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Post by JonW on Mar 5, 2013 12:01:04 GMT 1
I've started writing up my XT500 supermoto project for my website, so if anyone is interested then the start of it is here: Jon's Yamaha XT500 Supermoto projectBike is now part mock up and part built... and looks a bit like this... it will be white when its done not orange LOL
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Post by ducatidave on Mar 19, 2013 10:35:25 GMT 1
Like it looks abit like ccm ft very nice
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Post by noelrdlc on Mar 19, 2013 14:27:12 GMT 1
Nice
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Post by JonW on Mar 23, 2013 12:29:10 GMT 1
Thanks guys! Ive been slowly moving forward with this one, waiting for parts as ever is the hassle with any build in this part of the world... Ive sorted the rear brake and managed to fit the KTM OEM Brembo. Ive also tidied up the brake and speedo runs up the forks and a bunch of other front end stuff like the headlight (12v now) and LED indicators. Also fitted GSG brackets to hold on the light. Rebuilt clocks also now on. not a great pic, but this is where I am now.. still need to get a new seat and paint the tank (plus get the dents out), source and fit the exhaust and sort out details stuff like the airbox, rear brake reservior etc etc..
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Post by arrow on Mar 23, 2013 23:39:30 GMT 1
I really like the look of that.
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Post by Yogi on Mar 23, 2013 23:59:27 GMT 1
very nice Jon,reminds me of the 600 Armstrong I had with a rotax engine,proper animal to ride but loads of grin factor ;D
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Post by JonW on Mar 24, 2013 8:44:38 GMT 1
Thanks guys! Still a ways to go but its coming on well. An XT as standard isnt really a powerhouse, but they do love to wheelie. Ive got a 10:1 piston, bigger carb, bigger inlet manifold, cleaned up head and it will have a bigger and freer flowing pipe and silencer, so im hoping it will be better than it was before, and it was ok when i bought it to be honest
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Post by Roofmonster on Mar 24, 2013 14:02:41 GMT 1
Looks good Jon - like the write-up on your website too
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Post by JonW on Mar 24, 2013 23:10:42 GMT 1
Thanks mate, Im glad you like it
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2013 2:57:14 GMT 1
Looks great Jon... Should be a great laugh to ride with those mods!
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Post by JonW on Mar 25, 2013 5:30:44 GMT 1
Thanks Duncan, Yeah I hope so too. The XT is said to handle quite well on the road, so Im hopeful that good rear suspension (new YSS shocks) and a decent front end (WP 50mm extreme) and 17inch motard wheels will really help it in the cut n thrust of the city.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2013 7:31:07 GMT 1
Be a blast, I reckon... Playing in the traffic!! LOL
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Post by JonW on Mar 25, 2013 8:13:34 GMT 1
This week they are testing a new thing in the city of Sydney.... allowing bikes to filter standing traffic... wow, now I'm not saying im guilty, but havent we been doing this for years? I always assumed standing traffic was legal, its moving traffic that was a violation... either way, with the XT I may just filter over the traffic, stopped or moving!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2013 9:54:41 GMT 1
Now all you have to worry about is t**ts flicking cigarettes in your face, or throwing Maccas bags or disp coffee cups out as you fly past!! LOL. Is pretty progressive for local govm't though, usually bikers don't get a second thought. I always thought cutting through traffic was a right for bikes.
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Post by JonW on Mar 25, 2013 12:25:59 GMT 1
LOL, yeah too right... whats the point in having a bike and then sitting behind the cars breathing in their fumes? hmm...
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Post by JonW on Mar 27, 2013 12:12:47 GMT 1
As has been said elsewhere on this and other forums: the devil is in the details and also in the thrill of chasing down old parts. Both of those do add dramatically to the end result, but also to the amount of 'you' that is found in any bike build. Any fool can buy a new bike, or buy a load of standard parts off the shelf if they are available, its harder to sleuth parts from the fiches and scour the net for them, it takes hours... Whereas most XT500 parts are easily available (and cheap compared to RD/RZ stuff actually) some specific parts are, of course, long NLA and everyone has already grabbed them for their own restorations - in case you didnt know, there are hundreds of guys who have rebuilt XT5s over the years and stuff that was 'pretty much NLA' is now firmly impossible to find... there must be better stock of XTs roaming the streets now than ever LOL So it was with some great excitement today that I opened a box from the USA with a NOS rear light unit for the XT500 and DT1 etc. Its not a 'usual' XT part as it isnt the round type. Instead it is rectangular and was only fitted in some markets, so by sleuthing on the parts numbers I was able to track 2 down. One was over $200, the other just $39 but missing the 'glass' which i have in good condition bizarrely! The seller agreed they would ship to me here in Aus, while normally they only ship within the usa and today the part landed. still in its OEM box... Amusingly you can see where an animal (cat or rat i would think) has taken a chunk out of the cardboard... And who knows when this was sent to the dealer... in the 90s i would think. So, I may soon have a working rear light. my old one was ok after i rebuilt it but the bulb holder wasnt 'holding' as well as I would have liked and im sure it would have had an intermittent connection unless i fixed / bodged it with foil, and i hate doing that.
