Again not many pics, since the bike isn't much to look at (here).

This was given to me by my brother. He got it from some guy who had it sitting in a field behind his house for the past 10 years, and swore it ran when he parked it (yeah, right).

So I dragged it home to try and make it run again. I pulled the carbs, and found that they were corroded beyond being useful ever again. I also found that the left hand piston had shattered. The wiring was a mess, and the left side exhaust baffle was frozen in the pipe. When I did manage to get the baffle loose, the internal partitions broke away from the pipe. So the bike ended up sitting while I figured out what to do. On a trip to a local junkyard looking for parts for my pickup, I struck gold. Motorcycle junkyards aren't big in Illinois, and the local junkyard had a total of 8 bikes sitting next to the fence. It just so happened that there were 5 T500s, and I got a complete engine for $100. First thing I did was bring it home and tear it apart, to make sure that the oil capacity modification had been done (early models held 1200cc of oil in the trans, and 5th gear would go out). I was going by a website that said that the only way to make sure was to crack the case and look for yourself. Turns out I must have picked up one from the last model year, because after I had the thing in pieces, I noted that the capacity was stamped at 1400cc on the case.

Oh well, at least I made sure it had new seals. So I put the thing back together, and got it started on the second kick. A couple of weeks later, I went to start it, and found the left exhaust chamber loaded with gas. Crap in the tank must have helds the petcock open (it's vaccum operated), and held the bowl needle open, as well as clogged the overflow because a whole tank of gas ended up in the left chamber. The gas ended up ruining the exhaust gaskets, so I replaced those. I pulled the carbs off, and cleaned the hell out of them. Then I took the tank, loaded it up with 5 pounds of buckshot, wrapped it up in a big blanket, and stuck it in the clothes dryer on no heat for a couple of hours. Tank is clean as a whistle now. Then the fire hit, and this project got sidetracked as well. I still have to make sure the floats are set right, and that the petcock works. Also have to replace the front wheel with one I got off of Ebay. Once I get it running again, it will be time for a paint job, although I still need a side cover for it. Good news though, at the time I was playing with this last, there were no sources for a replacement seat cover. I did find that since the last time I worked on this, a company in Australia has begun to offer one. I'll see if I can't get some better pics up soon.