T500 build-----It's on the ROAD!!!

tattoo

Been Around the Block
Cheers from Ottawa Ontario,

A fella could spend weeks browsing though all the stuff here on this site. What a resource.

With my limited experience doing this sort of thing, and without spending a fortune, I'm hoping to end up with a decent looking cafe bike. Nothing crazy, and reuse as many of the original parts as possible. The hardest part is to teach myself patience.

Starting point:

in%20the%20barn3.jpg


That was October 8.

Brought it home, transferred the ownership into my name, and BEGAN the process of washing away what 20 years of sitting in a barn does to a bike. The frame now sits in the garage, stripped of all parts.

Lots, omg......lots of work still to do.

I'll throw the odd pic up here as I go, but I'm likely going to be learning way more than I'll ever be teaching!!
 
Re: T500 build

That's a good looking machine despite the layers of crust and dust! Whats your plan?...It's a good candidate for restoration IMO, but it's your bike. I restored a '67 about 15 years ago, it was a great machine and even though it was sold about five years later, I still miss it.
 
Re: T500 build

Good sound looking bike you have there. Nicely dry stored. You'll bring in a good few pennies selling off the stock bits you don't need. It's good to see another stroker on here among the Hondas !
Lots of clever people over on Sundial motorsports 2 stroke Suzuki forum as well.....and have a look through the gallery on my web site, and see what other people around the world have done to 500 Suzukis. www.classic2strokesuzuki.com
Keep the pictures coming, and give us an idea of what you are hoping to achieve.
 
Re: T500 build

Thanks for the kind words so far.

Plan? Well, already determined that fuel tank had been repaired previously both inside and out, and it leaks. Got an estimate, and it's almost in "new tank" pricing territory, so will be replacing the tank with something a little longer, and a little more "cafe-ish". Some of those fibreglass units look enticing, but I know they come with risks. If anyone knows anyone with a roughly 24" long steel tank, let me know!!!

No plans to upgrade/update suspension or brakes or frame...it won't necessarily be a back road/canyon thrasher, but that's OK. That's what my other bike is for.

The big rock plan is clean it up as much as possible, new tank, solo seat (either the OEM seat reshaped (it's in amazing condition for its age) or a fibreglass unit), rearsets and clipons. Frame will get shaved of unnecessary brackets and repainted/powdercoated, and the tank/side panels will get some (hopefully) nice lustrous paint. Of course there will be new tires/shoes/chain/sprockets and other consumables. Exhaust pipes have some sctratches, so they may end up getting ceramic coated to cover those up, or if that's big money, well, I guess we'll have to be on the lookout for some chambers. Wheels will be disassembled and cleaned up, and rims perhaps powdercoated.

But I have been pleased so far with the overall condition of the major components once they all got their first initial cleaning.

For a while I wondered about restoring to original, and it likely is a great candidate for that, but I bought it to build a cafe bike, so that's what it'll be.

If I do go the fibreglass seat route, yes...hoping someone snags the seat. Will also have handlebars (very clean) headlight ears (need some cleaning), rear fender/taillight assembly (in usable condition) and maybe some other parts that others might make use of. Hanging on to everything for the time being though----if there ends up being a $1000 repair surprise lurking in the engine, it might just turn back into a cleaned up basic T500.

I know darn well that building something like this will require some money being spent, but there is a budget that I have to/want to stick to, so taking things on step at a time.
 
Re: T500 build

I've had good success w/ a local powder coating company who did an excellent job doing high heat powder coating to my mufflers,I had my choice of colors too.
I also had one done standard powder coat which was even cheaper and the coating has stayed on there no problem;even sitting in traffic for extended times it didn't do anything to discolor the standard PC.They put all the PC parts in the oven here and bake them at 435 degrees and our mufflers on the bikes never get that hot.
 
Re: T500 build

Looks good. I wish you well with your build. my 70 model is about to get the refresh it deserves so it's always good to see how others are doing their builds.
 
Re: T500 build

Not much to update. As "exciting" as it is for me to learn how to disassemble a 70's bike, it seems silly to flood this thread with pictures of bits and pieces.

