I've always enjoyed seeing other members bike projects here and, since mine is now finally completed, it's time for me to share the details. I bought this bike over twelve years ago and I stored it for nine years while I worked on other projects. This bike spent some time in the St. Louis area but was now located in New Orleans. The previous owner had pulled the engine and had it sitting on his workbench with the top ends removed. Then one of the worst hurricanes on record came through, the flood waters broke through the levees, and this 500 was underwater for at least a week or two. Fortunately, most of the parts that you would remove to pull the engine were taken upstairs and spared from the floodwaters but it made a mess of the rest. If anyone knows more of the history of this bike, I would appreciate hearing about it.
Normally, when I do my bike restoration projects, I put them back to showroom condition. With my 500, I decided to do something a little different. I'll go into more details about my build goals later but on with the show. Here's what I started with.
