Trying to get a ‘75 T500 running

[ACL9000]

Hey everyone! I’m new here but I should have joined a long time ago.

I have a T500 that I bought in 2013 or 2014 but have never really been able to ride.

I didn’t understand the petcock when I first got it, ended up dumping an entire tank of gas through the carbs overnight and then completely failed to identify and solve the problem like a human being would. The net result was that I really screwed up the carbs, lost the enrichment linkage, bought a new pair of VM32s without the aforementioned linkage, and then promptly chickened out of doing anything else. For years.

I’m not quite that stupid anymore, so I want to undo my dreadful errors, finally. Anyway, I want this thing running next year. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it; it should be a perfectly usable motorcycle as long as I do all the maintenance items and put it back together.

I’m gonna start with the obvious, easy stuff. I’ve got it a little bit apart so I could clean everything, which I’ve done. I’ve gotta get a new battery and engine/transmission/fork oils and flush and replace everything (I’ve got no idea what is in the oil tank but it’s old). Needs a chain. I also have a set of tires and tubes ready to go, so today I thought I’d get the wheels off and throw the tires on.

But I can’t figure out how to remove the rear wheel. I’ve had a variety of bikes well apart in my garage but they never surprised me and always went back together. This effing thing drives me crazy. I thought the seat literally couldn’t come off for a week until I figured out it was just corrosion-welded to the frame. Now I can’t tell if the rear wheel comes off in a special fancy way or if everything is just old and jammed together.

I have a shop manual here somewhere but I can’t find it and honestly none of this stuff should require me to refer to the book anyway. I just want to know how to get this thing off. I’ve removed the obvious nuts on the left side and I see the threaded end of the axle inside a threaded tube or something, and I can’t make anything slide out the right side. I bonked on it a little bit but it didn’t budge.

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s got any tips or advice on this.

[jabcb]

Welcome to the forum.

Manuals are here: https://www.oldjapanesebikes.com/mraxl_ ... /index.php

Online parts manuals are useful too. I use my local Suzuki dealer’s & Partzilla: https://www.partzilla.com

A Hayes manual can be really useful too. Availlable on eBay.

[karl pa]

I’ve removed the obvious nuts on the left side

You only need to remove the axle nut, the big nut can remain, this nut holds the sprocket assembly on the swingarm, it doesn't need to be removed unless replacing sprocket, you need to remove brake cable and unbolt brake hub torque link, remove axle and spacer on right side, the axle could be held by corrosion so some persuasion may be necessary to get it out, I always clean the axle and put a small coating of grease when installing it.
When you adjust the chain you must loosen the big nut to allow sprocket assembly to slide.

[ACL9000]

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks! I'm glad I signed up.

A Hayes manual can be really useful too. Availlable on eBay.

I actually have that manual around here somewhere but it's been a couple years since I laid eyes on it.

You only need to remove the axle nut, the big nut can remain, this nut holds the sprocket assembly on the swingarm, it doesn't need to be removed unless replacing sprocket, you need to remove brake cable and unbolt brake hub torque link, remove axle and spacer on right side, the axle could be held by corrosion so some persuasion may be necessary to get it out, I always clean the axle and put a small coating of grease when installing it.
When you adjust the chain you must loosen the big nut to allow sprocket assembly to slide.

OK, cool. I suspected something was seized in place but I wasn't sure. I will make sure I grease it a little when I reassemble everything so it doesn't fight so hard next time.

Thanks a lot for replying! I will finally locate that Haynes book and hopefully by following that and the advice of people around here I should be able to get the thing functioning normally again.

I have a couple other questions:

I think I have the transmission in neutral but I can't push the kick until I clutch in. That can't be normal, but I'm not sure what the deal is. I searched around for an explanation and someone said maybe the transmission oil is contaminated or low. I drained that out and I wish I'd captured it to measure how much was in there but I'm pretty confident it was low. I was just going to fill it with the oil Suzuki specified in '75 but I thought I should ask if there's anything better out there that knowledgeable owners prefer.

I also wanted to get some electricity in the bike. The PO had some kind of weird little lawnmower or security system battery in it, and he had wadded up some packing foam in the box so it wouldn't rattle around. He'd also messed up the battery leads to make them fit this new bizarro battery. I already pulled his hackjob wiring mods, so now I need to put the correct battery in there and some fresh cable terminals to match. The only problem is I can't figure out which modern battery is the right choice. I'm not very clear on battery size classes and designations, but I think I found a Motobatt unit, MB9U, that I believe is the right one. Is something like that what people go for these days?

And lastly for now: Does anyone know how to get ahold of the enrichment levers and the little link for the carburetors? I can find a lot of parts for single VM32s but not a pair. Worst-case I can just manipulate each by hand separately when I start it up but I don't like having reminders of my stupidity everywhere so it would be great if I could get it back to factory.

Edit:

I was just in the garage with the bike and I just can't get it. I hammered on the axle to drive it out and it didn't move at all. If you guys hadn't explained to me how it goes together I'd think it was threaded in based on how solidly it resists any persuasion. I took a quick video that probably isn't very informative or helpful: I uploaded it to YouTube.

More Edit:

OK, so the engine was locked up. I sincerely don't know why I have such a hard time processing anything having to do with this bike. I've had a variety of machines substantially more deconstructed than I've got this thing and none of them gave me pause. Perhaps this is because the oldest bike I've ever done real work on before is eight and I'm just unfamiliar with how things go when a bike spent 39 years outside on Long Island before I got it. This should have been obvious to me immediately but somehow I missed it.

