1987 Kawasaki EX500
    On Saturday, at 2:00 am central time, the EX500 transformed from just another parts bike to a running, barely rideable heap.  I installed a new Energizer battery ($35).  I know Yuasa is where its at, but I can buy two of these at the price of one Yuasa, they are guaranteed for one year and always in stock at Farm & Fleet.  I also installed two new NGK spark plugs ($6).  I had to grind my 18mm socket into a thinwalled 18mm socket to do so and I also needed two remove two emissions lines.  Stupid engineers.  Since my tank is still filled with rust, I used an old minibike tank to supply the fuel.  I checked everything over one more time, turned the key to on and pressed run.  Nothing happened.  Forgot to put it in neutral due to too many years of working on dirt bikes.  Then the EX500 turned over but it didn't fire.  I knew the carbs were a mess but I was hoping it would run anyway.  So I dumped gas down the carbs and tried again.  It started right up and even idled after a few seconds of bogging and black smoke.  The Yoshi pipe sounded ok but not particularly rocket-like, since it is missing two cylinders.  At least it's loud.  I took the bike down the street but it was definitely was having some carb problems.  At least it shifted through all the gears.
     The next day I cleaned out the carbs.  They were filled with serious amounts of rust.  The rust was definitely not helping.  I haven't got a chance to start the bike again with the carbs cleaned.  Maybe next weekend.  (4-29-02)
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    I cleaned out the carbs again this weekend since the bike still wouldn't go past 5000 rpm.  Then I cleaned the plugs really well.  That seemed to help but something still wasn't right.  I thought about it and realized that the lack of an airbox and the pipe were causing a serious lean condition.  I put the airbox on and now the EX500 runs really strong.  I'm thinking about putting shims under the needles to try to eliminate some mild popping when the throttle is closed but it doesn't really seem like it needs to be rejetted.  I'm still surprised how fast this bike is.  I raced Dan on his 2001 ZX9R and I held with him up until third gear.  Just kidding.  Actually I held with him until he realized we were racing. 
   The bike even does a nice burnout.  It's so light it feels like a really short dirtbike.  The only problem is that, like a dirtbike, the back end likes to hop and the front end has no weight on it.  I tried to ride one out and went side to side three times before I aborted the launch.  I even did some wheelies on it.  If you clutch it, the bike will come up with no hesitation in first.  I never got it high enough to try to balance since I just got it running and the tank is held on by a bungee cord.
     As you can see in this picture, I removed the black plastic fender from the back since I hate those fenders and it was cracked anyway.  I am going to build a new one once I get some turn signals.
    The ratbike gets sideways.  I was actually trying to get the bike going straight to ride one out but it just didn't want to.  Don't say it must be "operator error" because I have a pretty good idea of how to do a quality burnout.  Just another picture for the burnout enthusiasts.  (5-6-02)
     I cleaned out the tank this weekend using Kreem's three step epoxy coating.  First there is an acid that you leave in the tank over night that removes rust and etches the metal.  It took out nearly all the rust.  Then you use acetone to remove any remaining acid.  Last you pour in the epoxy and move the tank around until it coats everything.  The inside of the tank now looks like brand new.  (5-15-02)
    I worked on the EX500 a little more in the last few weeks.  I painted the frame and everything else that was silver, gloss black.  I bought Progrip brand grips for it.  Finally I painted it, with a lot of help from my friend Willard Kind.  I used PPG Omni Au 1969 GM Rallye Green.  It's a metallic lime green.  We had a few problems with the paint, but nothing major.  The first problem was that the paint was very thin and almost transparent.  We wanted to paint over the old paint without priming but we found that this would be impossible since it just gave the original red paint a greenish tint.  So the bike ended up being completely primed.  A few places got a little dirt in the paint but I don't think it's too bad for being my first paint job and being done outside, not in a booth.
   
I insured the EX500 and have been riding it, but not very much.  It still isn't reliable.  It is fine with the small test tank but with the actual tank that belongs on the bike it bogs very badly in the midrange.  Then it suddenly runs great when it hits about 6000rpm and the throttle is wide open.  I still haven't figured it out.  I think it may have something to do with the vacuum-operated petcock.  I think the petcock is intended to limit fuel flow to the carbs and it is possibly running far too rich since I removed the vacuum-operated components.  It's really making me mad since I could be out riding. 
    
The EX500 also now has a new license plate mount and turn signals.  I made the mount out of heavy gauge sheet metal and used clear turn signals with amber bulbs.  It looks much better than the big plastic stock one.  (6-19-02)
    
I bought a petcock rebuild kit and installed it.  It didn't do anything to fix the problem except make the petcock leak.  I guess I'm kind of sick of the bike.  I still think it has potential but I am no longer motivated to work on it.
    
The EX500 was sold in August to fund the purchase of a different rocket.