My Suzi T500 Project *It's Alive Video*

Re: My Suzi T500 Project

johnu said:
Coincidence indeed! Are you in SoCal?

I have heard that stock, the T500 is a very mellow bike, hence my desire to port the cylinders. It sounds like Suzuki were very restrained as far as engine performance goes when they manufactured this bike when compared to say the RD350 Yamahas. As far as tuning is concerned and from my research Zooke is the guy to go to. Unfortunately it will be a while before I get to the point of being able to ride the bike with my newly ported motor. For now I will just have to admire it sitting on the bench!

I grew up in the L.A. area but the family moved out of state when I was in high school. I moved back to the state some years ago and settled in the Bay Area. I live in the Santa Cruz Mountains with excellent riding starting as I exit my driveway.

Suzuki's own X6 Hustler was a rather highly tuned 250 in the same era as the Titan. The Hustler when compared to the Titan was just a little slower despite being half the displacement. I think there is easy HP available locked up in those huge cylinders.
 
Re: My Suzi T500 Project

Reddy said:
I grew up in the L.A. area but the family moved out of state when I was in high school. I moved back to the state some years ago and settled in the Bay Area. I live in the Santa Cruz Mountains with excellent riding starting as I exit my driveway.

Suzuki's own X6 Hustler was a rather highly tuned 250 in the same era as the Titan. The Hustler when compared to the Titan was just a little slower despite being half the displacement. I think there is easy HP available locked up in those huge cylinders.
Bay area sounds great! I grew up in England and moved to Cali in 1991. I live in the foothills of the San Bernardino mountains so great riding area here too. I hope to move to the Central coast at some point.

A friend of mine had a 250 Hustler many years ago and I remember it as being a bit of a speed machine.
 
Re: My Suzi T500 Project

More progress! Got the steering stem finished and the Kawi 636 forks fitted. Now I can work on getting the swingarm pivot bushes mounted. Should move right along now that I have the trickiest job done.
 

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Re: My Suzi T500 Project

Nice! Did you remove the anodizing on the tubes? The GSXR front end for my T500 is the bronze/gold color so I'll be removing it...just wondered how or what process you used...if you did it :)


Great progress. Looks killer already.
 
Re: My Suzi T500 Project

hey, not sure if i have missed over it, i know of someone that just bought a gs 450 and is searching for some spoked wheels, did you still have the wheels or want to part with them? im not sure if they would fit but i can get him to check em out.


your bike sounds like its going to be real neat!
 
Re: My Suzi T500 Project

sparkymoto said:
Nice! Did you remove the anodizing on the tubes? The GSXR front end for my T500 is the bronze/gold color so I'll be removing it...just wondered how or what process you used...if you did it :)


Great progress. Looks killer already.
Thanks. 2006 Kawi 636 forks are silver anodized which is why I chose to use them. If I did it all over though I would have used GSXR 1000 forks as they have 30mm steering stem stock. The kawi stem was 35mm.
 
Re: My Suzi T500 Project

kilometric said:
hey, not sure if i have missed over it, i know of someone that just bought a gs 450 and is searching for some spoked wheels, did you still have the wheels or want to part with them? im not sure if they would fit but i can get him to check em out.


your bike sounds like its going to be real neat!
I do still have the original wheels and I might want to sell them.
 
Re: My Suzi T500 Project

Reddy said:
Is that an old Greeves in the background?
It is a 1960 Greeves 250 Scottish, trials bike. I restored it years ago when I was 16 with my dad back in England.
 
Re: My Suzi T500 Project

That's cool. Sounds like you are continuing the tradition with your son.

You have had that Greeves for a few years. Looking back the only regrets I have about all the motorcycles I have owned is I sold them all and I would REALLY like to have about half a dozen of them back.

Like: Honda 250 Hawk, Suzuki X6 Hustler, Suzuki Water Buffalo, Suzuki GS1000, Suzuki GS550, Yamaha RD400, BMW K100, Suzuki RM370, KTM 250..........and the list goes on.
 
Re: My Suzi T500 Project

Small update. Got the swing arm pivot bosses made today. Swing arm is ready to be mounted now into the brackets (pic3).
 

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Re: My Suzi T500 Project

Reddy said:
I want to see this one as a roller. Close.

I look forward to that day I can tell you! Once I get the swingarm in I will be putting the wheels in (have to teach my son how to install the tires first) so that I can check the geometry. It all looks good on paper but I want to check reality! I am going make an adjustable shock mount so that along with raising and lowering the forks in the triples I will still have a fair bit of adjustment. This should allow me to fine tune once I actually get to ride it.
 
Re: My Suzi T500 Project

Got the swingarm in place, hopefully tomorrow i'll get it tacked in. Also my son and I got a tire mounted on the front wheel.
 

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Re: My Suzi T500 Project

How did you get the holes in the side plates to be exactly perpendicular to the steering head? Do you have a mill or a decent frame jig to work with or are you just using levels and a laser? That's neat work.
 
Re: My Suzi T500 Project

teazer said:
How did you get the holes in the side plates to be exactly perpendicular to the steering head? Do you have a mill or a decent frame jig to work with or are you just using levels and a laser? That's neat work.


I have a large piece of 1" thick 12" wide cold rolled flat bar that I use for the set up. It was all done using levels, squares, plumb lines and a drill jig for the side plates. I would love to have a mill in my garage but that's not in the budget at this time.
 
Re: My Suzi T500 Project

Ok I got the swingarm pivot bosses tacked in and mocked up the rough position of the shock just to see how it will look. Have to get my son to install the tire on the rear rim then hopefully I can get the wheels in and check the geometry.
 

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Re: My Suzi T500 Project

I asked the question below in the "Brakes" section on this site but so far there has been no response, wondering if I might have more luck here? I am using 2006 Kawi 636 forks and front brake calipers (Tokico 4 cylinder) for this project. I now need to find a suitable master cylinder to use with my setup. I would like to use something other than the stock Kawi master, maybe from another modern sportbike. The issue is I am not sure what size the master cylinder needs to be, I think it is either a 19x18 or 19x20 does this sound right? I would like to get something that is smallish and has the seperate reservoir for the fluid. Any help or suggestions appreciated.
 
Re: My Suzi T500 Project

I am in a parts gathering mode at the moment and was looking to get some of the electrical parts together (not that I am ready yet). I was wondering if it is possible (I know nothing about m/c electrical systems) to use LED rear light and turn signals on the T500. If so do I have to do anything special to use them.
 
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