1975 Suzuki T500 IT IS ALIVE! First start video 5/7/11
- Thread starter Wingspan
- Start date
Hoosier Daddy
Earache my eye...
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 Wiring started 4/22/11
BRILLIANT! That is an awesome idea, You know I'm going to use that one, don't you!
Hope to see you there! Can't believe it's that soon already!!!
Wingspan said:I decided to mount the rear indicators on the upper shock mounts. I hate having them at all, but at least they're fairly inconspicuous.
BRILLIANT! That is an awesome idea, You know I'm going to use that one, don't you!
Hope to see you there! Can't believe it's that soon already!!!
jlgace
Active Member
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11
I followed your thread some months ago and just recently got back on the site. I have to say, this isn't quite the outcome I expected. Not saying that in a derogatory way, I was just expecting something, um... closer to stock. You've done a fantastic job as everyone has attested and I appreciate your attention to detail, that's the difference between a winner and a runner up. I would suggest getting some pics that make that blood-red pop to post up for your BOTM nomination.
I followed your thread some months ago and just recently got back on the site. I have to say, this isn't quite the outcome I expected. Not saying that in a derogatory way, I was just expecting something, um... closer to stock. You've done a fantastic job as everyone has attested and I appreciate your attention to detail, that's the difference between a winner and a runner up. I would suggest getting some pics that make that blood-red pop to post up for your BOTM nomination.
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 Wiring started 4/22/11
Go for it, I can't imagine that I'm the first person to put them there. I'll be at RR even if the T500 isn't, hope to see you there.
Thanks everyone for the kind words. Hopefully I'll be able to show it running soon, until then it's just a paperweight.
jlgace- It hasn't turned out quite as I expected either. It's not perfect and certainly not a show bike but I think it'll be fun to putter around on from time to time. It's still very close to stock mechanically. The suspension is all stock (for now at least) and I didn't do any porting or polishing. That's something that I'm sure the project will be (...already has been...) criticized for, but at the end of the day all I really wanted was a mechanically sound and decent looking old bike.
Hoosier Daddy said:
Go for it, I can't imagine that I'm the first person to put them there. I'll be at RR even if the T500 isn't, hope to see you there.
Thanks everyone for the kind words. Hopefully I'll be able to show it running soon, until then it's just a paperweight.
jlgace- It hasn't turned out quite as I expected either. It's not perfect and certainly not a show bike but I think it'll be fun to putter around on from time to time. It's still very close to stock mechanically. The suspension is all stock (for now at least) and I didn't do any porting or polishing. That's something that I'm sure the project will be (...already has been...) criticized for, but at the end of the day all I really wanted was a mechanically sound and decent looking old bike.
rjz5400
grummble grumble
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11
let me just first say that i love this bike. the tank is sick and obviously a lot of work went into polishing the bits and cleaning everything up and it shows, looking very simple and functional.
OK
now for the CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.
the red does not tie in with the aluminum and shiny bits. To me it looks like a red bike slammed into a futuristic TRON aluminum bike. I was trying to think of a way to tie the two together more and here is what i came up with.
1. Use metallic silver paint to accent the fender and seat (stripes or pinstripes)
2. Paint the ring on the headlight bucket with the same red as the rest.
3. Put red pin-striping on the tank contour lines ( not my favorite idea)
4. pick a less standout color than the red to paint the tins
5. make a new seat out of aluminum and polish that as well maybe with a red seat pad, or not.
or any combination of the above
I hope this goes over well and i am not trying to be a dick but it just really seems to need a little back and forth to tie in the top front and the bottom back if you know what i mean.
let me just first say that i love this bike. the tank is sick and obviously a lot of work went into polishing the bits and cleaning everything up and it shows, looking very simple and functional.
OK
now for the CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.
the red does not tie in with the aluminum and shiny bits. To me it looks like a red bike slammed into a futuristic TRON aluminum bike. I was trying to think of a way to tie the two together more and here is what i came up with.
