Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500 - New oil tank
- Thread starter Reddy
- Start date
Titan performance
Titan cafe racer builders.
Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500 - Minor frame tweek
Coming on nicely Reddy....still watching with great interest here. I lifted the rear end of my frame to get the right look, just as you have done....in fact Tim and I have done it several times to 500 frames......but we never even thought of bending it, we have allways cut and rewelded them ! Doh !
You've taught us something there........
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzuki_gt500_t500/5009436835/#in/set-72157624667721075
Coming on nicely Reddy....still watching with great interest here. I lifted the rear end of my frame to get the right look, just as you have done....in fact Tim and I have done it several times to 500 frames......but we never even thought of bending it, we have allways cut and rewelded them ! Doh !
You've taught us something there........
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzuki_gt500_t500/5009436835/#in/set-72157624667721075
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Reddy
Old enough to know better
Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500 - Minor frame tweek
Black is not my frame color for this build but I still wish the frame pictured above was mine. I have a ton of work left to do on the frame when I tear this thing down for painting and that just seems to make actually finishing this project way off in the future. I will be doing the frame stiffener tubes as you have done on that frame but they will be close to the oil tank so I am waiting. I am not good at waiting.............
Black is not my frame color for this build but I still wish the frame pictured above was mine. I have a ton of work left to do on the frame when I tear this thing down for painting and that just seems to make actually finishing this project way off in the future. I will be doing the frame stiffener tubes as you have done on that frame but they will be close to the oil tank so I am waiting. I am not good at waiting.............
Titan performance
Titan cafe racer builders.
Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500 - Minor frame tweek
What oil tank have you got coming?
What oil tank have you got coming?
Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500 - Minor frame tweek
Titan,
Stock frames are so thick that they are easy to heat and bend without too much tinning of the tubes. That's why I suggested it - I already did the same thing to a 750 kettle sub-frame and it turned out to be easy to get it right without doing any damage.
What I really like is that way that his seat looks like it was made for that arrangement - very slick.
Nice frame BTW
Titan,
Stock frames are so thick that they are easy to heat and bend without too much tinning of the tubes. That's why I suggested it - I already did the same thing to a 750 kettle sub-frame and it turned out to be easy to get it right without doing any damage.
What I really like is that way that his seat looks like it was made for that arrangement - very slick.
Nice frame BTW
Reddy
Old enough to know better
Re: Little Red - '72 Suzuki T500 - Oil Tank
Got the oil tank! Hotdoggy. Does not mean I am close to finished but this is a major step.
I am more than pleased with the tank. Curt Owen (http://www.anythinggoes74.com/About.html) did an awesome job.
These are pictures that Curt took and sent to me just after finishing the tank.
As you can see all outside corners have been ground smooth. Inside corner are very neat welds.
Here is the tank held in place by an old hammer. Looks good.
The nice screw on polished aluminum filler is centered in the seat cut out.
The hardware is extra and a little pricy. It is however top quality stuff, makes for easy tank installation, and looks fantastic. I am not going to say how much the tank cost me. I felt however that the price for a custom built to my specification tank was more than just reasonable. It was cheap. The extra cost of the hardware was more than offset by what I felt was a very good price on the tank.
Bottom line for me is if I ever need another oil tank I am getting it from Curt. This guy COMMUNICATES. I got four e-mails and more than five phone calls during the course of this transaction. I never felt he was hiding from me. Yes, we had a couple of problems. They were minor and Curt did everything in his power to resolve them in a timely fashion. I could not ask for more. Great product and great sevice.
I will be detailing the actual tank installation in a future post.
Got the oil tank! Hotdoggy. Does not mean I am close to finished but this is a major step.
I am more than pleased with the tank. Curt Owen (http://www.anythinggoes74.com/About.html) did an awesome job.
These are pictures that Curt took and sent to me just after finishing the tank.
As you can see all outside corners have been ground smooth. Inside corner are very neat welds.
Here is the tank held in place by an old hammer. Looks good.
The nice screw on polished aluminum filler is centered in the seat cut out.
The hardware is extra and a little pricy. It is however top quality stuff, makes for easy tank installation, and looks fantastic. I am not going to say how much the tank cost me. I felt however that the price for a custom built to my specification tank was more than just reasonable. It was cheap. The extra cost of the hardware was more than offset by what I felt was a very good price on the tank.
Bottom line for me is if I ever need another oil tank I am getting it from Curt. This guy COMMUNICATES. I got four e-mails and more than five phone calls during the course of this transaction. I never felt he was hiding from me. Yes, we had a couple of problems. They were minor and Curt did everything in his power to resolve them in a timely fashion. I could not ask for more. Great product and great sevice.
I will be detailing the actual tank installation in a future post.
Hoosier Daddy
Earache my eye...
Him does nice work ... yes him does!
Very tidy, Congrats!
Very tidy, Congrats!
Reddy
Old enough to know better
The rear part of the tray will hold my small battery and also provide a structure to hang on the frame and support the rear of the tank. As it turned out my dimensions were off slightly so in order to swing the tank into final position under the frame I had to cut away the front portion of the box. No big deal as that part will be under the gas tank.50gary said:
I don't know the tank capacity at this time. I estimate somewhere between four to six quarts. Overkill for an injector oil tank.
AlphaDogChoppers
Science is true whether you believe in it or not.
Suzuki used to publish performance porting and expansion chamber design for that bike. It would be really cool if you could get your hands on those specs. The T-500 was pretty mildly tuned, and wakes right up with just a little porting, like raising the exhaust ports a millimeter. Slightly larger carbs with pod filters, and a set of expansion chambers, and that baby would really perform.
Edited to add:
Doh! Reading the thread from end toward beginning. I see you have expansion chambers...
Very nice looking, too.
Edited to add:
Doh! Reading the thread from end toward beginning. I see you have expansion chambers...
Very nice looking, too.
Reddy
Old enough to know better
I am kinda waffling on the porting. I know there is easy hosepower to be had with this engine as I am fairly sure it is stock at present. However it is a fresh engine and I think I'll probably just leave it stock for now. I am planning on getting it all put together and ride it for a month or so to sort things out before stripping it down for paint. If I have any doubts about the engine at that time I'll go for the porting. If I think it is strong enough then, well, that will be fine too.AlphaDogChoppers said:
AlphaDogChoppers
Science is true whether you believe in it or not.
If you do decide to port it a little, you will have to increase the compression a bit, too. That is a little more complicated than just raising a port a little. generally involves a machine shop with a lathe big enough to chuck a heat in it.
Reddy
Old enough to know better
Mellow is likely a good description and it may stay that way. I had a Suzuki x6 250 and it was far from mellow. Mellow is ok but if this thing can't "smoke" all the cages then it will need to be "fixed". I have only ridden the bike about 20 miles and that was all at 60mph on the expressway. Did not really get a feel for what she can do.johnu said:
Titan performance
Titan cafe racer builders.
Hey Reddy......my bike has a bit of porting, and I have some original Barton squish heads from the seventies. The bike will show 120 or even a little over, and despite the fact that I have owned R1's for the last 12 years, the old T500 does not feel slow. Whats more, whenever I ride the 500, I've always got a silly grin on my face.
With the stock motor, you can ring 105 to 110 out of them !
With the stock motor, you can ring 105 to 110 out of them !
AlphaDogChoppers
Science is true whether you believe in it or not.
It didn't take much to wake the Titan right up. Just a touch of porting, a little more compression, sock filters, and jetting, and they were a rocket, especially if you had expansion chambers.
Just met a guy yesterday who has a GT185. I've never seen one.
Just met a guy yesterday who has a GT185. I've never seen one.
