Honda FT 500 Ascot Group

I just like the look of the FT500 wheel better on the bike, that's the reason. I came to about the same conclusions as you, thanks for sharing your thoughts! I will power ahead and see where I end up.

You could also have the Ascot forks shortened if the difference in length is what you are going for.
Would probably be cheaper then buying CBR forks and having to get all the parts made to fit the FT wheel in those.

I realize that now, after buying the complete setup (fork, wheels, brakes). I need to think about this.

Hi - FT500 - this is my first post on this awesome forum - very informing and interesting - I have a 1982 Ft500 thats very tidy - road legal - had him ( him because its a thumper) for many years 1990 - . Just recently brought a FT400 in rough condition - no seat - seized brakes for $70 dollars . In the process of bring it back to life. Very hard to get parts here in New Zealand so im sourcing parts from around the world. Exchange rate is a killer. Will update as this rebuild goes.
This is a pic of my FT500

Very clean machine!

Got any pix of the 400? We never saw them this side of the ocean. Maybe a build report or ongoing updates?

I've welded supports for the fairing yesterday so it is installed.
I made one support from the neck of the frame forward and 2 small tabs on the sides of the frame.


My welding isn't great but it's solid and when I will prepare for final painting of the frame I can grind the ugly bits down a bit.

I am very satisfied with the position and sturdiness of the fairing. It really hugs the bike nice and tight.

Looks are really great, but I do think you'll need more support points for the fairing.
Sideways, the front bulb will be dynamically loaded by vortices (wervels) and its support is too flexible; especially the welded connection to the steering head needs to be more sturdy. Likewise, the skirts (L/R) will flutter like mad unless connected to the front downtube.
But perhaps I'm too fast and this is all in your scheme already.

Thanks for the tips.
The connection on the steering head is a common way of mounting these fairings. It is already very strong (I can lift the front of the bike with it). I am contemplating to fit a gusset to the top of it to make it more rigid although I do not think it is absolutely neccesary. The tube on the steering head has 2mm wall thickness and the tube that is connected to the fairing that slides in has another 1.5mm thickness so it is pretty sturdy.
Regarding the fluttering of the skirts you might be right, I might have to add a support at the front of the sidepanels but that would be a relatively easy fix.

FINALLY have my 2 year + FT500 Road Racer Replica project done. I'm very happy with the results visually. I haven't had a chance to ride it much yet so I can't really comment on the riding aspect of the bike yet. Hopefully I'm smart enouth to attach a few photos of the finished product. (First photo is of the bike as purchased 5 years ago) wiguzziman

So here's my plan for the winter: replacing the wheels with spoked 17 inch supermotard wheels (Takasago rims on Talon hubs). I already bought them and are in the process of figuring out how to fit them. This process includes getting new bearings and calculating the length of the spacers I need to construct. I am positive still.

Wish me luck.


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Wiguzziman, your bike looks great! There seems to be many hours behind that result, nice work. What was the hardest part in your opinion?

Regards
Olle

I would guess the part that took the most thinking and lots of trial & error, was building the mount for the upper part of the fairing. Had zip, zero to go from and the fairing wasn't even made for this particular bike. I think it was actually for a Yamaha RD350. Luckly I wasn't on any time schedule so I had lots of time to experiment.

Really cool wheels & tires. Is there sufficient room in the stock FT500 swingarm for the back one? You'll probably be doing some thinking and trial & error getting those to fit. Guess that's half the fun of doing this kind of stuff!! wiguzziman

You and mr FT500R are sharing the same issues then, the mountpoints for the fairing. Great that you solved it.

Yes, the tire in the pic is too wide, it's 150. I will change it for a 130 or 140.

I have an idea for the rear wheel now. New bearing with inner diameter of 20mm, then through those I push a steel tube with inner diameter of 17mm, which is the same as the FT axle. I then cut spacers from a thicker material tubing to position the wheel in the middle.

My research show that brake rotor and chain should have the right distance between them. The wheel used to be on a 2005 XR650R, so some things seems to stay the same between bikes..

Sounds like you have this wheel swap very well planned out. Those wheels should really set your FT500 apart from the rest. Plus that added benefit of the 17" wheel/tire combination makes the FT500 handle like it's on rails. One thing I did do in reguards to the 17" wheels is to shorten both the side and center stands. The side stand was workable as is, but it stood the bike up pretty straight (you had to be careful where you parked). The center stand was also usable as is, but it took a bit of muscle to hoist it up on the center stand. Once up on the center stand there was over 3" of space between the bottom of the tire and the ground! I shortened the side stand 3/4" and the center stand 1 1/4".

One concern that I had with adding a frame mounted fairing to the FT500 was access to the wiring and lighting on the front of the bike. The whole fairing/lowers can be removed in about 15 minutes by removing 8 bolts and 4 Dzus fasteners.
When the upper fairing is removed the headlight/fairing mount stays in place and you have easy access to everything on the front of the bike. wiguzziman

Awesome wheels Olle!
You could also check if there are bearings available with the same outer diameter as the new wheels need but with 17mm inner diameter. Be sure to make and fit a new inner spacer though (the one inside the wheel between the 2 bearings) otherwise you will load the bearing sideways when you tighten the axle and also during cornering. Most bearings won't like that and they will not last long.

I still have to add a support to the front side of the fairing to make it a bit more solid but for now it is pretty much mounted. It only takes 3 screws to take it off (helps that I don't have a headlight in it).

@wiguzziman Like what you did with the bike! Must have been a lot of work to get it in this state.

Paul, very good comment about the inner spacer. I almost missed that bit of understanding of how wheels work. Your bike is coming together nicely, keep it up!