Yamaha HL500, Ideas and Variations of Building one.

[firko]

                   

1978 Maico 500 4 stroke. Made by Vintage Iron and called The Hammer. It was specifically built to compete in the new AHRMA 4 stroke class. The 78 maico chassis is regarded as the best handling maicos of all time. It has been modified to accept a Yahama TT 500 motor while retaining the stock Maico appearance. The stock air box has been replaced with a custom aluminium oil tank. The engine has been completely restored with a freshly rebuilt high compression head, high compression piston, racing cam, ARD ignition, 38 mm Mikuni carb and a hand built ceramic coated pipe to compliment the potent engine package. The suspension is comprised of period correct and rules compliant Maico 38 mm forks with 9" of travel. At the rear is an original Thor swingarm with new 17.5" Works Performance shocks. All plastic is new and the frame and gas tank have been powdercoated for durability. The seat is a custom made with new foam and Maico graphic vinyl cover. Wide modern style foot pegs have been added for better comfort. A special folding tip hs been added to the brake pedal. Renthal bars, Magura lever assemblies Motion Pre Throttle and Oury grips. Bike is easy to start, fas t and sounds AWESOME. Only been ridded once. .Truly one of a kind.

[firko]

I totally agree that the longtravel Cheneys really isn't very beautiful, but they, as all Cheneys have some sort of  strange appeal to me.

I'll be the first to admit that Eric wasn't one to follow other builders trends, he set his own standards and you either loved or hated 'em.... I personally love (and own) his early productions, he really got the look just right, especially his tank to frame aesthetics. His later bikes might have worked OK but the tank is as ugly as a dog turd on the BBQ......................but I'd gladly own one like this
         

[ola_martin]

We all have different taste, a tank doesn't have to have JessieJames WestcoastChopper curves to look nice. I spendt a weekend admiring the white bike above at Telford last year, and loved the simple factory look of the tank, it's sooo narrow and screams race!

And just to defend the owner of the yellowframed one, the tank is just a husky that was sat on the frame, not the one that's supposed to be there. And the swing is from one of Bengt Aabergs racebikes, that was put on there when the original broke back when the bike was raced in the 70's early 80's. But I totally agree on the look in the pic!

[James Lee]

I like and would happily own any of the bikes in this thread,all different and all very cool in their own way.

[Marc.com]

Yeah definitely you can end up with some odd looking creations, but we all have a balance between form and function

[Oppet]

One for sale.
http://m.amsracing.com/product/969

[VMX247]

Marks swapmeet.

http://www.vintagemx.us/cgi-bin/swapmeet.cgi

Hallman / Pro Fab - Banana style Aluminum Swing Arm - fits the Yamaha TT500 & XT500 's. Has Bronze Bushing already installed & is ready to go !!
ProFab Built Swingarm for Hallman / White Brothers / I believe D&G - and of course sold them under there own Name ( Pro Fab ). The Straight Arms were more common - The Banana arms were more Rare.
Please consider - This is a Brand New Arm - Its Not 35 years Old - It Hasent been though 100's or 1000's of MX Battles - It Doesnt have Metal Fatige - It hasent had the Drive Chain trying to saw though it for decades.

Its Brand New !!!

I can and Will ship Over Seas.

$750.
520-270-8188   
 Mark Palermo
Tucson, AZ, US of A
Registered Since 1/22/2009 | 840 Posts
Accepts: Cash, Check, Money Order

[shorelinemc]

you wouldnt buy a wheelbarrow off this bloke,will sell you wrong item,incomplete item then wont reply to you-he has a rep in the usa for this as well

[firko]

That's probably why his stuff sits there on Marks Swapmeet for week after week. I was negotiating with him to buy a bike but other US friends sent me big red flag warnings so we ended the negotiations. Ironically the bike's still for sale 3 months later.

[crankpin]

Glad to see you're well Mark.

Not too sure about the avatar though 

[firko]

Thanks Cranky (and everyone else who's sent me get-well wishes)......It's been an interesting three weeks learning how to drive a wheelchair without destroying the furniture and piss into a plastic bag but I'm back into hospital next Wednesday to hopefully hook the OEM plumbing back up again.I've been pissing razor blades for the last fortnight but I have to convince myself that each stone passed is one less fu*king up the plumbing .

[500Fool]

I've been pissing razor blades for the last fortnight but I have to convince myself that each stone passed is one less fu*king up the plumbing .

So about 5 down 35 to go? 

[Marc.com]

As fastenating as Firko's bladder it is 

So back to TT500 variants, this is the White Brothers banana arm in question.... nice bit of bling for stock TT build but will not go in HL due to the oil tank.

[mick25]

I have the same swing arm  white brothers 
But I havent tryed it on one of my TT500s yet
I have worked out a measurement for my rear shocks to suit the swing arm on a stock TT500.
 
 370mm shocks seem to be a good length to suit the downward angle on the swing around 15deg from swing arm bolt to rear wheel axle.
But I have seen most white brother swing arms installed on a stock TT500  have long shocks they look around 400mm.
Just woundering how they perform with the longer shocks ???and steeper angle on the arm.
My DR500 I had .  Had a step swing arm angle that made the rear feel stiff on small fast bumps because of the angle was to low.
The DR500 has a high spot on the frame where the swing arm bolts to thats makes a steep angle.

[curly001]

Mick 370mm is just fine I run 380mm and the chain runs across the top ofthe arm until about 1/3 travel. Plus with this arm the chain is slack all the time, max chain lenght is at full travell(bottom out)