Louis Mielke
06-03-2006, 07:20 PM
Alright everyone my 500r is now 100% mechanically complete. Its not pretty and the cosmetic rebuild is planned once I get back from trikefest but otherwise I've ridden it for about a solid hour now.
First off the bat, THE TORQUE!!! gawd I love the torque. I mean it I freakin got off and hugged the bike after the first ride cause I'm in love with the torque!
As far as handling, I honestly was surpirsed it handles fairly well even with its high center of gravity. The bike is definitly tall, and sliding into a turn definitly takes some repositioning but just straight out cruising, its rides really well, very plush and the vibration is barley noticable. it totally soaks up the rough stuff and it literaly just glided over a couple loose stone piles we have here. I loved it, it was just like floating right over those piles.The high center of gravity is a little bit to get used to. I didn't have too much trouble conpensating for it.
It just rolls in 1st and 2nd, I mean thats really all i have room for here at my appartment. No room to open it up but just playing around the shop and house, 1sta nd 2nd were great for just cruising. The front end is definitly light out of the hole, but I ithnk my longer swingarm does actually help keep the front end down quite well. The little bit I was able to ride in third was hairy. Bout the time I got moving I was outa space and hand to down shift etc etc. Overall I'm extremely happy with the first iteration of the bike.
Now, since I'm not too proud to bash my own creation heres the bad/what needs to change.
The bike is undoubtably tall. A 2" drop would help alot. I plan on rebuilding the front end with inverted cartridge forks which should allow me to lower the bike a bit. That should help. I also think an extended axel would help dramatically too.
The rear tires roll alot. The 22" tires just flex too much and making a hard turn you just feel the rear sidewalls dive. Obviously a tire change is in order. That will help the handling a thousand fold. Unfortunatly I don't know if 20" tires would be a good idea. I'll probably play with that at trike fest.
Obviously there's alot of vibration, which translates to acouple minor rattles. Not a real big deal but annoying. Just something more to work on.
My kicker does indeed clear my fenders....just barely. So my heal often hits the fender. Oh well maybe some trimming will alleviate it.
The accu-start works well, But the 500 is still iritating to start in some situations. On inclines specifically.
I stall it alot. The clutch lever I have is oddly shaped and therefore doesn't have the correct travel. Need to play with it. I will definitly be getting a13oz flywheel weight as I hear that reduces clutch stall alot.
Overall it handles well and totally rips. The torque is just awsome. I'm fairly pleased with he asstetics as of now but a full cosmetic rebuild is planned along with some gusseting and the inverted front end and extended axel. Other than those few gripes I'm extremely pleased and with further work I'll make it even better,
It will be at trikefest, maybe we can have a littlegathering of bike to trike conversions? Seems there will be quite a few there.
First off the bat, THE TORQUE!!! gawd I love the torque. I mean it I freakin got off and hugged the bike after the first ride cause I'm in love with the torque!
As far as handling, I honestly was surpirsed it handles fairly well even with its high center of gravity. The bike is definitly tall, and sliding into a turn definitly takes some repositioning but just straight out cruising, its rides really well, very plush and the vibration is barley noticable. it totally soaks up the rough stuff and it literaly just glided over a couple loose stone piles we have here. I loved it, it was just like floating right over those piles.The high center of gravity is a little bit to get used to. I didn't have too much trouble conpensating for it.
It just rolls in 1st and 2nd, I mean thats really all i have room for here at my appartment. No room to open it up but just playing around the shop and house, 1sta nd 2nd were great for just cruising. The front end is definitly light out of the hole, but I ithnk my longer swingarm does actually help keep the front end down quite well. The little bit I was able to ride in third was hairy. Bout the time I got moving I was outa space and hand to down shift etc etc. Overall I'm extremely happy with the first iteration of the bike.
Now, since I'm not too proud to bash my own creation heres the bad/what needs to change.
The bike is undoubtably tall. A 2" drop would help alot. I plan on rebuilding the front end with inverted cartridge forks which should allow me to lower the bike a bit. That should help. I also think an extended axel would help dramatically too.
The rear tires roll alot. The 22" tires just flex too much and making a hard turn you just feel the rear sidewalls dive. Obviously a tire change is in order. That will help the handling a thousand fold. Unfortunatly I don't know if 20" tires would be a good idea. I'll probably play with that at trike fest.
Obviously there's alot of vibration, which translates to acouple minor rattles. Not a real big deal but annoying. Just something more to work on.
My kicker does indeed clear my fenders....just barely. So my heal often hits the fender. Oh well maybe some trimming will alleviate it.
The accu-start works well, But the 500 is still iritating to start in some situations. On inclines specifically.
I stall it alot. The clutch lever I have is oddly shaped and therefore doesn't have the correct travel. Need to play with it. I will definitly be getting a13oz flywheel weight as I hear that reduces clutch stall alot.
Overall it handles well and totally rips. The torque is just awsome. I'm fairly pleased with he asstetics as of now but a full cosmetic rebuild is planned along with some gusseting and the inverted front end and extended axel. Other than those few gripes I'm extremely pleased and with further work I'll make it even better,
It will be at trikefest, maybe we can have a littlegathering of bike to trike conversions? Seems there will be quite a few there.