Teledan's XT500 project

teledan

Been Around the Block
Hi Everybody, I thought I would post a bit about my current bike and what I have done with it so far. I have been into old Harley’s for a few years now and after getting married and having a couple kids I ended up selling my bikes. We all know how these machines get into our blood so of course I started getting the itch again very soon. I had been browsing the web for a cheap bike that I could molest and fell in love with the Yamaha SR500. After looking around a bit for one of these bikes for sale I realized that they were just way too hard to come by in the states but I then discovered the XT500. It is basically the same motor but dressed in a more off-road trim. I ended up finding an 81 XT500 in Idaho for a few hundred that was running and seemed to be in decent shape. Apparently it was an old Forest Service bike so it was a bit beat up and smoked a little but it was a good start. Here’s how she looked when I brought her home:



I cleaned the carb real good and put a new front tire on and rode it like that until the winter. I wanted to do a sort of cafe/tracker type bike but I still wanted to ride it as much as possible and have a really tight budget so I started making small changes. I threw on a new mikuni vm36, a battery eliminator, welded up a new exhaust from a Hoos Racing kit, new bars with a bar-end mirror, and a 12v lighting conversion.



I was riding the crap out of it and I got sick of it smoking so I decided to do the top-end. I figured while I was in there I would upgrade some stuff so I had Grim Cycle in Orem,UT bore the cylinder for a Wiseco 88.5mm 10:1 comp piston, do a valve job, and install new valve springs and seals. I shot some paint on the jug and head and threw it all back together and she started right up on the first kick! Its not burning or leaking a drop of oil so I am a happy camper.

New piston in:


Motor all buttoned up:


I think I will ride it like this until next winter but I am planning on swapping the frontend for one from an XS750 so I can have a disc brake and then I’ll need to figure out a new seat/tail. Anyway, here is how she sits today:



I am trying to head in a sort of Street Tracker/Road Racer direction with this bike but money is tight so it will be a very slow process. I am having a blast on it though!
 
Very cool man I just picked up a TT500 and heading down same road with it ! If I may ask was the pipe hard to do and was a fair price ? I'm a lil ways off from starting on it as I have two other builds almost done and the TT is next ! Anyways nice work and look forward to your build !
 
Thanks man! The header was $65 and the megaphone was $47 from Hoos Racing, I also wanted to do an upsweep so I bought a mandrel bend from JC Whitney for like $16. It was pretty easy to weld up, it was the first pipe I have ever done. I did a slip fit joint between the header and the megaphone and used springs to hold it in place too.That way if I wanted to run a muffler instead of the megaphone it would be easy to swap on. It is pretty dang loud so I may end up putting a muffler on, or I may just sell it and do a high pipe with a Cone Eng. muffler instead, I don't know.
 
Bert Jan said:
nice laro!

Thanks! Here is our "fleet"



We rebuilt the white D90 after it was wrapped around a tree. New galvanized frame, Rovertym suspension. Just got it registered!
 
teledan said:
I think I will ride it like this until next winter but I am planning on swapping the frontend for one from an XS750 so I can have a disc brake and then I’ll need to figure out a new seat/tail.

Just so you know, a KZ650 / 900 front end will slot straight into your XT triples. I mean STRAIGHT IN - the forks are the same diameter and offset - so no mucking around with bearing swaps or axle spacers, etc.
 
hillsy said:
Just so you know, a KZ650 / 900 front end will slot straight into your XT triples. I mean STRAIGHT IN - the forks are the same diameter and offset - so no mucking around with bearing swaps or axle spacers, etc.

Good to know! Are there any specific years to look for? From the measurements I have taken, the '77 XS750 forks should do the same and I should be able to use a spoked wheel from an XS650.
 
All the KZ9's will fit (73-76), and the first model or two of the 650 (the wire wheeled ones). Not sure about the later 650's (SR's and the like) or the KZ1000's. The 650 forks are a little shorter than the 900's so the 9's would be the pick of the two for an XT.
 
hillsy said:
All the KZ9's will fit (73-76), and the first model or two of the 650 (the wire wheeled ones). Not sure about the later 650's (SR's and the like) or the KZ1000's. The 650 forks are a little shorter than the 900's so the 9's would be the pick of the two for an XT.

Cool, thanks for the info!


Well, my rocker box is getting real noisy so it looks like I need to pull the motor and install some set screws to hold the rocker shafts in place. Wish me luck!
 
Yeah it was pretty sad when the white D90 was wrecked, she's a lot bigger and meaner now though :) The white Disco is my daily in the winter and when I am not riding but the trans just crapped out so I think I am going to sell it and get something better on gas. I'm having a blast on this bike, its super fun to ride. Just did my 1000mi oil change so that makes about 1300mi since the top-end rebuild and shes running strong. I think my neighbors hate me because of the pipe though :)
 
Its been a while since I have updated this. I have mainly been trying to gather parts. Picked up a set of XS650 forks yesterday. Here they are mocked up with the wheel, an FZR600 rotor, and an R6 caliper:



Also built a new pipe:



I also picked up a stator, rotor, CDI, and Regulator from an SR500 and I will be building a new harness for it. That probably wont be until next winter though, I am having too much fun riding the bike to tear it apart right now :)
 
Watch the spacing between the wheel and back side of the caliper ! When I did mine I used a sv650 caliper so I could mill down the back side to give more space !
 
Thanks man, it looks close but I think it will be ok. If it is too close I may end up using a 320mm rotor and see if that gives me enough room.
 
What was the mod you did on the crankcase? What's the purpose of it? Following this build! Keep it up!

DH900sl
 
Thanks! I installed some set screws to hold down the rocker shafts so they wouldn't rattle around. What happens is that the bores in the rocker box get worn out of round so the rocker shafts start moving up and down in the bores. I drilled some holes from the top and tapped some threads and then used the set screws to hold the shafts down. It is somewhat common on these motors and Yamaha actually re-designed the rocker boxes and shafts on the later motors to prevent this from happening.

My motor was real noisy before:

http://s587.photobucket.com/user/teledan/media/My%20XT500/2698CFEA-CBFE-4E20-B14B-83C72EC11744-6827-0000174FAF5CA195_zps1be3232e.mp4.html

And this was after the mod:

http://s587.photobucket.com/user/teledan/media/My%20XT500/6A16809A-6DE0-4A7F-9C5D-B5802D464F8F-3446-00000AEEF67D0E59_zps5b0c29f5.mp4.html
 
Sorry, it's been a while since I have posted an update. I picked up a wheel from an SR500 and I got a caliper from an FZ1



I will be using the caliper hanger from the FZ1 because the rotors are the same diameter but the axle on the FZ1 is 28mm and the XT/SR is 17mm so I needed to make a spacer. I fired up my old Craftsman 6" lathe and turned this out:



Fits like a glove:





I still need to figure out what to do for the anchor rod and the MC mount.

I also got the front rotor spacer turned out, I just need to drill the bolt holes now.







It ended up being 12mm thick and the rotor is almost dead in the center of the caliper. Still got a lot to do, gotta paint the triple trees and the front wheel, rebuild the forks, and then wire it.
 
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