T500 pistons

[watervlietarsena]

new member here just got a 1969 T500. i have not even touched it yet but i quess i would need new pistons and rings my question is are all years T500 pistons the same?

[Alan H]

No. But why would you need new ones?
Don't try to mend things that aren't broken.

[ConnerVT]

I'll expand on Alan's post, but he's essentially correct.

The first year (1968) Suzuki had a piston with a windowed skirt, which was problematic, so it was replaced with one without a window. Since then (1969 on), they released different versions, which I believe have only minor differences. Dimensionally (where it counts), they should all be the same. Pistons, pins, upper bearings, rings, and circlips are all still available from Suzuki, as well as from some aftermarket sources.

Question is, why do you believe they need replacement? Unless your plan is to do an entire engine refresh, I'd suggest first pulling the cylinders off, and giving all a good inspection -- checking piston and cylinder size for fit, cylinder wall condition, excessive blowby or scoring on pistons, etc. Cost is around $30 for 4 gaskets.

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[watervlietarsena]

thanks for the info on pistons. this bike shows 33000 miles on the speedometer is that alot for a 2 stroke? funny thing tho the front tire has the red line tire still on it and still has tread left. no front tire could go that far so maybe the speedo is wrong. soon i will check out the pistons and mike things up. maybe i have a real low mileage find thanks again guys

[Alan H]

33k isn't a high mileage. The thing is, how were the miles done? No-one knows except the first owner.
The PO could have changed the tyre and fitted an OE one because it was cheap/OK maybe?
I would guess a front tyre to go about 5-7000 miles with 'normal' riding, rear about 4-5000.
Depends on your right hand!!!