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Post by bryan on Apr 1, 2013 0:46:34 GMT 1
I would love to do a project like a modernized TT/XT500 with 17inch ally rims and road tyres, I've always liked the old thumper, but they are not cheap here now. Another nice project Jon.
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Post by JonW on Apr 1, 2013 7:22:00 GMT 1
Thanks Bryan.
Yeah, not cheap here either sadly... and I reckon they have been expensive for years, older guys than us loved these when they were new I guess.
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Post by JonW on Apr 4, 2013 0:51:22 GMT 1
Small progress has been made. I had an issue with one of my new indicators, in that it arrived with an issue with some LEDs not firing. The seller M-factory immediately fixed the problem by sending a new set, good on them for great customer service! I also fitted the new carb a pumper Mikuni TM36. a beast of a unit that will add power when coupled with my new exhaust (when it comes) and the high compression piston. I fitted the new inlet manifold and noticed the head needed some work... After a quick chat with XT500 gurus Kedo it was out with the Dremel to open up the tract...
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rdbuzz
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Post by rdbuzz on Apr 4, 2013 23:10:39 GMT 1
Nice that is! must get me xt250 started.
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Post by JonW on Apr 4, 2013 23:24:10 GMT 1
yeah these are great bits of kit and so much lower than modern off road bikes. I was chatting to a local load with some modern 450/250s and he was amazed at how small the XT is. I could see he was loving the idea for the road LOL
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Post by JonW on Apr 5, 2013 4:25:15 GMT 1
Today was a big day... I dropped the tank to the painter to remove the dents and paint it up. I also supplied the decals as I got them from Reproduction Decals a while back. The painter said the decals were usable as they were not layered, and we all know painters can be funny about decals as they prefer to do their own. cool. The problem for my tank is the dents. The aluminum stretches and this means they won't just pop out. The painter would not give a firm quote but did give me an hourly rate and tell me how long they thought... and yeah, it isn't going to be cheap that's for sure, but they are the best painters in Sydney by reputation and basically the only place anyone I spoke to would trust with such work. These tanks are no very hard to find and most are dented now, the curse of it being an off road bike... no wonder new dirt bike tanks are all plastic! So here are the 'before' shots... I expect to get the tank back in about 2 months all done... let's see how it looks when its back... Originally when I got it it was in 1980 colours, I don't like these dull colours and as the bike is now white, not black, so the scheme wouldn't work at all. I stripped off all the paint and decals and removed some of the corrosion and polished it up a bit to see what it might look like and check for extra damage, but its ok, phew. The right side isn't too bad with only a small dimple, and of course that is the easiest side to fix... sigh... the left side is much worse and much harder to fix. The top is the worst of all, but this is covered by paint and not polished so not quite such a drama. Wish me luck, if the guy can squeeze the dents into a short timescale my wallet would be happy... we'll see.
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Post by lcrider on Apr 8, 2013 21:45:41 GMT 1
Man that bike looks sooper cool
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Post by JonW on Apr 8, 2013 23:31:27 GMT 1
Thanks m8! I do have to say that this bike and the LC421 both really lift my spirits on a bad day. Just walking into the garage and seeing them brings a smile to my face. I do also feel grateful to have been able to to build a couple of bikes to the spec with all the quality parts I wanted, and the result is a cool bike that fulfils my brief of a clean custom machine to my tastes, and the fact others like it too is just icing on the cake. Both have been hard work and challenging at times, but also been great fun projects too A few of the local off-road boys have been round this week and while they love the MT250 resto, they don't look back at it once they spot the XT. Everyone seems to have a soft spot for the XT, plus not everyone is 7ft so being used to modern off road machines and then being reminded that in the old days you could touch the ground is always a revelation. This bike is also quite slim too, and the lack of rad shrouds really helps make it appear light and easy to thread through obstacles, like cars in the city in this instance!
