So... What All Have You Done To Your Ascot?

[J6G1Z]

I have an '83 FT that is mostly stock. It is a fairly low mile bike & I plan to keep it as original as possible.

Either I, or the P/O, have performed most to all of the tricks described in the "Ascot Essentials" such as the petcock mod, air-box mod, jetting, 16 tooth countershaft sprocket & a Cobra F1 slip on muffler. These tricks have turned the bike into a great runner. I have also changed the original tires to a pair of Avon Road Riders. The bike is intended to be strictly a street bike & dual-purpose tires would just not do for me.

I ride the bike fairly aggressively & love the twisty mountain back roads.

I have picked up another FT500 that was involved in a low speed dump. That bike is receiving the full treatment more or less & will make for another posting down the road.

J.

UPDATE: I have since installed the ThumperStuff performance header & the Rick's CDI ignition. The bike runs even better than ever.

[huskyfrk]

  the  bike  begs  for suspension  work.  unfortunetly  that  is  big  money  for  the forks  to be  done up  right.  shocks  can  be  had  for  a  reasonable  price...    did  a  supertrapp    can  from  a  FJ 1100  on  mine.  K & N in  the  stock  air box.  rifle  1/4  fairing. and  big gearing  changes  + 1 on  the CS  and  down  3 teeth on  the  rear,  along  w  quality  rubber....

[troy_mclure]

im just doing the cheap or basics:
carb jets, chain and front sprocket, forks heavy oil, brighter headlight.

still to do:
shocks, foam air filter, seat re-padded.

[Dougie]

Seized it!!!

[J6G1Z]

Seized it!!!

OH NO!!!  

How'd you manage that?

J.

[Dougie]

Riding up to Scotland for a bike rally through the Galloway forest 120 miles off road riding.

The water pump failed on the way up and the temp gauge was stuck at the bottom of the gauge.

Thought the fuse that controls this had gone again. On a rare Hot summer day opened it up in top and it went slower then cut out at the next junction.

An opportunity to improve I think.

[J6G1Z]

...An opportunity to improve I think.  

Sorry to hear about that.

What are your plans & what all is available to Hop-Up the V-Twin?  Perform an over-bore plus a port & polish job?

Good luck
J.

[Dougie]

The best person in my opinion to do tuning work would be JD Hord who has been tuning Honda Hawks for many years. He can be contacted on the Hawkgt forum.

Unfortunately for me he is on the wrong side of the pond. My budget would not stretch that far anyway.

[J6G1Z]

You can probably do some light port-work yourself. Just clean up the passages of any casting flash & teardrop shape the valve guides, etc. I'd give it a try if I were taking my top-end apart.

Are there any aftermarket performance camshaft grinds available, or do folks reduce the base circle of the OEM camshafts?

Good luck
J.

[Dougie]

Jd Hord has a variety of grinds that he uses. There are also listing for the VT ascot at Megacycle cams Who I think supply JD.