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Here is the street version of my dash with an acewell speedo/tach. I also swapped to a GT550 top tree and filled in the riser holes and smoothed it all out. I also have a CHT gauge hooked up to help prevent any major problems with jetting from damaging the engine internals. That gauge is attached to the upper fork just under the top clamp with a stainless clamp and a pod adapter to cover the back of the gauge. I went to this setup after deciding to run the bike on the street and make things more legal.
Here are a set of headlight stays off ebay that i ended up modifying to make much shorter, bringing the headlight in closer to the frame. I cut and re-welded the stainless tubing and then polished them back up. The turn signals are mounted with a bracket off the bottom clamp for the headlight bracket.
This is an earlier version of my tail light and turn signal setup. I epoxyed a bracket to the bottom of the integrated seat/tank (couldn't bolt anything direct or I'd have a bit of a leak). I have since changed that setup to a small LED tail light that also has integrated turn signals and moved the plate to a bracket off the lower shock mount. It made for a much cleaner look, plus that plate mount was too close to the rear tire. I ripped the damn thing off going down the road on on of my break in rides. I'll post another pic later with the new setup.
The rear brake light switch is mounted using a small aluminum bracket I made up and attached to the backside of the rearset mounting plate. It shares the same bolt as the adjustable brake cable stay to try and keep things as clean as possible.
Thanks guys!
The process I followed for the switch is
1 strip out all the internals
2 glass bead blast the aluminum case
3 prime and paint with gloss rattle can black
4 for the lettering, I use oil base painters "burnt orange" that you can buy in a small tube from an art supply or craft store. Use a small paiters brush to paint the orange over the letters...lay it on heavy to fill the void where the lettering indentations are in the casting. Then, put a real small amount of wd 40 on your finger and wipe across the lettering in a fast swiping motion..not too heavy...not too light removing the orange paint from all but the indentations for the lettering. Then you need to let the orange paint dry for a good 2-3 days because it takes a long time to dry and will smug if you touch it too early.
5. Reassemble the switch using electical grease on the moving parts and your done.
I have done a couple switches using this technique and it works great. I have seen others use the same technique with success. Holds up real well.
The integrated seat/oil tank works great on a 2 stroke. It opens up the middle of the bike and cuts weight by making one part serve two purposes.
I have a question for you. I have a 74 T500 that I need all new oil lines for. Do you have a source for these by any chance? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
I have a question for you. I have a 74 T500 that I need all new oil lines for. Do you have a source for these by any chance? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
I only wish I knew. I'm afraid they are no longer available from the dealer and nothing in the aftermarket as far as I can find. The best option you have is to search ebay on a regular basis. Used items come up once in a while for fairly reasonable prices and nos come up very infrequent and when they do they end up costing big $$. There are also some UK part dealers like http://www.robinsonsfoundry.co.uk/ that have pretty large nos inventories of suzuki parts. I was able to get the rubber motor mounts and a crank seal...both are no longer available from any American dealers.
No problem. One other thing i forgot to mention. After you swipe over the lettering there may be a little bit of orange paint residue still around the letters. Take a q-tip with a little more wd-40 and wipe around the letters removing the remaining small amount of paint. Good luck with it.
When I was planning for this to be a race bike, I shaved all the tabs and stands off the frame. Then, of course I changed my mind late in the build and decided to make it streetable. So what to do about a kick stand? I did some research and this is what I came up with.
This weld on Triumph kickstand bracket made for older Triumph's off ebay:
This Triumph Street triple aluminum kickstand. I found out that all Triumphs use the same kickstand pivot bolt, so I knew at least that part would fit ok and I rolled the dice a little and got one from ebay used for around $25. I had to make some small modifications grinding a little off the back so that the spring to work with the older style bracket. I also painted it black instead of the silver so it would blend into the frame and not stand out...looking too modern.
Here is the end result on the bike. I mounted it a little further forward than a stock kickstand would go so that it would work with the exhaust and rearsets. It looks a lot cleaner because it tucks up against the frame and its a lot lighter than the stock stand. This mod could probably work on any cafe build.
Concerning your left hand control switch: How did you do it? Painting it black is not the problem, but how did you colour the writing on it without ruining the black finish?
That is the hardest part to get right. You need to let the black paint completely dry before doing the lettering. Then, the trick around getting the orange paint off is with the use of WD-40 lubricant on your finger and the swiping motion used across the lettering so that you leave the paint inside the letters, but take it off the surrounding black paint. It takes a little practice to get it down. good luck
Here is a link to a thread that shows pics how to do the restoration of the switch...plus a lot more of your electrical stuff. Allen on the sundial board is a wizard at this stuff...he can restore pretty much anything!!
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