Suzuki 2 Strokes

T500...what front end with disc will be a straight swap beside the gt500.

Are you thinking about modifying that sweet original T500 that you just acquired?

Hi John,

Just a thought, but I recently saw that Martin Crooks had a set of T500 f/brake shoes of the Ferodo "green" AM4 type for sale. These were used by many when proddie racing back in day and provide much better performance. An easy alternative to a front end swap.

Cheers Geoff

my family was getting at me to get better brakes after my last T500 back in 2004.
I fitted those ferodo brake shoes on my last bike weren't much better than the ones that was already on.
I wont know for sure what I'll do till I ride the bike.

The brake cam grease is often completely gone & the brake cam to brake panel metal-on-metal friction makes for crapy performance. I’ve found that properly lubricating the brake cam + cable + lever makes a big difference. That plus modern shoes gives reasonable performance. Arcing the shoes to match the drum will give another boost to performance.

A GT500 front end would be the easiest swap.
Next easiest would be a GT500 triple tree + 35mm fork assembles from a GT or GS Suzuki.

The GS Suzuki forum guys figured out how to mount modern brake rotors + twin-piston calipers on GT/GS forks.
We did that on the GT250 cafe build: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=12998&start=30
The results are actually quite good.

An early GT550 or GT750 front end fits - with a 4LS brake. Better than a disc. A good mate has that set up on his T500.