Anyway, I got it freed. Now I can kick the engine over. It makes sense to me that it was frozen. Last time I ran it, one carb was just dumping fuel into the engine and I can't remember exactly but I am assuming that was the cylinder that was stuck. I shot some Liquid Wrench onto the piston and whacked it with a block of wood and my hammer. Unlike the rear spindle the engine cooperated.

I found my Haynes manual and it's exactly as you said: the spindle just slides right out (not that I doubted anyone anyway). So I guess once I have the engine back together I'll go smash the heck out of that spindle and if I screw it up and have to replace the thing then so be it.

I'm ending up a lot deeper into this bike than I would have wished. Now I'm starting to wonder about wheel bearings and things and I still haven't addressed the primary issue which was the carburetors. Oh well. Tonight I'll button up the engine and see about ordering some parts I know I need, and then I'll smash on that back spindle a little before I get annoyed and give up again, and then I'll be back at it tomorrow!

Thanks a lot for replying to me, guys. When it comes to subjects I understand well, I am very familiar with how annoying a new user can be asking questions and being all scatterbrained the way I am. I know I wrote a hundred million words and I've barely introduced myself, so I'm very grateful for the patience.

Definitely hit me with any advice you've got – I value it a lot – and I'll be sure to catch up on everything in the morning.

Last Edit:

The heads are back on and the fasteners are correctly torqued. I reused the old metal gasket things since they looked fine. I'll double-check the books to see if that's acceptable or a bad idea. I fogged it thoroughly so it won't get weird again. Hopefully I can smash that spindle out tomorrow and get the rear wheel off so I can move forward with the "easy" tasks.

[ACL9000]

OK, apologies for the double-post, but that last one has too many words in it. I don't expect anyone to read it, actually – I wouldn't.

I'm getting a handle on how this thing is put together and works. The fork and the front wheel and all of that haven't given me any trouble but the rear isn't cutting me any breaks. I figure I'll continue to get angrier little by little and eventually I'll go out and whack that spindle hard enough that it finally slips out and I can proceed. I think that's just a matter of time now.

I'm starting to think about the fuel system. The tank is good. The petcock might be good, I guess I'll have to test that. The carbs I have are the correct model as far as I can tell, but I don't know what their internal situation is so I think I'll order some rebuild kits and go at them that way. I have the two plungers or whatever they call the enrichment things, but I don't have the linkage made up of the two levers and the rod that connects them. If anyone knows where to get that or how to cobble one together from similar parts I'd be very interested to know.

The PO did something weird with his air filter. I looked in the airbox and it was jammed with some kind of foam that smelled like old filter oil and I guess looked pretty close to air filter material, but it's just two big chunks of it he wadded in there around the metal filter skeleton, which I presume used to have filter elements glued on that either were removed or rotted away. I saw online there are some UNI filters that look like socks made to go over the sides of the metal part. Unless anyone has some wisdom about what's best to do here I think I'll go that route and see how they fit.

I'm missing the manifold boot thing that connects the airbox and the carbs and obviously I'm missing clamps, too. I'm also missing one of the boots that secure the carburetors to the engine itself, but I do have both of those clamps. I'm not super upset about missing this rubber because I know it goes rock hard after a few years anyway, but I haven't been able to locate these parts for anything like a real price. I checked the usual parts sources and searched eBay and I found the airbox boot for around 60 bucks NOS and a repro in the 20s. I also found one NOS carb boot/flange/mount thing but the guy wants too much money for it. I'll buy anything usable off someone here if it's available, or maybe you guys can advise me on where is best to seek these things.

Once I get the carbs sorted out and figure out the proper battery I should be using this thing will be ready to run, except for the missing rubber bits.

[ACL9000]

I sincerely cannot remove this rear spindle. It's locked tight to a bearing, or maybe to the brake cover plate on the right side, which I can't turn independently of the spindle.

I've been hitting what I can with a penetrating fluid and letting it sit, periodically whacking at it for a couple days. It hasn't moved a millimeter. I guess I'm going to try torching that brake part to see if it comes free of the spindle, even though that's probably not all that's seized.

I'm constantly fantasizing about just taking the death wheel to the spacer and hack a chunk out of that and the spindle but that's stupid and doesn't really get me closer to success anyway.

I've worked on bikes that had sticky parts and needed some bonking to come free but this is like it's welded together. I'm worried I'm going to tweak the swingarm. It's unreal.

[jabcb]

Might be easier if you first remove the rear wheel & swing arm as an assembly. And then try to drive the axle out.

[ACL9000]

I thought about that for a moment but I wasn't sure. Since you've suggested it I might give it a try. What would be really annoying is if I ran into the same situation with the swingarm axle. It probably makes perfect sense to do that anyway since I doubt any of the chassis bearings have much life left anyway.

I'm definitely going to make sure I take every conscientious precautionary step like greasing the dang spindle when I'm putting everything back together so neither I nor the next guy have to bother with quite so much hammering in the future. I don't think I properly appreciated what comes with the territory when you buy a bike older than yourself.

Anyway, thanks for trying to help me out so far, it makes a difference to hear from someone knowledgeable. I will probably check back in tomorrow after work with a carb question, or if I get anywhere with the wheel or swingarm.

[jabcb]

The stock swing arm bushings are not metal. So the bushing won’t rust onto the bolt.
After you get the shocks off, move the wheel up & down a few times to help free things up.
Getting the bushings out will be a PITA. There is a cheap tool for driving in new bushings.

Also could try cutting off the axle bolt head & driving the bolt out in the opposite direction. Alternating directions might help too.