Well, I finally got my bike finished today. Went for a rip around the yard and chewed up my lawn, lol. It really feels a lot lighter than my 08 450R, but I don't have the skid plate and hand guards on yet, which my 450 has. I don't have a scale at the moment, but my 450 was 241 pounds with a 1/4 tank of fuel. I'm sure the 500 is less. Anyways, here are a few pics. I welded the frame with my spool gun then got a local welder to TIG the rads and head. Used a 99 CR250 air boot with the 500 filter and cage mounted on a 1/8" aluminum adapter and a CR125 swingarm spacer. Everything went together pretty well, like it was meant to be.
Trial fit after cutting the 450 frame.
The spool gun welds really nice on the thicker stuff, but blows holes real easy in anything thin.
Rads trial fit, replaced all hose with silicone HD hose.
Used the water outlet off the 450 on the 500 head. Opened up the head to match and plugged the other opening. You can see the coil placement and head stay as well.
And here she is all finished and after a quick ride.
More pics here
http://gallery.me.com/lonewolf039#10002 ... ack&sel=30
And a great big THANK YOU to everyone here, I got all my ideas from all the other great threads.