Well, about time I started a build thread on this. I had to let the bike sit while I was away at school, but managed to get a hack at it the other day and start pulling it apart to clean a few things up. This is how the bike looked when I picked it up:
So I decided to follow the advice of Geeto and just clean the bike up and replace failing parts and ride it for a while before going on with a full cut up build. After going through a few things I realized the last guy to work on this bike was kind of an idiot. Bolts are put in backwards (not sure how they came to that conclusion), some header bolts were missing so the guy decided to screw in some long screws with nuts on them to tighten the header clamp down, and just odd ball fixes over the bike.
Taking a look at the wheels, looks like some rust on some spokes, but the rust brushes off pretty easy. Still should probably replace the spokes, but we'll se how it comes when I get them cleaned up.
The forks were a complete bitch to get out. Had to pound them out with a mallet and this is what I found the state to be in:
Not really sure what I should do with them. Rust looks like its just over the part where the tree holds them and not over where the seals move over, so I'm sure functionally they are fine. What do you all think?
Couple shots of the over all.
Gonna take the triple tree off and take a look at the bearings here soon. I'll be getting to that in a few days. If any of you have suggestions of things I should look at while I'm in there feel free to let me know. I'm new to old bikes, so I need all the pointers I can get.
You can clean up the upper fork tubes,scuff them up to take primer/paint,slide them back in when your done,mask everything off and then paint the uppers silver/black etc. Not as good as replace/re-chrome job,but a lot cheaper and it doesn't look bad.
Caution: If you paint them first and then slide the up you may scratch the new paint pretty badly and have to repaint them in the trees anyway.
You could also go with some sort of cover/cover headlight ear set-up that will hide the pits/where you cleaned the rust off. If you reuse the stock ears they hide most of it anyway,so I'd just paint what's underneath.
Because of the way your covers have to go on you of course would have to paint the tubes first and try not to scratch them too much putting back in the trees.
that bike probably has ball bearings in the steering head...i would upgrade to tapered roller bearings while you are building the bike up. you have a pretty clean bike to start with. good luck!!
BTW, does anyone know if the exhaust from a 78 550 will fit on my 500? A buddy of mine is picking up a 550 with a great set of 4 into 4's and he wants to make a custom exhaust. I think the 4's would look awesome on my little 500.
K, so I ordered some tapered roller bearings from All Ballz, and a set of universal Tarozzi rearsets:
I'm gonna see if I can stand them all the way back on the passenger pegs location, but I'm betting I'm going to have to make a new mount for something perfect. The passenger pegs are pretty far back there.
I took the forks to a wire wheel to clean out as much rust as I could and then used acetone to clean them up nicely, then sprayed them with primer. I know its gonna scratch a bit going back in the clamps, but I have clip ons and headlight brackets to put on so there won't be much room to paint around them and I wanted to make sure it was coated under everything anyway.
Next, gonna build some steel braided lines and new pads.
Love to have those rear sets,but just can't justify them for my bike as I'm sure I will see it(and me)slide down/off the track a few times while I own it. The KZ550 LTD passenger peg mounts/brackets I'm using are a dime a dozen and I already have spares I'm sure I'm going to need.
Replacing those sweet Tarozzi rear-sets would get expensive!
So its been a long time, I had a few issues over the summer, so I didn't get any work done. However now I'm back in Klamath Falls and brought the bike down here where I'm working on it after class and on weekends. Here's where I'm at:
Going to start fixing the tank and getting it stripped down and ready to paint, and also start figuring out how I'm going to make my seat. Still trying to figure out where I'm going to put my rearsets, I really don't like where the passenger pegs are located and the stock position is a little too low, yet I don't really mind where they are as far as being that far forward.
One order I'm having a problem with is the clutch cable, its really long. I put on the clip on's (thanks Champ!) and all the cables are now WAY too long. What can I do to make it fit better? Get a cb350 cable or something that is shorter? This is what the cable looks like as of now.
I've got the cb650 engine that I'm going to start tearing into here too, I just want to get the bike running with the 500 in it for the time being so I can sort out anything as far as the chassis and brakes. I got hold of a f4i master cylinder that I threw on there to get rid of the valve on the triple clamp, I just hope it doesn't over power the caliper. Gotta see about new shocks as well. That should pretty much take care of the chassis and then I can focus on swapping the engine out after I run it all for a while.
What about putting the rear sets in a midset sort of spot light the inverted triangle below the battery? should be a decent inbetween sorta like that guy did on his build with the "spade" cut into the metal. Nice clip ons and the new forks look nice too. I just got rid of those triple trees that would of mounted directly up to your front end and without the br clamps =/.
I have got the 78 550 speedo and tach with the key and idiot light if you want to clean up the bar area more and just grind the bar brackets off or you can keep the one you have and go the fabricated route with a chopped up chain guard for a light bracket. ( I have 2 550 chain guards in my shed)
If you wanna go a little more substance on the seat, there is a place on 99 that does custom leather seats and you can get a shot seat pan and make a rear end for it with a battery tray or electronics tray or light or glovebox. Give me a call later. there is a parts bike about 1/2 a block from my house I think I can take home free.
Hey, haven't posted in a long time, the bike got put on hold for quite a while. But today I got the itch and started cracking on it again.
Here is a shot of the how I pulled it out.
I put a steel braided line on today. Had a few banjo bolts around to I had to play around to figure out what will work. The stock brake calliper doesn't accept the longer (newer) bolts so I had to put an extra crush washer on. Is that gonna cause a problem when I go to grab a handful of brake? I don't want any leakage. Also, does anyone know a good site to get replacement and mo betta brake pads?
