Thursday, January 28, 2010

XR500 1981 disc brake conversion







Hi,
Here's my 1981 XR500 with a disc brake front end. What a massive
difference it has made.
I used the original XR500 forks and welded on bosses to the fork legs.
I machined up a stainless steel bar to have 1/2 thou clearance and
slide inside the fork tube then preheated and I welded the bosses to
the fork.
The bar stops the tube distorting. Then heated the tube in an oven and
out came the bar with the alloy nice and relaxed and not softened.
Nice round fork tube.
Usual blending and bead blasting then powder coated both fork tubes.
The rebuilt master cylinder, caliper, hub and disc are all 1985 XR250.
I re-laced the best of my original rims to fit the XR250 hub (same rim
anyway) and made a new brake hose to look original.
All parts are XR Honda and there is very little to give away that its
not original fit from factory.
I haven't yet fitted my new / old stock front and rear guards but have
cleaned her up and put on correct stickers and fully rebuilt the rear
brakes with new shaft bushes also.
These old girls are great bikes and decent brakes makes them fantastic.
Hope you like the photos.
Cheers,

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