Well, it's Christmas break... now what shall I do?

klx678

Been Around the Block
I woke up about 3:30 am Friday morning to a massive storm of neural synapse activities in my brain relating to my SR500 street tracker project. I realized I had like a ful week of time at my parents' home (read as reasonably equipped heated garage) to help my college attending daughter living there to find a car since she totalled hers a few weeks back. I had brainstorms of things I could do up there since I knew where everything I needed could be attained, with the exception of convenient welding... that's another matter I'll have to deal with.

I figured out my seat/number plate side cover mount and also was working out some ideas on mounting the fender and license plates. The actual dirt track number plates are going to mount over the shock rather than at the center area of the frame like stock side covers. The trick is to make a good mounting system that will allow me to tuck in the license plate and tail light set up where it won't be visible from the side, yet have enough strength to hold tight and not crack/break due to road/bike vibration. The ideas came to me between 3:30 and 5:00 am. I went to school and drew up the bracket I wanted in CAD.

The plan now is to load up the bike, parts, angle grinder, and some other hardware/tools to take advantage of the massive downtime I will have at my parents' place. With heat, brews, and maybe some friends coming around, I may just be able to put a serious dent into this project in the next week. I want to rought it out, then tear it down grind the junk off the frame or weld on then paint everything... maybe during the spring break

Here's the first evo when I was thinking "Brit bike look":

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to imitate this:

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Then I wanted flat track. This was brought about both by racing in my late teens and by the few times I got on ice with the guys. I figure the street tracker would allow playing with it on a dirt circle and on ice with studded tires. When I started the trend was just starting, but then when it kind of blossomed everything had a "plastic tail section", so I abandoned the look I had to that point...

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and now want to do something more like this:

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or this:

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with the small cobra head sort of seat/bouce pad (but I want it one piece) and the front fender mounted on the rear. Just to do something different than the current crop. Hopefully I get there before the masses do... I didn't on the original flat track look nor did I with a bobber back in the 80s. Maybe this time.

Oh well, now off to the parent's place Sunday for the week.
 
When I built my seat, I was looking for something that had a 70's dirt feel (ribbed vinyl) but covered up where the bobbed fender went in and under the oil tank section. I have heard lots of stuff about how my seat isn't 'tracker' and I need a cobra head. If I had sewing skills, I might have done sides to give it a flat top, but it is what it is.

Whatever you do, take lots of pics and post up! 8)
 
Kev Nemo said:
When I built my seat, I was looking for something that had a 70's dirt feel (ribbed vinyl) but covered up where the bobbed fender went in and under the oil tank section. I have heard lots of stuff about how my seat isn't 'tracker' and I need a cobra head. If I had sewing skills, I might have done sides to give it a flat top, but it is what it is.

Whatever you do, take lots of pics and post up! 8)

I'll see what I can do. In two nights I worked out the number plate mounts, fender mounts, made a cardboard template for and cut out the seat from a piece of scrap aluminum. And it only took three beers so far... but I got more!
 
Well, I spent the last three four days finally working on that SR500 street tracker while at my parents' place - heated garage and some room to work. I cut off the back of the frame behind the seat mount and shocks, to weld in a fender loop support. Fabricated a number plate/seat pan support and a set of number plate supports to fit on the top shock mounts, I'm putting the tail lights and license plate behind the number plates. Then I laid out a cardboard template for a seat base, marked it off on some aluminum plate, cut it out, and bent it to fit. Fitted up the old style stainless front fender on the rear - like this old style rear end on the previously posted picture of that Trumpet (no "plastic tail section" for me, but my seat is one piece, I don't like the bounce pads)

All in a three day (night actually... with beers too) period on a bike that's been languishing in garages for nearly the last decade. Gads, why did I wait so long...

It was kind of cool... sit down and stare at the bike while sipping a brew... ideas occur. I thought I was done with the seat last night, but I could see I was either going to have upholstry problems or have to pay big bucks to have it done since the edges of the seat were rolled. Then I saw what I could do to make it look okay as a flat bottom seat. I hammered it back straight, trimmed the template, drew it on the flattened plate, and cut out the new pan... another 1:00 am shot!

I need to get my camera and start shooting pictures... a whole different look than the ones with the tail. I've been saving the template cutout to show in pictures. I've waited to assemble some stuff to show with a camera.

I also realize the work I was doing was very much like what we were doing with our old short trackers back in 1972. (The beer was cheaper watery stuff though.) I came to the realization - it's not a stinking custom or show bike, it's a street tracker! The name implys exactly what it should be - a flat track bike that can run the street... not a pristine perfect bike. Hell, the original plan was to have it set up so I could stud up a set of tires for the winter if I could ride with the guys on the ice, and also be able to slide it around a bit if I could get on a decent dirt track. The only difference from 1972 was that it would have lights on it. So now I don't feel bad about some hammer marks in the brackets and a bit of roughness.

That's not what I'd have been concerned with when I was 20, I wanted to run it, not show it! I'm not trying to mark things up like Wrench Monkeys would to give that "worn" look (can you say "sand blasted jeans"), but I'm not going to grind/glaze/finish every mark on the bike, like the Mule Works would for that custom show bike quality either (can you say "silicone implants"). It's gonna be that bike like I used to have, where I worked on it through the weekday evenings to race it Saturday night. Looking good, but not perfect - cosmetics don't make it faster.

The same still holds true. I'm looking forward to two things, getting on a pea gravel sweeper and sliding around it, then taking it to a Quaker Steak & Lube bike night this next summer ( guess I do want to show it a bit, but not for the usual reasons) to show what a real street tracker should look like. Not some perfectly manicured 650 or Sportster street bike with a glass tail, no front fender, and a perfect manicure... A bike that can actually pull several laps and do okay.

