1980 SR500 Project...

[Brian W.]

Well im pretty new to motorbikes. Ive owned them for years, but never really got into working on them. Well now im getting more and more into it. Progress just happens so much faster than with car projects. I can spend 1-2 hours working on a bike and get a lot done compared to that same amount of time put into cars which yeilds you very little most of the time.

well here it is.... a 1980 SR500. My first real bike project. I bought it as a running bike with no title, then bought a clean title frame and boxes of parts.

as i got it...

she ran ok, first time ever riding one and its torquey and awesome! So what do i do? take it apart!...
stripped donor bike...

i took the clean title frame and cut all the crap off of it i didnt want. Then i stripped the paint off with some awesome home depot product...

Seat pan i made... still need upholstrey...

cut up this pc. of memory foam for the padding...

I bought some parts.... Vortex clip ons, tapered steering bearings, and some other little crap to go along with the project.

Painted the frame up and the swing arm also...

Started bolting the front end back on and the swing arm/ wheels to make it a roller...

And then last night i bolted a junkyard motor in it. The motor has compression and supposedly runs. I wanna build the one out of the donor bike up so im gonna try this one out and see how it goes...

I might work on it some more tonight... start bolting things to the motor. and run the wiring on it. mount headlight and such.

once i get most of the things mounted on, and modify my rearsets/ footpegs. Ill get some stainless tubing and make a sweet pipe for it with this Carbon/ Ti Arrow muffler i have here.

 

[Dizzy]

I'm diggin that seat pan with the struts cut off!

 

[Brian W.]

I'm diggin that seat pan with the struts cut off!

Thanks. Im probably going to make a little sheetmetal enclosure that goes under the rear "lip" of the seat to house the Triumph speed triple tail light i think im going to use. Need to get the padding and cover on the seat first though.

 

[intrudin]

Nice bike. and a very big nice ;D to your work shop I just love thumpers keep us posted

 

[BigBSBusa]

This will be an interesting build!

 

[lunar_c]

Nice dude! Thanks for your compliments on my SR250 I'd like an SR500 but they're ridiculously overpriced here.
Tell me, the spine on the frame seems to be a tank .. do they use a dummy fuel tank? I'm fairly sure they're wet sump like the rest of the SR's? A bit big for an oil tank also!

 

[Brian W.]

Nice dude! Thanks for your compliments on my SR250 I'd like an SR500 but they're ridiculously overpriced here.
Tell me, the spine on the frame seems to be a tank .. do they use a dummy fuel tank? I'm fairly sure they're wet sump like the rest of the SR's? A bit big for an oil tank also!

it is in fact an oil tank... it flows oil through that large reserve on the spine and also on front down tube down to the motor.

pretty neat!

 

[Brian W.]

alright i wrapped this seat today. It was the first time ive ever done this and was pretty happy with how it turned out! I probably could have stretched it a little tighter, but it was hard to stretch, hold, and rivet all at the same time. I used more than just that 1 pc. of memory foam. I ripped my old seat apart and used some of the denser oem foam and cut it down to about 1" thick. Then i used some headliner adhesive to stick first the oem foam down. then on to sticking the memory foam down.

Stretching and riveting. my hands are sore from this job....

about half way done...

installed...

Im going to be making a little tail fairing to cover this up and house the tail light...

It didnt take the exact shape i thought it would with stretching the vinyl over the foam, but all in all im happy with it. I think once i get a little tail fairing on there it will look a littlebetter.

 

[JRK5892]

ahh man that seat looks AWESOME!!! the whole bike looks killer!

 

[IMOALE]

I dig the seat, have you condsidered making a trip cober for the rivets? Basicaly a second pan to over the rivets. You know just another piece to polish or powder ;D

 

[Brian W.]

I dig the seat, have you condsidered making a trip cober for the rivets? Basicaly a second pan to over the rivets. You know just another piece to polish or powder ;D

Thanks guys. i did think about a pc. that covers the rear, i think im going to make a little sheetmetal tail fairing to hold the taillight and probably paint it black.

 

[patricke9]

Man that looks great, I love the sr500 & can't wait to see it finished up!

 

[Brian W.]

so what happened was. i got a gas tank bank from my painter freind. and then i put it on, that is the only progress that has been made...

...once i make a nice tail fairing for it, ill get that painted gloss black aswell.


in other news we got Ray's RD250 to run. It does the ring a ding ding and all that! Needs some sort of tuning of the carbs though, or maybe we didnt clean them enough. but its starts right up and runs.

 

[Staffy]

Looks great. Need more progress pics now...

 

[CresentSon]

You gotta do something the the power plant and the rims. Everything else looks so sick that the engine and wheels stand out. Any plans?

It really is looking great, keep wrenching brother.

 

[Brian W.]

Looks great. Need more progress pics now...

byahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Sooooo... as stated in my capacitor thread. this bike had been sitting forever. Woody came home for a few days and while he was here he hooked up some electronics, put the stator and flywheel from the old motor on the bike, cleaned out my carb and got this bitch to run!!!!!!!!! Im super grateful as i have that inspiration to work on it back that i havent had for like 9 months or something. Thanks again dude.

anyway... i took a small vid tonight. Its super loud and awesome and i cant wait to ride it. (sounds kinda shitty through this point and shoot camera, but trust me, its sounds GOOD)...

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here are a couple current pics of it.

overall it doesnt look much different than the last time i worked on it. Woody did some stuff, and we finished up the exhaust system so we could run it. I mounted the electronics and tucked the wiring away and ziptied the capacitor up under the seat with the rest of that junk for now. I think im going to try a larger capacitor and see how the light flickering goes...

All she needs now is a chain and some fresh sprockets, tag and title in my name(ha, still havent done that), finish tail fairing, figure out a tail light, maybe find a front fender and trim that up and thats it.

things this bike probably wont have: blinkers, mirrors, a rear brake, rear fender

 

[mikeadamstattoo]

looks awesome! but..

not even one mirror? and NO rear brake?

 

[hillsy]

looks awesome! but..

not even one mirror? and NO rear brake?

I don't think he's finished it yet.

 

[Brian W.]

i have one bar end mirror i might put on it, haha. We shall see. I wont be riding it on highways much and even still ive gotten pretty comfortable riding bikes with no mirrors over time... but you're right, i will probably end up putting one on.

as for the rear brake... i lost all the parts... and i really dont need it. maybe once i find the stuff ill hook it all up, but no time in its near future. I figured id make some rearsets for it eventually and would have to change the linkage up anyway.

 

[Big R]

Might wanna change your mind about that. Somebody is gonna freak out when they read this. Even if you have to jury-rig it to pass some kind of safety test its a great idea to have a back brake. Eventually in the course of your riding lifetime your front brake will fail for some reason and you will NEED a back brake. Sorry if I sound like a ballbuster.