My WR500 restoration progres pictures

[ws6transam]

Hi Everyone,
Ijust wanted to post the pictures of how things are going in the winter restoration of my WR500. I got it last August, and spent the winter doing stuff to it.

Tech Care just sent my shock back, and that enabled me to reinstall the swing arm. I've also found the ultra-rare factory kick stand, and a vintage works pipe from ProCircuit.

The tires are Kenda Washougal 775's which are DOT legal, and I also now have an unrestricted motorcycle title for the WR.

I was going to get a lighting kit and plate the WR so that I could do some dual-sporting, but wouldn't you know, I spent the remainder of my motorcycle money on the red 2006 Chevy Avalanche that you see in the background! So, it's likely I'll just have to haul it around and use it as an straight ORV for now. I still have to replace the chain, swap out the front disc, change the wheel bearings, and change out the fork oil. After that, it ought to be ready for some woods riding!

This is what it looked like when I bought it:

Adding new plastics, after straightening the rear subframe and some paint to the frame:

Adding the newly revalved shock, the decals, and the new Kenda tires:

Theres the new motorcycle hauler in the background:

 

[ulmanb]

Very nice.

 

[MATTSKN]

That would make a great Motard :cool:

 

[D.LEATHERS]

Looks great ws6 !!! You might want to think about getting the forks re-valved also, from what I remember they were REALLY STIFF & HARSH, especially in the woods/offroad. What about bark busters??? Once again looks really SWEET!!!

Dave L.

 

[Rudydog]

Wow, that looks great, good job. How did you get the white tank looking so new. My middle daughters '98 XR70s white tank looks all dingy, and I'm just wondering how to clean it up nicely like you did.

 

[ws6transam]

Thanks all,
Rudy The tank took me a long time, most of it was spent letting it dry out. However the sparkle is in the paint: I used Krylon Fusion gloss white.

First I let the tank dry out for about a month, then I remove the petcock, built a block off plate, and rinsed it thoroughly with a gallon of tolulene. I sloshed it around, let it sit in the tank for a half an hour, then drained it back into the gallon jug. Then I let it air out again for another month.

Next, I used the green "line-a-tank" from Blue Lightning, and put in the vapor impermeable barrier. It took two separate coatings, with a couple of days worth of dryings in-between. However the vapor barrier should now keep the fuel vapors from leaching into the plastic.

Then, I sanded the outside of the tank with a 400 grit sandpaper, then followed it up with 1000 grit. Then I scrubbed the whole tank exterior down with enamel reducer and let it dry. After that, I applied a misting coat of Krylon Fusion, followd by two coats of the Fusion paint. It came up nicely, but time will tell if it can hold up to fuel or not.

 

[ulmanb]

be careful not to spill gas on the tank exterior when filling.

 

[ws6transam]

be careful not to spill gas on the tank exterior when filling.

Roger that,

In an effort to make the exterior as spill resistant as I can, the tank has been waxed with multiple coats of Zaino polymer-based wax. It is a sort of sacrificial layer, an dsince it only takes a fewseconds to wax the tank, I am counting on doing a waxxing before and after each ride.

 

[Tom Dixon]

Wow, it sounds like you have a ton of time into it!!! I would say it was well worth it because it looks great.

 

[Yam7M]

Looks like the only thing missing is "The Beast from the East" throwing a leg over it with the barbed wire Fox gear!!!

Outstanding work. You guys and your restorations amaze me :cool:

 

[Uchytil]

Nice! I didn't know the K775's were DOT. I am buying those same tires for a resto I'm doing. They should be good moto sneakers. Gotta love that works pipe!

 

[ws6transam]

Nice! I didn't know the K775's were DOT. I am buying those same tires for a resto I'm doing. They should be good moto sneakers. Gotta love that works pipe!

I really think I ought to fire it up this weekend, just to hear what it sounds like with that pipe! Yeah, the K775's look the goods. I'm hoping they live up to their reputation.

In other news, I also finished repairing the rear axle adjusters, which were rounded off something terrible. I've filed them and shaped them to have a smaller radius, and also re-contoured the snail adjusters to hold the tighter radius. I'm hoping that by making the cogs a little more agressive, the adjusters will not move around like they obviously have in the past.

I pounded the pins out of the swing arm, modified them on the bench, then re-pressed then into place.

The right snail adjust was the worst one. When I bought the bike, this one was set to "9" whereas the left-hand was set to "5". I don't know how the bike could've even tracked straight.

It had been pretty gouged up, but I think the new size pin and adjuster detents will work much better.

 

[D.LEATHERS]

Wow, looks like a very time consuming task. Looks like it will work very well. Great job!!!

Dave L.

 

[09oneL]

I am very impressed with your restoration. I do not have the time, patience or desire to do it.

I would have cleaned the tank and left it plain and I would just eyeball the chain and ride the bike.

I do admire your work and detail, please keep us posted on the progress.

 

[ws6transam]

Thanks Everyone,

I splashed a few ounces of race fuel into the tank this weekend and rode it up and down the street. The sound of the ProCircuit pipe is sweet, as is the Turbinecore muffler! The new Kendas, however, being totally brand new, were very slidy-slidy on the cold asphalt. In fact, when in third gear, I thought that my clutch was slipping on acceleration. Then, when I ran out of gas, I put it away and noticed that I had managed to chip off the edges of the tire knobs on the drive-side of the tire. I *think* what I thought was clutch was actually wheel slip. First and second gear were all about wheelies.