1. Use metallic silver paint to accent the fender and seat (stripes or pinstripes)
2. Paint the ring on the headlight bucket with the same red as the rest.
3. Put red pin-striping on the tank contour lines ( not my favorite idea)
4. pick a less standout color than the red to paint the tins
5. make a new seat out of aluminum and polish that as well maybe with a red seat pad, or not.
or any combination of the above
I hope this goes over well and i am not trying to be a dick but it just really seems to need a little back and forth to tie in the top front and the bottom back if you know what i mean.
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11
I don't have a problem with constructive criticism but at the end of the day we are all building bikes that we like for ourselves. Maybe I wouldn't have a built this bike the same way as Wingspan has but I think he has built a trully sweet cafe racer.
Wingspan, you've created one of those bikes that just begs to be ridden, excellent job!
I don't have a problem with constructive criticism but at the end of the day we are all building bikes that we like for ourselves. Maybe I wouldn't have a built this bike the same way as Wingspan has but I think he has built a trully sweet cafe racer.
Wingspan, you've created one of those bikes that just begs to be ridden, excellent job!
jlgace
Active Member
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11
Pretty sure I was one of those guys endorsing the porting/performance mods,etc. But I'm a function over form type. Having said that, I wouldn't touch that tank. It's perfect. You can do a colour change in an afternoon if you wanted to, but I don't see the need to scar the tank in any way. Thought I would throw my opinion in on that subject with all the others.
Pretty sure I was one of those guys endorsing the porting/performance mods,etc. But I'm a function over form type. Having said that, I wouldn't touch that tank. It's perfect. You can do a colour change in an afternoon if you wanted to, but I don't see the need to scar the tank in any way. Thought I would throw my opinion in on that subject with all the others.
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11
I've tried a few times to come up with an appropriate answer to your post and here's my take on it...
...if you have to hope your comments "go over well" and feel the need to say "I am not trying to be a dick"...maybe you should stop and think about why you feel the need to say that before clicking the post button.
We all have our own tastes and opinions. No one look will satisfy everyone. That's why we're building our own bikes and sharing them here vs. buying some cookie cutter machine that someone else built. This is my bike, the way I want it to look. I'm certain some would do it differently and that's 100% cool with me. The last thing I want to see is another T500 exactly like mine. It's pretty rare that I see a bike that I wouldn't change or do something differently if it were mine so I do understand where you're coming from. However, I'd never feel compelled to list those things to the person who spent their time and efforts building something of their own. Rather I'd learn from that they'd done, both the things I like and not, and incorporate those into my own project wherever I saw fit. More often than not it's the bikes that don't fit my personal taste that I learn the most from because they challenge my own thoughts and preconceptions. A perfect example would be Joeyputt's amazing reverse flow CB550 build. There are many things about that bike that I'd never do to my own but I'm captivated by what he's done and would never...ever...suggest he change anything to suit my personal tastes. I'm building my own bike for that.
So, I appreciate your thoughts but ultimately I'm very happy with the way the bike looks and have no plan to change colors, etc.
rjz5400 said:
I've tried a few times to come up with an appropriate answer to your post and here's my take on it...
...if you have to hope your comments "go over well" and feel the need to say "I am not trying to be a dick"...maybe you should stop and think about why you feel the need to say that before clicking the post button.
We all have our own tastes and opinions. No one look will satisfy everyone. That's why we're building our own bikes and sharing them here vs. buying some cookie cutter machine that someone else built. This is my bike, the way I want it to look. I'm certain some would do it differently and that's 100% cool with me. The last thing I want to see is another T500 exactly like mine. It's pretty rare that I see a bike that I wouldn't change or do something differently if it were mine so I do understand where you're coming from. However, I'd never feel compelled to list those things to the person who spent their time and efforts building something of their own. Rather I'd learn from that they'd done, both the things I like and not, and incorporate those into my own project wherever I saw fit. More often than not it's the bikes that don't fit my personal taste that I learn the most from because they challenge my own thoughts and preconceptions. A perfect example would be Joeyputt's amazing reverse flow CB550 build. There are many things about that bike that I'd never do to my own but I'm captivated by what he's done and would never...ever...suggest he change anything to suit my personal tastes. I'm building my own bike for that.
