Vintage Veloce
pro rider
When I bought the bike, I decided to carefully weigh everything I took off the bke and everything I put back on. I do like lightweight bikes, and I was curious how significant the changes would be. Here is where I am so far.
Svartpilen Weight Reduction Project
- Thread starter Vintage Veloce
- Start date
OP
Vintage Veloce
pro rider
I also have a pair of identical bathroom scales, and I put my 2020 Svartpilen 401 on them and carefully balanced it with my fingertips.
After all the modifications above, and with a completely full tank of gas, it weighed 343 pounds, or 155.6kg.
After all the modifications above, and with a completely full tank of gas, it weighed 343 pounds, or 155.6kg.
Claytonroy
fast rider
Nice work! I’ve taken a similar approach to my Svart. A couple of other areas that can offer big weight savings: installing the CAT delete pipe (Competition Werkes or Leo Vince). Besides the CAT, It also eliminates the heavy collector box. I don’t have a scale, but would guess it drops 8-10 lbs. Also the rear shock - I upgraded to the Nitron and it dropped 1 lb or 450 grams.
This is very interesting. The claimed 2020 DRY weight, is 335lbs. 2.5 gallons of gas is 15lbs. The motor oil is another 3.3lbs. Radiator, fork and clutch fluids... let’s say altogether everything is 25lbs.
You could hunt more grams through the husky accessory book
1. Lowering kit- shorter spring and side stand= less weight?
2. wave rotors- ???
3. billet levers-???
4. Lightweight rear sprocket-???
5. 701 tubeless spoked rims-??? I think the front is the same size. Not sure about the rear. Not sure if this is lighter or not, but it is certainly useful!
6. billet fit rests like on the 701. Available as an accessory for the 401.
and that is just from the factory...
....then there is the aftermarket with a slew of questionable solutions.
It can go on an on... but it’s just grams. Which tells me the factory really did an excellent job on the original machine.
You could hunt more grams through the husky accessory book
1. Lowering kit- shorter spring and side stand= less weight?
2. wave rotors- ???
3. billet levers-???
4. Lightweight rear sprocket-???
5. 701 tubeless spoked rims-??? I think the front is the same size. Not sure about the rear. Not sure if this is lighter or not, but it is certainly useful!
6. billet fit rests like on the 701. Available as an accessory for the 401.
and that is just from the factory...
....then there is the aftermarket with a slew of questionable solutions.
It can go on an on... but it’s just grams. Which tells me the factory really did an excellent job on the original machine.
OP
Vintage Veloce
pro rider
If I take my bike's full tank weight of 343 lbs, and subtract 2.5 gallons of gas at 6 lbs per gallon, you get 328 pounds... and then you have to add in the parts I took off, 14.8 lbs, so that is a total of 342.8 stock with an empty tank.
So my guesstimate is that the USA version of the bike weighed 343 pounds with an empty tank, about 8 lbs more than the factory claimed.
So my guesstimate is that the USA version of the bike weighed 343 pounds with an empty tank, about 8 lbs more than the factory claimed.
OP
Vintage Veloce
pro rider
Well... the bike wasn't ridden for about week when I made the changes, so I couldn't compare "back to back", so I can't claim I have noticed the change. But I did notice when I filled the gas tank up after the last ride. ;-)
OP
Vintage Veloce
pro rider
I do keep looking at the collector box... it's really ugly...
BISavage
champion rider
I bet a Carbon replacement for the back seat/rack would make a considerable difference. (Light bulb)
Had I not thrown away my stock chain and sprocket I would weigh them out of curiosity.
For the collector box, I am not sure myself as I am really torn in both ways on this topic. It is obviously lighter, you notice right away that the suspension preload is off when you swap it out. But aside from that it's probably a matter of personal taste.
And to throw some additional factors in, what role does center of gravity play on these baby bikes, and in slow motion (less than busa speed) are the aero-d's important?
Had I not thrown away my stock chain and sprocket I would weigh them out of curiosity.
For the collector box, I am not sure myself as I am really torn in both ways on this topic. It is obviously lighter, you notice right away that the suspension preload is off when you swap it out. But aside from that it's probably a matter of personal taste.
And to throw some additional factors in, what role does center of gravity play on these baby bikes, and in slow motion (less than busa speed) are the aero-d's important?
BISavage
champion rider
Yup, the boys at my local strip used to use something like that too, 7lbs/hp and every sticker adds 5 hp at least.
Claytonroy
fast rider
One other upgrade I completed but forgot to mention..a higher quality RK 3D chain (about 100 grams lighter than stock) and updated F & R sprockets. Out back I’m running a 46T Husqvarna Stealth (hybrid of steel/ aluminum) and a quality 16T front. Pic attached is before I did final adjustment on chain tension. The combo made a noticeable difference.
Attachments
Great work, thanks for the information!
I bought the bike without the rear fender, and will eliminate the passenger pegs and peg delete kit this weekend (plus install the Leo Vince slip on muffler). Good to know that will light the bike a little. Impressed on the weight difference of the battery. Do you get the same performance with the shorai battery? I use the wife once a week at most, so curious about capacity (I do have a battery tender that can solve that problem). So, apart of the battery, by next week I will have perform most of the same weight reduction mods you did.
