CR500 Drag Bike:

I guess a little background about me is in order first with regards to my proficiency level and personality in order to help you understand the content of this page. I have loved motorcycles as long as I can remember. I started riding when I was four or five around 1967. I learned on a borrowed a Suzuki 90 and then my parents bought me a Honda Z50. In 1977 I was fifteen and my parents put together a Kawasaki KE90 from a couple of non-running ones. At seventeen I bought my first motorcycle, a 1976 RD400, with my own hard earned money. In 1979 and I started racing dirt bikes on a used 1974? Yamaha YZ250. I loved the fact that money alone was not what won MX races, that it was mainly based on physical ability and skill especially in the lower classes. A good rider on a old bike could win. At some point I got good enough I needed new MX bikes to be competitive. I advanced to be a winning intermediate or slow to midpack semi-pro racer and even won the 1986-87 250B TSCEC (Texas State Championship Enduro Circuit). My first new motorcycle was a 1982 Yamaha YZ125. For the next 15 years or so I went through many YZ's, CR's and KX's as well as street bikes among which were RD400, 350's, RD250's and a CB900.

I worked in two cycle shops in the mid 1980's through 1992 in my hometown and became a Certified Honda Motorcycle mechanic about 1988. I was certified for Polaris PWC's, ATV's and Kawasaki certified for Hi Performance Jet-Ski's.

I have worked in the computer industry since 1992 and was certified for Windows NT. I also went back to school in 2000 and received my AA degree from Cisco Jr. College in 2003. I was accepted to the University of Texas Austin for Mechanical Engineering in 2003. I moved, enrolled and attended class for one week before I had to give it up, for now. I had just had a total knee replacement, the fourth and fifth in a series of knee operations, in the summer of 2004 and I was just not physically and financially recovered yet, I'm still not but I'm getting there. I was forced to abandon UT and move back to Abilene, TX. where I am now try to get back on track doing something I have always loved, working on and riding motorcycles!

And now what hopefully brought you to this page in the first place. Please keep in mind I have much more time than money, can you relate?

08-10-2005 Stage II Stage one complete! Everything works and almost everything is repaired. It starts easily and runs ok for now, heck it even idles. It does obviously needs some paint and appearance work. But for now some trial runs where there isn't a 5 MPH speed limit.

06-13-2005

Stage 1: My new, to me, 1986 $500 Starts and runs.

Click the image for a 1600 x 1200.

Needs, well a lot, but that is the fun. First things first.

1. Left hand crankcase, broken, tear it down and make sure the motor is right. It did come with the LH crankcase as well as a new rear fender.
2. Street or Slick Tires.
3. Sprockets.
4. Fix Gas tank leak.
5. Make a pass to see where I am at.

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06-16-2005

Suspension Layout, Guess and Mockup up. Shimming the shock and fork piston/dampers with whatever is free, PVC (schedule 100?), scrap metal... . Possibly for now just remove the rear spring and reservoir and fill the shock to start. The forks are already lowered about 2 inches below. I used the stock spacer on top of the springs and placed it on the damper rod next to the top out spring. Of course I moved the forks up in the triple clamp too, bout a half inch. Next I will cut fork springs and place portions on the damper rod to further increase the top out ( extension limit ) and thereby lowering it even more. Just have to remember that I am losing rake if the back is not lowered equally.

 

 

Forks Lowered 2", Rear Shock Preload Lowered about 2". Gonna put it together like this to start.

 

Milk Crate Height and tilted forward. Loosing rake. Maybe on stage 2 or 3.

2x4 Height. As long as the kick starter will have full range, this is close to what I'll end up with.

All the way Down, Too far. Front tire clearance, but not in rear.

 

At least I got the old street tire on the rear, whew. The new front tire was of course easy. Note to self try buy NEW tires from now on.

 

I'm not sure if this exhaust is going to work. :) Just kidding around, At the time I was really wanting to sell my jet-ski. Waiting on motor parts and still have plenty I can do in the meantime.

The electrical will eventually need to be changed to an inductive type from the CDI to be able to utilize all the DYNA or MSD products I want. I found out I knew very little about the difference in C.D.I. and Inductive electrical/ignition systems even after 23 years, 10 professionally, of working on everything from crotch rockets to Poloris PWC's. Here ,from http://www.electrosport.com,is where I finally found an answer to getting some voltage that I can convert to usable 12 volts for the inductive setup. RickyStator seems to have really good prices on stators, lighting coils and parts.