I also started putting the rearsets together. I went with the bike stem method for the time being.
The rear brake is proving to be a problem as it won't actuate. I don't know if I need to tear into it and replace the drum equipment, but I can't get it to go. I'd really like to fix that before I try to take the bike out.
I picked up a '79 650 a while back that I'm slowly trying to collect parts for it. It sits pitifully in the corner just waiting for attention...
So I need some help. I pulled the seat apart as the cover was torn in a lot of places and wasn't far from total rot; and the foam was pretty much dust. I wire brushed the pan to get the rust off and primered it to prevent any further rust. Question is, should I hack up the stock seat pan as the base for my hump tail section or sell it? I don't know if people are in need or looking for seat pans or if its one of those things that people just don't care about.
Hey, haven't posted in a long time, the bike got put on hold for quite a while. But today I got the itch and started cracking on it again.
Here is a shot of the how I pulled it out.
I put a steel braided line on today. Had a few banjo bolts around to I had to play around to figure out what will work. The stock brake calliper doesn't accept the longer (newer) bolts so I had to put an extra crush washer on. Is that gonna cause a problem when I go to grab a handful of brake? I don't want any leakage. Also, does anyone know a good site to get replacement and mo betta brake pads?
I also started putting the rearsets together. I went with the bike stem method for the time being.
The rear brake is proving to be a problem as it won't actuate. I don't know if I need to tear into it and replace the drum equipment, but I can't get it to go. I'd really like to fix that before I try to take the bike out.
I picked up a '79 650 a while back that I'm slowly trying to collect parts for it. It sits pitifully in the corner just waiting for attention...
So I need some help. I pulled the seat apart as the cover was torn in a lot of places and wasn't far from total rot; and the foam was pretty much dust. I wire brushed the pan to get the rust off and primered it to prevent any further rust. Question is, should I hack up the stock seat pan as the base for my hump tail section or sell it? I don't know if people are in need or looking for seat pans or if its one of those things that people just don't care about.
Okay, so I just read Hacks analysis of the bike stem method on Andrew's thread. I'll be thinking of a different method. Might just go down and have a bike metal plate welded on the frame, I like where the pegs are at as they are up and back, but not uncomfortably high. Thats gonna be a big piece of metal hangin out though...
Okay, so I just read Hacks analysis of the bike stem method on Andrew's thread. I'll be thinking of a different method. Might just go down and have a bike metal plate welded on the frame, I like where the pegs are at as they are up and back, but not uncomfortably high. Thats gonna be a big piece of metal hangin out though...
Okay, so I just read Hacks analysis of the bike stem method on Andrew's thread. I'll be thinking of a different method. Might just go down and have a bike metal plate welded on the frame, I like where the pegs are at as they are up and back, but not uncomfortably high. Thats gonna be a big piece of metal hangin out though...
Yup, I ditched the bike stems and with some crazy thick metal. I used some fender hangers I found at a custom bike show. I used some 1" frame clamps from Denis Kirk, but a welded tab would be much better. I like my pegs back a ways too. The problem with the clamps is that they might spin under a heavy load. I’m able to stand on them without movement but you never know. The bracket actually hits the old passenger peg mount so mine won’t spin. Anyway, just thought I would share. Do what you want
Okay, so I just read Hacks analysis of the bike stem method on Andrew's thread. I'll be thinking of a different method. Might just go down and have a bike metal plate welded on the frame, I like where the pegs are at as they are up and back, but not uncomfortably high. Thats gonna be a big piece of metal hangin out though...
Yup, I ditched the bike stems and with some crazy thick metal. I used some fender hangers I found at a custom bike show. I used some 1" frame clamps from Denis Kirk, but a welded tab would be much better. I like my pegs back a ways too. The problem with the clamps is that they might spin under a heavy load. I’m able to stand on them without movement but you never know. The bracket actually hits the old passenger peg mount so mine won’t spin. Anyway, just thought I would share. Do what you want
Thanks dude, I have a welder, but I don't know how to weld. I might go check to see how much a local shop would want to to the weld for me and see if they have any scrap metal. You're right, that is some thick metal you have there for you hangers!
Thanks dude, I have a welder, but I don't know how to weld. I might go check to see how much a local shop would want to to the weld for me and see if they have any scrap metal. You're right, that is some thick metal you have there for you hangers!
Thought that I had a "build" thread on this thing, but I guess not.
Bought this bike from Geeto a few years ago. Spent YEARS bugging him to sell it to me.
Has a cool story behind it, and to me and epic look.
After I got it, I serviced the crap out of it and started bar hopping.
Then parts...
at risk of setting myself up for later ridicule............
i decided at last years festival of italian motorcycles here in melbourne that i wanted to attend this year's with something a bit different. not exactly special, i'm too limited in funds and time and a tightarse for that. just...
Well I recently bought this "barn find" bike that I will be transforming into my dream bike.
Step one is to 100% take it all apart.....
Oh.....wait.
So the board has been rather slow these days, figured I would track some of the progress and stories of the new bike here.
Before my wife and I...
So my new toy showed up over the weekend!
A 1998 Bimota SB6R.
The "S" means that the bike runs a Suzuki motor.
B for Bimota frame
6 because it is the sixth bike they made with a Suzuki motor (not that it is a 600cc)
R because it is the later "upgraded" version.
This bike is powered by a...
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