Anyone has any idea of the weight of the OEM and the Leo VInce muffler? I don't have a scale where I keep the bike.
I bought the bike without the rear fender, and will eliminate the passenger pegs and peg delete kit this weekend (plus install the Leo Vince slip on muffler). Good to know that will light the bike a little. Impressed on the weight difference of the battery. Do you get the same performance with the shorai battery? I use the wife once a week at most, so curious about capacity (I do have a battery tender that can solve that problem). So, apart of the battery, by next week I will have perform most of the same weight reduction mods you did.
Anyone has any idea of the weight of the OEM and the Leo VInce muffler? I don't have a scale where I keep the bike.
OP
Vintage Veloce
pro rider
Not sure I can help you with your wife's capacity...
Besides quality issues, the only real negatives I have heard about Lithium batteries is cold weather performance and price. And it is very important to not let them discharge too low. And it's best to have a special charger for them.
Besides quality issues, the only real negatives I have heard about Lithium batteries is cold weather performance and price. And it is very important to not let them discharge too low. And it's best to have a special charger for them.
OP
Vintage Veloce
pro rider
Charging is no problem. I actually have Lithium batteries of various brands in all my modern bikes now (4 bikes). There are various brands with different features. I tend to use Shorai in my street bikes because the are about the same size as the stock battery. This one is exactly the same as stock but shorter in height, I just used a bit of foam (supplied with the battery) to firmly hold it down under the bracket. I do think some of the other brands have better reputations, and I use those on my dirt bike as they experience much more extreme use.
nampus
top rider
I had a shorai battery in my previous bike for years. Haven't charged it once, bike always started without problems after being laid up in winter for sometimes up to four months.
My advice: don't bother spending money on a special charger if you ride your bike more then three times a year
Only downside I found was cold weather starting. On nights away when the bike was parked outside overnight with temperatures below about 5°C the battery needed to be warmed up before it would crank the bike properly.
Just switch on the bike, and turn on anything that draws current: high beam, heated grips etc. Let it sit like this for a minute or a little longer if it's really cold before trying to start the bike.
My advice: don't bother spending money on a special charger if you ride your bike more then three times a year
Only downside I found was cold weather starting. On nights away when the bike was parked outside overnight with temperatures below about 5°C the battery needed to be warmed up before it would crank the bike properly.
Just switch on the bike, and turn on anything that draws current: high beam, heated grips etc. Let it sit like this for a minute or a little longer if it's really cold before trying to start the bike.
My SP401 is fitted with an "Anti-Gravity" brand lithium battery. It's the small size version rather than the sames-as-stock size version. The small size one is a bit lighter, and doesn't come with the charge protection and testing circuitry features that the sames-as-stock size one does. But it was a bit cheaper, though still very expensive. I bought it at a bike show from the UK importer of Anti-Gravity batteries, and they had a show price deal. I wanted the smaller size battery to free up some space inside the bike, so I could fit 'other' things. Plus the weight saving of course.
I ride the bike all year round, and even on the coldest days (zero deg C) and even if the bike has sat outside and not been started for weeks, it still fires right up no problem. But like @nampus I too 'warm' the battery up on the coldest days by turning on the lights and heated grips for a min or two before cranking. It's no hardship, I put the lights etc.. on before I wheel it out, and before I lock the gates and put on my gloves. By then it's ready to start.
Hubby and I have bikes with different types of batteries in them, from Lithium, AGM/GEL, and standard Lead-acid. Optimate and Battery Tender make chargers that can cope with all these different battery types, in one charger, including the CAN-compatible type for charging BMW GS bikes through the power socket/port. So we invested in one decent quality battery charger that can charge all types. If I haven't ridden a bike for a couple of weeks, I'll put the charger on it for a day or two, just to top it up. But I NEVER leave a charger connected for days or weeks at a time. So far, we've had no battery issues at all, on 9 different bikes over the years.
I ride the bike all year round, and even on the coldest days (zero deg C) and even if the bike has sat outside and not been started for weeks, it still fires right up no problem. But like @nampus I too 'warm' the battery up on the coldest days by turning on the lights and heated grips for a min or two before cranking. It's no hardship, I put the lights etc.. on before I wheel it out, and before I lock the gates and put on my gloves. By then it's ready to start.
Hubby and I have bikes with different types of batteries in them, from Lithium, AGM/GEL, and standard Lead-acid. Optimate and Battery Tender make chargers that can cope with all these different battery types, in one charger, including the CAN-compatible type for charging BMW GS bikes through the power socket/port. So we invested in one decent quality battery charger that can charge all types. If I haven't ridden a bike for a couple of weeks, I'll put the charger on it for a day or two, just to top it up. But I NEVER leave a charger connected for days or weeks at a time. So far, we've had no battery issues at all, on 9 different bikes over the years.
Claytonroy
fast rider
With the space I gained from switching to an Anti-Gravity Lith Ion battery, I’m able to carry a mini air compressor next to the stock tool kit.
I have also used the Shorai brand batteries, never charged once and always fires up after sitting for weeks.
I have also used the Shorai brand batteries, never charged once and always fires up after sitting for weeks.