1983 Honda VT500 Ascot

The VT500FT Ascot was only sold in the USA for two years ('83 and '84) and was the mechanical predecessor to the Shadow line of V-twins, the Hawk GT and the Pacific Coast with which it shares a common engine design (3 valves/cylinder 52 deg v-twin). The same basic 52 deg engine design lives on today in the Honda Deauville which originally had the old 3-valve heads and carburetors. The Deauville engine has now been modernized with 4 valve heads and  fuel injection. Just to confuse naming a bit, back in the day Honda also sold an FT500 Ascot which was a single cylinder bike - go figure... The Ascot has "standard" peg, bar and seat position and is bit more "sporting" than it's cruiser-style sister, the VT500C Shadow. Despite being well designed and in my opinion aesthetically attractive, the VT500FT Ascot did not sell well and Honda discontinued it in the second model year. Common understanding is that fewer than 10,000 VT Ascots were sold in the US although versions of the bike were sold in the U.K. and Europe through the late 80's where it saw yeoman service as a courier bike. 

I owned the red Ascot pictured here several years ago. It was a sweet little bike and I've always regretted letting it go. The liquid cooled, shaft drive machine is very low maintenance and handles crisply and although it weighs around 400 lbs, the very narrow width and low center of gravity makes it feel like considerably less. The torquey little V-twin pulls strongly from about 3K rpm up to the 9,600 redline - by then it's really pumping and will push the bike to around 110 mph (indicated).  A black VT500 Ascot was was featured as the Retrospective bike in the September '06 issue of "Rider" and when I saw the article I started casually looking for one. Since there weren't a lot of these sold I really didn't expect to find a basically sound fixer-upper at a price I'd be willing to pay.

In October, 2006 I ran across the one pictured below at a local independent bike shop. The shop had taken it on trade (on a metric chopper) and had been unable to sell it. They just wanted to get their money out of it. I walked out the door twice and the owner called me back each time with a better deal. In the end I probably paid about what it was worth - $650. It was running poorly when I got it, needed a battery and the fork seals were toast. It was leaking gas from float bowl on the left side, was covered with grime and goo and had been generously covered with flat black paint. But, it didn't make any strange noises, the charging system worked and other than having a non-OE instrument cluster, pretty much every thing appeared to be there. Unfortunately, it had been repainted from the original Honda red to one of those multi-color, iridescent paint jobs that changes colors depending on where you're standing. That, in itself, wouldn't be so bad except the surfaces weren't prepared all that well and there were sanding marks showing through in places. 

Premise
Because Honda replacement parts have become so hard (in some cases impossible) to find for Ascots I chose not to attempt to restore this bike to "concours" condition. Instead, it'll be a mild custom bike (or some might say a Frankenstein) that suits my tastes.

Progress
The following were the tasks for the renovation:

• deep cleaning 
• removing the flat black paint that seems to have been sprayed on EVERYTHING  
• repainting the frame and appropriate motor parts 
• refurbishing the tarnished shiny parts
• replacing the handlebars and grips - I used shorter, lower bars than the OE handlebars 
• headlight replacement - I choose to replace the OE rectangular headlight with a round one and mount it a little lower on the fork tubes to modernize the look
• repairing the sagging turn signals
• carburetor cleaning and partial rebuilding 
• replacing fork seals 
• replacing steering head bearings with tapered roller bearings
• cleaning the gooey black paint from the brake caliper piston so it would return properly
• replacing brake pads and changing fluid  
• checking final drive and greasing splines
• changing coolant and checking fan for proper operation
• repairing exhaust leaks - the OE silencer was beyond recovery so my son and I fabricated a "new" one using junkyard components (see photos). 
• instrumentation - the bike has gauges from another older model Honda including the 85MPH speedo. They work OK but I had to rewire and remount them on custom made brackets.
• various stripped or damaged fasteners - had to drill and re-tap a numbered of the threaded holes; hopefully these joints are actually stronger now than new since generally the bolts are larger and threaded deeper than stock
• updating the turn signals to look more modern
• and, at some point, maybe painting the body panels - I clear coated the existing paint and it looks MUCH better with a gloss - still thinking about this one...

