Post by brazenc5 on Apr 1, 2008 2:34:20 GMT -5
Hello there,
New member here from San Jose, (Silicon Valley) CA, about 40 miles south of San Francisco. I've been a rider for 11 years, starting with a Vance & Hines rep. FZR, and now a ZX9R for the last 6 years.
I was inspired to buy a SR500 after I saw a black and white picture of a bike that looked retro but was something different about it, like some characteristics of a dirt bike. I was immediately drawn by the simple beauty, and after some research I found out about street trackers, cafe racers, and the SR500. The picture ended up being from VD Classics, and I knew I wanted to build one similar.
I set out to find an SR500 locally and found one on craigslist for cheap, was running but was smoking from the engine. Well, it sat in my backyard for about a year until I can finally get around to starting the project. I have no experience in motorcycle repair. Jetting, needles, shims, valve clearance, etc are all foreign to me, but what a great bike to learn on!! I figured with a single cylinder, its something I can tackle, and now finding this forum is a great resource, I hope to gain alot of info by the local members. I think the hardest part is holding myself back from spending a lot of $$ on this rebuild!!
So many options, and I love both the look of a street tracker, and a cafe racer, it'll be hard to decide to go one way, i want both! I love the look of a street tracker, but I've never seen one as a two seater, and I know my fiancee will want to ride on the back. We'll see where the project takes me.
On to the pics:
Beginning of Day 1:
End of Day 1:
My inspiration
VD Classic
New member here from San Jose, (Silicon Valley) CA, about 40 miles south of San Francisco. I've been a rider for 11 years, starting with a Vance & Hines rep. FZR, and now a ZX9R for the last 6 years.
I was inspired to buy a SR500 after I saw a black and white picture of a bike that looked retro but was something different about it, like some characteristics of a dirt bike. I was immediately drawn by the simple beauty, and after some research I found out about street trackers, cafe racers, and the SR500. The picture ended up being from VD Classics, and I knew I wanted to build one similar.
I set out to find an SR500 locally and found one on craigslist for cheap, was running but was smoking from the engine. Well, it sat in my backyard for about a year until I can finally get around to starting the project. I have no experience in motorcycle repair. Jetting, needles, shims, valve clearance, etc are all foreign to me, but what a great bike to learn on!! I figured with a single cylinder, its something I can tackle, and now finding this forum is a great resource, I hope to gain alot of info by the local members. I think the hardest part is holding myself back from spending a lot of $$ on this rebuild!!
So many options, and I love both the look of a street tracker, and a cafe racer, it'll be hard to decide to go one way, i want both! I love the look of a street tracker, but I've never seen one as a two seater, and I know my fiancee will want to ride on the back. We'll see where the project takes me.
On to the pics:
Beginning of Day 1:
End of Day 1:
My inspiration
VD Classic