Of course the Mikuni 38mm/K&N, Wiseco 9:1 comp 528cc piston kit, high pipe, and Megacycle dirt track cam help that a bit. The actual number plates will add to the patina as well as the Model 24 bend K&N bars and general dirt track layout will lend some track cred there too.

By the way, the frame is going to be silver - like a real flat track bike should be (google Bultaco)... None of that black or color match crap for me!
 
klx678 said:
...Of course the Mikuni 38mm/K&N, Wiseco 9:1 comp 528cc piston kit, high pipe, and Megacycle dirt track cam help that a bit. The actual number plates will add to the patina as well as the Model 24 bend K&N bars and general dirt track layout will lend some track cred there too.

By the way, the frame is going to be silver - like a real flat track bike should be (google Bultaco)... None of that black or color match crap for me!

First off, Happy Holidays and thanks-I'm starting to feel like this a 2-man section of this board ::). My question is, how does that motor set-up run on the street? Is it good for highway speeds? The guy I spoke with from VFT said his motor was having trouble revving high at 70; plenty of low-end grunt but no top end. I've got the XS project I'll be getting into someday and I was wondering what kind of hp you can get out of the Yammy lump.

Also, are you going chrome silver or metallic on your frame? I'm considering gun metal for mine.
 
Kev Nemo said:
First off, Happy Holidays and thanks-I'm starting to feel like this a 2-man section of this board ::). My question is, how does that motor set-up run on the street? Is it good for highway speeds? The guy I spoke with from VFT said his motor was having trouble revving high at 70; plenty of low-end grunt but no top end. I've got the XS project I'll be getting into someday and I was wondering what kind of hp you can get out of the Yammy lump.

Also, are you going chrome silver or metallic on your frame? I'm considering gun metal for mine.

Unfortunately, the engine has only run for about 5 minutes about 8 years ago... I never got the wiring done and rode the bike. The build is pretty much something that had been done around the shop a few times by the guys who both raced short track and rode some ice back in the late 90s... so I'm hoping not to many issues. One guy was running half mile with his old 500 before he got his 600 and they had one in a Banshee chassis for 4 wheel flat track too.

I'm not sure what that guy was insinuating, but the 500 isn't a rev monster like most current engines. It's redline is like 7500 or 8000. It's just a traditional 2 valve single. We'll see what it will do, but I have no illusions that it will come close to the KLX for performance. It's more about the primitive nature of the beast. Kick start, big inch single with a manual compression release, no balancer, no frills at all. I can appreciate that. This is the second one I've had. I got a good deal on the piston and the carb for free, so I figured I'd buy a cam to go with it and see what happens. I do hope it will float the front end decently hitting second.

As for frame color, Rustoleum makes a nice metallic silver that is close to, but better looking than the silver used on the old Bultacos. I am considering more of a titanium or a sort of bronze for the KLX whenever I get around to doing a refurbish on it. At 43,000 the frame is getting a bit chipped and some light rust where the chips are. It needs redone to keep it looking good when it hits 100,000 miles! I'm considering doing chip guard coating on the down tube at least on the KLX.
 
I really want to take my bike down to the frame, smooth it out, and repaint it, but I'd miss out on riding it :-\ I need a back-up to keep me on two wheels while I do stuff like that. I'm finding leaks here and there on my jugs (new gasket job from last year isn't holding up for shit :mad:), so that might be reason enough to get into it.
 
That's why I have more than one... even then it's hard to take one that's running, apart. But the 500 needs done mostly right.

I would have put more together this last week, but you're wanting me to post pictures made me leave it partially in pieces so I can shoot shots of what was done to date. Then I'll assemble most of it for the mock up for some pictures and to verify fits, before disassembly for minor chassis finish work, to add some brackets and to paint it. Then reassembly... after all these years.

I'll be doing the first set of pictures this week. Maybe posting this coming weekend.
 
klx678 said:
That's why I have more than one... even then it's hard to take one that's running, apart. But the 500 needs done mostly right.

I would have put more together this last week, but you're wanting me to post pictures made me leave it partially in pieces so I can shoot shots of what was done to date. Then I'll assemble most of it for the mock up for some pictures and to verify fits, before disassembly for minor chassis finish work, to add some brackets and to paint it. Then reassembly... after all these years.

I'll be doing the first set of pictures this week. Maybe posting this coming weekend.

Very cool-I'm about to kidnap my friend's idle projects so I can get "constructive" in my garage. Switching my tires out won't warrant any thing more than an update pic in my build thread. ::)
 
I shot a bunch of pictures last night, to illustrate where I'm at and a bit of how it happened, now to get them on Bike Pics to bring them up here. It's working fairly well, likelihood of completing the project by spring looks fair, with paint being the only real issue. Where it can be done and simply getting it done. :-\
 
Got nuts while smoking a few stogies and siping a few suds. Bike is now in many pieces, tear down for paint... I'm kind of loopy, cleaned out the fridge of all the Honey Brown Dundees... I'm getting ready to sack out. Home tomorrow to Delaware OH to see my lovely wife...

Now to get the frame and bits ground, blasted, and painted. It may not be perfect and show, but it's gonna be looking like it should. I'm mostly satisfied so far. No lighting yet, but that will follow...

Pictures of the mocked up bike to come tomorrow... I can barely type, keep making typos... loopy and sleepy.

G'night, have a good new year guys... Later...
 
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