Hello World

[Zedicus]

my bike.  rough but adding things slowly.

RC51 integrated tail light.
all of the handlebar controls that you can see are from a superhawk.
the front end is a mess, i have a set of gauges on order and it needs a headlight.
also have a new seat cover on order.

also this season i have GOT to do something about the riding position,  some sort of CBR front end and some longer rear shocks.  maybe even clip ons for bars.

listing things that will be done (someday)
USD forks, drop nose of bike.
front wheel to go with forks from whatever bike they are robbed from
rear wheel in as close to matching spoke count as possible.  will have to come from 600f2 (bolt on) or 600f3 with cut cush drive.
f4i rearsets (bolt on, need to be complete with brake master and all shifter linkage)
20mm longer hagon shocks to lift arse end.

at some point it needs engine work.  hopefully a 1 size overbore will be enough and i can get a 10:1 compression wiseco easily.
carb will be stock unit from some random 450 dirtbike.
thumperstuff headpipe

when all that is done i should have something that resembles a sportbike.

[J6G1Z]

Hey there Zedicus,

Very cool tail light integration. Just about anything that cleans up the rear end of the bike is worth doing.

The easiest forks to swap are the first generation CBR600 Hurricane, or the early Intercepter forks. The are the same diameter fork tubing & spacing to slide up into the Ascot triple clamps. The Hurricane uses a 17" front wheel, plus the rear 17" wheel will slip right into the Ascot swing arm. The Interceptor front end uses a 16" front wheel. Both of these front ends will lower the bike in the 2-3 inch range.

Neither of the Ascots are well suited for clip-on type of bars, as it will really pitch you forward with the stock seat height. The bikes are supposed to have a more relaxed dirt-bike type of feel to them. I like the Honda CR type of bars. They come in 3 heights, low rise, medium rise & high rise. The low & mid rise bars are real nice. I've seen an FT Ascot with drag bars & one with clubman style bars. It really looked dumb, uncomfortable & mis-matched. You have to be careful with those types of bars, that your hand controls don't dent the tank at full turn.

I used this headlight, mounting ears & turn signals set-up, but I requested black bodied turn signals:
http://www.speedmotoco.com/product-p/smc.404.mofo.htm  This set-up fits pretty good, but the backs of the mounting brackets just kiss the tank at full turn lock. Check out the other parts that company has to offer.

You might also want to check out Dime City Cycles for parts: http://www.dimecitycycles.com

Here is a link to some various after-market guage companies: http://ascot500.com/index.php?topic=72.0

Good luck
J.

[Zedicus]

yeah i have seen tons of front ends on these bike.  heck an 07 cbr1000rr from the triple-tree out is nearly bolt on.  im just such a cheapskate though.

noted on the bar set up, thanks for the advice.

those gauges are nice but not within budget.  for now i am fitting some cb750 gauges that work, where as my stock gauges do not, and the 40$ i spent on thief-bay is within the budget.   when it is time to change the front wheel to something more modern i will fit f4i gauges and a vfr or 900rr speed sensor. 

the carb is shot and the motor is in need of a tune up.  it runs o.k. and will hold up untill i get around to finding a carb off of a late model 450 and getting a wiseco 10:1 piston.  i needs me one of those headpipes from thumperstuff too. 

i should have taken the pics facing away from the wall, then you could have seen some of my other projects....

[J6G1Z]

....i should have taken the pics facing away from the wall, then you could have seen some of my other projects.... 

It's not too late. We like pictures. Especially other peoples projects.

I was in the process of building an FT500/CBR600 hybrid bike, but was side tracked with a large "Honey-Do" project. I've pretty much finished all the mock-ups & have my parts back from the powder coaters, etc. I just need a few days to re-assemble the bike & start the shake down runs. Here is the post on it in case you are interested in looking at it: http://ascot500.com/index.php?topic=79.0

Good luck
J.

[Zedicus]

ive been reading that already. nice build.

this is my home built media server, i have a server rack in my basement and custom streaming media boxes throughout the house.

also my 2 turbo cars,  the close one is a 95 eagle talon that i literally just got the motor put back in.  its FWD

the one in back is a 91 eagle talon AWD, it is in need of a motor rebuild also.

i also have a 3rd gen eclipse i am building a stroker motor for, and a TRX250R (big bore with a 303 pro-cross kit) and a Blaster (wifes ride, custom stroker motor about 220cc) , ATV's.  they currently run and are not being worked on, amazingly.

[Zedicus]

new seat cover and custom innards to some blinkers i bought.   they were regular bulb based but had been damaged in shipping so i converted them to 12v LED based.  but the blinker relay requires more draw then what the LED front and LED rear pull so i will be replacing the relay with a digital one.

