Suzuki 2 Strokes

Hey everyone,

I'm fairly new to the motorcycle world, and the restoration bug has hit me. My grandfather used to ride a 1972 T500J (green and white) way before I was born.
I am itching to get my hands on one. Any recommendations? tips? books? or "DONT DO IT" comments?....anything you can say would be highly welcomed.

I'm not necessarily looking to do a full ground up restoration, so if someone has one out there that is in good condition, and in the U.S. I'm definitely interested.

Looking forward to chatting with everyone.

Fed

Hello Fed,

Welcome. The usual classic bike advice applies. One as original as possible with no missing parts, running already is good. You can spend a fortune restoring a bike, enthusiasm sort of runs away with you . A full on resto is not essential however, the preference for retaining hard won patina is also valued these days.

Cheers Geoff

Check out the OZEbook facebook page.....they often pop up on there, mostly in the US.
Suzuki T500/GT500/TR500 Enthusiasts -

Hi Fed,

Welcome to one of the best forums I have come across. These bikes have a lot of character and you will enjoy it but don`t get too carried away as it can get expensive. But you will enjoy it.

good luck

Eamonn

A few things I learned with my T350 (very similar to the 500) restoration: (1) Pipes without damage (dents, bad road rash) are a big deal. You can re-chrome them (however pretty expensive), but damage is terminal. (2) I would certainly stay away from any "cafe racer" models, especially with frame modifications. As said above, the closer to stock the better. (3) Good set of carbs is high on my list. finding replacements can be a real hassle as many of them have the bodies tweaked and will cause major grief trying to get the slides to work properly. (4) Having a title and current license is also good, although depending where you are, may not be hard to get. Mine did not and it was a minor hassle here in California to get all that straightened out. Good luck to you!