Well, I appreciate the chance to be featured as a BOTM. I am having some professional photos taken this weekend, so keep an eye out for those.
I have been on this forum for many years. During that time, I have built and sold numerous bikes. I feel like all those other bikes have led up to this T500. This was the first bike that I built with the intent of keeping, and never selling. It was a labor of love. Probably won't build any more after this one, due to time and other concerns. So, I really appreciate the opportunity to showcase it here.
Most importantly, I drive this bike. Since completion 6 weeks ago, I have put about 500 miles on it. Its been to BrewTown Rumble, Rockerbox, Motorcycles of Milwaukee bike show, and numerous bike nights. I also drive it to work. Its surprisingly comfortable and drive-able. I tried to make it very functional as well- reliable ignition, good quality Avon tires, front and rear fenders, stock brakes, basically stock engine, modern electronics, etc.
Picked it up last summer for $600. It was a rusted POS. Surprisingly, it started right up after 20 years of sitting outside in Alabama. I then proceeded to completely take it apart and replace, restore or rejuvenate every single part on the bike.
Special thanks to the following vendors:
- Titan Performance for the rearsets
- Higgspeed for the chambers
- Bedlam Werks for the aluminum seat and upholstery
- PowerDynamo for the electronic ignition
- Paul Miller for the extremely expensive complete front and rear wheels made from NOS parts
- ARTISTIMO (aka Jason LaCavalier) for the incredible paint job
- Bill Bune Enterprises for the engine work (boring, wiseco pistons, media blasting cases, rebuilding crank).
First pic is as I got it. Last pic is the finished bike
IMG_1682 by
sbaugz, on Flickr
Motorcycle 14 by
sbaugz, on Flickr