some updates on my 72 suzuki T500

[m in sc]

have had this 9 years this Septembe
r. it was a basketcase rebuild from fla, and has been really reliable all the years ive had it,
after I went thru everything. I procured a 71 model thats going to stay stock, so this one got some performance upgrades. it was never really a candidate for a full resto anyway.
stainless chambers from Jim Lomas, in Europe these would up costing g me almost 2k, with about 500 of it being a tarrif, that got implemented after I ordered them but before they were shipped. hand built took 3 Mos.
billet heads with corrected modern domes.
yss rear ahovks, later disc brake front end, cdi with programmable ignition module. its a fun bike to ride.

 

[Rusty Nuts]

its a fun bike to ride.

I believe it!

 

[m in sc]

I also have a 71 im keeping stock, im smack in the middle of sorting out. needs a crank seal replacement, have a fresh rebuilt crank ready to swap in. both topends i had for the original motor were trashed,, so sending out to get one set bored and new pistons. Hopefully can get motor back together in a month or so. however, in the mean time just got new dunlop k70s on, new wheel bearings and moving my way thru all the wiring and other sins of the past. paint is original.

 

[Cpd419]

I love the old stuff. I’d love to have a smoker but the parts market + the age of the bike keeps me away. One 60 year old vehicle is all I can handle.

 

[m in sc]

I can say in the 35+ years ive been i to these types of bikes, now is the best time to own and work on one ever. the t500 is a bit obscure comparatively, but the gt750, any yamaha twin 1970-up, or 500 or 750 kawi parts can be had easily. affordable the rd 250/350 series is the easiest and most plentiful. tbh its my platform of choice. the rz 350 is also comparable as far as availability but getting to be big ridiculous money. they never were good enough to be 20k-30k bikes but ive seen them and owned them. parts availability really isn't much of an issue these days though. example: rd350. new crank, 500. all new. cyls pistons, reproduction new: 250. everything else is commodity stuff. you can build a nice reliable stock rider well under 5k easy if you can find a crusty but complete one and have repair skills of a 25 yr old from 1975.

 

[BlewByU]

Nice ride. I built a new wire harness for a neighbors T500 last year, old harness was just too trashed. He asked me to patch it up. After seeing it and having it on the lift in my garage I decided not worth fixin.
Do you have a source for new oil injection lines? His were all broken up. We ended up replacing the injectors with kawasaki ones and teflon piping.