I agree that it's dumb but my dead-stock 2001 Ducati Monster 900S cannot be started or run with the sidestand down and I am pretty sure it'll try to start in gear with the clutch out. The former is absolutely intended from the factory, the latter might be my clutch switch if it ever had one. I cannot warm up the bike on the sidestand due to this arrangement. An even worse situation, some Ducatis came with spring loaded auto-retracting sidestands. I could bypass the Ducati sidestand safety but I would prefer an arrangement where it'll not run with the sidestand down and the bike in gear so I tolerate the sidestand safety. At home I have a rear wheel stand handy so it's not a big deal.

Some countries have different rules regarding sidestands I think. There could be a version for Oz that supposed to be like that.

I went down a tooth in front (6th gen stock front sprocket) because I have to do a lot of low-speed maneuvering around home and work. I think I prefer this gearing though I have not done any long highway trips with it. The speedo / odo are off a fair bit now. When this setup is worn out I might consider going back to stock and just abusing the clutch a bit more, or getting a speedo healer. If I wanted this gearing again I'd re-create it with a larger rear sprocket and stock front sprocket, and longer chain. Everything would last longer. Stock chain is 530, I do not think it's worth losing some width in the sprocket bearing surfaces to go to a narrower kit.

Does the tach move when you crank it?

Regarding oil filters, you can run auto oil filters, good quality for $4 or so. Mazda Miata fitment works. WalMart SuperTech ST6607 ; supposed to be pretty good. Might be what's on my VFR right now. It still runs. Motorcraft FL-821 ; I have run dozens of Motorcraft filters with no issues. Purolator Pure One L14620 ; I have run many Purolators as well on my 944s and 968s.