Flat tracker and street tracker photos

[Dorzok]

Originally Posted by Donzzilla

Forgot, I had a couple more. I'm on the #1 white Yamaha.


A split second later as he's climbing up the back of my bike

The pretty little Sprint looking worse for wear with half my rear tire stuck to his front end.

Well, if you were going fast enough...never woulda happened.

[BIG ED XT FAN]

Originally Posted by Calkins

My TT500 flattracker and the diesel bobber I traded to get it back in June...







What it looks like now...









How cool is this rig???

Is that your van in the back? Nice color. I like your blue TT500. No TT600s??

[Doug Matson]

Some cool shots

[Calkins]

Originally Posted by BIG ED XT FAN

Is that your van in the back? Nice color. I like your blue TT500. No TT600s??

It's my buddy's van. 1974 Ford E300 Super Van. I sold my two street titled '83 TT600s a couple of years ago. I still cry myself to sleep because of that...

[JagLite]

Boy it has been slow on this thread lately...

I was inspired by the pictures on this thread to build a tracker of my own and started looking for a potential victim.

I usually ride my Suzuki DR650 and really like it so when a very used one came up for sale on CL locally I went out to see it.
Mid winter, minus 10 degrees, and the bike is stored outside under a tarp.
Dead battery of course, and it was getting dark since it was 3:30 in the afternoon...

I made my usual offer of about 3 times what it is worth and he accepted it.
(hey, some of us have to overpay so that the rest of you get good deals )

I haul it home and thaw it out in the garage before attempting to start it.
After finding and fixing 3 electrical problems it started right up and runs well.
The seller told me it had been a rental bike from new here in Alaska and had been ridden hard including many trips to Prudhoe Bay up the haul road.
He said 3rd gear had broken so the engine was rebuilt and he had only put a few hundred miles on it over a year.
And the odometer that read 38,950 hadn't been working for some time...

But, I wanted a project for the winter so I got myself into this mess.


So, now that my AJS tribute Street Tracker project is nearing completion, here is what it looks like now:















Low beam, High beam is the top light but I might wire it so High is both lights


And with the seat pad on:




The tank and seat will be painted gloss black with the AJS decal and a little gold pinstripe accent like this AJS trials bike:




Other than the paint I am waiting for the new oil cooler to show up so I can plumb it and mount it.


Last winter:

shows why I made the removable subframe

Of course, I wanted to make a removable subframe anyway



And this is what it started out as. Oil leak and all




I hope you like my first effort at building a bike.

I bought another bike to build up next winter since I had so much fun with this project

[MiteyF]

Nice build! Although branding a Suzuki "AJS" is akin to adding Ducati decals to a CB750... why?

[beeper]

Love the DR, nice job!

[Pablo83]

Originally Posted by JagLite

I've always thought the DR650 would make a great street tracker. Nice work. It should be a fun bike.

[JagLite]

Originally Posted by MiteyF

Nice build! Although branding a Suzuki "AJS" is akin to adding Ducati decals to a CB750... why?

Thanks, and that is a good question.

Two reasons actually, the first is my initials and the second reason is relating to the bike my father rode when I was a baby (1955).
So it is sort of my tribute to his bike.
He sold it to be a good father and while he helped us buy bikes and took us riding he never owned another motorcycle.

An original AJS (or Matchless) are out of my reach financially, especially to convert into a street tracker.
If I ever found one I could afford I would restore it to stock.

I will be removing the "Suzuki" name on the engine to further cloud its identity

[mookybird]

I bought this 81 xs650 off craigslist and had thoughts of fabricating, swapping and polishing. I wanted to see if it was mechanically sound and put it together, the pamco was not fully installed and a few pieces were missing. That all took a bit of sorting out and it started on the third kick.



It was heading towards being a bobber and the rear subframe was cut off and most of the trim, seat, covers etc were not included. I borrowed the seat, tank and number plates from a tt500 I had bought in Lodi this past fall and put it on the road.

Here's the donor bike



Ands heres the xs as it looks today



It's been a lot of fun as a winter commuter and the Hughs PMA supplys all the needed power for my heated gear etc.
As spring approaches the glass and plates are going back on the 500 and I'll do something different with the xs

The 1.5 gallon tank from the tt is pretty limiting for a rider and the seat is about as soft as a piece of 3/4 cdx but it's still a fun ride and every roundabout you want to throw it down and put the wood to it.

I don't call it a build or even a project it was more of a really lazy job of throwing it together and riding it hard but it's like a magnet to the old guys who rode or watched any flattrack racing.

No. the number 36 was not earned, I'm 57 and 38 years ago when I could get a bike running well enough I ran as number 36 on a local short track. I wasn't fast than and taking 34 years off doesn't seem to have helped but I'm still hoping to run the tt in few events this coming season and using my original number seemed like a reasonable choice.

Love this thread there are some beautiful bikes in it. denny

[kawasakifreak77]

At the season's end TT race:



Ended getting my first win!

Got second for the season too, good year. We're building a 390 Cheney for next season & going to keep Buttons around for backup / TT. She does really well there.

[bk brkr baker]

Indian Brave flattracker by Peace Frog , Japan.

[Pablo83]

Originally Posted by kawasakifreak77

At the season's end TT race:



Ended getting my first win!

Got second for the season too, good year. We're building a 390 Cheney for next season & going to keep Buttons around for backup / TT. She does really well there.

I tried a little TT action on my street tracker and found out it did not have enough ground clearance and it needs a skid plate.



I'd like to build a slightly taller tracker next time. Do you know the front and rear travel and ground clearance on your bike?

[kawasakifreak77]

Whoa!

I'm not sure of the exact suspension travel, somewhere's in the neighborhood of 4" in back (which I might use half of because the springs are WAY too stiff for my light build) & about 7" on the forks.

Each TT I raise my clamps as high as they go, go practice & see where my flag is around my fork. I then lower the clamps to 1/2" over that for leeway. Always ends up with about 1" above the top triple. For shorttracks, I run with 3" of fork above the clamp. I had a set of Virago risers laying around I used to offset the bars to let the forks slide up that far & tighten up the front end geometry.

Ground clearance, not sure, but it's not much. Buttons is real low to the ground. On a whim, or dare really I entered a scrambles race & the only thing I did to her was mount knobbies...

That was a dumb idea. I now have a rather large dent in the bottom of my pipe & a very real fear of logs.

[jitterymonkey]

Originally Posted by kawasakifreak77

Whoa!
On a whim, or dare really I entered a scrambles race & the only thing I did to her was mount knobbies...
That was a dumb idea. I now have a rather large dent in the bottom of my pipe & a very real fear of logs.

Bet all she needed was a high exhaust.
Don't Ya just love the versatility of the Honda XL?