FT500 Supermoto Hellride

It's nice to see a FT500 getting some love. These were a solid bike, yeah, not HUGELY exciting, but solid and reliable. They suffered from the design trends of the day and lots of them seem to be hiding away in the background, off in a quiet and dusty corner, because they aren't hyper or sexy (as is). Eric has, now more than once, proven that one of Honda's ugly ducklings, if given some love, can be a capable, fun ride, and is worthy of attention. Good work, Irk.
 
Lots of seat posts, but it’s been a bit-by-bit process getting here. The final body work on the tail is done, and I got the seat formed this weekend. Waiting on the cover material. Winter break from teaching is in 15 days, so I hope to get a chunk done by January.

FB29CE88-CB6E-4424-A771-FDD28E2B1580.jpeg
 
Hello
To be honest, I thought that those side covers look bulky and off.
But now, with that seat and tail, it fits right in :)
Very fun looking project. I am excited :D
 
Normally not a fan of the flat track seat cowls (except on an actual racing flat-tracker). BUT! This works soooo well!
 
that looks excellent. Made for the bike 100%. Honda should have put that seat on that bike from the start.
 
A friend of mine in the area has a 500 Ascot. I enjoy seeing it because it's a unique old piece, but I'll never look at it the same again, knowing the potential it has.
 
I like flat track or street tracker looks but the bodywork is rarely well integrated and tank and seat and side panels rarely look right together. It's like the parts came from different bikes or different parts bins

But you have totally nailed the look. Tank,seat and side covers are freeking perfect. Nice work.
 
Man, thanks so much fellas. Mainly trying the beat the 80s out of this thing. LOL
 
Working out a headlight and shroud. I await an 85 XR250L headlight assembly from Ebay and a second XR650 shroud. In the meantime, I am trimming down another shroud for a small visor/windshield. Hoping to paint the tail this weekend.
ft500_fairing.jpg
 
This bike is really coming together nicely, great lines! Do you plan on upgrading the front brake? Keep up the good work !
 
I will be watching to see what you do up front. When I built the Phat Trakka, I used a pair of driving lights for low and high beams but to be honest, they could barely generate enough light see the front wheel and even then it looked like a film noir streetlamp seen.

So then I tried LED bulbs. Much whiter but still no depth of beam - hardly surprising. Then I went through a basket load of small LED lights and in the end had to fit a 5.75" LED headlamp without a shell but using a mounting ring.

That provided a great beam pattern and lights up the road effectively but looks like crap with the original front race type number plate. The current solution is a small "screen" above the headlamp but it looks a bit odd to my eyes - not like a tracker at all.

I did try a dual sport aftermarket number plate with small square light but it didn't look right either.

So I am hoping you come up with something that looks right that I can adapt for the fat gurl.
 
Back
Top Bottom