Suzuki Titan reborn....

Titan performance

Titan cafe racer builders.
The time has come to refurbish my old T500M.
I fully appreciate the fabulous work some members have done restoring bikes to better than new condition, but that's not for me. I want my bike to look how I would have wanted it to look back in the day. I have had this bike since 1977, but haven't really used it since the mid 80's. I refurbed it back in 85, and painted it that nasty blue, before touring through nine countries, ending in Italy, in 1986. The trip took me across the Swiss Alps, and consequently the bike has been affectionately known as the Alpina ever since.
Sadly, after the trip, the bike was unused, and spent far too long in a damp garage, where it became furry, and somewhat corroded.
For the last three years, it has been used as a mule for trial fitting parts in our workshop, but now it's time has come.
For me, the identity of the T500 is the distinctive tank, and the Maui blue colour, so I shall be keeping that. I will be fitting one of our cafe seat units, also painted to match the tank, and I will be incorporating T500 ALPINA in the graphics on the seat. The side panels are gone, and I shall be using an alloy keg style oil tank across the frame. It will have the finished version of the prototype pipes it is wearing in the picture below, and rather than a full cafe look, I'm going to use flat, Vincent bars mounted to one of our custom top yokes. Titan rearsets naturally, though changed a little as there will be no pipe on the left to worry about. Instruments will be the mini polished stainless style, and I have ordered a full set of grey cables from Paul Miller.
 

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The wheels in the above picture are Borannis that I have had for over 30 years, and they are lovely. I have had them polished, and relaced with stainless spokes, and have ordered a pair of Avon Road Riders.
The frame has been media blasted bare, and powder coated metallic grey. I've added the frame brace more for the balanced look it gives to the frame, than necessity, and also added a little cross mount to hang the new oil tank.
 

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These bikes are so lovely and simple.......
The frame was coated a couple of weeks back now, and things have moved on a little.
The tank has been blasted too, and been thoroughly cleaned inside. There are a couple of minor dents, and some rust pin holes low down on one side. I shall get these lead filled, and seal the inside of the tank to be sure. I have cut off the fastenings from the neck of the filler that mount the stock cap, as I shall be using a beautiful 2.5" Monza cap.
 

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This is the yoke we have had made......the T yoke is quite different to the GT, and needs some counter boring to make it fit over the legs and the stem. I have some nice Yam handlebar clamps which will drop through the M10 holes. The smaller M6 holes will support a stainless clock mount that I will design, and have water jet cut from 2mm sheet.
 

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Ace work as we'd expect from you and your crew. Never been a personal fan of the two stroke, but I admire the engineering and simplicity.

Hope you have better luck than I did getting the wheels built for less than the National Debt !

I use Speedway wheel builders wherever possible - they don't seem to be in the same Cartel as the main wheel builders.
 
Funny you should say that Beach....our guy is exactly that ! and reasonable too !

We have tidied up the loom, and created a tray to mount the battery, and electrical components under the seat hump. The new oil tank will hang from the new bracket on the frame rails, and will be polished when completed.

A lot of the new chrome work came back today too......nice !
 

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My new oil tank will hang across the frame, and will be polished once completed.
 

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I liked the look of some Yamaha handle bar mounts that we had laying around the work shop.....
 

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Mounting a fibre glass seat unit is never an easy task, but the last batch of seats we had made, were extra heavy, and don't need any additional support. I made a simple tongue that bolts on at the tank mount, and a catcher for it on the bottom of the seat. Some thick rubber strips stuck inside the unit where it sits on the frame tubes should keep it comfortable.
A hoop bonded inside the seat hump at the rear, bolts through the frame to secure the unit.
 

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I decided to polish the switch blocks, as the black paint had seen better days. There are a surprising number of small components in these units when you come to reassemble them....
 

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Things are progressing steadily....I made a school boy error with the top yoke sadly, and the dimensions were incorrect, so we had to start again with a new one, which has delayed things a little, but the new, corrected version is near complete, and just needing a polish before bolting on.
The bike is now on it's wheels, with the forks just held by the bottom yoke for now. The engine is going to be soda blasted complete. I have plugged the barrels and it goes for blasting on 04/04. Once clean, I shall fit the engine and try to start it before removing the outer cases for polishing. I have cleaned and rejetted the carbs, and the body work is with my mate Pete, for painting. There was a slight issue, as Maui blue is now an historic colour, and no longer available, but Pete has matched it to a Diahatsu colour, which looks the same to me. I'm going to get the water jet cutters to cut me a clock mount that we have designed from 2mm stainless, along with a front fender brace which we have also drawn up......this project needs to move fast, as I plan to take this bike to this year's Isle of Man TT on the 24th of May !
 

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The original head lamp on these old Suzukis is useless, so I have upgraded to a GS500 headlamp that I found on ebay for a bargain price.
 

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I took my engine for soda blasting as booked for friday the 4th......but sadly the machinery had failed and it wasn't done.......6 weeks tomorrow until the TT....gulp !
My engine still looks like this................
 

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Fortunately, things went a little better on the fender stay.....though we will make some small changes to the design next time around, just to make it easier to bend. We used 2mm stainless for this piece, as, although thinner would be easier to shape, the 2mm gives the item some rigidity, and it feels like it is performing as a brace.
The stainless fender has been cut to length and shaped......and is then bonded to the new stay.
 

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Better news today.......engine cleaned, oil tank assembled, and instrument mount folded.
 

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