GreenMachine's T500R

[two-stroke-brit]

i am keen to see the cafe seat unit when it arrives.
i like the one on "omars dirtandtrack" site.
but $300+ is a bit steep.
cheers mark.

[GreenMachine]

Yeah, me too - It's just foam and a cover to fit the stock pan, but the pics on ebay look great.

[GreenMachine]

Well, some work has been completed... Most of the way through polishing the hubs (that's fun!), have bought a few rubbers and grommets for various things and the seat foam and cover arrived.

Sadly, the seat base off my bike was a total loss - had been repaired at least twice before (most recently with bits of tin can and pop rivets..) and was rusted in to oblivion... Fortunately the parts bike my mate bought had a seat on it, it was 200 times better than mine but still needed a whole day's worth of rust repair. Will post pics of the repaired base soon.

In the meantime, I did this:



Seat cover is just draped over the foam, will be a good tight fit when I get around to installing it properly. It's coming together!! Am about to take a month off work, so I should be able to get one or two things finished.

NH

[two-stroke-brit]

the seat looks like it will flow nicely from tank to tail.

[GreenMachine]

Gawd. lots of work done since the last update - I've just had a month's leave...

Spoked the wheels myself, easy as. Haven't had time to true them yet, but that seems manageable as well - They weren;t too bad.

My original seat base was rusted beyond repair, stole the seat off my mate's parts bike, which was also beyond repair but I repaired it anyway - If I had my time again I'd just bend up a new base from scratch. Installed the cafe seat, looks hot.

Stripped the paint off the tank, lots of different colours under there. Was very concerned when I found bog (filler, bondo) on both sides of it from the front edge to about the middle of the tank. Turns out it was just some spastic's attempt to fill the badge holes.

Have bought a heap of parts, mostly stainless bolts and new grommets and rubbers - Got the headlight, taillight etc back on... Got bar-end mirrors for Christmas and managed to find a set of Clubman bars the day after boxing day, so the front end is basically complete.

This was going so well that I decided to chuck the motor back in the frame - It ran great when I picked up the bike, and I figured that if it wasn't broke I shouldn't fix it. So I degreased and pressure washed it, got a mate over to help me lift, positioned it carefully beside the frame, had the mounting bolts sitting ready...

And noticed a loose head bolt.

An hour later the motor is in pieces, spread across the workshop. It had a couple of stripped threads in the barrel, got those helicoiled for a very reasonable price by a local workshop. The big and small ends were all great, replaced the outer crank seals and whacked it back in. The gearbox needed a couple of circlips and seals, all available overnight from my local Suzuki dealer (Brisbane Motorcycles at Windsor, if there are any locals on here). They even stocked things like the little machine screws that hold the bearing retainers in.

The bike already had the gearbox mod done (a Jim Beam can from the 80's) - Replaced this with a sturdier piece of steel that fitted a bit better.

Painted the motor flat black while it was out, polished the circles on the side covers and the edges of the fins. With stainless allen heads the look is a bit Harley Davidson, but I like it.

Have totally run out of funds for the project now, so it will need to sit for a while. The major expenses left are tyres, chain and sprockets, expansion chambers and wiring. Other than that, it's nearly ready to go.

Progress pics asap, realise it's lame that I haven't posted any!

[GreenMachine]

A photo! Quickly painted the exhaust as a mockup, looks good enough to take it off and do it again properly. Next job is to fit the indicators that arrived today, then find a set of footpegs, a modern reg/rec and modern left hand switchgear, then wire it, then true the wheels and set up the brakes, buy and fit tyres, then get chain and sprockets sorted, then paint the tinware, then rebuild the carbs... after that, justa few hundred minor things and I'm ready to ride.

Easy.

[alanr]

Im at a similar stage with my t350j.is it easy to do respoking or get pros to do.how much will it cost to paint.Im lucky to get a free paint job from my boy who is a auto painter.were the hubs easy to clean or would you paint if you did it again.I like your idea of painting the insides black.looking forward to more pics.

[GreenMachine]

Hey mate,

The respoking isn't too hard, but I haven't tried to true them yet. When I've been getting quotes to true them, wheel builders are saying that they don't charge a great deal more to build the wheel from scratch than to just true it. Might be easier to get someone to do the whole lot.

My best mate is a custom painter/airbrush artist so I'm getting a good deal on the paintjob - Just need to find time to go help him do it!

The hubs polished up quite easily - sanded the marks and black crap out of them with sandpaper, down to a very fine grit, then used wire wool, then polished them with a buffing pad on a drill - Didn't go for a full mirror polish, but they're looking great. Didn't take too long.

Installed the indicators and tidied a few things up last night, will get some better pics soon.

[titan performance]

Hey Green.....just read your entire thread. Great work ! Totally in agreement with replacing all the nuts and bolts with stainless hexes/allens. We use some dome heads too, my pal Tim has a sharp eye for detail, and it shows in the finished item.
I am about to start a rebuild on one of my T500s, and want a straight bar/naked look. I was also contemplating the exact scheme you have used with the engine paint, but I'm still undecided. I want to keep the stock tank too....as for me, it says "T500". We are about to produce some "Siamese" expansions, and I shall be using a set of those on it. Hopefully I can create a real individual look.
I shall be watching your progress with interest.


Paul Titan Performance.

[Gene]

Nice build. Seems T500's are ridiculously priced in OZ from what I'm reading.

The siamese pipes are cool Titan. My address is . . .

[GreenMachine]

Thanks for the comments, Paul - I love your standard chromed expansions, and am planning on getting a set - Only issue is that the budget doesn't stretch that far at present - the UK v AUD exchange rate plus the shipping adds up!

I'm disappointed in the photos to be honest - the black/raw allow fins on the engine looks fantastic in person, but between camera flash and yellow fluros it looks like i painted it with a brush...

[titan performance]

Hi GM....you did realise......those chrome pipes you like, are stainless steel highly polished !

[GreenMachine]

I did actually... They look absolutely fantastic and I'm so keen to get a set (as much as I hate polishing!)

The rearsets you guys do look great too, but I'm thinking of building my own set - I've been messing around with peg position and I'm not sure the exhaust hanger location will suit me...

In other news, went to a swap meet on the weekend, what a load of bollocks - old blokes with boxed of worn out sprockets and piles of dirty, unidentified nuts and bolts. As a technophobe this burns me, but I think the eBay age is actually good for once...

[alanr]

have you got a supplier for parts or did you shop round.where did the gauges come from.can he supply for a t350 and how much did they cost.keep the photos coming.Alan

[GreenMachine]

Hi Alan,

When I first bought the bike I ordered a large amount of stuff from Paul Miller in the states, which overall has been a good experience. However, I've found there isn't much my local Suzuki dealer can't supply - right down to gearbox parts, circlips, specific machine screws for the engine, gaskets etc. Their prices seem totally reasonable and they generally have obscure parts ordered and supplied within a week.

The NOS clocks came from the UK, just a lucky eBay find. I paid a fortune for them and I've seen NOS clocks go for less since, but it's luck of the draw. My suggestion would be that if you see a set, jump on them.

More pics later this week, hopefully!

NH