new member, gen 1 build needind some parts.

It seems to be about an inch diferance at the axle and pivot. so about a 1/2 inc each side. For the pivot bearings, you have to use one of the ball bearings pushed all the way in instead of the two normaly found ion the right side pivot on the 1000r, to keep it simple I bought a sealed since I dont want to pay to have a dust seal seat machined in. I removed the needle bearing from the left side and I am going to a specialty bearing shop tomarrow to get a new one, needs to be roughly a .5 in narrower than stock. It looks like the sprockets will line up without any changes. I will take some pics of it all tomarrow.

 

I love it so far.

 

contact Hondabill he may have a spare front wheel.

 

Interesting project, looking forward to the detail shots.

Does the kR swingarm change the wheelbase? What size tires will you be mounting?

 

Looks like you're making good progress. The NS500 scheme will look nice but as you can guess, I'm...uhm...slightly partial.:wink:

(shameless self promotion.........simply shameless)

 

hopit I love your bike for sure! So lenghth is pretty much the same. I am not doing anything crazy with the rubber now the rear is a 150 70 prob stay the same front I think I may go to a 110, will see though. here are some shots of the swing arm pivots, and swing arms stacked to show the scale. Couldnt find a specialty bearing so I will have to talk to the machine shop.

 

Thank you for the photos.

The swingarm dimensions (at least in the images) look very similar. If I could ask, is the kR swingarm slightly wider to allow for a larger rim/tire (what are the stock rim sizes for the kR)? Also, is the kR swingarm lighter than the stock VF500F swingarm?

Apologies for all the questions ;-) this is a very interesting idea! Please keep us posted on the progress.

 

For reference I double checked the rim sizes:

VF500F: 2.5x16F, 2.75X18R
kR: 2.5x16F, 3.5X17R

For comparison the CBR600F has: 2.5x17F, 3.5X17R rims.

From my research a 3.5 rear rim will accept a 130 or 140 tire. I believe a 150 is too large a tire on a 3.5 rim.

Also, on a side note, with a 150 mounted you may run into tire clearance issues with the swingarm, centerstand and chain guard.

 

140 is stock on the R. A 150 is fine, I ran a 150 for 20 years with no issues. Swingarm and chain guard are non issues as well, can't speak to the center stand.

 

Thanks for the post.

I'll look through my notes on this but if I am remembering correctly all the manufacturers that I contacted said that while a 150 will mount on a 3.5 rim the tire profile would be negatively affected. They all recommended staying with a 140 size tire on a 3.5 rim.

 

Yes the standard is a 140 I havent even started thinking about tires yet waaaaay to much else to do with this thing, I do knoW this I wont have a chain gaurd or a centerstand to worry about they are going right in the trash pile! Big3 I gues I need to change the topic name I was able to get a front rim, thank you though. So the quest for the ns500 tank has begun, hours of choping and hamering and not even close yet, It is going to take awhile to get into shape. Exhaust tips came in, look a little like antennas now but I am going to make small aluminum heat sheilds that should make the look beter. Thanks for looking check back soon.

 

Looking damn good keep up the good work.

 

Thanks Matt ! My 1985 rs250 tail came in today!!!!!!!!!!!!! I order this thing before I even had the bike, but with 1 inch or so trimed from the leading edge it fits like it was ment to be.

 

Very interesting build. Could you please go into a bit more detail on how you are going about reshaping the tank?

 

HONDA NS400 1985-86 NS 400 fairings, bodywork, fairing, upper, lower, mid, seat side, race, street, fender, tail, undertail, tank

Im sure you've checked out this site but just in case you havent..great build!...cant wait to see it finished

 

Thanks dutch, I am actually going to use the 1985 rs250 body work, I thinks its more like a 1982-83 ns500 than the ns400 stuff is. Well the machine shop finaly finished the bushing for the swing arm and the shock adapters (I ended up using a 600 hurricane rear shock). Wasnt the easiest swap but its done and works great. Will start placing all the electrical stuff and get the front comstar machined down to replace the interceptor front wheel. I have also decided to replace the interceptor forks and calipers with 600 hurricane, it will make the wheel fitment much easier. I will post more on the gas tank when I start the body work.

100_7384

100_7385

 

Looking great!

On the fork swap, I have read that the CBR600F forks are much shorter in length and as such you may run into a clearance issue between the fender and radiator. This may be fine with a custom fender but it would be best to double check this at full fork compression before committing to it.

One other thought would be to install the CBR600F sliders onto the stock VF500F fork tubes. Not sure how much work would be involved but this would allow you to use the lighter brake calipers and larger brake rotors from the CBR600F.

 

I checked the clearance and should be ok! The clipons are mounted below the top triple, I think thats the saving grace. If not you are wright could just swap legs, I am going to use the vf1000r rotors though. Thanks for looking!

 

Good deal. Your build is coming together nicely!

If I could ask, would you mind laying the CBR600F and VF500F forks side by side for a photo op along with the overall dimensions? This would be a great reference for other VF500F wheel/fork conversion fans. Thx!

 

Not a whole lot going on trying to be as patient as possible as I wait for the front wheel to get machined down. Finished all the wiring I can, modded some aftermarket f1 hurricane pegs to fit. Fitted new exhaust and f1 forks and calipers, now I just have to wait!!!!!