I thought I'd share a few pics from my T500 project. I'm not sure what it'll end up looking like, but probably closest to the cafe-styling thing. I'm not one to cover my bike in checkered stripes and dress up like an extra from "Happy Days", though. I'm keeping it close to stock mechanically, just dressing up the styling a bit. My ultimate goal is just for something cool and fun to putter around on and maybe cruise to the odd vintage bike night.
I'm still sort of mocking up the bike and working out the big details. Here's the new seat and rearsets mounted. The Clubman bars aren't staying, I've got a set of clip-ons ordered. The stock pipes will likely be replaced as well. Still a long way to go, but I hope to have her on the road this coming spring.
They weren't cheap but I'm satisfied with the quality and as we all know, there aren't a lot of outfits still developing new parts for these bikes. I'm considering a set of their expansion chambers as well.
those look pretty cool. i like the chrome expansion chambers. they would look awesome on my bike. for yours if you ran the black ones and then did the exhaust wrap on the header pipes i think it would look awesome.
if you do go the route of new pipes. are you going to sell your stock ones??
crash277 wrote:those look pretty cool. i like the chrome expansion chambers. they would look awesome on my bike. for yours if you ran the black ones and then did the exhaust wrap on the header pipes i think it would look awesome.
if you do go the route of new pipes. are you going to sell your stock ones??
I'm leaning toward their stainless steel chambers and having my header tubes ceramic coated. I'm not big on the header wrap. It does work on some projects, but I generally think it's just a cheap and lazy way to cover rusty pipes.
If I do go with new pipes, I would be interested in selling the stock parts. They have the scuffs and scrapes that you'd expect on parts this age, but nothing major and no dents that I've found. I won't be returning this bike to stock, so whatever I don't use will be up for grabs if there are folks who would want it.
Suzukidave wrote:Another good source for rearsets is look on ebay for some off a Suzuki GSXR http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid ... Categories" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The gsxr rearsets are a good option if you've got pipes that allow enough clearance. The stock Suzuki shift arm won't clear the stock pipes.
I've decided that my stock tank simply won't do, so it's been boxed up and set to Sean at Roc City Cafe Racers to use for reference. He's going to hammer out an aluminum GP style tank for me. It'll take a while to get, so I'm moving on and stripped the bike down today. Still need to get the lower triple off. The nuts are being difficult, so their going to get good Kroil soaking and I'll try again later.
How much is he charging you to make up a tank in aluminum? Are you going for the TR500 style or some other style tank? BTW...I picked up some very nice rearsets from http://www.motobits.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. They are perfect for me because they have lot of adjustment options and the length is good for my size 13 feet. The quality is great. I think they cost me $110 which includes everything except for the mounting plates, which I had to make up custom anyway. I plan to use them on future cafe builds.
Chris
'76 TR500 Style Cafe
'75 T500 - Cafe Build Underway
'78 Honda CB 750 Super Sport
I don't have a set price for the tank yet, but I'm expecting something in the $800-$1000 range. The post office dropped off my stock tank to him yesterday and we haven't nailed down the particulars yet. It will be a gp style tank, but not a direct TR500 copy.
I just spoke to Sean @ Roc City on the phone. He's received my stock tank and said he'll get back to me in a day or so when he's had a chance to look at it and get a better idea on cost etc. My tail and clip-ons are also from them.
Tearing her down for a general freshening up. Not really looking to up the Hp, just new crank seals and whatever needs to be done to bring the cylinders back to life. I'll know more on that end once I've got them measured and see if we can go with a hone and new rings or if I need to go oversize.
