T500 back on the road

[debby]

Winter seemed endless this year. I parked the T500 when the snow started flying back in October and it's been waiting all this time to run again. Finally tonight I felt the time had come. I put the carbs back on, the battery back in, put some gas in the tank, and it fired right up on the second kick! Like I'd just parked it yesterday.

So I took it out for an evening ride, filled up the tank, and rode around for a while. Finally a nice pleasant evening with no rain. The bike is running just fine but the OEM replica shocks I bought from PM are hammering my back. Must Have Hagons!

This weekend is an annual event called the Old Bike Ride. It draws a good turnout from the entire local vintage community, usually over 100 bikes of all ages and makes. This year I'm planning to ride one of my Suzukis, either the T500 or the GS1000. Suzukis are under-represented. If I rode the T500 I'd probably have the only one there.

Debby

[MikeH1A]

Good to get her going again. Have we seen pics of the T500?

Opposite issue down here. It's getting cold and the riding is getting less.

[debby]

Here's a photo from (I think) last year:



The paint and chrome are not show quality, but it's a nice complete original bike, with all the hard to find bits except the handlebars and mirrors. It's running pretty good now too. Jetting was way off when I got it. The bike has Unifilter pods and a later engine but with short manifolds. So the jetting I ended up with is quite a bit different from OEM. The motor has the increased oil capacity, so that's a good thing. A collector would complain that the motor is not original, but I like to actually ride my bikes.

I do have the stock airbox and an OEM filter in new condition, but the rubber boot has gone hard and I couldn't get it to go on the carbs. I know Juggy had some reproduced but I think he sold out of them a couple of years ago.

Debby

[Buffalo-guy]

Debby.
My hats off to ya, for treating a very cool bike, like a bike, and not a mantle piece. Restorations can happen over and over, but a bikes finish is only original once. If somebody gripes about the non original engine, I guess you just show them the door. IMHO. Cheers.
Fred

[MikeH1A]

Looks pretty darn good to me Debby. The only person it needs to appeal to is the owner! I guess that tank rack ain't quite so scary for the fairer sex LOL.

[jkevinlilly]

Very nice looking bike Debby. Don't feel you have to be appologetic to anybody for what you ride as long as it is right for you.

[H2RICK]

Way to go, Debby. It's always nice to hear when a bike fires right up after winter storage. You must have done the storage thing correctly if it fired up that quick.
As to "correctness" of your bike, I can only echo what other posters have said. It's not a trailer queen, it's a rider, so if it works for you ride it and enjoy it.

If I rode the T500 I'd probably have the only one there.

You've probably got the only T500-III in the whole state !!!

[debby]

Just back from the Old Bike Ride. I took the T500. I just had to!

Big turnout, over 100 riders. Only two Suzukis though: my bike and a GS650. I had not only the only T500 but the only two stroke at the ride. So I'm glad I took it.

The bike drew a lot of attention and a lot of complements. It's a trip seeing people taking photos of my bike. The loop was 132 miles for me and went up into the mountains, to 9000 ft. at the high point. The bike did fine. I swapped bikes for a while with a friend, and rode his Norton while he rode my T500. He liked it, but mentioned it felt "choked up" on the top end and suggested pulling the baffles and decoking them. No doubt he's right. I'm not sure how I'm going to get them out though. It looks like a previous owner tried and failed (the cross bar and center cone are missing on the left pipe).

2.5 gallons of gas for 132 miles (indicated). Not bad at all. This is the first big ride I've done on the bike and I think it did very well.

I'll have some photos later.

Debby

[jkevinlilly]

It is fun to be the only two stroke, and always makes for interesting conversation. And in my part of the country it is the norm, not the exception. I have showed up at places with literally hundreds of bikes, and been the only one. . Good to hear you enjoyed it.

Kevin

[oldjapanesebikes]

Sounds like you had a great day !

You could be lucky with the baffles - the PO of mine welded them in !



If you can't pull them out, you may be able to tap/push them out after removing the muffler from the downpipe.