That said, the frame, with a few pieces roughed back on for non OEM tank fitment explorations
frame%20with%20minor%20bits%20roughed%20on%20for%20new%20tank%20fitment.jpg


Engine on a table awaiting winter work
engine%20on%20table%20ready%20for%20more%20cleaning.jpg


the OEM front fender will be shortened slightly and moved to the rear, and picked up a "previously enjoyed" fender that will be shortened and pull front fender duty. Will likely loose the chrome and go with either paint or powdercoat on both...
pre-clean #1:
kz%20front%20fender%20from%20woodys.jpg

after some diet coke and aluminum foil:
kz%20fender%20after%20AF%20and%20DC.jpg


A tank has been acquired - from a '79 KZ400. It's currently getting cleaned up inside, and then the exterior needs some attention.

ry%3D400

ry%3D400


Other than that, I've been busy with cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning.
 
Re: T500 build

00000hhHH that's one of those rare left handed kicker ones :eek:

JK... I'm in for this 1 8)
 
Re: T500 build

Tune-A-Fish said:
00000hhHH that's one of those rare left handed kicker ones :eek:

JK... I'm in for this 1 8)
Super rare =) lol I'm in too
 
Re: T500 build

I have a very clean t500 tank left over from my project that I might want to sell if you decide to restore the bike. It is black but needs painting, no rust or dents.
 
Re: T500 build

Continuing to poke away. Wanted to go with one of those snazzy fibreglass "cafe" tanks to replace the leaky T500 tank, but holy do they ever eat up budget in a hurry! So, I had snagged a late 70's KZ400 tank locally for "next to nothing" and started to imagine how it might attach/look. It needed a gas cap (found at a local bike salvage yard), and a petcock, needed to be cleaned inside, and some dents and dings outside needed some attention.

Apple cider vinegar and bb's worked great to clean up the inside, and I've been working through the dent filling process. In the meantime, I've been scouring images of seats. The tank's top edge drops towards the back, so my minds' eye was not seeing a seat with that tall of a hump. I've been wavering back and forth too on "all fabric" versus a FG seat/pad, and I think I've settled on "all fabric" (eg, leather, vinyl, whatever....).

On the weekend, I stumbled on a certain Laverda built by Wrenchmonkees----(have to credit them!!!) and its seat made my heart go boom.

My photo editing skills rank slightly lower than my dent in tank fixing skills, but if it pleases the court, this is where I'm hoping to go with my little T500:

imagine%20the%20side%20cover%20there.png
 
Re: T500 build

Thanks all.

Must holler a shout out to the local Kawasaki dealer here in town - the parts guy (an all around great guy) had helped me identify the Kawasaki tank that I had bought, and knew that I was then shopping for a cap and fuel tap. I had called the other day to order some rubber tank mounts, and he said "get your butt over here - there's a box outside with about 20 fuel taps (amongst other bits) in it, all free for the taking". I now have a handful of fuel taps to work with.

Tank dent repairs are coming along nicely, so started tinkering with some way to mount the tank. It's not pretty, but the front mount is solid--combination of some new KZ400 tank rubber bobbins, a pair of brackets, and some hardware. The whole rig becomes one solid bracket that attaches to the coil mounting plate and rolls up over the center rail of the frame. The icing on the cake is that there's a huge amount of space under the tank - I'm pretty sure I'll be able to stuff all the electrics in under there.

Now need to build up something for the rear - there's a nice factory cross member between the frame rails right where the tank's rear will mount. Thanks Suzuki!! I'll post up some pics when it's all test fitted.

Once that's done, and I can start mapping out that seat that I want to have made.
 
Re: T500 build

Won't win any beauty contests, but here's some pics of my Kawasaki tank on a Suzuki 101 "creativity"(?).

Front tank mount - bottom bracket held in place by front coil mounting bolt, then reshaped to give me something to run a pair of bolts through to hold rubber tank mount bobbins. Each bolt also runs through one end of a bracket that hoops over the top frame rail, then runs into one single long nut that holds the whole thing taut. It's solid, but everything will still get a touch of loctite upon final assembly. The "bottoms bits" of the top bracket below the bolts (in the pic) have since been shaved off.

fron%20tank%20mount%20no%20bobbin.jpg


The rear mount is no less "sexy".... ???

rear%20tank%20mount%20with%20tank.jpg

Simple and effective. Rig attached directly to the original tank rear mount bolt hole.

With the tank on the mounts:
Dec%2015%20profile%20with%20tank%20on%20mounts.jpg


And with that in place, a seat pan was templated and cut out.
Seat%20pan%201.jpg

This will be a all fabric covered seat, as per a "mock up" picture earlier in this thread.
 
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