After visiting the rareified air of the motorcycles displayed at the Quail Lodge, it’s always good to return to the world of machines most everyone can modify and ride. A good example is this Honda FT500 Ascot. Nolan Arihood sent in some photos of his bike, an 83 FT500 which he worked over to fit his own particular needs. It’s a nice makeover and gives you an idea of what anyone can do on a limited budget and some time.
The front end is from a CBR1000, the rear wheel is CBR600 and the tail section is XR750. He installed dirt bike bars and tweaked the seat to fit with the modified tank. He handmade those aluminum panels for the sides and front. The engine was treated to a pop up piston (12.5:1) and a White Brothers cam plus a flatslide Keihn carb and the gasses exit through a muffler that’s his own creation. The extra compression made the original starter less than effective so he switched to a kick starter.
The end result is a really nice, clean rebuild that looks like a lot of fun and the tab for all of this was under $1500 due to a little horse trading, eBay and doing his own work. If you’re long on time and short on cash, you can do this, too. Nice bike Nolan!
By the way, if you’re proud of the work you’ve done on your own bike and you think it might make a nice feature, use the contact form to send me a note with a brief description. I’ll check to see what everyone’s writing in about and I’ll select a few and ask for photos and a detailed write up. Let’s show everyone what more of you are riding.
Nicolas says
This thing is prolly a blast to ride, it’s a one-of-a-kind (although we see couple of ex-flat tracker Ascots every now and then on CL/eBay), it fits the rider’s own needs, and it was cheap … way to go !
Phoebe says
Very nicely done! The styling of the (stock) Ascot was supposed to be influenced by flat track motorcycles, wasn’t it? It seems a natural choice to make into a street tracker.
B50 Jim says
Thumpers rule! Looks like something Matchless would be doing had it survived.
Very nice work — a great bike for roughly the cost of one rear wheel for a “Best Coast Chomper”
Jamoke says
Great job!
Talk about the ugly duckling turing into a swan!
Just a wonder that no OEM makes anything like a simplified street tracker tfrom the factory? They seem very popular and a factory could cobble one together rather easily from shelf parts and a few new mods.
The only thing close from a factory that I can remeber was the Buell XB with the number plates. But even that was not quite there and almost a mash up with a Motard..
Jay Allen says
TRULY inspiring. My Honda 350 cafe racer just got a big jolt thanks to Nolan!
maczee says
tailor made bike for so little?great satisfaction in that + I’m sure the riding will be equally so.
maczee says
great bike!
Marvin says
That is just my cup of tea, very nicely done for UK use I would require a front mudguard. It makes me wonder where the cut off is between flattracker and supermoto not that I really care and like both styles!
Nolan Arihood says
Thanks for the complements everybody, love the positive attitude on this site. Just wanted to inspire others that may have a cheap bike lying around and show that it can be turned into what you want. You don’t have to spend a bunch of money to have a cool bike that fits your needs. Take the CBR1000 front end on this bike for example. I traded some parts left over from one bike that I was not going to use for a CBR that was blown up. Rebuilt the forks off of it and parted out the rest of the bike on eBay to help fund this one. Win Win! It just takes patience, a little beer, some busted knuckles, and the occasional airborne wrench across the shop to make one! Glad to share it with others, gives me a good sense of pride.
den says
Wow, just yesterday I was thinking about an FT 500 as the base for a project bike, here in Australia they had no “Ascot” but are unfortunately also not very common. Great build!
Erik says
That’s a really nice, clean mod job! I like how understated the final look is.
Russ says
looks great!
Woodie says
Great looking bike. I love bikes that are built with ingenuity and hard work rather than hurling great wads of cash at it.. UK Law says I must have a front mudguard (fender)
UK weather says I must have a rear one too 🙁 .. still like it tho.
Core says
Sharp looking. Knowledge seems to be a very important ingredient here as well. And lots of confidence.
todd says
This is my type of bike. It probably handles extremely well too. Nice work and I’m glad to see it featured here. I did something similar with an old XL350 a long way back. Great bikes that people give away at garage sales. The only problem with the original Ascot was the rectangular headlight. I’d take this or an SR500 any day of the week over a CBR1000RR.
-todd
larry says
I noticed that you have some sort of custom foot pegs, and kickstart. Could I ask how you did the footpegs?
Thanks, Larry, Plano, Texas, U.S.
Nolan Arihood says
The foot peg is folded up in the picture. They are off of the CBR that was one of the donors. I moved the pegs up and back about 2 inches to make room for the kickstarter. The peg has to be folded up to kick it over. The kickstarted lever was off a 70s CB750.
bluvida says
Fantastic! I’m working on a cafe ascot now,( my first real project), and would love to put a kick start on it. The only way I’ve found out to do it is to install the bottom end of an XL500. How did you do it? Thanks.
Nolan Arihood says
I had to split the case and install the kickstart mechanisim from a xr250. I had to machine the side case to accept the seal and salow the shaft to pass through. I also installed the auto compression relaease set up off a xr500(valve cover and cable)
David Duarte says
I’d like to hear more details about this project, specifically how he installed a kickstarter where there was none before. My 1980 GS450 has almost left me stranded a couple times, so I’d love to have a kick starter as a backup.
Nolan Arihood says
The 500 engine that the bike uses was a factory modified xr500 dirtbike engine. Oiling sytems were modified along with a stronger clutch than the xr engine had along with electric start. The bosses were still in the engine for a kick start, so I had to split the cases and intall a eBay xr500 kick start assembly. The only thing that I had to drill out was the shaft for the auto compression release. Hope this helps some, but like I said the cases would have already need to be set up for a kickstart.
David Duarte says
from what I understand, the GS450 transmission is the same as that from the GS400/425, which had kick starters. I’ve also been told that the bosses are still inside the case, so it could be drilled out, or I could get the right side case from a 400 or 425. This isn’t something I’d want to tackle right now, as it’s my main ride, but once I get a more modern bike, I may decide to take that project on.
ClineDesign says
What modifications have you done to the frame? Is that a Omars tracker seat? Are photos possible?
Nolan Arihood says
I hacked the back of the frame off and tied it together just behind the shock mounts. I made the seat myself after my dog decided to eat the one I ordered with the seat, it would have not fit anyways. Th seat has an aluminum pan and I used foam(armaflex pipe insulation) and formed it with a electric turkey knife. Covered it with vinyl.
james delanzo says
what brand and size carb;my ft carb is worn out