I've recently aquired a 76 tt500 in trade with my old 81 xt250. The tt is in somewhat together shape, has some wires stickin out, twisted together, and it's missing the silencer box (can't find one for the life of me so far) The previous owner said he planned on making it street legal, but never finished. Heres what the PO has done already: Swapped the frontwheel with an xt front wheel with the speedo drive Put a speedo cable on Put a speedo on (aftermarket automotive type, flashy chrome thing) Some sort of bigger/different 'stator' About the stator, im assuming the tt500 never had a lighting coil, and the PO just stuck in an xt coil where there was none before on the TT. Is this accurate? Has anyone ever converted a TT to street legal status before? I'm just curious about the various odds and ends, which handlebar switch boxes work, which dont, where to get brake switches and so forth. I think i've got the wiring end of things down, doesnt seem too complicated. The only thing i can't quite wrap my head around is how the lighting system functions without a battery or a rectifier/regulator. Do i need an r/r, and can the system function without a battery? Thanks for your help, Inane PS This is sort of my first post, i look forward to hearing you guys' expertise on the subject :) PPS Anyone know of where to get a muffler box for this beast? Havent found any on ebay so far, i guess i can always just run down to steeles... (but being winter, and knowing the guys that work there thats a last resort [if you're familiar with steeles cycle in denver co])
You can come up with something like this; It's still for sale and going to the vintage swapmeet at York Pa this weekend.
Thats cool. I'm more concerned with how it functions really. Not into blue to be honest :) What size is that tank? Im not sure whats on the bike at the moment but it looks tiny. I'd like a very far range with the bike.
The bike rides and runs like any other XT500 thumper. I did an MZB ingnition conversion, it was a bolt on except the wiring and regulator/ advance unit tray. That gave me 12v, breakerless, programmable ignition with a 150w lighting coil. Loads of suspension travel. The tank is a Clarke 3.5 gallon.
Quite a few years ago I bought my first XT fixer upper on a whim, now I have 3 Xt's, one TT and a TT500 street tracker project. Careful, they're addictive . The TT must be one of the easiest bikes around to convert since its basically just a stripped XT. The only real issue with installing the (cheap and easy to find) XT electrics is that the TT is missing some of the XT's mounting tabs on the frame, easy fix. The original low exhaust systems for the early bikes are getting quite rare/expensive but the later XT or TT high systems are easy to find. Again the only thing preventing the later XT or TT high pipes from being a direct bolt on are the frame mounting tabs, easy fix. Still aftermarket pipes available for these bikes too if you want to go that route. One of the great things about working on these bikes is that the XT and TT are so similar and changed so little through the years that parts are easy to mix and match.
I cant remember what year mine is, but i konw its the one that has the large silencer box that runs verticle along where the side cover goes. Seems like all i need to do is put switching pods on each bar and it should be done. Then comes titling. Is that difficult in colorado?
Hey there I'd like to converse with you. I am also doing a TT500 conversion. I have a 1976 TT500 that my older brother bought brand new in 1976 and used to ice race at the Old Mineola Hotel at Fox Lake, Illinois. I have had it since 1994 when he went to the Great Race in the Sky. I have purchased a Vapor computer the handle the speedo and tach functions and have been thinking about the rectifier/regulator project. I wouldn't mind one bit discussing these projects with you.
