the 72 T500

[m in sc]

this has been along term bike for me, the old build thread was on the OLD board. i wont bore anyone w all that, but, this was a florida basket case. and, its one of the only bikes i actively sought out to get after owning one 25 years prior.

it was def not a restoration candidate, so i went a bit creative w the appearance. and, its been a great bike over-all. there have been nagging leaks here and there and the biggest issue is (was) the suspension. the front ends on these were just DISMAL. the brake, even though it was a drum, was actually ok, but the forks damping was basically non existent, they flexed (34mm!) and the external springs were just weak. and, i could never get the collars to stop seeping fork oil. i had had enough, so i procured a GT550 front end (1st year disc model) and went ahead and swapped. had the lowers glass beaded, then vapor blasted along w the upper tree, the spacer, etc.

3D printed some badges for the caliper, and some gaiter mounts. new BT46s as well. the improvement was very notable.

also, since the turn signals had to be remounted, (the disc upper tree doesn't have the provisions), i used some spare R5 ones i had (mounts) under the fork cap and emulated the stock location. used k&s aluminum signals, and had to machine spacers in the back ones to kick em out a bit and use a carbon bolt (since the TS holds the grab rail on).

the stock stuff thats good will be used on the 71 i just got, since its missing  the rear signals and the front wheel is in need of help.
 











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[Kawtriplefreak]

Very nice!!

[Simmons1]

Awesome update to the old girl. Needs chambers! LOL

[RDnuTZ]

Did you spray clear coat or anything to protect finish on the fork lowers?

[RDryan]

Wow, that looks really nice. I would like to do the same thing someday to the fork lowers of my RD.

[m in sc]

thanks. yes all the blasted aluminum got wheel cleared gloss wherl paint), holds up well. lowers, upprt tree etc. as far as chambers.. the titan performance ones suck performance wise, especially for the money. I rode Mike longs w them and I knew I could outrun his with mine w stock pipes.. which is sad. I tried to get a set of swarbicks apparently Dave didn't want my money. this bike will get a set of vp heads soon. would have been earlier this year but had a few unexpected expenses come up that delayed that.

[85RZwade]

Thanks for the excellent (as usual) documentation! I'm enjoying this