Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500 - New oil tank

Last week I was lucky enough to win an auction for a T500. It is a very clean and well maintained unrestored original which will now be the basis for my first REAL cafe motorcyle. I say first real because I have been riding a slightly modified Ducati Monster which I have always thought of as "sort of" cafe style. I have been a biker forever but never a builder. My fabrication skills will be rudimentary at best. We will hope for the best.

I see the bike as an old school cafe. My plans may change and evolve as the build progresses.

1. Gas Tank: New tank will be basically rectangular and longer than stock. I want a narrow tank but also a large fuel supply. 3 gallon size. 4 would be better. Using Dunstall Slimline.

2. Seat: Clubman or Manx style. Shorter but still well padded single person seat w/ leather rear hump. Has oil filler cutout.

3. Engine: Existing engine was recently re-built and runs well. Engine may or may not be re-painted. At least some additional polishing will be done. Existing engine looks and runs pretty good so will not be torn down. K&N Pod air cleaners will be used. Stainless expansion chambers. Titan Performance exhaust pipes.

4. Fenders: Original chrome fenders will be used. Fenders may or may not be modified will be cut down front and rear and may be moved.

5. Does anyone actually read all this crap?

6. Wheels and tires: Existing to be used for now. Tires are clunky but new and steel rims are straight with good chrome. The existing tires look like they came off a tractor so we will be getting Avon Roadriders.

7. Brakes: I will be using the stock brakes. They look good and I do not feel they are dangerous. Yes, they are much weaker than any modern brakes. Rider will need to allow for longer stopping distances and drive responsibly. Or I may change them. That decision can be put on hold for months.

8. Foot Pegs: Passenger rests will obviously be eliminated and polished rearsets will be used. Rearsets by Titan Performance.

9. Controls: Stock levers and switches will be polished and used on clip-ons.

10. Oil Tank and Battery: Stock tank and battery carrier will be eliminated. New tank and integral battery box will be fabricated in area under seat. Exact size and location to be determined after seat and gas tank are installed. Seat will be hinged to access oil filler and battery. Seat will be Norton Manx style with oil filler hole at front edge.

11. Gauges: Single electronic. Mounted low and offset to right slightly above headlight. Acewell.

12. Lights: Small turn signals to be determined (see Wingspan). New 7" headlight and painted chrome bucket. New headlight carriers mounted to forks. Smaller probably round oval tail light with license plate bracket mounted on rear fender.

13. Wiring: All new.

14. Suspension: Stock forks. Mods? New rear shocks. Existing rear shocks to be used.

15. Paint: Frame and tanks to be Ducati red. Other red items to be determined (such as rear shocks). Bike will be all red and chrome/polished with some minor black like tires, grips, fork gators, and wiring.


My current ride. I love the red.

This is what the T500 looked like when I got her home.

Starting tear down. These are the parts we will keep.


The engine is already pretty damn clean.

Salvage.

This will not be a super quick build. Frankly, I don't have the scratch to finish this project all at once. I do have some parts ordered (rearsets, exhaust) and will be choosing more in the next couple of weeks. I would like to order the gas tank and seat soon.

Stay tuned.........

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

dibs on stock tank!

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

Hi Reddy........Tim and I are looking forward to seeing your project come along. We love these old strokers !
The red paint scheme should look good too. I chose a similar theme when I first created a T500 cafe back in 1979..........OMG I'm old !

By the way....your 500 looks super clean, would it be rude to ask what that cost you at auction?

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

Looks like the all red T500 was done and done well a long time ago. That gas tank is HUGE! 1979 qualifies as classic. I like it.

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

Nice stroker! Wow looks really clean....looking forward to the pics...good luck!

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

Looking nice. Any parts you took off, going to get rid of?

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

Everything that will not be re-used will be for sale. My problem right now is some parts I am not sure which way I will go. I think I will hold off actually trying to sell the stuff for a while. If there is something you are interested in feel free to make me an offer. The worst I can do is say no.

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

I have some parts on order but till they get here I will work on the stock parts I plan on re-using.
First up will be the top fork triple tree. This is an aluminum part which on the stock bike performs multiple functions. Lugs at each end carry the front turn signals. I will be running turn signals but not mounted here. These lugs will be cut off. Since I plan on clip ons the towers for handlebars will be removed. Finally since I will only have one gauge I will only have one gauge mount.

Here I have rough cut all but one handlebar tower. Grinding, shaping, and polishing will follow.

