UH yea. It's over a quarter of a century old bike that was only made a couple years. That means there were not that many to begin with. However the engine is the old design XR/XL500 engine with a starter and bigger stator. So many of those parts will cross over. Some of the brake parts are shared with the CB650SC like the calipers, pads and front master cylinder. What parts are you looking for? Ray
I was looking for a rear master cylinder, but since I last posted I cleaned mine up and it's looking pretty good. Although it may be nice to have one on hand.
Do some cross checking. Seems that when they built the little bike the went to the current parts bin and took parts from other bikes and adapted them to the frame. Like with the engine the took the XR engine and just adapted it for street use. Bigger exhaust head, kick start remove and starter cheaply added with external bracketry. It works. I like my Ascot and ride it more than my Nighthawk. Ray
correct it 'lives' in a friends garage in Germany gets out whenever I make it over there if shipping would not by far exeed the bikes value and I do not see a hazzle free way to get it registered in GA *sigh*
now it's in my garage needs fork seals and front brake pads the PO put the stock turn signals back on question: the flexible stalks go in the back, right? they are in the front now and look strange wiggling in the wind :huh thanks
I put the smaller ones like those on My Nighthawk. Made it look better to me. the front ones on the FT500 are on the fork clamps and not on the headlight brackets so I'm not sure if it is right or not. Ray
Found an FT500 that had been sitting for about 17 years or so .. here is a picture of the bike when I picked it up. To date, I have replaced the chain, treated the fuel tank for rust (but I think I still need to reline it), purchased replacement rear shocks from PartsNMore, rebuilt the starter solenoid mechanism (the PO had already rebuilt the starter itself), cleaned the carb (twice so far), ordered brake caliper and master cylinder rebuild kits (not done yet). Bought a replacement seat cover but haven't installed it yet (the seat pan and foam are good). I'm currently trying to figure out why it won't start. Need to check compression today and rule that out. Spark is there but I'm not sure it's strong enough. The petcock needs to be repaired as gas leaks out w/o vacuum being applied. The bike itself only cost me $150 and I've spent much more on parts already .. Hope to get it running soon so I'll feel better about my investment!
Can anyone verify if I have the carb/petcock hose routing correct? Just want to be sure. Currently, I have carb port 1 connected to petcock port A ... and carb port 2 connected to petcock port B. Also, I'm curious about the first connection's purpose ... is it an alternate fuel supply line to the carb? These port designations are my own.
My understanding on Petcocks on Hondas is that there is 1 fuel line (1/4" to 5/16" ID) and 1 vacuum line (3/32" ID). The 3rd. port on the petcock is left open to atmosphere. In one case, I saw a filtered vent line on that 3rd. port, but it was still open to the atmospehere. The fuel line connects to the floatbowl (s) and the vacuum line connects to the engine intake at 1 of the carbs. From the drawing, I would guess that even though it has a hose on it, the outermost small nipple should be vented to the atmosphere, not connected to the engine intake. http://www.hbhonda.com/fiche_sectio...ry=MOTORCYCLES&make=HONDA&year=1982&fveh=3421 Note that the left most hose has only 1 hose clip on it and none on the "open" end. Ride safely,
Thanks ExTex! I had not noticed that one hose only has 1 clip. That is a good indication (as you point out) that it simply vents to the atmosphere. Now I need to find out the purpose of that extra port on the carburetor ... maybe it was intended to vent also. The fiche for the carburetor doesn't even show a hose for that port.
Basic Question: Is your Ascot the FT500 or the VT500FT ? The ports on the carbs are used for syncronizing the operation of multiple carbs. So, the one port does double duty. The port on the second carb can be sealed with a screw (no nipple) or capped with a plug over the nipple that is screwed in. I'd guess that the nipple's cap got lost and the PO connected up the "extra" vacuum hose that was on the petcock. So, try capping it someway and see if the engine likes you better. Ride safely,
ExTex --- I have the FT500 (1982). What you say about that extra port on the carb makes sense. I don't know enough about carburetors to realize that they could be synced that way. When I got the bike, there were no hoses connected to the carburetor or petcock and I've been trying to reconstruct the setup .. so I can't blame the PO for that. Currently, the compression test is so low (30psi ... 60psi with oil) that the bike won't start. As soon as I can, I'll try capping that extra port.. Thanks
Sounds like you have stuck rings, from sitting, keeping the compression low. Not sure if there is an easy way to unstick them or not. Seafoam maybe?? Ray
I'm giving it a try with Gunk Motor Flush. I drained the oil and removed the oil filter and poured about half a cup of the flush into the cylinder. I'll leave it for a day or so and monitor the level on top of the piston. When it has all drained down .. I'll do it again .. maybe for a week or so. A friend did this on a 50 Ford that had set for 7 years and it helped the compression enough to get it started. Then he drove for 100 miles and the rings were freed up. Hoping for a similar result!
Help! The PO lost this part for the FT500 .. it is Honda #43530-MC8-671 and is a threaded push rod for the rear brake cylinder. If any member has one I would be interested in buying it. Thanks... Here is an image of the part ..
aaah the Ascot. My first bike. '83 , Red, twitchy starter....classic. (the Honda salesman talked me into it for $1200 vs the $1400 Moto Guzzi I was looking at. Still pisses me off ) ... so I ended up buying the little single I rode it for two years and after coming home from 35 miles of sleet and scraping ice off of my helmet, I traded it for a 1978 VW microbus. Thanks for the memories guys.
Well Hell. Took my son to scouts tonight. Carter wanted to take the bike so we climbed on the Ascot and away we went. Nice temps and the back roads are nice to ride. make it to scouts. 5 mins before we are to leave scouts and I hear a thud in the parking lot. and then someone say she hit that motorcycle. Knowing I had the only one out there I said crap. Walk out to find the Ascot up under the front bumper of a Suburban After some manipulation we get it disentangled from the plastic bumper of the beast. Bike seemed to far pretty well considering. a few bent parts here and there and a couple of scratches. Looks like about $250 in parts (at OEM prices) but the biggest item is discontinued, the Tach. When it went under the bumper she backed up and the bumper pulled the tach cable out breaking off the end of the tach. Boy did I ever have to bite my tounge tonight. In front of a troop of scouts is not the place to loose ones cool. Bike started right up and drives fine so that is a good thing. Good once over when I got home and looks like 5 items that need replaced and a couple of scratches on the fender and side cover. If she will pay the parts price I will call it square. Her attitude is what really pissed me off though. The "Oh well" comment made my blood boil. Looks like my wife will have to call her back as I'm not sure I could talk to her right now. If I thought that her insurance company would not total the bike without even looking at it i would file but they would just say it's a 27 year old bike and write it off without even looking at it. That and her husband it serving in the Army in Afganistan and he doesn't need the hassel of that on his insurance. She is going to pay list price for the parts and then add tax and shipping cost. Now to find a tachometer. Ray <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
May the gods of the salvage yard be with you. That's gonna be hard to find. You should back over her suburban with your ascot to retaliate.