The smell of the fuel was wonderful, and it started on the first kick. I've got to get myself an ORV sticker and head out to the trails sometime SOON~~~ I'm working reduced hours at work, so Methinks I ought to dedicate two days per month for trail riding. What do you all think? Maybe dedicate Tuesdays or perhaps Thursdays? Hmmm!

 

[bterp67]

Chain Adjusters

Just a note on your chain adjusters. I had a 98 XR400 that had snail cam adjusters also. When they were on the same number the rear sprocket did not line up with the front sprocket. It actually wore the inside of the front sprocket surface badly, and I also broke my chain. This may have been the reason, but who knows for sure.
Use a chain alignment tool or a straight edge clamped on the back sprocket to make sure your numbers are true.

Anyway, your bike looks real nice. Enjoy.

 

[ws6transam]

Your tip is duly noted. I'm working on getting the kids to bed and once I'm done, I will give the straight edge a try. I'm also going to double-check my clutch.

 

[ws6transam]

Hi Folks,
Today I went for my first ride on the WR500 as a dual-sport motorcycle! You couldn't slap the grin off my face if you tried. The only two beefs I have are that the gear ratios are a bit too close for street duty, and that the motor is a bit stuttery when cruising at 40 MPH. However other than that, it's really super-cool, and people are double-taking left & right when I ride it around the town.

The lights are lighting just fine, but the halogen lamp is a bit too much wattage for even the Moose 65W lighting coil. The lamp requires 4A for the low beam and 5A for the high beam, making it closer to a 50W/60W lamp rather than it's advertised 35 watts. I've got a 1.3 AH battery on board that supplements the lighting coil, and I think I'll add an easy plugin to the harness so that I can plug the bike into a small charger overnight whenever I put it away.

The Moose lighting coil required modification by cutting off the ground ring from the coil, and soldering on a second yellow wire which I ran up to the regulator. That way the whole lighting system "floats" and isn't connected in any way to the chassis ground. The ignition system is separate and runs just like before. My anti-theft mechanism is the fact that you need a good strong motorcycle boot and insider kickstart knowledge to kick the beast over!

I'm taking it up to St. Helens Scramble area on the 23rd of April, southwest of Mio, Michigan. It's going to be great!

If you want to see higher-res versions of the photos I uploaded, you can go to these links

http://www.ws6transam.org/wr500_dualsport1.jpg
http://www.ws6transam.org/wr500_dualsport2.jpg
http://www.ws6transam.org/wr500_dualsport3.jpg
http://www.ws6transam.org/wr500_dualsport4.jpg
http://www.ws6transam.org/wr500_dualsport5.jpg
http://www.ws6transam.org/wr500_dualsport6.jpg

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. One thing I want to know is, does anyone know where I can find a flywheel weight? If not, I am going to machine one from scratch! My only thing to wonder is if I should do it on the manual lathe, or have a CNC program written so that I can machine multiple pieces. That, of course, would depend on how many out there might want one for their WR/YZ/IT 465/490....

 

[KTM Mike]

Looking good! Have you tried Steahly Off Road for a FWW? If you cant get one, and find making one does not work out, try the G2 throttle cam. I think Moose has something similar now. Also, look into the jetting if it is a "stuttery" - maybe raise the clip (lower the needle) one notch? or maybe go down one size on main jet? (be careful with cold temps though!)

 

[ws6transam]

I saw that throttle cam in their catalog, and like the idea. Steahly doesn't seem to offer a YZ490/IT490/WR500/IT465 flywheel weight for some reason. I don't know who does. I do know, however, where there is a 5-inch diameter piece of steel billet laying on the floor, alongside a CNC lathe. I've just have to create the CNC drawing & program it. It'd cost me about $400 to create, but I'd have multiple pieces when I was done.

 

[meterman]

Nice ride!

 

[ws6transam]

Measuring vibration at the handle bars:

Measuring vibration at the rear swing arm:

Measuring vibration at the wheel caliper:

Data acquisition system with GPS: Ready for the trail ride!

My data acquisition system with three accelerometers for measuring impact and vibration, plus GPS logging to correlate with impact. I head up to St Helens tomorrow.

 

[KTM Mike]

welll....how was the ride?

somebody must be an engineer type...most guys I ride with dont bling their bikes with accelerometers... :60

 

[ws6transam]

The ride went pretty well, considering I hadn't ridden since 1990! However, riding with three guys in their mid-20's who go out on CRF450's every weekend probably was a good recipe for failure. I tried to hang with them, but got my eyes opened on the first two miles of St Helens whoops, and after seven minutes I was so buggered that I had to take my helmet off to keep from barfing in it. Things got better through the day though, up until four hours later when I started over-driving the bike on the 50-inch trails. Then I started losing it, and finally whacked a tree. Thank God for chest protectors and hand guards! After that we put-putted back to the parking lot.

Average speed for the day was 26 MPH, top speed was 63 MPH and elapsed trail odometer showed 39.5 miles.

One surprising thing was the fact that I never had to refill my tank. There's still 1.5 gallons sloshing around in there, and the 450's needed two tanks worth of fuel. I had figured the 500 would be a gas hog, so I brought nine gallons with me. I guess I must have used about two gallons in those 40 miles.

Yeah, I am an engineer~~ I develop impact recorders for the aerospace community! I got good data too, just no impacts. The vibration was severe enough to wash it out. The delta-V on the tree impact was about 14 MPH, which is a pretty good whack. Nothing got permanently bent though, but the hand guard and the triple clamp needed tweaking when I was done.

Here's a link that shows the actual vibration data from the trip:
http://www.yamahait.com.au/forum/index.php/topic,375.msg14088.html#msg14088