I heard about Dirtbag through a friend of mine, jb, who pointed it out via IRC- “you goin’ to Dirtbag?” It took me a moment to realize he meant the Dirtbag Challenge, a yearly low-rent chopper build-off held in Oakland every year, $1000 budget, 1 month build time, 200 miles ridden over 3 days to compete, culminating in a chopper show with bands and general hooliganism, which was happening that weekend. It turned out that I _was_ going to Dirtbag, so I showed up in Oakland and watched the bikes ride in. I saw one dude drop his bike trying to burn out in the driveway, I saw one blow out his tire, my buddy Fish was there on his SnoMoChop, there were zero fucks given all around, and I was hooked.

Dirtbag 2018 burnout

I forgot about the event again for about six months, and then I started looking for a donor bike. After a couple of months of not really finding anything that sparked interest, I saw Fish post SnoMoChop for sale on BARF, and I commented about how I’d buy it if I weren’t already looking for my own build candidate. My phone rang a few minutes later- it was Fish, calling to tell me that A) he couldn’t do Dirtbag this year because he was getting MARRIED! at Burning Man the same weekend; B) He had a SV650 that came from a common friend (Thanks Jason and Britny!) that had been wrecked a few times and then left to sit for years; it wouldn’t start/run, but was largely intact. He proceeded to tell me about an idea that Aleks at Moto Guild had, which was to turn a SV into a high-revving dirtbike by swapping out the suspension for something dirt-appropriate, and how he’d solved that issue by using his favorite platform- the V-Strom- and doing a front end swap on it. He said that he couldn’t do the ride/show, but that he’d GIVE ME the SV650 and HELP ME build the thing… closing the knowledge gap I had in how to make the f’n thing run and ride.

The Build:

Starting Point: 2002 Suzuki SV650

I was sold. Fish is a master mechanic, the nicest guy you’ll meet, and a great fabricator to boot. His shop is well outfitted and has tools for days… AND it’s air conditioned! The weeks flew by working on the bike with him- I’d say we’re into the bike for about 120 man-hours total between the two of us.

Took the front end off

Added a V-Strom front end…

Requisite hipster throwing sparks photo

Got the seat on… featuring Fish!

We’d put in all that labor but still didn’t have the thing started and running- the gas tank had been rusted up and needed cleaning, and the petcock rebuilt. We did that and put a ton of Seafoam in the tank, and up she cranked! Tons of smoke later, she was running pretty steadily and started on the second kick… so we lucked out with a runner out of the gate. I got the fender and instrument cluster done, a luggage rack on, and some other odds and ends, and we had a rider! Total investment: $754, mostly in tire, battery, and V-Strom front end.

The Bike:

Right Side

Left Side

Front

Rear

A little nail polish and some custom vinyl (thanks JJ!) and we’ve christened it the “Desert SVed”

The ride met up in Hunters Point, Bayview, SF on Friday at noon. Lots of interesting bikes were there… I was clearly at the “entry level” of competition but nowhere near placing. No worries- I hadn’t come to compete, just to finish.

The Bikes:

Jake’s Honda

Eric’s Pack Mule (not a competition entry)

Tess’s Yamaha

Justin’s chopper

Poll’s Honda

Julien’s Yamaha

Brian’s Goldwing

Doug’s Honda

My Suzuki

Paolo’s V-Strom (not a competitor)

Rob’s Yamaha

Stef’s SV (not a competitor)

Satan’s Sportster (not a competitor)

Two Meter Matt raised the bar for the competition when he showed up at 1am Saturday morning, having rebuilt his motor on Thursday and Friday after a blowup during test rides.

Notable Features: