My T500 cafe

Retro, Wild, Cafe, etc. The stuff only your imagination can come up with.

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joolstacho
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Re: My T500 cafe

Post by joolstacho »

I know my comment re: that weld was a bit harsh. But yes, the factory welds were abysmal anyway.
You've done great work on this bike mate, so take a small criticism along with the praise.
Lovely job.
sbaugz
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Re: My T500 cafe

Post by sbaugz »

joolstacho wrote:I know my comment re: that weld was a bit harsh. But yes, the factory welds were abysmal anyway.
You've done great work on this bike mate, so take a small criticism along with the praise.
Lovely job.
no worries. I am wearing my big boy pants. Believe it or not, some of the factory welds look much worse, which is why I didn't stress too much about the looks of mine. I also know my limitations- I never, ever attempt welding something that could kill me if it doesn't hold.
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tz375
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Re: My T500 cafe

Post by tz375 »

How did you get that amazing polish on the engine side covers - or where did you go to get it done. They look so smooth compared to a set of wheel parts I was trying to polish recently.
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joolstacho
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Re: My T500 cafe

Post by joolstacho »

I'll push in here, as it's a subject close to my heart!
In addition to a couple of other careers, I spent a few years working as a silversmith/jeweller with a very fine craftsman. As you can imagine, you need to know all about metal polishing doing that. He taught me the difference between 'shine' and 'polish'.

You see a lot of bikes around which look so shiny from a distance, but the closer up you get, the more you see the defects. Some people do all their polishing on a buffing wheel, it's the easy way out, but mostly this 'drags' the aluminium and opens up pores in the metal. So whilst from a distance, it may look shiny, the closer you get it looks like a cheap plastic-chromed xmas tree decoration! In addition, heavy buffing 'rounds-off' those nice original crisp cast shapes.

Really there's only one way to truly polish metal, and that is patiently going through the grades of wet and dry. Yes it's more time and elbow-grease consuming, but it's REALLY satisfying in the end. A properly polished surface will last MUCH longer before it needs cleaning because the roadgrime and oxidisation hasn't got any tiny defects to collect in.

First, if there are any deep scratches, take them out with a file or course sandpaper. Then start with say 280 or 400 wet and dry, (start grade depends on the surface condition), next go 600, then 800, then 1000 or 1200. Each job may require different grades, but the idea is that with each finer grade you need to polish out the fine scratches left by the previous coarser grade. It helps to 'sand' in different directions as you change from grade to grade, makes it easier to pick the scratches from the previous grade. Sometimes you might need to go back and then forwards again with the grades. I sometimes finish with 800, but sometimes go up to 1000 or 1200. Finally, it can be lightly polished on the buffing wheel, followed by a little metal polish then hot soapy water.

ALWAYS use a rubber sanding block... I start with a wooden block that has a 1/4" neoprene face. Wrap the wet and dry around this. Then to get into the fine crevices like around screw holes, use 1/4" neoprene in the hand.

Here endeth the lecture! :wink:
sbaugz
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Re: My T500 cafe

Post by sbaugz »

tz375 wrote:How did you get that amazing polish on the engine side covers - or where did you go to get it done. They look so smooth compared to a set of wheel parts I was trying to polish recently.
The short answer- I paid someone (badger metal finishing) in Milwaukee to do it. Cost a small fortune but it turned out really nice. I had him polish the hubs, sprocket holder, side covers and they also re-chromed the fork lowers.
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tz375
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Re: My T500 cafe

Post by tz375 »

Thanks Both. I have been hand polishing with finer and finer grades of wet and dry for decades and it's getting old - or I am...

What I used to do when I lived close to a polishing guy in Geelong was to do the heavy lifting with wet and dry and have him bring up the color that you can only get with a buff. That way I paid for what I could not do myself and didn't pay for things I could do.

The finish on those 500 side covers is way smoother than what I am managing to get with reasonable amount of input. Nice job.
sbaugz
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Re: My T500 cafe

Post by sbaugz »

tz375 wrote:Thanks Both. I have been hand polishing with finer and finer grades of wet and dry for decades and it's getting old - or I am...

What I used to do when I lived close to a polishing guy in Geelong was to do the heavy lifting with wet and dry and have him bring up the color that you can only get with a buff. That way I paid for what I could not do myself and didn't pay for things I could do.

The finish on those 500 side covers is way smoother than what I am managing to get with reasonable amount of input. Nice job.

thanks. I want to say I paid around $250 to have three side covers, sprocket holder piece and both drum brake plates polished. It does scratch pretty easily though. And I suspect its going to be high maintenance to keep them looking nice too. I was torn between just powder coating everything versus polishing
sbaugz
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Re: My T500 cafe

Post by sbaugz »

well, after a complete rebuild, I was ready and anxious to get it started. My tank is still being painted so I ran a fuel line from my Kawasaki ZRX1100 to the titan. Filled the floats with gas, turned the ignition on, and it started on the first kick. I was a little shocked about that. Ran pretty well actually until I noticed the carb float bowls were leaking all over. Turned the bike off and proceeded to remove carbs-- again.

