SR500 side project

bcthomas

bcthomas

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I've been sitting on some nice Japanese parts from webike and just started putting this 78 together. I've got a nice Beams exhaust and a VM36 carb to install and I'm upgrading the brakes front and rear to YZF R1 blue dots.
image-1_zpsfbd46b9e.jpg
 
Nice! It's great to see a SR500 without the boat anchor cast wheels!

Re. brakes, you'll want to install a floating rotor with the solid blue dot caliper to maintain pad contact. In the rear, there may be a modern system that uses a solid caliper and a floating rotor, but I've never seen one; the OE stuff is enough to lock the wheel, and that's really as much as you can use.

It's hard to tell with the gaiters in place, but your front end looks a little short on fork travel; how much do you have left after laden sag is taken up?
 
grizld1 said:
Nice! It's great to see a SR500 without the boat anchor cast wheels!

Re. brakes, you'll want to install a floating rotor with the solid blue dot caliper to maintain pad contact. In the rear, there may be a modern system that uses a solid caliper and a floating rotor, but I've never seen one; the OE stuff is enough to lock the wheel, and that's really as much as you can use.

It's hard to tell with the gaiters in place, but your front end looks a little short on fork travel; how much do you have left after laden sag is taken up?
Click to expand...

Thanks

I've got floating rotors otw and solid blue dots with stainless lines...not sure if I'll do the dual caliper overkill yet. The rear will be an experimental process to see if I can retrofit the r1 rear caliper somehow...I need to get in in hand before I can move forward with that. The front forks are stock and in excellent shape but they will get cartridge emulators and stiffer springs this year.
 
I hope folks are paying attention to this thread for an example of doing things right. There's style and there's substance, and it's too seldom that they meet.
 
What rear wheel are you using and did it require a custom sprocket be made? I'm going to try an XT500 one, direct bolt-in swap, same sprocket, axle, everything, drum though, not disc.
 
5twins said:
What rear wheel are you using and did it require a custom sprocket be made? I'm going to try an XT500 one, direct bolt-in swap, same sprocket, axle, everything, drum though, not disc.
Click to expand...

Mine is just the stock 78 rear disc wheel...not many around it seems.

Check vintage flat tracker for the xt/tt wheel
 
That's not the stock rear wheel. SRs in this country only came with mags. Your front wheel most likely came from a 650. They're a direct swap and that flanged alloy rim is a pretty good indication.

I already have the XT wheel. A TT wheel is not the best choice because it has no cush drive for the sprocket.
 
5twins said:
That's not the stock rear wheel. SRs in this country only came with mags. Your front wheel most likely came from a 650. They're a direct swap and that flanged alloy rim is a pretty good indication.

I already have the XT wheel. A TT wheel is not the best choice because it has no cush drive for the sprocket.
Click to expand...

I know the original owner who is local and I've seen pictures of it new with the factory spoke wheel disc set up. Maybe he had one imported but thats how it was sold from the dealer. The front wheel has not been swapped out either.
 
The SR was imported here from '78-'81. It only came with mag wheels at that time. If that guy bought it that way new, it wasn't made by the factory, the dealer might have converted it. Did you notice the rim styles don't match? You have a flanged style front and normal style rear rim. Got any close-up picks of that rear hub, from both sides?
 
Nice man, I just did a ground up hot rod build on a 78, let me know if you have any questions!

These bikes are pretty simple though.
 
5twins said:
The SR was imported here from '78-'81. It only came with mag wheels at that time. If that guy bought it that way new, it wasn't made by the factory, the dealer might have converted it. Did you notice the rim styles don't match? You have a flanged style front and normal style rear rim. Got any close-up picks of that rear hub, from both sides?
Click to expand...

Hmmm....I guess dealer does not equal factory. I'll have to ask the guy some details on the wheels. The front is identical to the one on my 650 and the rear is definitely aftermarket upon inspection. I need to sort through the binder of paperwork with wheels in mind as well.

Thanks for the insight.

image-1_zps15a3111f.jpg



image-1_zps067883c8.jpg


image-1_zpsa35317c0.jpg
 
blackbetty said:
I made a short thread here:

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21328&highlight=thumper

Have you ridden yours yet? The cast rear wheel has a cush drive that those wire wheels don't have. Wondering how it feels.

SR500forum has a wealth of information on these bikes.
Click to expand...

I saw that thread a while back. Is it on the road?

I rode around my 30mph neighborhood a few times but didn't notice anything odd. I've got lots of little bikes and they're all solid mount drive so I guess I'm used to it.
 
It's not a "I guess I'm used to it" thing, it's a major wear concern. Little bikes have 10 or 15 HP. Your SR has 30. You need some sort of damping between the motor and rear wheel or else you will wear or break components quickly. As I mentioned earlier, the XT500 wheel has a cush drive (blackbetty seemed to miss this point).

You all know me as somewhat of a "voice" on these 650 lists. I had an SR500 long before this and still own it. You think I know about 650s?
 
5twins said:
It's not a "I guess I'm used to it" thing, it's a major wear concern. Little bikes have 10 or 15 HP. Your SR has 30. You need some sort of damping between the motor and rear wheel or else you will wear or break components quickly. As I mentioned earlier, the XT500 wheel has a cush drive (blackbetty seemed to miss this point).

You all know me as somewhat of a "voice" on these 650 lists. I had an SR500 long before this and still own it. You think I know about 650s?
Click to expand...

I'll keep an eye out for a cush drive rear hub option. Thanks for the info sir.
 

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