Proud owner of a 1982 black FT500

[frappy]

Glad to be here.  Just purchased a new-to-me ’82 FT500 with 3,300 miles on it.  Mostly original – but it has new tires and it looks to me like the front fork legs have been refinished. It came with owner’s manual and tool kit. Bought it from the original owner who owns a local Honda dealership. Head gasket’s been replaced (due to seepage), valves adjusted, and starter has been cleaned (although it still seems a bit noisy). Also, my right side passenger grab bar is missing. (Anyone have a spare?) Choke cable was broken at the dash mount, but I found and just purchased a NOS one from Mark at Thumper Stuff. I also ordered from him the 2x oversize pilot and main jets, as well as from eBay a (used) factory service manual, and a (new) carb gasket set. I have questions about rejetting the carb, but will ask those over in the Tech Section. Thanks again for being here - ride on!

[Lefty]

Real nice! The rejetting's pretty easy and is explained in great detail in the "Essentials for the FT", The jets plus the air filter mod will pep it up.
Good luck & keep us posted, Lefty

[J6G1Z]

Welcome to the forum & congratulations on finding an Ascot. Looks like you found a real honey of an FT Ascot. Doesn't get much better than buying a bike from the original owner, but finding one that was owned by a Honda dealer is extra nice!

Sounds like you are headed in the right direction with ordering the jets, service manual, etc. You might consider changing the countershaft to a 16 or 17 tooth to reduce the engine RPM at freeway & high speed cruising.

J.

[frappy]

Thanks for the compliments, folks.  I finally found some time in between motorcycle rides and honey-do's to work on my FT500 tonight.  Removed the fuel tank and replaced my broken choke cable (plastic snapped where it mounts to the gauge cluster) with an NOS choke cable I got from Thumper Stuff.  I also started to replace my jets (see my Carburetor rejetting question post under "The Thumper Years: FT500 Stock to Lightly Modified").  Also received my FT500 Factory Service Manual.  It cost me $25 shipped from eBay and is in really good condition, but it didn't come with the nice Honda binder.

[J6G1Z]

Twenty five bucks for a service manual isn't bad at all. I paid double that for one.

J.

[frappy]

Thanks for the feedback.  It pays to shop around, but mostly just takes being in the right place at the right time.

[frappy]

Got the jets installed in my FT500 last night and (thanks to J's recommendation) didn't even need to remove the carb.  I also decided not to replace the float bowl gasket and thankfully it doesn't leak after reassembly and testing.   Maybe I should've ridden the bike more than once before I changed to the recommended 2x oversize jets, but I'm not looking back.  The bike seems to start, come off choke, idle, and just plain run better throughout the rev-range. Took a test spin tonight and although it doesn't have as much brute power as my lightly modified '80 "brand Y" XT500 (Mikuni 34, K&N air filter, Super Trapp, & oversize exhaust pipe), my FT's much smoother and certainly more civilized.  Probably won't be modifying the air box or any other visible stuff since this low-mileage gem is such a clean bone-stock example of a first-year FT500.  Thanks everyone for being here!

[J6G1Z]

When you find a real clean example. You almost have a bit of an obligation to continue preserving the bike. There are plenty of rough examples out there to build a custom out of. I have one real clean FT Ascot that is almost all stock. It has been jetted (by a previous owner no less), has a 16 tooth countershaft & the ThumperStuff exhaust with a Cobra muffler. The rest is OEM & I plan to keep it that way.

Good Luck
J.