First Generation Ascots > The Thumper Years: Modified To Full Customs

My FT500/CBR600 Hybrid Project...

(1/8) > >>

J6G1Z:
A while back I had the chance to pick up a lightly crashed FT500. The bike had about 29K on the odometer & was involved in a low speed dump on its right side. Fortunately the gas tank, fenders, number plates, seat & tail-piece escaped unscratched. This bike was a perfect candidate to modify & customize however I wanted. One of the first things I did, was to remove the broken & bent pieces & then scrub all the grease & grime that I could off the bike.

I then went about learning what options for a suspension upgrade was available. I learned that the early Honda Interceptor & the early Hurricane front forks would slide right up into the OEM Ascot triple clamps. In my opinion the early CBR600 Hurricane is the better option of the two, due to the fact that the Hurricane rear wheel will also fit into the Ascots swingarm giving you matching 17" wheels on each end. Here is a previous post on swapping the Hurricane parts onto the Ascot chassis. http://ascot500.com/index.php?topic=16.0

I tend to work in bursts as money & parts become available & then I'm stuck in neutral for a while until I save up & buy more parts. Lately I have been working on small things like an aluminum "Dash" for the new Trail Tech Vapor that will mount to the upper triple clamp. I have also fabricated an aluminum strap to act as a rear brake caliper stay. I bought a reverse megaphone muffler & a 7" round headlight assembly with turn signals & mounting brackets from EMGO. These are nice parts & really look good on the bike. I also picked up a black rear license plate frame that has LED brake, tail & turn signals built into the perimeter to clean up the back end of the bike. http://www.cyclegear.com/CycleGear/Accessories/Add-ons/Other-Add-ons/brand/SPEEDMETAL/LED-License-Plate-Frame/p/44045_59408 Here's a few pics.

J6G1Z:
Here's a few pics of the EMGO reverse megaphone on the bike & the rear brake stay that I made. The bottom picture shows the round headlight & the turn signals.

The reverse megaphone really gives the bike some bark & sounds quite authoratative!

J6G1Z:
Here's a couple of pics that somewhat show the stance of the bike. I don't know how much lower the bike is now, but the sidestand still works... barely. I ordered some Hagon shocks for the back that are 1/2" shorter than the OEM shocks, so that will lower the back a bit more. A couple of my original goals were to lower the bike & remove as much weight out of it as possible without going crazy with the drill. So far I have removed the front & rear fender assemblies, the air-box, the heavy original muffler, the left side passenger peg assembly & most of the right side peg also, the rear frame handle on the right side, plus a few other odds & ends. The center stand will be removed after I'm done working on the bike & the heavy original battery will be replaced by a compact battery that only weighs 3lbs. Once I have mounted the new shocks & the new tires, I will roll the bike up to my original FT500 and measure the ground clearance difference. I'd like to find a large scale & weigh the two bikes also. Well, here are the last two pictures for today.

Thanks
J6G1Z

J6G1Z:
Well... The big brown Santa truck stopped by today & dropped off a few toys.

I now have a new pair of Hagon shocks & a new ultra compact AntiGravity battery. The Hagon shocks are really nice, but the battery is incredible! It feels like a toy it's so lightweight. I took a few pics so you guys could see how small the battery really is.

Now I need to fab up a battery box & have it welded to the cross bar behind the engine case.

J.

FT500R:
The stance of the bike looks great.

Everything looks very clean on it, great work!

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page