I'm back! Beautiful pics guys, I'm already jealous of your weather, it's been sh1t for the last week or so here, including yesterday, when I bravely braved the cold and rain for my first shakeout ride on my (now legal) 1974 Suzuki T500 two stroke. It should have been last weekend, but if you'd seen my post in the "pissed off" and then the "Happy-ish" threads, you'll know that I was fcuked over by the governments best pencil dicks, who refused to issue me a club plate because there was no record of my bike ever having been registered in Australia.
The truth is, that they were half right, as the engine cases actually came from the USA, but all they really need is the paperwork from the Roadworthy inspector and from my motorcycle club, and they should have given me my red plate, but no, they told me I had to have it inspected by an engineer and pay him $500 for a "VASS Certificate". I rang an engineer who does VASS certificates on self imported bikes to make sure that they comply with Australian design rules like headlight dipping direction, indicator lens colour, etc.
He told me that he thought that they were wrong, so I rang the Vicroads (DMV) head office on Thursday, and the nice lady there told me that the information I'd been given was wrong, and to go back with my paperwork and demand that they give me my plate. I went back, and after only waiting 55 minutes, (while around 50 people who walked in after me were served, due to their faulty ticket machine) I finally got served, and the (nice lady, again) knew what she was doing, and gave me my red plate.
Saturday the weather was miserable, so I spent my day welding up a new stand for my boring bar to make boring 4 cylinder engine cylinder blocks and crank case cylinder holes for big bore engines easier, but yesterday, which was equally poxy, I had a need, a need for obnoxious 2 stroke smoke, and.... speed. First job was to affix the red plate.
T500 Sunday 21 May 2023 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
The oil tank needed filling after sitting with oil dribbling into the crankcases for the last year or two since I forgot about it when I started the Z1 build, but apart from that it started on the 4th kick, which I thought was pretty good considering it hadn't run since last month and it was bloody cold, and while it was warming up and changing the weather from wet and overcast to blue and cloudy, I rugged up with wet weather overpants, thick jacket, a neck warmer, and heavy gloves etc. I rode it to the gas station and filled it up with 91 Ron (lowest octane available) and practised closing the dodgy fuel cap, (I've discovered that whacking it is the best method) before heading off into the gloom.
Now being a shakedown ride, and not knowing if/when it was going to conk out, or something was going to fall off, I decided to just ride to Kilmore, 30 miles away, on the most direct route, in case it broke down and I had to call the RACV (Auto Club) so they could pick me up and tow the bike home. In fact it ran very well, has a ton of power (comparable to a CB750, but lighter and less "planted", more like an over powered dirt bike of the era) and unusually, the drum front brake is magnificent to the point of being scary, especially on a wet road.
The downside is that it was pinging a bit, so I guess I've messed up the ignition timing? (My "rule of thumb" is that if it doesn't kick back, it's not too far advanced) so next time I go over to the storage place I'll take my fancy new timing light and do it properly, rather than trying to static time it. No matter, apart from the pinging while going up hills, it accelerated really well, and has a ton of torque. It was too wet to take a pic on the side of the road (as I was a little worried that it might not start up again if I switched it off in the rain) so when I got to the chicken shop, rather than park it in the rain I parked it under the awning of the shop next door where it was nice and dry.
T500 Sunday 21 May 2023 2 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
I went inside to order but there was a queue a mile long and I was cold, so I went outside, had a smoke, then decided to head back. I was just putting my helmet back on when the owner came out with a big serve of chips and gravy, so I ate it but forgot to take a pic. Happily it fired up first kick, which impressed a couple of folks who'd gathered around it to check it out and to ask me what it was, and I roared off back to the storage place. The needle on the tach (which is driven by the oil pump) went crazy and pegged on 9000 RPM, which was a huge exaggeration as I barely went over 5K RPM, (Redline starts at 7K RPM) because it does 60 MPH @ 4500 RPM, or maybe a tad less RPMs, but around thereabouts.
I got back home, happy that ride #18 was done, but if the weather is as atrocious next weekend I'll be taking the Triumph, as it has that nice big windshield to keep the rain off me. A few more tweaks on the T500 (and some stiffer rear springs, the rear shocks are rubbish...) and I'll be looking forward to some nice dry weather riding.
T500 Sunday 21 May 2023 1 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