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Post by JonW on Apr 22, 2013 2:58:41 GMT 1
Ok, Exhaust pics... Decided that I wanted this to be nice 'n shiny to match the tank and swinger... Really like the look of this small silencer/muffler and its nice quality (as is the whole system) in the metal. Kedo do a black version of the silencer, but for me it had to be polished stainless on this bike. I was surprised to find that the header swings quite far forward and then around, probably to straighten the flow of the gasses, but its longer than I thought it would be from the pics. ... but I do now wonder if perhaps the header-to-cylinderhead fitting didn't need a gasket and just a blob of sealant? hmm.. as this pipe being a little forward led to the S pipe bracket not lining up, and necessitating me making a bracket. The bracket works well, but I feel I shouldn't have had to do that, lucky the system is light and not going anywhere as its held by the cylinder head studs and the silencer mount. The fitting isn't helped as Kedo sends a packet of parts and instructions in German. I know they are a German company so that isn't unexpected as such. So far the guys working there have been helpful in that when pressed they would send me the text of the docs so I could use an online translater - they tell me VintageSpoke is translating stuff for them when I offered to do it for them, but so far everything I have bought comes with instructions only in German. Yes, I could type the pages into a translater, but that would just be wasting time if the company can send soft copy texts of course (pus I dont have a german keyboard). When I asked about the exhaust instructions Kedo maintained there was no instructions, er... but I have some paperwork that looks like instructions in the parcel. So far no word back when I sent them the doc name/code. It's not rocket science to fit this pipe, and we modders will make things fit, but I shouldn't have to do that and in the kit there are more parts than I need... or I hope thats what they are... I hate having left over parts, makes me wonder if I missed something... Next job was the air filter. This hit against the lower guard. Such a shame as trying to get it in has crinkled the filter, tho I was able to straighten it a bit from the inside and i'm sure a litlle crinkle is not an issue for airflow in reality. I will get the heatgun out on the lower mudguard and try and get it all to fit when I get a chance and I am finishing up that part of the bike. So for now there is of course no rear guard fitted...
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Post by JonW on Apr 22, 2013 3:27:45 GMT 1
While waiting for confirmation etc from Kedo I decided I should do some detail work... I'm getting near the end of the process so it's time to slowly work thru some of the parts that have been 'part done' for a while, and also fit up things that I always do properly right at the end. I thought it was a good painting weekend and so I would remove the old paint, blast and repaint the LH handlebar switch that I hadn't done yet. This is detail work and needs to be right, nothing lets bike down more than the parts you see and touch being old and crappy or badly restored imho, plus I now have the decals so it would be worth doing as I could complete it from start to finish, gotta love sub assemblies! I should add that the other side looks like new as I painted it ages back and last week slipped on the decals. I should admit that I did actually buy an aftermarket replacement part for the LH switches, but when it landed it had the wrong connectors which was annoying, but to be honest it was obviously put together by someone who didn't give a toss about the look of it, the decals were skew-whiff and peeling already, hmm... So it was probbaly fortuitious that I was forced to rebuild the old one The idiot prev owner had repainted it with a can over the top of everything, and I assumed that cos the new one and the RHS one were alloy that this was too... But when I pulled it off and it was plastic! LOL. I had actually already been right thru this unit cleaning the connections and pulling out dead bugs, and I didn't notice... Says a lot about the lights in my garage! So with a lot of cleaning with thinners and some adjusting and painting of the small parts and then some careful reassembly work, it's now back on and looking good. At the same time as I was doing final work on things I also did a few other jobs round that area and its all coming together well. These included fitting the new OEM grips and also removing the paint from the new (aftermarket I think? It came with the bike...) clutch lever. The reason I did this was that the Brembo master cylinder lever on the other side is bare alloy and Im not going to be painting it, so now they match up. After some paint stripper and then a gentle brush with a stainless brush it came up how I wanted it. A quick wipe over with some light oil and it should stay corrosion free in use. Fingers crossed. Next job was to do final fitting on the headlight... The GSG brackets needed extending and I spent ages making bars for that and then had hoped i could clamp them with the indicator bolts, but it wasn't to be. They are rubber mounted and will not do up tight enough to hold the 'heavy' headlight in place without a