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[Admin]

I bought an used battery cross-bar/tool holder. Was it originally painted black? The one I've got is bare metal or maybe it's gavanized? I'm planning to paint it black but then thought I should ask first.

Also, should there be some rubber cushion behind the bar to hold the battery?

Thanks,
Tom

[Admin]

Hey Russ,

If Derbyshire is in the UK you might be lucky enough to have one of several vapour blasting firms nearby. There are several that advertise in Classic Motorcycle Mechanics that can clean the engine up like new whilst it's in one piece. I'll see if I can find contact info for you.....

Jim

[Admin]

Mine's black. I guess that's correct. I don't know if there was a rubber stop behind it originally, but I keep a hunk of 3/4" heater hose behind mine to stop the battery from sliding around. Not elegant, but it works well.


Lane

[Admin]

Some were Black and Some were Galvanized.I have one of Each.I can't really remember but I think the Earlier ones were Galvanized while the later ones were Painted.

[Admin]

i used a chunk if rubber that had sticky crap on teh back and afixed it to teh bar it hold the battery tight.

[Admin]

Or if you are Lucky you can find a Place that does Dry Ice Blasting.Otherthan that All I know to do is use Plenty of Kerosene and a Toothbrush. If you can get the crud off you can get some Aluminum brightener to brighten up the finish and use Elbow Grease to Polish it up.The Aluminum Brightener is an Acid thats sold to Clean up Aluminum rims and works pretty good on motors.

[Admin]

Also of note is the missing aim adjuster screw, you better take that unit out of the headlight bowl and check the rear reflector housing assy to see what else is wrong in there. Be very careful with that chrome outer rim as they are not easily available anymore for the J and K models since only these bikes had the flat lower section styling on the rim.

[Admin]

Russ,

Okay, assuming you're in the UK (and my apologies if I guessed wrong) here's two firms that offer vapour blasting:

Griffs Reality Motorworks
tel: 0117 9042339
www.realitymotorworks.com

R.D.Cox and Sons
0118 975 0289
Reading Junction 11-M4 (no website)

Hope this helps...

Jim

[Admin]

Thanks. Since it's not rusty, I guess I'll leave it as-is (galvanized).

Tom

[Admin]

thanks very much for your advice everybody and yes diamond j i do live in derbyshire england,buxton the coldest place in the world,nearly,but we do have the cat & fiddle run?.

[Admin]

It looks as tho the brake lever perch on my 71 T500 is not original. Does the 71/T500R front brake have a switch to activate the rear brake light or was this only on later models? I don't want to buy one with all the wires and then find there's nothing to hook then up to.
Thanks, Mike

[Admin]

Mike even if you did buy a switch with wires and your bike didnt have this ft brake switch feature, you could route the circuit into the main harness taken off of the same one that runs the rear brake light, and bring the bike up to modern safety standards.

[Admin]

Looking in my parts book it looks like only the original T500 had a different brake lever assembly. T-500-II and later all had the same lever. My guess is there should be a switch on yours.

Tom

[Admin]

it all depends which country..some require that the front brake need to activate the brake light as well as back brake.this was not require here in the UK so we never got them to my knowledge.

[Admin]

You'right Johnakay and that's why on the part-lists you've often front drum brake with and wihtout wire for the stop light on the same type.