Shadow 500 Project

Back in April, I noticed an ad in Craigslist for a free Shadow 500. The ad described the bike as a scrap bike, and mentioned that the frame was badly rusted in one area and may need to be replaced. So after a few email exchanges, one of my sons and I went to pick the bike up.

We met at the owner's apartment complex, and the bike was in the parking lot next to his newer bike. He said he got the bike to fix it up, but didn't have the time or anywhere to work on it. He was moving, and really couldn't take the bike with him. Before I talked to him, he had called a metal scrap yard to see if they'd pick the bike up, but they would not. We loaded the bike in the back of the van, and he threw in some brand new carburetor parts. Originally, I wondered whether the van had enough room to hold the bike, but I probably could have fit three in the back.

The bike has definitely seen better times, but hey, it's a free bike! I think I can get it working after quite a bit of work. The plan, some of which I've done already, is to strip the bike down to the frame, assess whether the frame is salvageable, repair or replace the frame, paint the frame, get the engine running, and then reassemble, replacing parts as needed. I haven't checked but I bet the tires are old. Probably a good idea to replace the break lines.

One thing I get to look forward to is pulling the heads from the engine. The spark plugs were missing, and, of course, the bike had been sitting for who knows how long in a parking lot. When looking in the intake ports, one can see plenty of rust on the valves. An endoscope through the spark plug holes show crap on top of the pistons. Just to be safe, I think I should take the top end apart and clean things up.

The badly rusted part of the frame was fairly visible before disassembly. Where the rust holes are at, I think the frame is plenty strong enough to support the swing arm, but might be questionable for supporting the center stand.

So far, I've disassembled the bike to where essentially everything is stripped off the frame. I've also begun to repair the badly rusted portion of the frame. I've got some 1/8" (or close to that) steel from which I'm cutting small pieces and welding in place of sections of the rusted area.

 The rust repair has been a lot of fun! At first, I thought I'd be using my stick welder, but aside from a few initial welds, I'm doing a lot of work with my oxy-acetylene torch. I'm also getting some experience shaping the steel strips by heating with the torch and hammering into the shape I want. When the steel is hot, it almost seems like working with clay.

If I am able to successfully complete the frame repair (at this point, I'm pretty sure I will), the next step for the frame will be to remove any remaining fasteners, strip off the old paint, and then repaint with a good urethane paint. After that, I'll proceed with getting the engine going, and then decide what's next from there.

Here's some pics at various stages of the disassembly process:

The disassembly process has been started. You can see the green trunk I'm storing parts in at the top of the pic.

The engine had just been removed. The bike is almost stripped to the frame.

Here's pics of the rust damage:

Looks pretty bad doesn't it.

Here's some pics of the repair process (which has not yet been completed):

I'm holding a piece of flat steel that I've shaped to fit right about where I'm holding it.

As thick as this steel is, the repair should be plenty strong.

This is that same piece welded in place. You can see where I accidentally blew threw the edge.

Another patch in place!! I love welding!

I've welded over a couple bad places and filled in some rust holes using just a bit of welding rod.

Here, you can see where I've hammered the patch around the back.

I just didn't feel like cutting that tab off the patch before welding it on. This is on the other side.

I heated that tab and the edge of the patch on the other side and hammered them around. 

Here's the other side again. Basically, this is looking from inside the frame. You can see the tab hammered around.