07-12-2005

Got it lowered for now using PVC schedule 80 on the shock and on the bottom of the damper rods. This is just temporary until I decide how long of a strut I need. Waiting on my radiator repair from Myler's Radiator Repair, good people. I must also express my thanks to the folks at Speedwerks. They were very responsive to my email and just plain friendly.

08-03-2005

The DYNA TRX250R's programmable ignition module was very intriguing didn't have the two things I need, a launch limiter or stutter box and a shift light output, as best as I can tell.

Dennis Kirk has been very good for the more generic parts and the most helpful so far in in answering questions such as will the item they sell, like the "Tiny Tach", work on a CR's type CDI system. They said it would.

Update: 07/31/2008 I have bought many parts through Service Honda online so far. The microfische lookups are better here. It's like walking in the shop when you work there. True access to the fische. Honda code, pn, price. Besides the CR500AF is Fucking awsome.

Update: 07/31/2008 Jegs appears to have several items I am going to want or need as well. They have some catch tanks and Jr. Dragster parts that may work for a gas tank with a filler and petcock built already. Stayed with the stock tank. I like the stock look, for now.

Status Summery:

What's left for now?
I need a gas tank. It had a hole melted in it when I got it from the pipe burning it. I have tried JB Weld (didn't bond/seal), torch melted plastic (crystallizes/hardens), Plastic Welder (didn't bond/seal), jelly type fiberglass (didn't bond/seal), hot glue, I knew better (not gas tolerant) and even a Matco plastic welder (didn't bond/seal). I am trying some Quad-Poxy now. Either I will have to buy one or have my holy one repaired. I was just going to ditch this and build a small one and may still, but I use it to hold on to the bike, it maintains the stock look and supports the seat. So for now I am sticking with a stock gas tank.

I'm thinking that after I get the wheelie bars and strut finished that I will cut and hinge the stock tank and build or just buy one of the Jr. Dragster tanks to fit under the left side and house the electronics under the right side. This will keep the weight forward if not low. It will provide easy access to everything and keep the stock look, seat support and a place for my knees to grab the bike. There is not much room left on a stock dirt bike, so I could utilize the leftover gas tank space that a one or two quart gas tank would provide. I have the tank area and the airbox space to work with before resulting to mounting items under the swingarm or pieces sticking out.

08-05-2005

Here is what it looks like right now. I guess I am ready to take it out and see what it'll do. This tin can gas tank or something like it will be hidden under the stock tank when I am done. From the rides down my street, BTW my neighbors love me ; I am going to need a wheelie bar real soon. A slick may be required to start getting valid tests. I need to loosen up the clutch some. It's just too hard to release properly for the strip. I may just take my friends advice and install some CR250 clutch springs or go ahead and get a clutch perch and lever from something like my CBR600, it gives more leverage for a smoother release plus it has a switch built in for the on-the-line rev limiter (stutter box). I am considering lengthening the clutch pushrod actuator for more leverage too.

I have had to repair or replace almost everything I have touched. I couldn't get the idle to adjust and figured out that even the knob on the choke/idle screw was cracked, preventing it from turning. Plastic welder fixed it for now.

I had my friend use some Quad-Poxy in the gas tank. It looks like it is going to hold, unless the massive vibration kills it. The gas tank repair is just temporary anyway until I get a small tank for a Junior Dragster from JEGS. I simply searched the JEGS site for "petcock" and came up with some tanks I might be able to use. I took some pictures today and made them into the header of this page, see top.

Besides the appearance a strut is the next order of business. The swingarm should polish out nicely. After I make some runs at the strip a wheelie bar is what I'm saving up for next. Then on to the ignition system, all part of stage 2.

09-09-2005

I finally got to make a few passes at the track. I was experimenting with different ways to launch and shift so I was rather pleased that it made 3 of the 8 passes at a consistent 8.39 sec at 80mph. If this looks slow to some, you need to remember that I weigh 200 lbs. and the bike is almost box stock.

Work:
Lowered front more and rear with PVC tubing for now, until I finalize where it needs to be.
Fabricated chain adjusters.
Chopped Front Fender.
Welded broken fender mount tube on sub-frame.
Cleaned Carburetor.
Mounted street tires.
and a whole lot of other stuff I already forgot...

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