1984 RM500 Restoration

Strike 2...I ordered another bolt from Ebay which was advertised for an RM465. It looked correct but once it showed up it obviously wasnt.



After some more investigating, it looks like 1984 is when the design changed. And it looks like all of the 1985 models share this design...but then it changed again in 1986.

Well....I would have tried that bolt had i not just ordered a custom bolt. That looks like the correct part number tho...but one of the other bolts was listed as that part number and it didnt work out so now im a bit gunshy.

Frame in a suzuki-ish blue color. Frame rails look alright.



Took the shock shaft apart and dressed up the threads again. Went to install new DU bushing and oil/dust seals. Looks like I got the wrong dust seal.

Tackled the sealhead today. Drove out the old DU bushing and came up with this rig to press in the new one.



As for my dust seal...I didnt hear back from Race Tech yet. I noticed that the rubber part of the seal was the exact size I needed, so I cut the metal away from the seal and carefully ground away the excess material. After an hour I ended up with a seal that fit






The seal doesnt press into the sealhead as I would have preferred, but the cap sits down nice and flush to the seal. The vintage WP Super-Adjuster shock that I recently rebuilt relied on the cap to hold the seals in place so o figured that was good enough for this dust seal.

Here the shock is, charged up at 160 psi and as you can see, the dust seal is up the shaft and its sealing up just fine. The following pic is with the body cap installed and now its all locked in place.




Feels good to have this back together!

The shock is all buttoned up with the spring in fresh blue powdercoat. Also the shock cushion was cleaned and I was able to reuse the needle bearings after a good cleaning. New bolt, nut and washer worked like a charm.


Some preliminary cleaning of the rear wheel. I have the tire off now, but need to give it a thorough cleaning.


Got the front end on the bike and was able to reuse the steering stem bearings. The top is the original ball bearings and not a tapered bearing like newer bikes. It's not perfect, but feels pretty good after a deep cleaning and regreasing.


Started cleaning the swingarm and noticed some damage on the chain side pivot bolt area. Looks like it has been cracked and rewelded at some time. Comparing to the other side, it looks like a few new welds are in that area. I will "v" all of the cracks with a dremel and add some aluminum filler to the repair...try to make it look a little nicer.

Also there were no bearings in there...it was sloppy as hell, the collars were all busted up, so I'm sure it will be fun getting it tightened back up. There rest of the swinger is in pretty good shape.

Long time no update. I ended up breaking my shoulder blade end of May, so for a couple months I wasn't really motivated to do anything. The other two months I just didn't have time. This weekend I got to the swingarm and welded up the buggered area up front, installed all the pivoting hardware that I was missing, and gave the entire thing a bath in some water/lye solution to strip the anodizing.

I ended up with a good outcome and tried to mount up a rolling chassis for pictures, but I may have lost some rear axle spacers. Anyone familiar with these bikes, can you tell me if the rear axle has a spacer on one side, both sides, or maybe I'm just imagining that there should be axle spacers?

Thank you! I think I found it last night.

Found the spacer. It is loose like wizards sleeve in the seal. Found a seal on ebay for $15 shipped. Got brake drum cleaned, rear end mocked up and shock installed. Moving along again.

Front brake drum cleaned up and installed (original paint, I didn't touch it up), new DC plastic chain slider, found some decent used Renthal 7/8ths bars laying around. Figuring out the gas tank spacing, seat and rear fender fitment.

Thanks JMCR...a big motivator for me is to keep costs reasonable on these bikes. If you stick with somewhat of a budget it forces you to really think about what you "need" vs. what you "want." Having said that, I've gotten nickel and dimed a bit on this one - between the shock and the cushion bolt debacle I could have saved an easy $100 alone.

As is, I'm looking about $1700 over purchase price (where did it all go?!!?). I'm assuming the value on something like this when finished would be in the $3000-3500 area?

The gas tank had several layers of spray paint on the bottom...I found black, yellow, red, and white. I think at one point the whole tank was bombed out in paint. I used paint stipper to help get it off.


For the top side of the tank I wet sanded with 800 grit and hit it with a plastic polish. The shine is good...the surface still has some scars from the prior owner getting happy with the razor blade. Its a 7 or 8 out of 10.

Ordered some parts. This was an entire engine seal kit that I was told would work for the RM500. If you look close you can read the numbers on the seals. Hopefully it helps someone else.


Also ordered some levers. Able to reuse the brake perch. I also decided to try a stator rebuild to see if the motor gets spark again. Im hoping the coil and CDI will be fine. The throttle tube was fubar but the housing was reusuable. That bearing I think may be for the rear wheel. "Wheel" see.


Oh and the bar pad...it was laying in the garage from another bike I bought. Its OG and would have looked right at home if it wasnt all faded. I sat down with a sharpie marker and it started to look pretty good. I'll finish it up and spray some scotch gaurd on it. Freebie.


Also in the above pic you can see the airbox is all cleaned up and mounted. The covers were drilled (under the tape) but the pattern looks good. Took some time with the razor, sandpaper, heat gun and polish to get an even black finish on the covers again.

Making incremental progress. New throttle tube for housing. The old one was melted and I was going to clean it up but dennis kirk had one for $8.


Going through the throttle housing. The bolts were munched and I figured this trick out on my own several years ago. Put a stipped screw inside a deep-well socket so that the head is supported. Hammer it flat. You can do it while holding the socket. Once flat...hammer a phillips inside to define the threads again. Won't be as strong as it was, but works good for carbs and other obscure screws.


Cleaning the petcock. The baggy is an OEM strainer and o-ring that I was missing. Another $8 find still available at the parts counter.


The seat bracket was badly twisted, along with the rest of the bike. Everything was mounting in a fairly happy position except these seat tabs didnt line up with the frame. Plus they were wollered out from years of abuse. I welded up some washers exactly where I wanted them.


I was really stressing about the rear fender looking good. Up, down, in, out, side to side, twisted, etc...I really wanted this to mount up good and I think I nailed it. Had to roll the bike outside and stare at it for an hour before drilling holes.

DC plastic for all the body parts

Thanks...it sure is a pita. The lower silencer mount has been cut off, so at least I'll be able to put that right where I want it when I weld a new one back on!