Tom Stewart

@classicrider @mototingle @BulldogBDX More smoke & vibration, I grant you, but still better for towing a caravan 😁

@SamWTotter @mototingle @BulldogBDX Not as cleanly, though.

A 1974 Suzuki T500 about to cast a lasting shape in my life. I’m quite fascinated with it. Although it doesn’t run, has no electrics, head gasket has failed, carbs leak, fuel tank rusty, numerous other issues I’ve noted on its job sheet. Am I gonna fix it? You bet I am 🔧

@classicrider @mototingle @BulldogBDX "Almost like a 4-stroke"?! Standard T500 makes more torque than CB450 or CB500/4, & at lower revs.

@mototingle @BulldogBDX What they’re NOT is an out and out sports bike, being designed for all-round use and not street racing. They’re amazingly torquey, almost like a four stroke . They can be tuned though and Bazza raced one quite successfully.

@classicrider @mototingle Tingle’s T500 takes 1400cc of transmission oil which also indicates that it’s a ’74 motor with the ‘overflow weir’ issue addressed. (Despite my assertion yesterday, the evidence is stacking up that it is indeed a ’74 bike with 69-’70 tank/sidepanels.)

@mototingle There you go: oldjapanesebikes.com/blog/2012/12/1…

Yummy Coffee Transmission oil ☕️ #StarBucksNewFlavour It’s old, oxidised and begging to be changed. Light brown like this normal in ancient motorcycles, while deep dark brown almost black screams overheating and potential damage.

@mototingle @classicrider @Castrol That's primarily for ltd slip diffs (no wet clutch involved). I'd use Motul Transoil Expert 10W-40.

@classicrider what gear oil do you recommend? takes 1400lm, I was thinking @Castrol transmax limited slip ll 75w140

Let’s start taking you apart 🔧

@mototingle Not sure if you’re fixing the T500 for someone else or for yourself, but if the latter then this will be of greater interest. Good luck with fixing it, whoever owns it.

@SamWTotter Go for it. Thank you

@mototingle In depth T500 tech info is all in the June '24 edition of the VJMC's Tansha mag. Can DM you pages if you'd like, but not this eve!).

@SamWTotter You are so knowledgeable, it’s fantastic. I am making notes as it’s all new to me and I don’t profess to know what I have here I do know it leaked petrol on my workshop floor earlier

@mototingle As I said, tank & panels are '69 or '70. Engine (+ carbs, air fiter/box & other parts) may be '73 or later.

@SamWTotter Fascinating ! Someone said the tank and panels are late 60’s

@mototingle Looks like it has the longer intake tubes of the post ’72 T500s (to reduce intake roar). If frame/engine numbers match then it may well be ’73 or later.

@SamWTotter Amazing! They are original

@gordoritchie @SteveEnglishGP @denkmit @matoxley @GoldandGoose And no fairing (or low bars) on this either...

@gordoritchie @SteveEnglishGP @denkmit @matoxley @GoldandGoose The only fully-faired model in Triumph’s 2026 range is the budget 660 Daytona. The 765 Daytona left the line-up 4yrs ago, the 675 Daytona 8yrs ago & the 955i Daytona 19yrs ago. The half-faired Speed Triple RR was only on sale from 2022 to 2024. Make of that what we will.

This is BMW's R1300R Superhooligan which marks the 50th anniversary of the company's victory in the world's first major Superbike race, at Daytona in March 1976, when Steve McLaughlin rode his #83 R90S to the win. Why isn't there a Superhooligan class in WSBK?!

@YMUKofficial Same, but different 🤔

Unboxed. Ready to fit 😮‍💨 The Akrapovič system for TRACER 7 isn’t about growl for the sake of it... it’s about precision engineering, weight optimisation and a refined CP2 soundtrack. #Yamaha #Akrapovic #RevsYourHeart #TRACER7

@gordoritchie @SteveEnglishGP @denkmit @matoxley @GoldandGoose "removing a fairing & fitting flat bars." .... to current WSBK bikes.

