1975 Suzuki T500 IT IS ALIVE! First start video 5/7/11

Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11

touche, wingspan.
points well taken and good show.
:-X
was probably just jealousy anyway, and the fact that i did not realize the painting of the tins was the last thing done on the bike.


I usually welcome opinions while working along, but after it is done she is done.


Carry on...
 
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11

And PVC makes a damn good boat stand too! (for those of us who are "more than two channels" challenged) ;)

 
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11

Wow, so, I just read all 37+ pages of this project in a long evening. Wingspan, this is a awesome build. I myself just inherited a '74 T500 with only 5k miles, and really didn't know what to do with it. This.... this gives me ideas.

Thanks for your detailed work log!!!!
 
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11

IT IS ALIVE!!!!!!!!

Today's checklist...

Service and bleed oil injection...check
Add Gas....check
KICK THIS PIG....CHECK

:D :D :D :D :D :D

I can't seem to embed the video...so here's the link. Hopefully someone smarter than I can make the embed thing work.

Note: this is the VERY first start. All carb settings and adjustments are "out of the box" so to speak. No tuning has been done yet.

http://youtu.be/9ShfKZ1Ylcw

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
 
Sounds pretty rightious to me. Love that sound. No other two-stroke sounds like a T500. Sounds pretty close at idle and revs but you will know under a load if you need to make changes.
 
Thanks guys. :) It's a pretty happy day. I haven't heard the bike run since the day bought it early last year. I even took her for a short spin around the neighborhood. :) :) :) :)

Now on the list of detail items.
 
CONGRATS!!!! I love the video! Reminds me of when I start a bike for the first time, shakin like a dog shitting razorblades.
But I have never had so much trouble trying to embed one. It's going to take better man than I. ::) Somethings changed.
 
Thanks guys. :)

Yesterday I put the airbox on and wow...did it make it run like crap. I played with the needles a bit and improved it but quickly realized that the airbox makes everything a PITA to work on. I also couldn't get the oil pump cover off to adjust the pump with the airbox in place. So...pods it is. I ordered a pair of UNI's this morning and hopefully they'll be here in a few days. I had already ordered larger jets just in case I changed my mind about the airbox so changing jets was my first order of business for today. When I got to the garage I found a bit of gas weeping from one of the float bowl gaskets. That usually means a needle valve or float issue, so it turns out the carbs needed to come back off anyway.

Draining the bowls:

t500%20740-L.jpg


Turns out the float height was off in the leaky carb, not sure how that happened. Everything else looked ok. Oh well, no biggie. Hopefully that fixes it. These VM carbs are amazingly simple to work on. Much easier than other carbs I've messed with in the past.

t500%20738-L.jpg


Work continues... :)
 
Just took an hour and read your entire build thread. This bike just sucks. Oh wait--sorry--that's what I thought when I saw MY bike after looking at yours for a while. I recall reading that you considered piecing it back together with a bit of "patina" showing here and there back toward the beginning of the build. Well, I'm glad you didn't. That's the luxury of owning more than one motorcycle. It's pretty cool that I happened to join this site right as your build was nearing completion. It's like watching every season of a TV show on Netflix, just in time to catch the series finale on TV.

On a random note, those exhausts sound great, and I'm sure people will be tearing neck muscles when that thing cruises down the street. My family used to own a motocross track; that exhaust note reminds me a bit of the hopped-up Yamaha Banshees that I saw from time to time. I can smell the race gas now....hmmmm. Good stuff.
 
LOL! Thanks. It's certainly a sound that most people aren't used to hearing from a street bike. Sad that the large two stroke has disappeared from the American highway system. That's part of the reason I went looking for a smoker...and to piss off the greenies in their Prius. I can't wait to smoke one up at a stop light. :)

I'm finished working for the weekend. I have the carbs back together with the larger jets and so far there has been no sign of gas on the left carb float bowl. We'll see if that's still true tomorrow. I also rewrapped the tach wire and added a resistor (supplied w/Acewell). Hopefully that will calm down the tach reading. The exhausts were leaking slightly at the header/chamber joint so I pulled the chambers and gave the joints a bead of high-temp RTV. I want to let it cure until tomorrow before I run the bike again. Lastly, I shortened the first brake cable. I'll do the second tomorrow.

Oh, and I set the clock. ;)

t500%20743-L.jpg
 
I finished shortening the brake cables this morning. It looks a lot better without those big loops in the cables. I also got the speedometer sensor sorted out, it mounts to the brake strut on the left side. I used some heat shrink tubing to run the sensor wires with the left side brake cable.

t500%20747-XL.jpg


Much better:

t500%20759-L.jpg


Next I turned my attention toward making a license plate mount. I'm generally not a fan of side mounted plates, but I'm making an exception in this case. There isn't a lot of tire clearance for mounting the plate under the tail. I could have made it work, but decided to stick it on the side.

First I made a paper template:

t500%20750-L.jpg


And transferred the shapes to some steel:

t500%20751-L.jpg


A little time with an angle grinder, belt sander and drill press:

t500%20752-L.jpg


Ready for paint:

t500%20754-L.jpg


t500%20753-L.jpg


You may have noticed that there are two sets of holes in the license plate portion of the mount. Vertical plates are technically illegal here in Indiana but I see them all the time. If/when Johnny Law gives me a hard time about it the holes are already there it mount the plate horizontally:

t500%20755-L.jpg


I still have an issue with the left carb. There was no fuel on the carb when I came out this morning, but after a few laps around the block it had returned. This is discouraging, I won't be able to get a new needle valve in time for Rocker's Reunion on Saturday.
 
Mark.....it's bloody great !
your points earlier in the thread about personal tastes are bang on. Your bike looks different to the cafe 500's Tim and I build, but I can still appreciate the work you have done, and the end result is an absolute eye full ! You are seriously going to turn heads with this beauty !

I'm glad to hear you have succumbed, (is that right?)...to dumping the airbox. Bigger jets and pods definitely releases these motors. Did you start at 120 mains as I suggested?.....it works ok for us. I dont use filters, and with my ported motor....I use 130's
 
Thanks guys. :)

TP- Yes, the airbox is out and pods are in. I've got a set of UNI foam type filters on order. The carbs now have 120 mains installed. As of now I believe I have two problems. First is a possible bad needle valve in the left carb. When I run the bike a get a slow weep of fuel from the float bowl gasket. I reset the float height yesterday, so I'm thinking it has to be the valve. Next is possibly a needle adjustment issue. The bike idles pretty well and accelerates off idle fine. At about 25mph it hits a wall sputters and loses acceleration. Once past this area it runs smoothly again and accelerates fine. I have the needle clips in the #4 position (counting from the top) currently. Am I correct In thinking I'm lean and should raise the needle again by moving the clip to the bottom #5 position?

Tuning carbs isn't something I have a lot of experience at. Most of my other bikes have been injected.
 
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