Author Topic: Alex's Aussie FT500 (Read 75264 times)

ausFT · « **on:** November 10, 2015, 02:50:43 am »

Hello everyone,

I'm starting this thread to follow my FT500 build. I picked this bike up a while ago from a relative who bought it with the intention of getting into motorcycling. After sitting dormant for a few years I managed to snap it up for a good price!

Here's the bike when I first got it! 82' Honda FT500 Ascot.

The goal is to completely restore the bike and make some 'tasteful' modifications to the look. I am building it as a father-son project with the old boy, who is a classic bike enthusiast and loves the quirky FT.

First thing we did was a complete strip down. The whole bike was put in labelled bags (learnt a big lesson here - label EVERYTHING) and frame sent off for a grit blast and fresh powder coat, along with any other parts that will be black.

Next was the wheels. We wanted to keep the black and alloy look they already had and after a bloody long time taping them up they got a nice new coat of paint, along with a polish!

Here's how we painted them

And here's the finished product! Very happy with the result!

ausFT · « **Reply #1 on:** November 10, 2015, 03:43:30 am »

I've also read heaps of posts from this website and will be performing the Ascot 'essentials' when the time comes.

Swingarm was installed, all new bearings and a good greasing.

The front end came together next. Polished a few pieces here and there to clean it up and added a set of gators. Steering head also got some nice new tapered rollers. We will be replacing all bearings and seals throughout the rebuild.

Here are the triple trees. Painted the bottom one, gave the top one a sandblast and a polish.

Fork stanchions. Went a bit crazy with the polishing...

Just a shot of all the gear fresh from the powder coater!

One question, what tyre sizes does everyone like to run? The bike will be ridden on road only. I wanted to get Avon Roadriders but they're a little hard to come by down here so I'm going with the Bridgestone Battlax instead. I got rid of the tyres it had when I got it and I can't remember what size they were.

ausFT · « **Reply #2 on:** November 21, 2015, 12:24:47 am »

Picked up some new boots for the bike this week.

Got a Bridgestone Battlax BT-45 front from a mate for a good price, bought the rear from a local shop.

Here's the tyres on the wheels. Front is 100/90/19. Rear is 130/80/18.

Did a mock-up with the fairings and wheels on.

Next job is the first round of zinc-plating. I'll be plating the nuts and bolts required to assemble the front and rear end.

ausFT · « **Reply #3 on:** November 27, 2015, 12:18:09 am »

First round of zinc plating complete. With these pieces done I can mostly finish assembling the front and rear end.

Firstly I sandblasted the bits I would be zincing. Then we gave the parts that would be visible a quick polish (heads of bolts, nuts). Doing this before zincing gives them a bright finish.

Here's a quick before shot

Here's the finished product!

This is the setup we used.

There's still heaps of zincing to do. Next will be the engine mounting bolts so I can get it into the frame!

Here's the engine at the moment!

ausFT · « **Reply #4 on:** December 30, 2015, 05:03:26 am »

Haven't done much in the last few weeks!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Managed to get some time for a quick tinker, assembled the front wheel and hub (minus caliper). Had a play with a few sets of handlebars we had lying around, stock definitely looks and feels the best. Here's a picture!

Another round of zincing planned for early next week then the engine can go in!

J6G1Z · « **Reply #5 on:** December 30, 2015, 04:07:09 pm »

Looking real nice!

J.

Brendano · « **Reply #6 on:** January 05, 2016, 04:25:24 am »

Going well! Admire/envy yr tidy spacious garage!

V envious of you getting to do this with yr Dad. My Dad has pretty much lost interest in bikes (I've got his XBR500 though!), though he was so finicky, it would have been hard for us to work on a project together. We did have a couple of yrs after he moved house close enough to us (100 miles) when he'd take an interest/help if I visited on a bike, but he wasn't keen on me leaving things in his (largely unused) garage. A shame, he had yrs of experience (with old-skool British stuff).

So, make the most of it. Make sure some of the photos are you and yer Da (not to go on here, but for the future), and enjoy it!!

Good luck.

ausFT · « **Reply #7 on:** January 24, 2016, 12:40:58 am »

Thanks J.

I'm making the most of it Brendano! I'm lucky to able to use his garage, tools and of course knowledge! We've got a motorcycling addiction that runs in the family!

As for the build, works has been slow going. The old boy is away on holiday so I've just been working through my parts list buying what I need. The project will be back in full swing before you know it!

ausFT · « **Reply #8 on:** April 26, 2016, 05:37:47 am »

Back into it!

Managed to pick up a few bits and pieces over the last couple of months. Big win was getting LH and RH sidecovers for next to nothing. FT's are pretty rare here in AUS so usually you'd have to pay through the nose for postage etc. We'll do some cutting and trimming of the covers and seat cowl just to clean it up a little bit.

