figured I would post one last follow up on my bike.
I finally feel like I have the bike dialed in very nicely. It runs really well, starts up easily and has proven to be very reliable. I have put maybe 500 miles on it over the summer.
I also got some final pictures taken by my photographer friend, Erin.
I also want to request that everyone who reads this go on over to dotheton (link below). The November Bike of the Month contest features three members from this forum, and all three are T500s. Please head on over and check out the site and vote for your favorite.
Hello everyone. I haven't been on this forum in ages. I am still loving my T500 cafe racer. I sorted it all out this past summer and can't wait for next driving season.
One quick question. I have driven this bike two seasons now and really love it. If you followed my build, you can see that its a bare bones type of bike. No horn, no battery, no front signals, no gauges, etc. The only thing I really feel missing from this bike is a tachometer. Now that I am used to this bike, I want to really give it on the back roads, and I don't want to over-rev.
I plan on installing a mini mechanical tach this winter. (I looked into a moto gadget mini electronic tach but that won't work because I am not using a battery). My powerdynamo ignition has an electronic output that will work with an electronic tach, but evidently I need to use a battery, according to PD. With that that being said, I want to get a small, 1.9" mechanical tach. What is the ratio for the T500? I feel like its 4:1 but I am not sure. Secondly, what is the redline on the T500?
You could fit a race tacho like the Scitsu. These are powered by an internal re-chargeable battery and the pick-up/sensor wire is placed alongside the HT lead. They can also be powered by the bikes electrics if fitted or an external PP3 9v battery. Scitsu tacho's are a very common choice in the classic race world.
sbaugz wrote:Hello everyone. I haven't been on this forum in ages. I am still loving my T500 cafe racer. I sorted it all out this past summer and can't wait for next driving season.
It looks fantastic. What bike is the tank off?[/quote]
Its off a 1977-ish yamaha XS750.
I really love that particular tank. Its big (almost 5 gallons), and it has a great shape with knee dents built into tank. I also like that it has a HUGE tunnel, so it can fit over almost any frame backbone or engine. One more thing I like is that it has fuel outlets on both sides, so you can easily run one line to each carb without using a T fitting. Pingel makes an adaptor that works with this tank, allowing a simple gravity petcock to be used. Overall, I cannot say enough good things about these tanks. Oh, and they also make reproduction, brand-new gas caps for pretty cheap too.
i used the same tank on a XS650 build a few years back too. It was easy to swap the mounts around and configure the XS750 tank to work with the XS650 frame.
jabcb wrote:Do you have pics of the tank mounts you used?
not really. I have some pics below but they don't really show the mount all that well.
The XS750 tank uses a cup piece on the tank and the rubber puck is on the frame.
All you need are two of these rubber pucks seen here: https://www.mikesxs.net/yamaha-xs650-fr ... 81-00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
You then have to figure out a way to get those pucks mounted to the frame. In the case of the T500, it was pretty easy. The width of the frame happened to be the exact width between the mounting cups on the tank itself. All you have to do is mark where they should go. I then welded a steel rod to each side of frame. See first pic below. Then you place the rubber puck linked above onto the steel rod (see second pic) and the tank slides right on. Its hard to explain, but easy to figure out.
Take note of the location of the new mounts compared to the stock mounts which are still on the frame slightly in front or and below the new mounts.
IMG_1682 by sbaugz, on Flickr
Motorcycle 14 by sbaugz, on Flickr
Motorcycle 29 by sbaugz, on Flickr
Motorcycle 25 by sbaugz, on Flickr
Motorcycle 22 by sbaugz, on Flickr
Motorcycle 20 by sbaugz, on Flickr
Motorcycle 15 by sbaugz, on Flickr
Motorcycle 07 by sbaugz, on Flickr
