T-minus 1 month, 2 days still Trikefest05. And heres the story.
Earlier this year I traded my 84 ATC250R to atczack for his 1985 CR500. Both machines needed a fair amount of work. The first 2 picture reflect the CR500 in dirtbike form a few days after I brought it home. I did a few things to it, and rode it. The only problem I had was cranking it...the thing is a BEAR and a half to crank. I'm a big guy (Around 230) and it takes all I got to turn this thing through. I'm going to have to get some MX boots. I've rode it probably 3 different times in bike form and 2 out of the 3 it was pull started with my ass hanging over the rear wheel and working the clutch in 3rd gearing trying to keep the rear wheel from sliding.
If you've been on the homepage much recently, you've probably seen the Laegers CR500 conversion kit article from ATV Sports that BLAZERONE22 sent in. I scored this same kit on ebay for a mere $260 total with shipping. The seller has been a bit slow to send the parts but thursday I received the first shipment, and Saturday another. The first shipment was the front wheel, tire, hub, brake disc, front axle, and caliper (No pictures). This front wheel setup has a small adapter plate made out of a plate of aluminum to adapt the CR500 larger diameter brake disc onto the ATC250R front hub. The CR500 brake caliper is also used. Upon inspecting the front wheel bearings with the front axle still in it I noticed the front axle was actually bent, about a 1/4 inch in the middle. At this point I'm questioning the maintence, and use these parts had before I received them. The second package, was the much anticipated custom steel tripple clamps, Some front forks that turned out being junk (Pictures below), and a rear axle. The tripple clamps came without the stem and even had some damage from them apparently removing the original stem. The whole area where the stem presses in is bent to hell and even the round tubing in a few places from a swing gone astray The forks, well, theres not much to say about them except the one has a chunk broke out of the bottom leg and the other has some kind of gobbed up **** on it at the top thats suppose to be a cap.
The intitial tear down started Saturday when the whole frontend was dissasembled enabling me to have the original stem pressed out of the OEM tripple clamps so it can then be pressed into the new wider, steel ones. It was at this time I also discovered that there was a problem with these new steel tripple clamps. Both it, and the frame had the steering stops in the same position, the middle. This made a definete conflict on how they were to mount, but was not that big of a problem since I later just ground it off and prepared the surface for new ones to be welded on in the some position as the ones on the old aluminum clamps. After encountering this problem I was sweating bullets to see if the forks were even the same diameter as what needed to go in the new clamps, luckily they were.
Today I took the old bottom tripple clamp to town and had the stem pressed out by a friend since the hydraulic cylinder for our press was out being repacked. After I got back home I immediatly checked the fitmet on the stem and the new tripples and found that it was the right diamater, but also found that during the previous owners swinging fury he had damaged the area where the stem presses in and causes it to be out of round and mushroomed on the inside. This should not cause a whole lot of problem with fitment but it does definetly make me wonder if these parts were on a trike/bike that was involved in a serious accident prior to their removal and sale. I waited today till around 3:00PM hoping the mailman would bring me a new package, but he didn't. Figuring I would get my next shipment (Hopefully the subframe, seat, and fenders, or the swingarm) tomorrow I started dissaembling the CR500 so when I received the conversion parts I could put them right on. I removed the seat, the gas tank, air scoops, the rear subframe, the rear fenders, the airbox, and I'm not even sure what all else (Picture below of the pile of stuff).