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

I gotta say, I'd gave picked a rattier bike as the start of a cafe (actually, I DID)... That bike is super clean... Seems a shame, y' know? But great bike. And being so clean makes for a lot less headaches.

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

This bike was bought after months of searching and was puchased locally. I too would have preferred a less pristine bike. For one thing it would have been cheaper. This one is very clean but also not really as nice as the pictures seem to show. It could have been a very easy restoration candidate but that is not my desire. I will be passing on the salvagable used parts in the future. I don't feel guilty about chopping up this motorcyle. It is now mine and I will do as I please with it.

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

The finished triple. Minor polishing still to do but you get the idea. I think it looks pretty nice.

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

5. Does anyone actually read all this crap?

Click to expand...

Yep! Glad I found this thread... keeping tabs on your progress!

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

That top yoke is transformed !
Looking forward to following your progress..........and yes, loads of people read, and enjoy all this crap ! Including me.

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

In dealing with online retailers I have been spoiled by Amazon and Newegg. I am used to finding a wide selection of products and getting my order delivered to my door in a couple of days.

Motorcycle parts suppliers are a whole different ballgame. I need lots of parts. So far it is rare that I order more than one part from any one site. Then when the order is placed I really like a confirmation e-mail. So far I am batting 3 for 8 in that department. I not only don't receive my parts in a couple of days, they are usually not mailed in a couple of days. It will be learning patience.

The parts are beginning to trickle in. I polished the oil pump cover yesterday and got some nice shiny air cleaner pods in the mail yesterday. Here's a pic.

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

Today the clip ons arrived. It has been difficult to find clip ons for this project. I want chrome or polished aluminum and they are rare in a 34mm size. I searched for hours before placing an order only to find out the next day that the ones I wanted were out of stock and discontinued. Bummer. So I started a new search and almost immediately stumbled on these Tarozzi Clip-ons from HVCcycle. They are a very nice design. One large bolt holds everything on place and they are super adjustable.


I do not like the ridge on the clamp and these do need to be polished so......


This is going to work well but will be a ton of work. The clamp below has only the surface pictured polished so far. It might take all day to get two of them polished perfectly. My next bike is gonna be all black. This is nasty dirty work as many of you know all too well.

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

I almost got those clamps for my T250 Cafe but the pics on e-bay didn't show the angle as well as your pics do. I like them. Good work.

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

Another part arrived. This time it is the headlight hanger ears. Polished. Good.



I have finished one of the clip-on clamps. Took about two hours start to finish. I am not good at this. Oh,well.

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

Everything looks beautiful so far. Yes I did read the list. #5... Nice one. My bike is going to be called the antichrome, but I can appreciate the work you put into it polishing and sanding. Slow and steady is the way to go if you want things done right. Many times just sitting and looking have given me a lot of interesting "what ifs" that have been executed to really make the bike unique. Take your time and you will appreciate it more.

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

Juggernaut said:

Everything looks beautiful so far. Yes I did read the list. #5... Nice one. My bike is going to be called the antichrome, but I can appreciate the work you put into it polishing and sanding. Slow and steady is the way to go if you want things done right. Many times just sitting and looking have given me a lot of interesting "what ifs" that have been executed to really make the bike unique. Take your time and you will appreciate it more.

Click to expand...

I can dig antichrome. I'm doing bright work on this bike but I appreciate all styles that are done well. The only real advantage bright colors and chrome have (IMHO) is they photograph easily. Takes a good photographer to make an all dark bike look good in pictures. Real life is a different deal.

I built homes for a long time and some of the best ideas came at the end of the day when we were all standin' around shootin' the shit and lookin' back at what we had been workin' on. Sometimes your nose is so close to the grind stone you never get the overall picture. I agree. It's good to just step away and think about it sometimes.

Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500

The mailman brought some more goodies today. The headlight and the gas tank arrived.

Here is the new tank sitting on the frame. It will need to be lowered about one inch in the back and two in the front. There is a flange around the bottom of the tank so a little easy cutting will fix the attitude. I will need to add some frame tabs for the pre-installed bolts in the bottom of the tank to secure the tank on the bike. Will not have any clearance problems between the frame and the petcocks so all is good.


I plan on mounting the headlight relatively high but I think when the tank is dropped the headlight will need to also be lower.


The other issue with the headlight is that the mounting ears are much too long. I thought that might be the case when I ordered them. No big deal to mod them and bring the light bucket about 2 inches closer to the forks.