Hello from austin tx

Discussion in 'Introductions' started by Cr500, Jul 28, 2019.

  1. Cr500

    Cr500 New Member

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    2A55797E-EAA0-46E6-AC8C-6415B9E00B32.jpeg 699D3479-0EF7-4C5F-B48C-3049B40EDDF5.jpeg found this forum when searching out stuff for my new to me vfr.
    Ive ridden something with an engine since i was around 5.
    Dirtbikes are kinda my thing, but from probably age 14-22 always had a few streetbikes i rode daily. My first vfr was a ‘96 i got in 97. I loved that bike.
    I worked at the local honda shop in ‘98 when the 800 came out, so i got to ride quite a few of them, i wanted a new mx bike so regrettably i sold my 96 to fund a new ktm. I always thought id find another or better yet get a 98-99. That was always the plan. I worked on alot of them, but never got one for myself.
    Ive probably owned every kind of bike i ever wanted when younger, and then some, but a vfr800 was probably one of my last on my list. My father in law has a harley he used to ride, but these days hes kinda bummed cause he has noone to ride with, so he basically doesnt ride it anymore. That plus i drive a 50 mile commute to work back everyday, it made sense to look for my last of my bucket list bikes. I first found a yellow ‘00, it was cheap, but hammered. They had stripped it to make it i guess what you call a “streetfighter”.
    I wanted a red 99 with under 30k. Found one outa state. Then found one outside of san antonio that looked promising. It had 25k, looked pretty un molested, and he seemed like he wanted it gone. My schedule was so jammed i had no time to go out there. He works out of town, we finally hooked up around 6 am one morning. To be honest i didnt even sit on it. He was a cool guy, honest, and as soon has i heard the gear noise and exhaust note i just handed him $$.
    It was not perfect, but what mattered to me i could tell it was all good.
    I loaded it up and finally a week later got it out and took a good look at it.
    When i was younger if i bought one i had a list of to dos: fix suspension, brakes, and do something to keep it cool. In central tx its hot 95% of time, the 800s i rode back when they were new seemed to sit at 225ish anytime i was under 50mph.
    Anyway, with my mind already made up for the last 20 years on what i thought i needed to do to one of these, i went and rode this for a few days like it was, and it was pretty fun. The bike is mostly stock, except for a micron slip on, and some corbin beetle bags. Those bags seem practical for carrying stuff, but i couldnt keep them on. Just to wierd to me.
    Anyway, after 100 or so miles it now is torn down doing stuff i wanted to do 20 years ago to one. Cant wait to fire it back up. My father in law doesnt know yet, but this should also get me some brownie points.
    Thanks
     
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  2. mello dude

    mello dude Administrator

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    Welcome new 5th gen guy!

    If I remember, a CR500 is a big single two stroke bike, do you have one of those?
     
  3. Cr500

    Cr500 New Member

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    Thanks!
    Yes, a cr500 is a big 2 stroke single that honda made from 84-01. And yes, i own quite a few of them in various forms.
     
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2019
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  4. mello dude

    mello dude Administrator

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    Once in awhile, I get the itch to find one to build into a streetfighter, something crazy fun... Not many out there....
    Photos of yours?
     
