My 'new' WR500 is here!

[OzWizz]

Hi all, well she's finally arrived from Melbourne! These pics were taken just as she was delivered, check out that bash plate!

She's in pretty good nick, I just have to do fork seals, rear shock rebuild, new rear disc & pads and a general tidy up & paint the frame. It's only got a few hours on the 2nd oversize top end rebuild. I went for a spin out in the bush weekend before last (had to have a rap before I start stripping her down!!) and it's true what everyone says - these babies certainly do have some serious grunt, on gravel it just spits out stones, spinning the rear through every gear!! Riding this puppy sure gets the adrenalin going & the blood pumping!!

Can't wait to get the suspension & brakes all sorted & get back out there! Oh, yes, in case you are wondering, this WR will be ridden & used, no garage princesses here!

Cheers, Tim. 

[coza77]

nice looking bike ozwizz
i will buy shares in the tyre company you chose you rubber from
i predict good dividends         

[ITBubba]

Tally Ho Dude !

Might want to invest in one of those old Suzanne Summers thigh masters.
Got to be able to squeeze that baby tight, if ya depend on only your arms
your rides will be short and exhausting 

[DoctorDemento]

Nice bike! But is that a bashguard or a grader blade? 

[OzWizz]

Thanks for the replies guys!
Yeah, that bashplate sure is a solid piece of work, eh! I've removed it now, in preparation for fitting the new FMF Fatty pipe & Powercore muffler, mmm shiny!!
I'll post up more pics as I do bits & pieces to the old girl!
Cheers, Tim.

[ws6transam]

Nice looking bike, Ozwiz!

Hang on - She'll grunt you over everything but heavy brush.

[Wyogoose]

A very nice bike. You wouldn't know who manufactures the headlight bezel?? That skid plate loke like something that would be handy for the brush around here. I have a ChenChin 560 or 580 knobby on the shelf waiting for a 490 to show up. I bought it for the 465 but I think I have to trim a little of the side of the tire to fit in the J's swing arm. The narrower CCs have treated me fine, just looking for a little more width to help the spin in the loose stuff you were talking about.

[OzWizz]

Hi Wyogoose, the headlight is a UFO part no. 11-5454 in the Tucker Rocky catalog.
UFO used to make replacement fenders & side panels for the WR500 too, unfortunately they don't anymore!
I know this because my bike came with a set (front & rear fender & side panels) still in the original packaging, how lucky am I?!! They are in mint condition too! So I'll have new plastics for "Photo Shoots", and the originals for hacking around in the bush!

Sorry for the late reply too, I've got a torn anterior cruciate ligament (bummer!) so I've been taking things pretty easy & haven't been doin too much with my bikes or anything else really.
However, I'm about to start re-assembling the forks with all new slide metals, 'O'rings, seals etc, and I've also got some other bits & pieces to fit, so I'll post some more pics next week of my progress.

Cheers, Tim.

[Wyogoose]

Bummer on the knee injury. Went through that about 7 years ago. ACL, MCL, meniscus tears, separated cap, and cartilage destroyed.  The injury and surgery wasn't near the pain as the light duty I had to endure at work. Had a good sawbones and I think that the repaired side is stronger that than factory. From my experience, if your have the option, do all the physical therapy you can before surgery. It makes coming out the other side a LOT more pleasant

[OzWizz]

Wow, sounds like you sure did a number on ya knee, glad mine's not that bad! Hopefully I don't have to have surgery, like you say, a year of recovery & therapy & light duties after a recon doesn't sound too enthralling!
Speaking of rebuilds, I have come across a couple of set backs with my forks - a fork cap has half of the internal thread stripped (where the damper rod screws into), and a damper rod has fractured half way along the thread that screws into the fork cap!
I have already drilled, tapped & inserted a Helicoil into the fork cap, so that should be good as new(see pic), now I will have a go at welding the damper rod (I am a welder by trade & will use the TIG at work), of course the damper rod is hollow, so not much room for error!
I spent ALOT of time trying to locate a new one, but as you probably know, it is "Discontinued - no longer available", I tried everywhere, from Speed & Sport, to every other shop advertising as Yammy NOS & Vintage stockists, but always the same answer! Apparently it is a known weak spot & common problem with these KYB forks, so will just have to see how the welding goes before I do anything too drastic like converting to WRF forks or anything!
 

[OzWizz]

I had to make a 'special' tool to undo the damper rod assembly to remove it from the fork (see pic), I took my forks to my local Yammy dealer to see if they had the correct tool, but to no avail, the mechanic said " You just undo it from the base valve" Um, I dont think so!! (God I'm glad I have the ability to work on all my own bikes & cars myself!) So I just hacked up a bit of old 3/4 galv pipe & it worked a treat!
 
Also, I had the foot pegs & pins hot dip galvanised, I had done some repairs to our work's boat trailer & was getting the stuff hot dipped, so threw the pegs in aswell, cost me nothing & they will never rust again, so it's all good!

Will let y'all know how the welding of the damper rod goes, fingers crossed!
Cheers, Tim.

[dalesween]

good work Tim ,nothing like being thorough.

[Wyogoose]

If you actually tore your ACL then there is no alternative but surgery as they typicaly are not regenerative.
   As for the forks, there are several pair on ebay for reasonable amounts right now.

[OzWizz]

The arthroscope showed a partial tear, so I'm doing the physical therapy to try to support & stabilise the knee, the surgeon said to try this first for 6 months & see how it goes, rather than jumping straight in to surgery, so I guess only time will tell!

I just did a search on ebay for 'Yamaha WR500 forks' & only came up with seals and bits & pieces, no actual complete forks? Help!

[dalesween]

are the WR250 ones the same?