'Round The Campfire > The B.S. & Off Topic Board

What attracts you..your "cycle orientation" why the FT500?

<< < (2/2)

WTF304:
My friend came across one that was setup as an ice race bike, just about all stock minus the lights except the headlight. So i tried it out while he was on his yfz450 brand new when they first came out, and i was impressed at how well the FT went. The ascot doesn't have that crazy acceleration as the quad but it wasn't far behind and once it got moving it flew passed.those quads are all about acceleration, we got chased one day and both got away .... the ascot had a good run that day lol. Couple weeks went by and i ended up buying it after one of his other friends got it impounded. I kept a few things from it and got rid of the frame since it was tweaked from god knows what. Just last year i was looking for a bike and low an behold an 82 FT listed for 600 $ and was all their. Had some white plasti dip paint all over which didn't look bad but wasn't my thing. Real nice guy was his first bike and he was the second owner, i offered 500 $ cause it didn't start ( bad battery) plus i was going to say I'd give him less but he did put time and money into it and it had a title ( unlike most of craigslist ). Me and a friend i worked with went and picked it up after work, peeled off the plasti dip and i couldn't believe the condition it was in, original paint that was hardly faded. A fresh battery, spark plug and fuel and it fired up, plus I've got a whole other engine i held on to for over 10 years so even if it didn't run i had one i know did.

It was a smart buy both times, a real good feeling bike. Only thing i had a little confusion on was the style of it. It's basically to me a street styled bike with the front end of something like a cruiser, much like the magna. Never did get why but still a good looking bike, think the 90's VFR interceptor cowl would have been a nice final touch.

Never had the pleasure of the VT500FT, I'll have to keep some eyes and ears out for one.

J6G1Z:
I believe the Ascots design or image was influenced by the Harley Davidson XR750.

The Ascots are a Flat Track appearing type of bike to copy the bikes that ran at the Ascot Speedway in California:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascot_Park_(speedway)
http://www.speedway.org/programs/us/Ascot/Ascot.htm

J.

war bird radio:
Why the FT500 for me?

My first bikes were Kawasaki H1's, had two of them... the go fast bike of the day... didn't handle worth a darn.
Then it was Honda inline 4's... CB500's, 750's... Loved them heavy little beasts. That's till I had a head on with a car riding my  CB750...

Went to the dirt with a 1980 YZ400... fun! but too much bike for western Oregon skidder road riding so I traded it for a Honda XR200... Just loved the torque of the single fourstrokes... XR, XL Hondas.... Always wanted a XL500 enduro.... Had XL185's, 250's, 350's but no 500.

Was looking real hard at the Suzuki DR650's the last few years. Enough old school and new for my liking but didn't want to spend that much... That's when I remembered the FT500. I saw them when they first came out but was still riding inline 4's and poo-pooed the little single.

Came across two for sale last year so I bought them.... both ran but I'm using one for parts and riding the other. Just enough power to be fun but not enough to get in much trouble. Corners real nice and it's fun on the two lane farm roads I ride on to and from work... about 60 miles round trip... 55 mph is just fine and don't go much over 60 when feeling frisky.

Have been out on 3 rides this year, still too cold for commuting tho. I got caught in a rain/hail shower the other day, man that hurts with an open face helmet!

John

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page