Red Baron- Overland Journey’s $100 Adventure Bike
12 Aug
The Overland Journey $100 Adventure Bike all started one afternoon while having lunch with a couple of buddies. High up in the Rocky Mountains sitting at an outdoor diner we were discussing motorcycles. We could see our bikes there in the parking lot, a BMW GS Adventure 1200, a KTM 990 Adventure, and my BMW 650 Dakar. We were discussing the positives and negatives of the bikes when a buddy out of the blue made a comment that would change my thinking on how I look at my overland transportation. He said it doesn’t matter what you ride, the wind feels the same.
This really hit home to me. I thought about that comment for a couple of weeks and eventually decided to sell the Dakar. I have a twisted passion to do more with less. I guess its part of the “self reliance” thing that I’m into. I started with the obvious spot, Craigslist. I was surprised that I couldn’t find the deal I was looking for. After a couple of days of searching I went over to Adventure Rider and started looking around. First day on their and I found what I was looking for. There was a post in the Colorado forums that said something like ” buddy has a old Honda FT500 he needs to sell. $100 and its yours. PM for contact info”.
What the heck is a FT500?
My first thought was what the heck is a FT 500? FT stands for flat track. And you can find more info on this unique bike here. As I researched more on the bike I realized that this could in fact be a great foundation for a cheap adventure bike. It has the XR500 air cooled 4 stroke single cylinder thumper motor, but one cool feature is that it comes with electric start. Has a 5 speed transmission, sprocket and chain setup, disks front and rear, and mag wheels.
The Purchase!
So my research found that the bike would most certainly work. The guy on the phone said the bike hadn’t ran in a couple of years and had been sitting outside. Then came the bad news!!! He said it made a “bobber” out of it and hacked off the back part of the frame. He didn’t have the pieces but said he still had the original seat. He was about a 45 min drive, so I decided to “take my wife to lunch” and swing by their afterward. When I got there I must say I was really surprised at the bikes condition. The paint was faded, but it was in decent shape. The seat was good to go, tires had good tread, and chain/sprocket looked decent. Someone already converted the ugly square headlight to round. The owner said that the bike hadn’t ran in years and needed a bit of work. I paid him $100 and loaded it up. He then came out with the title, 4 extra oil filters, a new set of progressive springs, for seals, and some other items. SWEET!
Getting it Started.
I couldnt wait. I pulled in and unloaded the bike. Took it around to the back shop and started looking it over. It sure looked complete and very clean. The gas smelt old and the oil looked pretty old as well. I poured about a gallon of fresh gas in and put the charger on the battery. I cranked on it for about 45 seconds and it fired up! Water came flying out of the tailpipe and it sputtered a bit, then ran just fine. The idle was smooth, throttle response was good. I turned it off and tore into it. I drained the oil gave it a good look over. The back brakes didnt work and I noticed the resevoir was empty. I filled it up with Dot 3 and bled the brakes. No leaks and was good to go. I kept thinking about all the things I wanted to do to it. I had to keep reminding myself, budget build! KISS! With everything working I took it out for a ride around the block. Everything worked, except the blinkers-no back blinkers on the bobbed seat setup. That thin bobbed seat cushion had to go, looked cool, but hard to out miles on it.
More to come on Overland Journey’s $100 Adventure Bike!
