This is the story of a project Suzuki rgv 500 build. I want to record the build for several reasons but mainly to help me recall the ups and downs when it is finished. I also hope it might help anyone else doing a similar project so they don't waste time and money. I will post a link to this from the rgv250.com site so we should get a good bit of knowledge shared.
Why an RGV 500?
If you need this explaining then you are looking at the wrong blog but I will nonetheless summarise: it's a monster 2 stroke classic engine put in one of the best handling production frames ever. It will be mental, scary and wonderful all at the same time. It is also the closest you are likely to get to riding a true 500 GP bike and where it falls short you can make up in the pub.
This is a bike I have longed for since watching 500cc gp bikes in the early 90's. When Kevin rolled out on the Pepsi sponsored 500 it caught my, and every other teenage moped rider of the time, imagination and oh how I would have loved a few laps of Donnington on it. When it was developed and appeared with the two rhs exhausts and banana arm it was almost too beautiful to ride and inevitably with kev piloting it, crash. Suzuki had made THE pin up bike of the 90's and it replaced my old Sam Fox poster on my garage wall. (my mum was happy about it)
Fast forward and several motorbikes later I have always preferred two strokes to clumsey fours. I was a child of the GSXR era so I know my view of four strokes is distorted and I have rode R1's etc so I know what i'm missing but I now think (or realise) that modern sports bikes are just too much for the average person, certainly on the road. I think you can have a mental bike that is fast but it dosnt have to do 200mph - I just cant see the point and would rather make a lot of noise and smoke with my knee on the floor and occasionally touch 140 if the road will let me.
After having a 12 year break from road bikes I found myself bidding on an old GSXR750L (i was under the infuence of wine) It was local, standard, cheap and rekindled memoies of carefree adolesence where my wages went on petrol, tyres and chasing skirt at the weekend. The gixxer came home with me and I took it to pieces in order to make it showroom condition and take to shows later in life in retirement(20ish years to go)
It sat in bits for 18months then I realised that I was slowly loosing bits as it was scattered around the house and garage. I had the summer off to recover from a back operation and decided to use this time to get it back together. In October this year (2010) it got and MOT and tax. I took it out to Devils bridge where it attacted a crowd, not bad as I am still to respray it. It does look clean and really good even without the paint finished. I had enjoyed 'doing it up' so much that I decided that I needed another project to see me throuh the winter; an ebay RGV250K arrived. my sebatical from bikes was truly over and my love for garage tinkering had returned. (the damp garage)
So I'm mid way through working on the 250 (GSXR is wrapped in a vacbag http://www.vac-bags.co.uk/ and happily hibernating) and i'm checking ebay and the RGV forum for parts reguarly.
A pal decided to join me in two stroke silliness and we decided to do some track days together in 2011. during our hours of discussing bikes I decided of all the bikes in the world to have an RG 500 is the machine that is the daddy ofthem all. Love or hate two strokes their is no denying its significance, or importance, and it is always a crowd pleaser with its four piece wind section playing the most beautiful engine tunes. I dropped a hint with my wife that I might buy one at the stafford show and she diddnt freak! It was a good sign. I went to the show but nothing got my wallet open although I did consider an RG500 engine. I had a good look at an RGV500 on the club stand (top bike with a lot of smart details and cash invested) I went home with some 250 bits and a set of allen keys.
Then in November somebody offers an unfinished RGV500 project on ebay. How could I resist?
So I have a part finished RGV250K and a load of bits to build the 500.
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