small amount of drooping, which looks crappy and therefore will not do. I tried araldite but in the end drilled and tapped the brackets for some M4 domed socket screws. Finally they are solid. Next job was the rear brake reservoir mount. I had played with this for hours, looking for a neat solution where the level can still be seen before riding without dismantling (safety first!) and came up lacking, until I fitted the exhaust and lo n behold there was a fitting on the frame I didnt have before as I had left the bungs out LOL! I made a key shaped bung and cut down the KTM hose and it was simply fitted. I may play with the bracket more and make an angled one to match the frame rail, but for now this works and is neat enough, being out of the way of the rider's legs and also away from the shock and the pipe. (extra pics to follow)
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Post by JonW on May 2, 2013 13:08:10 GMT 1
Great news! My wheel spacers have arrived. While my bike has looked quite complete for a while, the wheels are only loosely fitted as the spacers are only what I made up quickly to get sizes and check the chain run. I would always need to replace them with proper units before the bike was completed. As usual with those who build customised bikes, I struggled to find someone who would make me up some spacers and I didn't have anything the right size lying around. I know many guys say 'just ask your tame local engineering firm, they will knock some up in their lunchtime for beer money' but A) I don't have a tame local engineering firm, and B) the no-so-local firms just didn't want to know, so are not tame. It certainly seems that where I live in Sydney, the concept of old-skool engineering firms helping out a biker in a lunch break is a thing very much of the past, no one offered to whip some up for me for a 6pack or donation to the tea fund, they all wanted to quote the job on paperwork with an hourly rate. Sigh. So... I gave up locally and I asked around and found a mate of mine would make them, in fact he has been making stuff like this for people for years as he does all sorts of stuff on his mill and lathe and was thinking about offering the service on the forums and sales sites etc. as he is a biker and knows people struggle to get this sort of stuff nowadays. The downside, he is in France. Well, not so much of a downside as he is quick and dependable and post only takes a week, and to be honest the time I saved not having to drive all over Sydney was well worth it! Plus he was cheaper per spacer than anyone locally! I actually had him make me a couple of different sizes as I wanted to have some leeway to get the chain run and fork widths just right. He was up for that and offered me spacers in steel, bronze, brass or alloy, he wont do Ti as he finds working with it a bit of a pig, and I wasn't that fussed on Ti to be honest, the weight saving on a spacer is minimal considering the extra costs of the material and amount of work involved. Bronze/brass was interesting, and something to keep in mind for a future project, or maybe some spacers that were not on wheel axles, so could be kept clean and polished. In discussion he has said that he will do a webpage soon. In the meantime if anyone wants anything like this done and cant find anyone locally I can recommend Andy who can be contacted on, Engineering@taboulet.com and his site is: www.taboulet.com/engineering/Site/Home.htmlSo, these arrived today. It's a shame the seals and bearings I ordered the same day from the UK (I wanted SKF bearings, and the best priced seller was in the uk) haven't arrived yet or I would have them fitted already. Grr...! In other news my NOS seat arrived from Yamaha. Its an 81-on unit and so is longer than the original. Interesting when I flipped it over you can see how Yamaha extended it with a crude rivited on section supporting the longer foam and cover. I fitted refubished hardware as this all NLA now of course. I still don know if I will use this seat as its a bit long and not the idal look for the bike, but it is supercool to have an original Yamaha seat in one piece, its amazing what you can find for these bikes!
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Post by yamaha341 on Aug 5, 2013 22:34:30 GMT 1
hi man nice work on your motard whats your swinger from or is it a soecil build very nice and looks good with the brembo man cheers
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Post by JonW on Aug 15, 2013 22:53:43 GMT 1
Thanks! The swinger is an aftermarket unit and the quality is great for not huge cost.
So... slow progress on this build. The tank is still at the paint shop, no word from them on it, and the rest of the bike just waits.... I did rig up a long hose and a funnel and ran the bike up. It seemed noisy, but of course its an air cooled unit and the valves werent adjusted fully. The oil is circulating fine and the SR/XT/TT engine is quite noisy as motos go actually so im not worried.
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Post by JonW on Aug 25, 2013 23:39:21 GMT 1
For those who have been following this thread, Im still waiting for the tank. The guys who ar doing it are flat out and so far it ha snot been started. Its annoying, but i'd rather they didnt rush it etc.
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