@gordoritchie @SteveEnglishGP @denkmit @matoxley @GoldandGoose Fair point well made, but redesigning a MotoGP bike (eg. NR500, ’84 NSR500, ROC/ELF 500, RC211V) would be a helluva sight more difficult/expensive than removing a fairing & fitting flat bars. And the mighty rule book would need a complete rewrite.

@gordoritchie @matoxley @SteveEnglishGP @GoldandGoose @denkmit The RVF, for example, first appeared in '85 (3yrs pre WSBK) primarily to win Suzuka 8hr, Le Mans/Bol d’Or 24hr. TTF1 was contrived by the ACU in the late '70s to include endurance derived bikes, but Formula TT was essentially a UK/IoM thing with some rounds elsewhere.

@SamWTotter @matoxley @SteveEnglishGP @GoldandGoose @denkmit All were TTF1 inspired, if I remember correctly? RVFs, etc. EWC and WorldSBK versions of RC30, etc, came at the same time as each other, designed to take on both EWC and WorldSBK. Homologation special road bikes from day one.

@gordoritchie @matoxley @SteveEnglishGP @GoldandGoose @denkmit Everything not MotoGP is indeed WorldSBK based. Call me a pedant, but WorldSBK machines were spawned from 70s/80s EWC bikes. GSX-Rs, ZX-7s, OW01s, RC30s, Bimotas etc. were all endurance inspired, although I’m definitely not suggesting that EWC should also go naked.

@matoxley @SteveEnglishGP @GoldandGoose @SamWTotter @denkmit Everything not MotoGP is WorldSBK based. EWC, BSB, MotoAmerica, etc. They all need to change their race rep top class? For what? It’s all production-derived racing, with the top bikes available. Always been that way. Take all the aero stuff off MotoGP bikes and what are they?

@gordoritchie @matoxley @SteveEnglishGP @GoldandGoose @denkmit I don’t believe MotoGP tried to diminish WSBK’s identity. MotoGP went 4-stroke primarily because 2-strokes then were thirsty & smokey 💨

@matoxley @SteveEnglishGP @GoldandGoose @SamWTotter @denkmit I know you are not Mat. Many do. But, WorldSBK has its own identity, even after more than a decade of MotoGP ideas and people in charge of it at the very top. MotoGP tried to take away WorldSBK identity/uniqueness when it went four-stroke all those years ago, as we all remember.

@SteveEnglishGP @denkmit @gordoritchie @matoxley @GoldandGoose I’m not ‘in’ MotoGP or WSBK, but I’ve been a fan for 50+ years. I’m not shitting on WSBK, I’d just like it to be more distinct from MotoGP & going naked would be a simple way to achieve that, IMO.

@denkmit @gordoritchie @matoxley @GoldandGoose @SamWTotter If you dont like the reasons that's fine but I dont understand why people in MotoGP, who dont take the time to understand WorldSBK, want to shit on it. You were in the paddock for a year to support WCR but doesnt seem like you spent a lot of time to understand the paddock

@SteveEnglishGP @matoxley @GoldandGoose @denkmit Many manufacturers have long been selling nakeds with c.200bhp. I reckon they’d more than satisfy a young Oxo’s cravings. Plus the spectator demographic, & motorcyclists in general, are now much older than in the past, & I think that’s the case everywhere except maybe SE Asia.

@matoxley @GoldandGoose @SamWTotter @denkmit going and then you'd want to race it against your mates. If WorldSBK suddenly switched regs you can guarantee that a 20 year old Oxo would be tearing away at a track on a fireblade or SSP bike just because he wants to go to fast

@SteveEnglishGP @matoxley @GoldandGoose @denkmit Things have changed since the ’90s when WSBK was relatively new, looky-likey sportsbikes sold like hot cakes & the ‘proddy’ racing contrasted nicely with 2-stroke GP bikes. 100k thru the door? Maybe, maybe not, but WSBK should move on & Super Hoolies definitely worth a try.

@matoxley @GoldandGoose @SamWTotter @denkmit The question was why isn't there a super hooligan class and that's the reason. In terms of making a change in an ideal world where you make the rules do you think changing to holligans as the premier class would put 100,000 fans thru the door at Assen like in the 90s?