The Red Rebuild Thread (MT500)

[Daj]

As Roy said, a credit to you.

Daj

Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk 2

[Derrick]

Excellent rebuild, well worth the effort.

[ERNIE]

Great Job (when are you selling it to the Royal Mail)

[namtip]

Thanks for all the kind words!

Great Job (when are you selling it to the Royal Mail)

I've already garnered the nickname 'postman pat' from the guys at work!

how did you attach the pannier frames to the chassis?

It depends how far you want to go. As you might know, each donut is attached to the frame by upper and lower mountings. The upper mounting consists of one bracket per donut while the lower mounting consists of two brackets: a bracket which joins to the frame where one of the engine mounting bolts is, and a frontal 'vee' which extends down from the donut, bolts to the frame and then extends up to the donut on the other side.

Fitting them in order of difficulty:

The bracket from the lower set which joins to the frame is the easiest to fit since you simply remove one of the bolts from where the front of the engine is attached to the frame (I can't remember which one - but only one will work) and use it to attach the bracket.

The frontal 'vee' requires a hole to be drilled in the shoe under the front of the frame that holds the front of the sump guard. A captive nut needs to be welded on the back of the shoe to accept a bolt going through the centre of the vee. You will find the vee then fouls the MT500's circular engine guard. I cut two wedges out of my guard with a hacksaw to make it fit.

I would say that these two lower mountings are all you'll need to carry pannier boxes and will be fine if you're not planning on carrying anything heavy in them (not a wise idea anyway). If you do want the extra assurance, you will want to fit the top mounts which is a problem for the MT500 as there is no hole through the frame to accept the bolt like the later 350.

You will need to drill a hole through the frame and have a sleeve welded in so that the frame remains oil-tight. I only went this extra distance because I had the frame out on its own and it was going to be repainted anyway. I also paid to have an engineer do it for me because I wasn't confidant about drilling and welding neatly. Cost about £30 I recall.

It's difficult to describe in words but you'll see what I mean if you compare a 500 with a 350. I'll have to write a proper tutorial with photos one day...

[bth2bth2]

thanks for that.
i was wondering if you had to modify the frame or had used a form of bracketing.
cheers
brian

[surfermick]

i like it too, spot on