500 K cafe racer conversion - build thread

[Ewan 500 K1]

Dilemma 1:    Do I up chop the rear quarter of the seat base off to allow battery relocation ..... or get a different seat unit ? 

Dilemma 2:  What to do about rear inner mudguard ? .... dont like the stock plastic job, but don't want road muck all over then engine and air intakes. Photos of any solutions mucho appreciated 

[kendo57]

You could buy a small piece of Aluminium plate [ebay] and just bolt it between
the rear frame tubes. You would probably have to put a slight bend in it for tyre clearance
but that is easy enough with alloy.

I was originally going to relocate the battery on mine but trying to fit a full size battery
and all the electrics in a small seat hump seemed to need alot of compromises. As you can see
from my Avatar i ended up fitting alloy side panels.
A new seat would be a better option so you can experiment without damaging you present seat.

[SteveD CB500K0]

Could a modern hugger be modified to fit?

[Ewan 500 K1]

You could buy a small piece of Aluminium plate [ebay] and just bolt it between
the rear frame tubes. You would probably have to put a slight bend in it for tyre clearance
but that is easy enough with alloy.

I was originally going to relocate the battery on mine but trying to fit a full size battery
and all the electrics in a small seat hump seemed to need alot of compromises. As you can see
from my Avatar i ended up fitting alloy side panels.
A new seat would be a better option so you can experiment without damaging you present seat.

Cheers Kendo n Steve
bit of ali was on my mind ... or welded in plate. But yeah was worried about clearance (mibi longer shocks would help) . So yeat at:
1. Ali plate, so that it can be shaped for clearance
2. welded flat steel plate with longer rear shocks
3. Find a modern one to fit (anyone know of any definites ?)

I think the current seat has enough room for a battery and some electrics in its rear hump.. also a bit of space between seat base and where cover for standard air box was ... so think the space is there okay as long as I cut a section out the seat base.... it aleady has a hinged box compartment

[SteveD CB500K0]

Modern huggers are designed for 180 and 190 tyres so there'll be plenty of clearance.

[Ewan 500 K1]

crap & bollocks , when I look at the rebuilt front wheel, the hub is too far off centre, despite the rim being trued to 0.2mm... need to unbuild and start again. Additional buggeration is that I have now mashed one of the the nipples.  Can anyone tell me this, are all 40 spokes identical ?

[hairygit]

No they are NOT, according to the parts list, there are 20 Type "A", and 20 Type "B", the difference is very slight, but they are different

[Ewan 500 K1]

No they are NOT, according to the parts list, there are 20 Type "A", and 20 Type "B", the difference is very slight, but they are different

SHIT !!!!, so they are ! . I assume 20 are inside and 20 outside
. Any idea which are which. Ones from Dave Silver all came ina single packet

[hairygit]

Okay,just checked with DSS website, Spoke "A" is 203mm long, and goes on the inside of the hub, Spoke B is 202.5mm long, and goes on the outside of the hub, hope this helps

[Bryanj]

The angle of the head to spoke is also different inside to outside

[mickwinf]

yes the spokes that go from inside of hub to outside have a sharper angle, if you need a spare nipple i have a couple of new ones left over from my last rebuild, regards Mick

[Ewan 500 K1]

Okay,just checked with DSS website, Spoke "A" is 203mm long, and goes on the inside of the hub, Spoke B is 202.5mm long, and goes on the outside of the hub, hope this helps

why dont they tell ya that when ya buy the effin things FFS . Great day today , poured chain oil into the petrol tank in the chainsaw, full strip down took rest of afternoon. Bring on the summer
Mick, if you could spare me a nipple , that'd be great. I'll PM you.

[matthewmosse]

One of them days eh? Might be as well to get a spare fuel filter for the chainsaw. After getting fuel ratio's messed up between our old huskies 25:1 and the new sthil's 50:1 I had a very frustrating day in the woods with 2 very nearly new saws that damn near wouldn't run even after soaking the filters in neat petrol and cleaning the exhausts, fuel tanks, filters and plugs, they'd just get thru half a tank and die, seemed like fuel starvation, we are pretty sure the fuel filters are the culprit but we didn't have spares. Was a right **** of a day that. I really hope the new filters are the fix..
Bit of a pain to find that after the wheels built, it would be nice if the different spokes were in seperate bags with part numbers......

[Ewan 500 K1]

saw is running okay again , hey summats going right the day 
All spokes are back off the wheel. Just measured the two different types. The ones with >90 degree bend  = 214mm from extremity to extremity = A spokes (part no. 44606-300-003). The ones with the <> 90 degree bend are 219mm frm extremity to extremity = B Spokes (part no. 44607-300-003)
See photo below.
So, unless someone tells me different , I'm gonna put the B spokes on the outside of the hub (In other words poke the threaded bit of these from hub centre outwards)......and the A's on the inside (poked through the hub holes from outside to inside). 3rd time lucky then .......
Again, thanks all for helping me through the pain and agony. If it fails next time around, think I'll jst stab masel in the throat wae one of the damn things.

[Bryanj]

Heres how i do it.

Get the 20 spokes that go from the outside to inside and lace them to the rim then true the rim on just the 20 (less to play with so easier) then fit the 20 that go from the inside to outside (I think these are the ones with the longer bit on the end--B on your picture) and fit and tighten