  5. Cr500

    Cr500 New Member

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    Here are a few in no particular order. Just what i have saved on my ipad.
    This one is a '91. I wish i had the photos of what all these looked like when i got them. I bought this bike for next to nothing, site unseen, when i got there it was more hammered than expected, and wouldnt run. Once we made the deal i tinkered with it for a minute and it fired up. It was thrashed, as are most 500s, but you could tell it was original deep down.
    This one is kinda special to me, i bought it on Wednesday, tore it completely down on thursday, put it back together on friday, and went and won 3 classes on it on Saturday. I had enough parts laying around that i was able to refresh eveything, and go racing that weekend. The engine has neve been opened up. I kept it 100% stock for that first race, low seat amd all, and still hauled the mail. Unfortunately the next week on anothe bike I completely destroyed my low back and left arm.
    While hurt i kinda refreshed this. It has modern forks, brakes, ergonomics to suite me ( 6'4") i love hondas, but they are built for someone a foot shorter, so it takes some trickery to make it fit a guy like me. On every 500 i build i always lace up a now weird to see 2.50 wide rear rim, it took a while to lace these wheels with one arm!
    This bike still has a basically stock engine, and man it rips. image.jpeg image.jpeg
    This started out life as a bare 2003 cr250 frame, and a destroyed engine i had pulled literally from a dumpster back in '97.
    Most of what i ride either started out as near scrap, or just parts.
    This was probably the best bike i ever had for many years.
    In high school i guess you could say i gave zero fs. That usually got me in d hall alot. One particular time in '97 i was in d hall. we were sent to a house to be day laborers. There was a big rolloff dumpster, and we were throwing everything in garage away.
    Another kid found a box with a motorcycle part in it. It was a SEM magneto of probably an old ktm. As we dug more we pulled about 4-5 boxes aside. The owner said i could have, didnt know even what it was. I had a '92 cr500 at the time, so I recognized the cylinder in a box.
    Long story short i found an entire 1991 500 engine. It was trashed though. Rod had gone thru the bottom of the centercases, gears were rusting away in a metal coffee can, the bore looked oblong, clutch basket notched, etc etc.
    My plan was to buy a new cr250, sell the engine out of it to fund building this 500 to install.
    But it never happened. Fast forward to about 2005, because of finances, starting my own business, etc, i hadnt ridden in about 2 years, i dug that motor out and started laying it out. Eventually i built it out, way better than new. Im in to thermal coatings, so all the rusty gears once i blasted everything moly coated, exterior of engine got a thermal disspersant, etc etc.
    I had just bought a 03 cr250 to start riding again, and my plan had been what i was going to do way back when, but once i started riding it realized I probably should ride some before hopping back on a 500!
    At any rate i had just learned about ebay, and started looking. I loved that 03 cr250, so i decided to buid its big brother.
    So this bike here literally statted out as a engine, and i basically ebayed a whole rolling chassis. The suspension has a neat story, it was on one of gary bailys bikes for a bit. The suspension tag on fork had "the professor" under rider name.
    The rims are shoulderless DID, they were onoy found on 99-01 kawis. I anodized them and laced them up to some old talon hubs. The plastic is the old honda red, and the decals, seat graphic are reminiscent of 1986.
    image.jpeg image.jpeg
    I have an old buddy, mentor, kinda my dad when my dad was gone working, that is a 2 stroke genius. Hes been porting cylinders for me since i was 12. He has saved specs ove the years, and slowly him/ i have found what i like best.
    This cylinder is like 10 cylinders worth of r&d. This is the dumpster engine. image.jpeg
    Over the years i learned ktms fit tall guys better. In '09 i had a life changing injury, and didnt ride for probably 5 years,
    I decided id go buy a new bike this time, it would be my last bike, and id join the norm and buy a 4 stroke. I bought a ktm 450. That bike was awesome, once i set it up for me, it was so fun to ride. It did everything right. It even fixed mistakes that i would make. But, what i noticed i didnt like, it wasnt a 2 stroke, it sounded like a fart machine, and the exhaust didnt smell like castor oil. I am fortunate to work where i have made a little track behind to ride on. Nothing special, so usually at work i have 2-3 bikes usually. I could go burn 30 minutes at lunch, etc. i noticed i go out on the 450, have a blast, then go grab any 500 i had there, either built by/ for me or just some clapped out mess i just got, and it was a different kind of fun. Like damn i missed this, or why did i waste time on that other thing? Hard to explain. I loved that 450, just missed my favorite engine.
    So i set out to build " my bike" the ktm chassis i fit so good on, but with my 500 engine. I was torn, because that 03 500 was such a good bike, but I realized i didnt fit the bike well. I found a buyer for the roller, took my dumpster motor out, and set out to find a blown up 450 ktm.
    Long story short i built this, this is the current generation ktm chassis, so like 2015.5-2019, but with my engine.
    Same deal, bike started as a bare frame. It took longer to build than expected, because when i got the frame, the chassis/ bike was so new the otems that were particular to the new chassis noone could even get yet. This frame also is a works ktm frame, no vin, just the race team stampings for measurements, and the tabs underneath for the race team only skid plate.
    This, is my perfect bike. And engineering wise my old 500 engine is set up perfectly in that chassis. Everything gelled nicely. image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg
    I de honda'd the engine as much as i could. The giveaways would be the honda style clamps, honda style bolts, the race team covers that said honda, so i had the guy in uk that makes the covers make me more but woithout emblems, then anodized them to match the works ktms, used ti bolts throughout engine( whole bike has ti hardware) that matched a ktm, and used norma clamps throughout. Out riding/ racing, i have gotten some odd questions as to what it is. I mean, the kickstarter is a dead giveaway, but if not that the exhaust note, nothing sounds like a 500 2 stroke on the pipe. image.jpeg image.jpeg
     
