I may have gotten a little crazy with the frame mods on my GT500 racer project. I thought I read somewhere that the lock stops on the frame should be removed to save some weight...which I did without really questioning. Now, after the fact I'm not sure that was the right thing to do.
I have since read that it is probably best to shorten the left to right swing by moving the stops on the frame (if you touch them at all), but nothing about removing lock stops. Not sure what i was thinking or where I may have read that racers were removing the lock stops. I guess i was thinking I had a steering stablizer and that would restrict the movement enough to keep the wheel straight standing still and stiffen the steering enough to prevent a "tank slapper" while racing.
Should I weld the stop back on the frame and just shorten the swing a little from stock? Any racers have advice on this...other than to think before I cut ?
Chris
'76 TR500 Style Cafe
'75 T500 - Cafe Build Underway
'78 Honda CB 750 Super Sport
I usually weld a chunk of metal to lock stops to reduce the swing. That "chunk" might be a bolt shank or a nut - all depends on the design.
Then I drill or grind away some of the old lock stop to cut weight slightly.
The weight you save is minimal but getting fingers trapped between bars and tank is not a good thing. And the bars are not allowed to hit the fairing, so you do need lock stops.
Chris - unless you were using GT500 triples (or the stock T500 triples) you would probably have to rework the stops anyway. The T500 frame has two stops - a flat plate welded horizontally on the lower outer edge of the steering stem and a bit tubular bit on the bottom of the frame behind the steering stem. What lower triple are you using? If it's got the rear facing wedges that act as stops against the frame, you can weld on a bit of angle iron to the bottom of the frame with the "V" of the angle iron facing forward. Then drill and tap it for some bolts and you'll have adjustable stops. Of course you'll have to lockwire the bolts and nuts unless you weld them into place....
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