[ascentofstan2]

Do you guys think this model of bike would make a descent cafe? I know it
has the look, but is it fairly easy to get parts and do the work on these bikes? I had a 74 honda that was pretty user friendly, I just wanted to make sure before i invested too much into it. oh yeah and there is a compression problem... not sure what it is yet. should i proceed and test it out? its a good price (about 200). just thought you guys would know about this type of things.

thanks
dm





Edited by - ascentofstan2 on Feb 13 2007 11:00:18 PM

 

[joe c]

pretty cool.

2 stroke. fast. not a 750, but weird enough that youll get looks!

jc

 

[ascentofstan2]

weird good? ha. its no brit bike. hopefully not too weird.
d

 

[68grandprix]

Not real fast. My friend had one and it was slower than my XS-650. They pull good wheelies though, and it's easy to make them faster. I also think they make great vintage-look street racers, done up like a TR500 (tr500 right? that's the sweet fully faired racebike). Jimmy

 

[krapfever]

In theory, a 2 stroke motor ought to be a simpler rebuild than a 4 stroke.

But as a rule I hate assholes who start their posts with "In theory" on message boards...

Define "compression problem".

If you're willing to buy it with the assumption from the get-go that you'll have to rebuild the top end, then cool. Its been my (admittedly limited) experience that though simpler in construction than a 4 stroke, as far as tuning is concerned, a 2 stroke is a lot less forgiving than, say, a trusty ol' Honda.

<donning flame suit now>



Honda go sideways!

 

[LiLBull]

"IN THEORY" two strokes can go sideways quicker then hondas .

Im so far behind ,that I think Im in first.

 

[Quicklimegirl]

Well, really any decent standard bike can be a Cafe Racer with enough time, imagination, and $$$.

Check out this beautiful T500 Cafe:

 

[teighlor]

do it with as little money as possible, like tradition would imply... or just take yer big fat wad of dough and go buy yerself a brand new "retro" cafe bike and get yerself all the cool gear, the whole costume you gotta have... the helmet the goggles the blah blah blah....uh huh whatever.....

 

[ascentofstan2]

nice. yeah im old skool about most things. so some flat black and diy mentality i think i can build it for cheap. I i dont like fancy very much, i like fast and old. anyways. thanks for all the help and advice so far. and the compression problem.. im not sure yet. im going to pick the bike up this weekend and figure it out. im sure its going to be some rebuild issue or something. anywho, I will keep all posted.

d

 

[Geeto67]

I even surprised myself by not chiming in here sooner being that I am such a T-500 junkie.

Ok, what year T500? Early T500s (up to 73 I think) used 1200ccs of gear oil in the tranny and this caused 4th and 5th gear to pit and eventually fail. Suzuki offered a conversion kit to make the cases hold 1400ccs of gear oil and the later bikes came with that. YOu can make the conversion out of a beer can and jb weld it into the inside of the case but it is highly recommended it be done.

Also the crank seals are known for going bad quickly if the bike has been sitting. This is usually evidenced by a lot of heavy smoke out of one of the exhaust pipes. The crank will need to be rebuilt (www.billbune.com) if these seals have gone bad.

That being said they are awsome bikes. A very wide almost 4 stroke like power band, and riding they have a very brit bike feel in the chassis (not in the two stroke engine). The last of the real fast derestricted ones was 1971 so try to shoot for those years.

The pistons and rings are the same as the GT750 waterbuffalo and there is a guy on ebay selling wiseco forged pistons for them. I have a set with some cut down heads and they are much better than stock. The only down side is you have to let the bike warm up for 5 minutes before riding.

Paul Miller Motorcycles stocks a lot of obsolete stuff for these bikes. Their parts are not honda common but there is still a lot of stuff out there and you would be surprised what suzuki still carries.

BTW flat black is not "ol skool" for these bikes (candy paint is however), and it is pretty passe' these days since everyone in their grandmother started thinking its cool.

 

[ascentofstan2]

awesome. well ol skool im not then. The bike is currently red, so maybe the previous owner was cooler and more in touch with what is "ol skool", ha. but i dont like shine, and i dont like spending tons of cash.

the bike is a 1970 model. t500. the previous owner said he was cruising it around for some time before the compression got worse (bare in mind i dont know much about two strokes or engines). I need to get it to my house and see whats really going on with it. thanks for all the help. and advice. i will be hitting the forum up after i determine what is going on.

d

Edited by - ascentofstan2 on Feb 16 2007 1:54:19 PM

 

[Diamondj]

Hey DM,

The '68, the '69, and the '70 T500s were all one year models in terms of style/features. The '68 had chrome side panels on the tank (think Honda Black Bomber), the '69 had a more modern tank with winged "S" logos on the side and a diamond pleat style seat, the '70 added a tank rack and changed the seat style a bit. Then from '71 - '75 they were pretty much the same bike except for the paint job. Originally your bike came in either candy blue or green with a Triumph style parcel rack on top of the tank. There is a ton of information on these bikes at Muzza's Suzuki website here:

http://www.ozebook.com/compendium/t500index.htm

And for technical and repair info you can view the factory service bulletins here:

http://www.3cyl.com/

And there are a few folks that can answer T500 specific tech questions here:

http://vancouver.globat.com/~sundialmotosport.com/phpBB2/index.php

I agree with Geeto's opinion on the T500 and you can see from Quicklimegirl's post that they make nice cafe (is that a VonStrangemind bike QLG?) racers. Suzuki overbuilt these bikes so they are pretty much stone axe reliable (as well as stone axe simple).

As for the compression problem, these bikes will run at anything over 100PSI. At best, they are supposed to be right around 120PSI with no more than 5PSI difference between cylinders. Also make sure the injector oil tank is full of two stroke injector oil. Many assume they can run premix in these Suzukis but the cranks are set-up for direct injection from the oil pump and the premix oil will never reach some parts of the crankshaft. I'd hate for you to confuse a slow crank seizure with a loss of compression.

Hope this helps,

Jim

 

[Geeto67]

I agree with anything DiamondJ says - after all he is the T500 master and rebuilt my T500 bottom end when the crank went south.

 

[ascentofstan2]

Well hott damn i know tons more now, thanks!
d

 

[Quicklimegirl]

quote:
I agree with Geeto's opinion on the T500 and you can see from Quicklimegirl's post that they make nice cafe (is that a VonStrangemind bike QLG?) racers.

No, it was built by a guy here in Portland, little tiny independent shop I can't remember the name of right now. Glas from the Past supplied the seat.