Began complete re-assembly of rear wheel the other night and came across a bearing in the hub containing the cush drive rubbers. Can't find it in the service manual diagrams so we'll just replace it and keep moving. Here's a few pics!

murdo · « **Reply #9 on:** May 03, 2016, 04:23:18 am »

Looking good.
I just repacked the bearing with grease when I had the wheel out as it doesn't carry a lot of load.

ft500sd · « **Reply #10 on:** May 22, 2016, 10:51:12 pm »

Yous guys are doing a nice job here. Keep up the nice work and great pics & updates.

I've got an old 82 FT. Just got it running tonight. It is a real rat. Paid 350 for it but it wouldn't start. Complete neglect of the starting mechanism with a failure of the #7 idler gear as a result. I was lucky; the solenoid just needed a good cleaning.

Gus

ausFT · « **Reply #11 on:** July 10, 2016, 09:57:44 pm »

Lately there's been some issues with the zinc plating but we've managed to sort them out. Yesterday the engine mounting bolts and remaining nuts for the rear wheel were all done. Engines in the frame and she's looking better than ever!

Here's the bike with the engine in!

We thought a spacer had been lost on the rear axle, took us a while to realise the rear brake slips on and takes up the rest of the room.

Here it is with the tank and seat on.

The tank will be sent off for a new paint job soon and the seat needs re-upholstering. Other than that it'll be the process of zinc-reassemble-repeat until it's done. We're going to get an exhaust made locally because the header pipes that came with the bike are rusted out.

theskunk100 · « **Reply #12 on:** July 13, 2016, 01:10:49 pm »

Loving the coverage of this rebuild ... great work.

murdo · « **Reply #13 on:** July 14, 2016, 05:15:39 pm »

Looking good there Alex, keep up the good work.
It is handy to have your own zinc plating kit. Which one do you have?

ausFT · « **Reply #14 on:** August 13, 2016, 06:58:49 am »

Got a new set of shockers and a few other things recently.

Picked up a new master cylinder for the rear brake, needs some fresh rubbers here and there and it'll go on!

Fitted a new pod filter instead of the original airbox. Ran into some issues with it fouling on the seat base so we added a 45 degree silicone hose to fix that. Looks awesome and hopefully it runs alright when the time comes

There's also a little pod filter to replace the crankcase breather hose.

Here it is with the new bits

Also bought a new headlight, just need some mounts to fit it on.

J6G1Z · « **Reply #15 on:** August 13, 2016, 10:02:41 am »

Looks good. Couple of things you might consider. Sometimes those filters with a hard end or chrome end can cause a reverberation in the intake tract. The breather filter may need a length of tubing installed between the filter & engine to prevent oil blow-by from saturating the filter & leaking.

J.

ausFT · « **Reply #16 on:** November 06, 2016, 11:05:43 pm »

Project is still moving, just very slowly!

Cheers for the pointers J, we'll chuck a hose onto the crankcase breather and hopefully it'll prevent any issues.

Have done full rebuild on the brakes including all new seals and a new coat of paint all round. Removed the discs and re-painted the rotors as they looked a bit dull compared to the rest of the bike.

Also gave the carby a good clean throughout, although it'll probably need different jets due to the pod filter setup.

Decided to refurbish the old header pipes as it'll save some $$

The inner wall has rusted in a few spots and rattles around, so a mate is going to get in and weld it up for us. I'll buy an aftermarket muffler online, any recommendations?

J6G1Z · « **Reply #17 on:** November 07, 2016, 12:16:47 am »

Take a look at: 80-84030B

http://www.emgo.com/images/pdf/2016%20Muffler.pdf

J.

jimmy99 · « **Reply #18 on:** March 28, 2017, 09:52:42 pm »

Beautiful work.

Any updates?

ausFT · « **Reply #19 on:** April 16, 2017, 09:11:26 am »

Project is still moving

will upload some pics soon!

grcamna2 · « **Reply #20 on:** July 16, 2017, 05:47:23 pm »

Nice project FT

Keep 'er going !

ausFT · « **Reply #21 on:** March 30, 2018, 01:56:52 am »

Look what the postman delivered

murdo · « **Reply #22 on:** March 30, 2018, 02:30:36 am »

Nice.

J6G1Z · « **Reply #23 on:** March 30, 2018, 12:47:05 pm »

That's one of the loud ones.

J.

ausFT · « **Reply #24 on:** December 18, 2019, 06:25:46 am »

Well... it's been a while! The FT has moved home and is settling in nicely. Incredibly, I dont think I lost anything during the move! Here's a pic of the bike at the moment:

Have been fiddling with the wiring the last few days. There's some bits and pieces to sort out but we're going to use the original loom so hopefully it isn't too painful!

News:

Author Topic: Alex's Aussie FT500 (Read 75264 times)