There've been numerous trips to the salvage yard plus I bought an '84 Ascot organ donor on eBay which has provided lots of spares. Some new parts were needed of course but I think most of the expensive items are behind me now. The photo journal follows (click on the photos for a larger image) ...

Disassembly and cleaning up the engine cases	Polished and coated valve covers
Painting the cylinders with satin black	...and the the frame with gloss black
Upper: OE Exhaust is rusted through in two places! Lower: Can from Katana /junction from GSXR-750T	New exhaust system fabricated from the OEM  headpipes and junkyard Suzuki components
Working on details now. The pipe turned out very  nicely I think and is much lighter than the OE  exhaust.	11/9/06 - Got to ride the little beast for the first time  since the renovation although through there are  still details to complete
Ascot purists may not like it, but I think replacing  the rectangular headlight with a round one made the  bike look much more modern. And, while I'm still  less than thrilled with the paint scheme I haven't  decided for sure to paint it. It is unique and kind of  growing on me.	The lower and shorter bars (modified ST1100  handlebars) are obvious in this pic. I updated look  of the rear fender too by relocating the license plate.
12/11/06  I kept the  OE turn signals but shortened  the stems by replacing the dry-rotted rubber sections  with new metal mounting brackets	12/15/06 I replaced the 130/90 Kenda Challenger  on the rear with a 120/90 Bridgestone S-11. It's  a big improvement.

At the time of this update (01/10/07) I've ridden the Ascot around 2500 miles. The bike runs well and delivers 50-60 mpg even when running  hard. It's very subjective but I think the fabricated exhaust system has changed the character somewhat. Although extremely quiet, it was too restrictive at first so I removed some of the internal baffling and the bike runs a lot better without significantly more noise. I 'd estimate it to be slightly louder than a stock Ascot but no where near as loud as a v-twin with an aftermarket slip-on. With original jetting (112 main front, 120 main rear) I think the bike seemed a bit more "pipey" (2-stroke riders will understand) than with the stock exhaust system with a more defined power band beginning around 6K RPM. I've since re-jetted one step richer on the main jets (118 front, 125 rear) and the bike has a much smoother power delivery at all speeds. It pulls pretty well (for a 500) even with a "roll on" in 6th at 75MPH so I think it's about right now . The stock suspension is barely adequate for my weight (about 200lbs) so upon the advice of others, I increased the fork pre-load about an inch and replaced the ATF I had originally used with 15wt BelRay fork fluid. I also dropped the triple clamps about 1/2 in on the fork tubes to decrease the fork rake angle a bit. This resulted in a noticeable improvement and much more stable cornering. Although one has to flog the little 500 pretty hard to keep up with modern larger displacement bikes, it's a hoot to ride and will hold it's own in the tight stuff where raw horsepower doesn't matter. I've heard it said that it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow. I think that applies in spades here. 

For me the seat needs to be slightly wider and the "bucket" needs to be a little further back - I have a spare seat pan and I'll get around to that at some point. The tires that came on the bike are inexpensive Kenda Challengers; probably adequate for touring but for hard riding they just need to be replaced with better rubber. In December I replaced the 130/90 Kenda Challenger  on the rear with a 120/90 Bridgestone S-11 Spitfire. It's  a big improvement. Cornering feels much more predictable with the smaller cross section Bridgestone. When the Kenda on the front wears out, I'll mount a S-11 there too. 

So far the bike always starts and runs cleanly, the battery stays charged, the brakes are adequate and there are no fluid leaks. The only negative is the small gas tank which means stopping for gas every 110 miles or so but that's a relatively minor thing. The Ascot is still the fun bike I remember so all-in-all, I'd say this was a successful venture. 

The Ascot in it's natural habitat!