Last fall, I received a call from the local Suzuki dealer, wandering if I was interested in a 75 T500 they had. It was in rough shape with locked engine, after looking it over we agreed on $50, when I went to pay, their computer locked up, so they said to just take it ,they would get their money back anyway. When I got the engine open, I found the top end was rusted fast but the bottom end was fine, I did Alan's trick of using diesel fuel in the crank and turning over occasionally, I replaced the top end with new parts, and parts I had, but with the rough condition I decided to clean it up the best I could and make some changes. Out of my bikes, this one draws the most attention when I have it out, it is a fun bike to ride, and I put several 300 mile trips on it without being to uncomfortable. 20160716_134211 by karl pa, on Flickr20170402_135543 by karl pa, on Flickr20170625_114225 by karl pa, on Flickr
They didn't get to much money from me on this one, but over the years they got quite a lot of my money, this is actually the fourth bike I got out of their basement, the others were GT185,GT550,T250 scrambler.
That is some dealer. $50 is a snip! But for free?! My goodness, you must be overjoyed with your thrifty smoker. It looks great now you have smartened it up.
The owners are getting up in age, and were the mechanics back in the day. They like seeing the old bikes being fixed up, and realize they wont get to them, so they are letting some go.
Here is my 71 T250 scrambler they sold me for $50, It took me several attempts before they agreed, if I don't sell it in the near future. 71 t250 1 by karl pa, on Flickr71 t250 2 by karl pa, on Flickr
My grandson trying out his bike, he needs to grow a little yet.
When I built the bike I had plans on giving it to him, now I gave it to his dad to enjoy till the little guy is old enough.
Now I will work on getting a title for my GT550.
So somehow the cafe found it's way back to my garage, a month ago I took it for a ride and noticed a lot of smoke out the left pipe, when I checked the transmission oil it was low. So I tried the magic in a bottle (blue devil seal repair) it stopped smoking and gearbox oil isn't dropping. I just don't feel it's a permanent fix, so might tear down this winter.