  6. Cr500

    Cr500 New Member

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    image.jpeg image.jpeg i cobbled the above bike together out of spare parts. It turned out nice, except for fuel tank. That was the only white 90s era tank i had at that moment, but its a 92 chassis, with 96 up suspensiOn, and a 93-01 engine. The shrouds are orignial 92, actually the radiator shrouds, front/ rear fender were from my 92 back in the day. Swingarm is the original '91 from my other, thats why decals are 91 on

    This one below is a 94. It too was built from spare parts. I think for a time i had about 20 running cr500s, and enough junk to build 4-5 more, with maybe parts to build 4-5 engines on top of that.

    Anyway, its an all 94. Mostly stock exclet for what it needed to run, i think this engine was ran with no premix, so it got a top end. The shroud decals are cool to me, you cant tell by the photo but the wing is the old honda red, the orangish deal. Those were big in the early 90s. I wish i still had, would like to get those reproduced. I remember once i figured i could build out a 94, i started at like 6 pm, and at around 8 am next day was out shredding on it. Sometimes building these take a bit, im pretty anal about hardware, collars, washers, etc. these bikes are usually cobbled together with home depot hardware when i get them.
    image.jpeg image.jpeg
    This is a 95. Only year a honda dirtbike had purple. Ultra rare these days. It took me forever to find that bar pad. I dont mind modifying the hell outa someth Ng, but i like to be period correct with whatever. Decals, etc. that bar pad was hard to find!
    This started out as a theft recovery. It was completely spray painted black ran with no premix, looped put a dozen times. But once i washed the paint off i releazed it was 100% original underneath. All the plastic on this bike, save for the front disc gaurd, and rear fender, is original. The theives were nice enough though to rip off the oem shroud/ tank decals. Pricks.

    This one was special to me, back in 1995 i used to ride a neighbors 500 all the time. My first motocross race was on his 95 500.
    And to top it off i at the time i got this bike had just built a mint 1995 cr250. I was getting into vintage racing, so i thought itd be cool to race the 250 one moto, then the same year 500 the next. This bike got all the updates id normally do, but because it needed engine work, the insides got leaned on a bit more. All these 500s, no matter how they are build, al are different in their own way, how they handle, run, etc, this bike did everything well. I always started this bike with a ear to ear grin. And at the track, this bike for whatever reason always go the most attention. My 95 250 looked like a 93, but still it was cool to see them together. Dudes would have all kinds of stories to tell. I raced this in the woods a few times, well all of these bikes, but this one in particular, it was in east tx. Like a million degrees, muggy, and sandy. I was so tired that weekend, i had worked i think 70 hrs that week. When im in shape, i ride a 500 like a 250, on the pipe, hanging it out, i seem to like the violence, but as i get tired, just shift up, and you can still go as fast, just with more control. That day i just told myself to ride a gear high everywhere i went, i had never had so much fun lugging a bike around. And i figured Out if i could catch a guy ( got a terrible start) the roost from this was so intense (sand) that they always let off when i got by.
    Ive been selling bikes over the last 5 years. I always told myself i didnt eve want to be that guy who has stuff that he just lets rot away. This bike got crated up and i shipped it to Hawaii. Him, like most that seems to buy my stuff, just wanted one in the garage to look at and ride a bit here/ there to remember the old days. Hopefully today its still out roosting a volcano.
    I did keep my bar pad though! image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg
     
