Off To The Races - Honda Ascot VT500FT project

[Kettle One]

Hello All,
I decided to start a build thread for my latest project. I picked up a 1984 Honda Ascot VT500FT late last year. It wasn't running but after discovering the root cause of the problem (electrical) she fired right up. Motor sounds very smooth and doesn't need any work but I felt I had to do something to improve the looks. To me the motor is the most attractive feature of this bike, everything else is just fugly (especially that cheese grater under the headlight). Ideas are coming together so stay tuned if interested!
Here's a "before" pic just to get the ball rolling:

 

[Kettle One]

First order of business was to get all the bodywork off to see what we had to work with.

 

[Kettle One]

Second order of business.....ditch those long front forks. The steering stem on this bike is unusually long so after a lot of back and forth (and budget considerations) I decided to look for forks that would fit straight into the stock stem/clamps. Ended up with a very nice pair of forks off a 1990 Honda Hurricane CBR600F.
I think this has improved the stance. These forks are at least 3 inches shorter than stock and they don't have that awful leading axle arrangement. I also wanted to keep the stock front wheel so that was a simple switch of wheel bearings to accommodate the 20mm Hurricane axle.

 

[Kettle One]

Here is my "vision" or at least the picture that I keep going back to as this project progresses.......

 

[Maritime]

Rock solid platform, fugly is true but you are on the right track to get that solved. Love that Honda concept bike, they should build it.

 

[JustinLonghorn]

Further Inspiration:

 

[Joe Suzuki]

Not sure how you get your leg around the air filter, but that's bitchin'.

 

[Kettle One]

Selecting a gas tank for this thing is going to be challenging. The twin tube frame bows outwards to accommodate the air snorkel. I played around with a couple of tanks I had lying around just for fun.
Ducati Supersport - nice wide tunnel but no cutout at the front so it sits right on top of the frame at the headstock. Also too wide at the front restricting turning the bars. Would need some serious modification.
Suzuki GT750 - has a wide enough tunnel to fit and it sits fairly well. Not sure it's the look I want.
Might look into a custom tank. Been in touch with Sean at Roc City so that's a possibility.

 

[Kettle One]

The front disk on the Ascot is on the left side. With the Hurricane forks, the caliper mounts are quite different on each side. The left side appears to have some kind of anti-dive plunger mechanism and a needle roller bearing top mount. The right side looks a lot more straightforward so I flipped the wheel around. I prefer having the caliper on the right from an aesthetic point of view. Should be easier to mount a caliper on the right side. Just need to find a matching right side caliper as the Ascot only had one on the left.

 

[warpedworm]

Looks like a fun project, I'm going to keep an eye on your build. 8)

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Personally I think that Duc tank make the fork angle look all kinds of fucked up... while the Zook tank looks right at home.

Just my 2 pennys worth.

 

[Kettle One]

Yeah I'll wait until I have the seat before I make a call on the tank. I did go ahead and order this seat from Airtech (5 week lead time though). I'll be trimming off the number plate piece underneath to make it look more like the Honda RC in the "vision" pic.

 

[Kettle One]

Scouring the Honda Parts Fiche, I discovered a matching right side caliper off a Sabre VF1100. Found a suitable one on eBay this week. The bracket doesn't work but it will be easy enough to fab one up. Here is the caliper loosely mounted just using the top hole.
After looking at clipon offerings for hours, I went with Woodcraft. More expensive but they are beautifully made and you don't have to remove the top triple clamp to get them on and off.

 

[rundown]

With the wide frame and air box up unde the tank you will probably need the tank off a modern sport bike. The Ducati looks good but doesn't quite fit.

I love the look of v-twins and the Ascot engine is particularly nice. Off to a very good start. Will be watching this one.

 

[Kettle One]

Bit of a change of direction on the front-end......decided to go for a twin disc setup instead of the stock Ascot single disc. I discovered that the twin disc 1984 Honda VF700 front wheel has the same spoke pattern as the Ascot wheel. I found one on eBay in reasonable shape that had the disc rotors still attached. On receiving it I found that the hub is about 8mm wider than the stock hub! Thanks to FastFromThe Past who have a list of common fork center dimensions on their website, I have a stem & trees on the way from a 1983 CX650 Turbo (37mm forks). That should arrive this week. I also now have a pair of CBR600F Hurricane calipers (as it happened the same ones that came off the forks I bought earlier). These calipers are twin pot Nissins and are much smaller and neater than the stock Ascot caliper.
Once the stem arrives, I'll post a few more pics of the whole setup in place.

 

[rundown]

Perhaps a complete, more modern, front suspension would be best, and less expensive if you can get one from a wrecker?

 

[iGreek]

Looks good so far man. I like the inspiration you have for it. Will be following.

 

[Kettle One]

Been off rebuilding a FZR400 Track Bike for the last while, but the Airtech seat arrived yesterday so wheeled the old girl out for some mocking up. The fairing was "borrowed" from the FZR400. The tank is off a Suzuki GS750 with the tunnel widened to fit over the unusual frame of the Ascot. Got the Hurricane forks on with twin slotted discs on the front now. Long way to go but the concept is starting to take shape.