[J6G1Z]

I replaced my license plate frame with one that has built in LED lighting. My turn signals would not flash until I picked up this flasher: http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/motorcycle-accessories/lf1-s-pin-universal-motorcycle-electronic-flasher/193/841/
It works with incandescent lamps up front & LEDs in the back.

Good luck
J.

[Zedicus]

basically identical to the ebay units i have been buying, except yours is half the cost.  thanks for the tip.

i am going to try and get a set of cbr rearsets found in the next couple weeks and i want to try doing the upside down handlebar trick at the same time.   i will be doing the seat cover this weekend hopefully too.   pics to follow.

[J6G1Z]

I looked at doing a rear-set conversion. Raask offers ready made rear-sets for the FT Ascot.

I found a set of 2005 CBR600 rear-sets, but unfortunately they were not suitable for swapping over to the FT. It looks to me like most of the GSXR rear-sets would be easier to adapt. The foot-pegs & controls share the same post & the mounting points are closer together. You will still need to fabricate a piece of steel to weld to the frame on each side that is drilled to accept the mounting bolts from the rear-sets. You really need to find some that have real short mounting points as compared to the foot-peg position or they will be back too far.

I decided to try something a bit easier. I disassembled the original foot-pegs & cut them to be about a 1.5" long. Then I had some dirt bike pegs welded to the 1.5" posts. That raised the pegs about an inch or more, but left them in the original & comfortable position. http://ascot500.com/index.php?topic=79.msg308#msg308
I'm maintaining the "Street-Tracker" looks & ergonomics on my bike though. I don't really care for the upside down handlebar, Clubman bar, or clip-ons, mounted to either of the Ascots. The bikes are just not layed out in a way that those types of bars work very well. I have seen a few exceptions, but they were heavily modified.

Good luck & please keep posting up the pics.
J.

[Zedicus]

cbr600f4 and cbr600f4i  rearsets are bolt on and gain lots of improvement in rider position, IF you are going to a more sporty position.  it is best to get a complete set with rear master and all linkages.

i am planning on inverting the bars asa  temporary solution,  long term goals do include completely different front end and custom rear suspension.  so i think i will fit into the 'heavily modified' group at some point.

actually i am a sport bike guy.  through my years of motorcycle and dirt bike riding the only 2 wheeled vehicles i have ever dropped have been cruiser/street tracker oriented.  personally i feel like there is no control of the vehicle when all of my weight is on my arse and my arms and legs are stretched out in front of me.  not to mention that position kills my back.   i gotta be on the tank and leaned forward to feel like i have any say in what a bike is doing.   and i think sports bikes have by far a more comfortable seating position then cruisers, my back agrees.

[Zedicus]

stripped the seat.   will try to get the new cover on tonight.

also even with the digital blinker relay i can not get enough current with all LED blinkers to make it blink, i even tried adding a small resistor in line across the lines and it still just lights everything up.   i will be going back to incandescent bulbs on the front.   (i thought about building a flashing circut into my home made LED blinkers but i view the entire front end on the bike now as temporary so it would be more effort then it is worth.)

[Zedicus]

new seat cover and headlight.

i think i have a game plan on an upside down fork swap.  but the bikes electrical system is starting to go sideways.  bleh.

[J6G1Z]

You did a good looking job on that seat!

That headlight hood is interesting. What did that light come from?


J.

[Zedicus]

its just a universal headlight.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/150662267247?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
cheap in price and quality.

the seat cover came from ebay and for the work i had to put into making it fit correctly i could have made my own. i did not have a large enough chunk of vinyl and i thought i was saving time by just ordering a 'custom fitted' seat cover.  lies they say...LIES!!

[Luke]

lies they say...LIES!!

lol ... She's coming along nicely

Always loved those AWD Talons! 

[blubro]

Nice work on the taillight. Good luck with your future mods.
 I went with an Auto Zone trailer taillight.  Cut the works down to fit the Ascot housing, and cut down a stock lens to sit flush. Like the man says, anything to clean up the rear end.
I also narrowed the stock turn signal lights, now it looks much trimmer and I don't clip them when I throw a leg over.

[J6G1Z]

That almost looks like it came that way from the factory. Cleaned it up real nice & the tail light looks bright. I'm always worried about being rear ended while stopped at intersections. The LED license plate frame that I used, doesn't have a very bright tail light. The brake light is plenty bright though.

Good job on the turn signals. I kick the right rear turn signal every once in a while.

J.
 

[Luke]

Like the man says, anything to clean up the rear end.
I also narrowed the stock turn signal lights, now it looks much trimmer and I don't clip them when I throw a leg over.

That looks very clean. Nice work!