  7. Cr500

    Cr500 New Member

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    Not a honda but a good bike. Ive built alot of bikes over the years, different frames, engines, newer, older, but ive kinda prided myslef on never taking a bike apart to steal an engine, or chassis parts, whatever. But this kx might be the one that shouldn't been fixed. It was so hammered. The only going for it was that it was all there, mostly. I dont have the patience to type out what all was wrong, or what i made, did, etc. but this is a vert trick bike. Save for those fork skins. Those are stupid. They were removed after this photo was taken. I was pleasing a guy who gave them to me.
    I have a number of kawi 500s, newer, older, etc but i like this one the most. Growing up a poor kid, i only rode what noone else wanted, bike i could trade for or get for 50.00 or less. And it always seemed to be a kx125. I had alot of those. My buddy had and i had both 1985 kx125s. But hos dad had a 86 kx500. I remember he always said if we could start it we could ride it. It would take both of us like an hour to fire it off. How we never fouled the plug i dont know. That was my first taste of a 500 2 stroke. I think i was 11. They lived near a train track, so i would take that bike out on the dirt road next to train track, and go 5th gear wide. It was insane how fast it was to me. I eventually got to where i could start in in like 10 minutes, kinda learned the trick, but i could barely touch the ground, but got where id ride my bike over to their house, then drain most of the fuel outa my 125, put in the 500, then go rip that thing.
    So when i found this 86 it made sense to me. All these bike i guess hold some kind of memories for me. Building them, riding them maybe brings me back. Or something like that. I think i had a great childhood, and as far as i can remember all i ever thought about was either gi joes or dirtbikes. image.jpeg image.jpeg
    This is a 1987 cr500. First year rear disc. I really like this bike. I like riding older bikes mostly, this for sure is one of my favorites. It was also hammered when i got. It took ,e forever to get those old showa fork decals and disc guard.
    image.jpeg
    When hurt i refreshed it, but i didnt like how some things turned out. But this was a photo after i built it. Another bike i built with one arm. This bike rips. After this photo was taken i went and raced a vintage hare scramble, hence the handguards.
    There is a cool photo somewhere of the first turn after start. I pulled the holeshot, and yeah i guess i thought i looked cool, i had new/ old gear on, old bike, etc. but what was cool, was this thing was hookin so good, the rear of bike was just sacked out, like putting power to the ground, and it was just like a dirtstorm behind my rear wheel. Like it was plowing or something. Coolest photo. 500s can move lots of earth! image.jpeg
    This is one bike i was never attached to. I bought a brand new 2008 crf450r rolling chassis from a race team. I liked that chassis so my original plan was to build a dual sport to ride to work. I was at my port buddies and we were b.s.ing about gearing for this, when he showed me his new heat disspersant color. Tahitian red. Thats what the old honda motors were for a while. I took a bare engine over and we coated it to see.
    I had orignally planned to make this bike street legal, but also look like the factory 95 year hondas. Had all the decals made already and everyhting. But that red was so trick, it made sense to build a mugen wannabe. If you know early 80s mugens, yeah the pipe was red too, but i wasnt going to do that here. I dont need to bore anyone here on the trickery of this bike, but it was very very trick. My suspension buddy hooked me up with all this prototype stuff fo it, i built the engine from spare parts. Inside the clutch, cylinder could have been on a display. So nice. I got to where i was replating old hardware, so everything here looked brand new. But this bike orignally was going to be a dual sport, but i had an old works hrc gear set, and a eline (brand) lighting stator for it. Those parts were crazy rare, even back then (2008ish) i was hurt and not working completely, i had a guy over me insane money for the gearset and lighting coil, so i sold it. So this was to be just anothe dirtbike. Originally it was to be transportation, but now just anothe bike. After i finished it i just covered it and it sat . never put fluids in it. I eventually years late decided to sell it. An older guy saw it, wanted a nice 500 for his collection. I had told him i had never fired it, so he came up, paid me, i put fuel in, did my normal drill, fired right up. He then gave me a few bucks to break it in, so in the end i got to rip on it, that was a good bike. Like really good. I will say it was too fancy for me, like to, whats the word, blingy i guess. I liked to look at it but for whatever reason couldnt see myself riding it long term.but that red, damn it was nice. And like i said, its not paint, but a thermal disspersant. Think of a gun barrell coating. image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg
     
  8. RllwJoe

    RllwJoe Insider

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    Welcome to the World Cr500 ! Great photos too.
     
  9. mello dude

    mello dude Administrator

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    Great stuff! Wow!
     
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