Bought myself a Honda FT500 Ascot... Anyone have/had one?

Hey Guys,

Bought a Honda FT500 tonight for 500 bucks from some old guy who had it garage kept its whole life. 7000 miles on it, black, the bike is in EXCELLENT condition....

Did anyone ever have one? what did you think? I didn't get a chance to ride it due to the carbs having to be cleaned, needing a new batt. and front tire...

~mikeym

Hey Guys,

Bought a Honda FT500 tonight for 500 bucks from some old guy who had it garage kept its whole life. 7000 miles on it, black, the bike is in EXCELLENT condition....

Did anyone ever have one? what did you think? I didn't get a chance to ride it due to the carbs having to be cleaned, needing a new batt. and front tire...



http://home.jtan.com/~joe/toys/ASCOT_3.JPG

http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~libssd/ascot.right.jpeg
~mikeym

sweet. $500 you can't beat that. never rode one, always liked em. I'll give you 6.

I had a GB500 for a while (same motor). It'll make a great commuter or a fun beataround bike.

I met a guy at a local bike shop who had an FT500 that he paid $50 for. Looked like shit but he said it ran like a dream and was a hoot to ride, with the milk crate bungied to a luggage rack it was a true urban warrior.

www.thumperpage.com has lots of info.

I had a new VT500 Ascot. Not the single. It was also a nice little bike. Did a 1200 mile three day weekend on it once. Ouch.

Excellent bike... especially for the money.

Here's some info on it.

C

cool bike!
I bought one new , left over for $800 , sometime in the 80's, went in for a can of chain lube, walked out with a bike.

i didnt ride it over winter and the brake calipers tended to freeze/seize , (I think early corvettes did the same) .

great back road bike, look around here some other threads about this bike. the VT gives me wood.

A torquey little beast -- should be a lot of fun around town and on backroads.

Was my first bike. Kinda funky lookin but a nice ride street thumper.

Check the Augus 05 issue of Cycle World.

They have an article about "cheap" bikes and a sidebar on the creation of the Ascot.

The one they run on their ride has an aftermarket round headlight installed. If I owned one, the square headlight would go first. The round one improves the bikes looks a bunch.

Should be a nice, fun reliable bike. Enjoy

Ray Stedronsky
Davis CA

I had one when I was in college back in the mid-80s. A great bike for the city and short stints on the freeway. Mine had a rifle fairing and an F1 exhaust (much lighter than the stocker). Very dependable, never had any issues with mine; just lots of fun!

one year ago i bought a vt500 for $200 ,it sat since 88 i just cleaned the carbs and a new battery. ive driven it 25k miles since,alaska,mexico,east coast,west coast. the only thing that broke was the speedo cable!! i love this bike. ive never rode the ft500,but i hear good things.

I did. Rode it to 30,000 miles. Search Thumpers back aways for an old bunch of photos I put up as Honda FT Ascot Ride Report.

awesome ascott!! gotta get one of those. wheres the ascott forum???

Dual-sporting at 12,000 feet.

a cheap ($80 ?)bar mount fairing helps with touring too, you can pop it off easily

bakernks that is a sick bike! :eek1

what aftermarket mods did you do?

i see a lot... :)

care to type them out...

especially what exaust is that?


~mikeym

Fellas,

If anyone it interested, I just saw and V twin Ascot on Craigslist in San Francisco for $500.

No connection with the seller but the photo looks promising and for the money it would have to be real bad to go wrong.

So in anyone is looking, here's the link

http://www.craigslist.org/sfc/mcy/119613457.html

Ray Stedronsky
Davis, CA

This one is just "cryin" for a round headlight mounted lower down.

Why'd they do that to the front ends of these bikes?

Also on closer look, the side panel appears to be a different color...no real big deal though.

I think this is the shaft drive bike. I think I'm getting tempted ride into the city and have a look.

Ray

yea the side panels are different than the rest of the bike...

i actually like the rectangle light...

i do agree it might look better a little lower...

~mikeym