My Motorcycles
Bikes I currently own:-
None. :-(
1993 Kawasaki EX500
I saw this EX500, posted locally for $1,400. It sold before I could respond. About a week later, the same guy posted saying the bike had been stolen, abandoned, and recovered after the thief fled on foot. It was in unknown condition, but I figured it couldn't be too bad if the thief ran away. The owner was willing to take $600 in cash on the spot at the impound for it. We went to the impound to take a look. The bike had all cosmetic damage; levers, ignition lock, minor pipe scrapes; damage typical of a stop-and-drop. Mechanically, it was sound. New levers, new turn signals, and a new ignition, and the bike is street ready. I have handed the fairing over to Justin for repair of three small cracks and a missing mount.
Update: I bought a used Vance & Hines SS2R from a good soul from the EX500 list. The can had some pavement gouges at the leading edge of the canister, but a few minutes with a Dremel, file, and wire brush made these disappear completely. After two tries to get the header to seal up at the exhaust ports, the pipe is on. It sounds fantastic! It's a growl down around 5,000 rpm, building to a wail at 10,000. There it a little popping on closed-throttle deceleration, but the jet kit will fix that.
I await the K&N filter and Factory jet kit from Mike at SuperBike Accessories.
Another Update: Seems that Dave (the fellow that sold me the pipe) also has a pearl white fairing with only a few minor scratches. We have negotiated purchase, then called Justin and told him he could stop working on the old one. He was almost done. Justin will help arrange a paint job for all of it once we get the fairing.
Jetting Update: The jet kit and filter are installed. Removing the carbs was the hardest part. It required dissassembling the airbox into its four component pieces and removing it. I cleaned the carbs while I was in them. There was a brown varnish in the bottoms of the float bowls (use the gallon carb dip stuff - just don't get it on any rubber or plastic). I installed the 132.5 Factory mains, the needle set at the #2 position. The air screws required drilling and removing the caps. They were set to 21/4 turns. First ride was good, but the bike was soft in the midrange. I raised the needles 1 position to see if I could cure the leanness. Then it stumbled badly below 2000 and still had a soft midrange. On to #4. Now it wouldn't run off idle under load. I removed the Factory needles and reinstalled the stock ones with a shim washer under them, and went back to 2 turns on the idle mix screws. That was the combination; I was going too rich in the midrange and low end the whole time. It's still a little soft from 5-7k, so I may try the Factory needles at the #1 position, or the stock needles without the shims. Needle adjustments are easy, since you can remove the diaphragm caps without removing anything else but the tank.
I also plan on removing the evaporative canister and its complex hose system. This is often responsible for popping on deceleration in EX500s. This will require some vacuum blockoff caps, as well as a cover for the hole in the airbox.
Last Jetting Update: I went to install the Factory needles as #1 position, but was unable to get the little washer to stay above the needle clip as Factory recommends. Without it, the needle would move around a lot and the circlip grooves would hang the needle up. I reinstalled the stock needles with no shims, and the test ride was strong at all rev ranges. Had I known that the only parts I would need from the kit were the main jets, I would have bought just them for $5 each. Oh, well. Every setup is different, and if I ever change pipes, I may need them.
Painting Update: I handed the parts over to Justin after I shaved the emblems and primed the problem areas of the tank. The color we selected was a Chrysler mini-van color. It's a sort of black cherry color, if you are on a low color display. I covered the few imperfections on the tank with a Lockhart half mask, and added a Lockhart deep smoke windscreen to boot. I also removed the evap canister, but left the crankcase vent valve in place. I plumbed a new vacuum line to the valve and blocked off the two tubes under the tank with vacuum blockoff caps. Everything was great for the inaugural Sunday ride, but the original rear tire appears to be dry rotting. Now that it makes more power, the rear tire is slipping in lower speed corners. Next stop, the tire rack. :(
Track Update: After the fit of the K591 rear, I took the bike to the track. Stick is excellent. The bike is finally there. Now, if I can avoid wadding it...
Update:Sold, for more than my investment.