So, I appreciate your thoughts but ultimately I'm very happy with the way the bike looks and have no plan to change colors, etc.
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11
Bike looks amazing as is, don't change a thing unless you get the itch.
Criticizing a done bike? I don't get it. It reminds me of the "comments" section on bikeexif.com.
Good for you Wingspan, you built a sweet smoker for YOURSELF and you should be very proud!
Bike looks amazing as is, don't change a thing unless you get the itch.
Criticizing a done bike? I don't get it. It reminds me of the "comments" section on bikeexif.com.
Good for you Wingspan, you built a sweet smoker for YOURSELF and you should be very proud!
scioncb450
recta sequi
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11
thats a killer bike! Good idea with the tail lights!
thats a killer bike! Good idea with the tail lights!
Streetfighter89
No regrets, livin' for the day
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11
Can you please make some detail photos of your steeringdampner and its mount?
By the way, looks awesome!
Can you please make some detail photos of your steeringdampner and its mount?
By the way, looks awesome!
tWistedWheelz
BUILT NOT BOUGHT!
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11
Great job, that bike looks fast sitting still! I love it man, and A+ quality work!
Great job, that bike looks fast sitting still! I love it man, and A+ quality work!
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11
Not much to show really. zooke581 gave some insight into the damper on his T500 and I pretty much copied his install. Here's the damper I used:
http://www.fastfromthepast.com/servlet/the-1004/Steering-Damper-Stroke%3D85mm-/Detail
I did a bit of measuring, a lot of eyeballing and drilled a pair of holes to mount it. One in the frame gusset an the other in the lower triple. I showed the lower triple to a few engineer friends at work and they didn't see any structural issues with the hole I drilled in the lower triple. There's actually a matching hole already on the other side for the steering stem lock. I had to use a few washers to shim it for frame clearance but overall it was a very simple install.
Streetfighter89 said:
Not much to show really. zooke581 gave some insight into the damper on his T500 and I pretty much copied his install. Here's the damper I used:
http://www.fastfromthepast.com/servlet/the-1004/Steering-Damper-Stroke%3D85mm-/Detail
I did a bit of measuring, a lot of eyeballing and drilled a pair of holes to mount it. One in the frame gusset an the other in the lower triple. I showed the lower triple to a few engineer friends at work and they didn't see any structural issues with the hole I drilled in the lower triple. There's actually a matching hole already on the other side for the steering stem lock. I had to use a few washers to shim it for frame clearance but overall it was a very simple install.
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11
I feel like you should sand down the surface rusty part of your frame and paint it semi gloss black...also you should take a heat gun to the sticker on your steering dampner and remove it for a cleaner look. And what is going on with the PVC on your garage wall man, seriously! ;D b
I feel like you should sand down the surface rusty part of your frame and paint it semi gloss black...also you should take a heat gun to the sticker on your steering dampner and remove it for a cleaner look. And what is going on with the PVC on your garage wall man, seriously! ;D b
Re: 1975 Suzuki T500 PAINT! New pics 5/1/11
I just don't know how many times we have to go through this. Look, we all have our on tastes with regard to how and where PVC should be used. I like to use PVC to make racks for transporting my RC planes in my car, and I happen to hang it on my garage wall when not in use. If you don't like my PVC then I suggest you get your own. It's this kind of judgemental attitude that will ruin DothePVC.com.
crush1776 said:
I just don't know how many times we have to go through this. Look, we all have our on tastes with regard to how and where PVC should be used. I like to use PVC to make racks for transporting my RC planes in my car, and I happen to hang it on my garage wall when not in use. If you don't like my PVC then I suggest you get your own. It's this kind of judgemental attitude that will ruin DothePVC.com.
