epidemiks
New Member
So after returning to Australia and leaving my Srey Khmau behind, the urge to hit the streets, but on something with a little more go than a clapped out old taiwanese 125cc clone.
So I picked up a 250 nighthawk or "CB250 Two Fifty" as they are named here. It's ugly and slow, but no one touches them so thought it could be an interesting project.
Then along came an ebay deal which couldn't be passed up: an 81 XL500S with registration and roadworthy
Forks are dropped 65mm in the triples for
Rationale: part street brat/tracker, part dual sport tourer. Road legal (fenders, light, reams of design regulations). Not a sunday rider, needs to be a capable daily ride and be loaded up for travel.
Plans:
- Swap out the 23" front for a 19" rim. If I win the lotto, I'll put a new front end on with disc brake.
- Rebuild front suspension, currently feels like riding on a marshmallow. Hard to tell if the front tyre is on the road when taking off at the lights
- Engine is solid, so won't do much other than pretty it up. It's got a black wrinkle on it now, but looks very shabby. Leaking oil from the rocker spindle. New o-rings should fix that up.
- 36 or 38 Mikuni VM, reading conflicting reports about which is better suited to this bike
- 12v conversion
- Discreet LED lights all round, LED headlight and some 2000lm running lights. Nothing I hate more than not being able to see at night.
- Declutter handlebars, smaller controls, new speedo.
- Discrete electrics under seat, small li-ion battery
- Wiring seems mostly in tact, so may be able to salvage majority of it, though I do like the idea of a spanking new harness from Sparck moto. Depends on budget
- Ditch the farm-made rack at the back and possibly devise a removable sleek luggage/touring rack to facilitate trips to the bottle o
- cut off the back, new subframe to flatten things out. Need to discuss with the fabricator down the block. I want to keep the angle of the rear suspension as it's a significant part of the style of the bike, so will need expert advice on remaking the rear end of the frame.
- Custom fabbed alu tracker tail/fender
- fork brace with fender, ditch the high fender
- new exhaust, exiting under the seat much like the Swart Gevaar
Colour:
- Leaning towards black, white and green.
- Black bed liner to frame
- Hand painted/stencilled white/green tank courtesy of an artist friend
- green leather seat
Tyres:
- Conti Escape, Shinko 705's, or ..?
Timeline: would be nice to be done by summer, but I'm short of space, tools, and know-how, so we'll see!
Inspiration:
Los Muertos' Swart Gevaar, as it's one of the few xl500 customs out there
CRD's dominator nx650
this twin shock conversion nx650 is interesting
I'm quite partial to the FTR223. Would love one of these to work with, but importing one is a whole lotta trouble.
First up will be the 12v conversion and then ripping it down for the frame mods. Tag along if you're interested.. I'll be needing copious amounts of noob advice!
So I picked up a 250 nighthawk or "CB250 Two Fifty" as they are named here. It's ugly and slow, but no one touches them so thought it could be an interesting project.
Then along came an ebay deal which couldn't be passed up: an 81 XL500S with registration and roadworthy
Forks are dropped 65mm in the triples for
Rationale: part street brat/tracker, part dual sport tourer. Road legal (fenders, light, reams of design regulations). Not a sunday rider, needs to be a capable daily ride and be loaded up for travel.
Plans:
- Swap out the 23" front for a 19" rim. If I win the lotto, I'll put a new front end on with disc brake.
- Rebuild front suspension, currently feels like riding on a marshmallow. Hard to tell if the front tyre is on the road when taking off at the lights
- Engine is solid, so won't do much other than pretty it up. It's got a black wrinkle on it now, but looks very shabby. Leaking oil from the rocker spindle. New o-rings should fix that up.
- 36 or 38 Mikuni VM, reading conflicting reports about which is better suited to this bike
- 12v conversion
- Discreet LED lights all round, LED headlight and some 2000lm running lights. Nothing I hate more than not being able to see at night.
- Declutter handlebars, smaller controls, new speedo.
- Discrete electrics under seat, small li-ion battery
- Wiring seems mostly in tact, so may be able to salvage majority of it, though I do like the idea of a spanking new harness from Sparck moto. Depends on budget
- Ditch the farm-made rack at the back and possibly devise a removable sleek luggage/touring rack to facilitate trips to the bottle o
- cut off the back, new subframe to flatten things out. Need to discuss with the fabricator down the block. I want to keep the angle of the rear suspension as it's a significant part of the style of the bike, so will need expert advice on remaking the rear end of the frame.
- Custom fabbed alu tracker tail/fender
- fork brace with fender, ditch the high fender
- new exhaust, exiting under the seat much like the Swart Gevaar
Colour:
- Leaning towards black, white and green.
- Black bed liner to frame
- Hand painted/stencilled white/green tank courtesy of an artist friend
- green leather seat
Tyres:
- Conti Escape, Shinko 705's, or ..?
Timeline: would be nice to be done by summer, but I'm short of space, tools, and know-how, so we'll see!
Inspiration:
Los Muertos' Swart Gevaar, as it's one of the few xl500 customs out there
CRD's dominator nx650
this twin shock conversion nx650 is interesting
I'm quite partial to the FTR223. Would love one of these to work with, but importing one is a whole lotta trouble.
First up will be the 12v conversion and then ripping it down for the frame mods. Tag along if you're interested.. I'll be needing copious amounts of noob advice!