Not sure why they are leaking. i re-used the old gaskets because they looked pretty good. Either way, I went ahead and ordered up a new set of float bowl gaskets on bike bandit this evening. Also noticed that one of the float drain screws was leaking too, so I ordered a set of float drain screw o-rings.

Only other problem I noticed was that gas was coming out of the overflow outlet on one carb. The float didn't appear to be stuck when I took the bowl off, so not sure what that is about. I will double check the float levels- maybe that was off.

Overall, I was pretty pleased about it starting right up. Noticed a few little air bubbles in one of the oil lines. It didn't seem to move until I pulled the oil pump lever to full on with the bike idling and the bubble seemed to slowly move downsream.

One comment on the Higgspeed chambers- they are really loud! They sound awesome, but are really loud.

One other question- excuse the ignorance. When is the oil pump not actually pumping? Does it pump with bike idling in neutral? Does it pump with bike idling and clutch engaged? Does it matter if bike is in neutral or in gear with clutch engaged? I know I will be messing with this bike to get it idling and running correctly and I want to make sure its pumping oil into cylinders.
old t500
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Re: My T500 cafe

Post by old t500 »

Looking great sbaugz.....I'm sure you're getting really anxious to have it all buttoned up, with the "end" so near.

As far as I know, the oil pump is pumping all the time, EXCEPT when the clutch is disengaged. I don't think it matters if the bike is in neutral or in gear.
titan performance
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Re: My T500 cafe

Post by titan performance »

The bike is looking great Steve.....I'm looking forward to seeing it with the body work painted.
(Tip on the kick starter clearance) You might gain a couple of mm by slackening the kick starter pinch bolt, and pulling the lever towards the end of the splines.
Keeping old 2 strokes alive !
sbaugz
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Re: My T500 cafe

Post by sbaugz »

titan performance wrote:The bike is looking great Steve.....I'm looking forward to seeing it with the body work painted.
(Tip on the kick starter clearance) You might gain a couple of mm by slackening the kick starter pinch bolt, and pulling the lever towards the end of the splines.

Thanks Paul. I will try your advice on the kickstarter. I must say those rearsets are top notch. super solid. Well built. Functional. Well worth the money. Fit perfectly. Sorry I gave you grief while I was waiting for them-- but it was well worth the wait. :wink:
titan performance
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Re: My T500 cafe

Post by titan performance »

No worries bud....glad you are pleased.
Keeping old 2 strokes alive !
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desmocat
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Re: My T500 cafe

Post by desmocat »

sbaugz wrote:On the left side, the kickstarter just makes contact with the tip of the gearshift toe lever. See forth picture down. Not sure what I will do to sort this out yet.
You can modify the kick start lever so that it provides clearance to the shifter toe peg. This is what I do on my cafe and race bikes with rearsets.

I developed the modification based on my road racer where I moved the rearsets forward to get my feet more under me for better riding control. I've migrated this design to my cafe bikes.

Image
Image
Ralph Spencer
Spencer Motoworks LLC
Southfield, MI USA
www.spencermotoworks.com
AHRMA #798
sbaugz
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Re: My T500 cafe

Post by sbaugz »

desmocat wrote:
sbaugz wrote:On the left side, the kickstarter just makes contact with the tip of the gearshift toe lever. See forth picture down. Not sure what I will do to sort this out yet.
You can modify the kick start lever so that it provides clearance to the shifter toe peg. This is what I do on my cafe and race bikes with rearsets.

I developed the modification based on my road racer where I moved the rearsets forward to get my feet more under me for better riding control. I've migrated this design to my cafe bikes.

Image
Image

That looks like a nice modification. I will try Titan's suggestion of sliding it outward first and let you know if that doesn't work. Mine is so close that it barely touches it right now, and kicking it over doesn't seem to hit the lever significantly---but it would be nice to have a little extra space.
lostinsdf
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Re: My T500 cafe

Post by lostinsdf »

I just came across this post in search of info about a steering damper. Anyway, I read through and noticed no post since last June. How did the bike turn out? I was interested in using the LED dual lights on my T500. I have the Power Dynamo on my bike as well but with the battery but. The Power Dynamo web site does not recommend using Led lights. Did you? How did they work out? How did you wire in the capacitor (type of capacitor and location?) Lastly, any pictures of the finished bike?
Thanks for posting the progress.
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