One of my ongoing projects is a 350x frame and frontend with a swingarm from a Yamaha bigwheel 200 or a two wheeled 350X. I have two engines, a 81 XL500 and a 83 or 84XR 500, both were cheap but probably need a couple hundred in parts. The xl has a rod knock and the XR needs a cam and followers. I like the XR because of the oil cooler but can't stand the dual carbs. Anyone have any input on which motor I should go with? Anyone familiar with this kind of project?
It's been fun scrounging on Ebay and then adapting parts. The swingarm was about 4 inches over the stock 350x which is just what I was looking for. It fit right in but was bushinged so it cut both swingarms and swapped pivot housings to use the 350x's bearings and bolt. I think I'll go with the 350x monoshock but lift the bike a couple inches to fit me better. Total budget should come in under $1000 pretty easily. I may hop up the motor but I want to keep it mellow enough to loan it to newer riders. I'm going with a buffed single row of knobbies in the front and a 22inch 10 paddle hauler in the rear. I've ridden a Yamaha Bigwheel 200 and loved it enough to build my own but it will be bigger and badder. I will probably order a seat cover to match the yellow and black DS plus may also use front plastic and headlight off the a DS with a fender hidden in the cowling. It will really stand out when It's finished.

 

Any Update on this. I was thinking about doing just about the same thing.

Jason

 

What parts do you plan on using?

 

I think I am going to use a Yamaha xt 500 frame. It looks like a 3 wheeler or custom triple tree. the swingarm i will use will be the hard one. I will either try to get a bw 350 or 200 swingarm and machine it to fit the XT rear. I can not wait to get started.

Jason