1980 Nicholson 500x build??

[350xtrike.rider]

Posting this for a friend.

As you can see it has "500x - 1980" stamped in the frame.
He recently bought it from a guy who knew nothing about it.
VIN: PD01 - 5100917

[lardog]

I am no expert, But that doesn't look like a Nicholson frame to me.

[Jmoozy27]

Do you have any pics of the entire trike???

[John_Neary]

Nicholson frames where all hand made from chromoly tubing and did not come with Vin numbers, not a Nicholson.

[Joseph Farrow]

Doesnt look like a Nicholson to me either. It appears to use the 200x rear swing arm. Would like to see other pix's. Nicholson IIRC did not make the 500 frame until around '81-'82.
Definitely post more pics. Interesting trike.

[John_Neary]

for reference, these are Nicholson 500s

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[350xtrike.rider]

This is all the pictures he has right now. I can get better ones right now.
He just rebuilt the motor with a high comp piston.
All it needs is new plastics and some fresh powder coat.

[John_Neary]

That is a scary bike in not the good way, a engine needs to designed certain ways if its going to be a main stress member and the XR500 very much so was never meant to be used as such. So you are putting all the weight of the bike and rider on the pot metal cast alloy front motor mount that was never intended to do more than simply be 1/4 of what holds the engine in the frame.

You could not pay me to take that bike off a bike jump.

[350xtrike.rider]

I would never buy it thats for sure! Someone did a terrible job at designing the whole engine swap. (Im a welder I know about metal stresses.) The horsepower alone that that engine creates seems like it should rip itself right outta the frame. Definitely wouldnt see it in my garage like it is.

[DohcBikes]

Sure looks like it has gone through some shlt yet lasted a while to me.

[John_Neary]

yeah building a frame for a 100lb motor is not the time to get creative with less tubing :)

[DohcBikes]

It's not an engine swap dudes. It's an xr500 conversion and the engine is designed to take the load of a diamond frame. The one that's wrapped around it to be exact.

[John_Neary]

ok, ill let you ride it first

[DohcBikes]

83 200x swingarm no doubt.

[DohcBikes]

ok, ill let you ride it firstJohn it's not a custom frame. The engine is designed for that frame. There's absolutely no reason to doubt the strength.

[John_Neary]

the xr500 came with a open frame cradle on the bottom? i had a XR350 i forget how the frame was designed

i just worry about putting that much weight on the front engine mount but that is just a hunch

*edit* i just googled it and sorry my mistake, the XR500 did have that style of frame in 1982 so the engine is fine for that setup, thanks for correcting that DohcBikes :)

[DohcBikes]

Here's another one. Same frame. This guy is a member here maybe he wants to attest to the strength of the frame.

Course this one's not as dirty so it might look stronger.:naughty:

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It's ok guys, we are all wrong sometimes. :welcome::beer

[Mr. Clean]

Nicholson frames where all hand made from chromoly tubing and did not come with Vin numbers, not a Nicholson.

Actually John is right, it is not a Nicholson.

[350xtrike.rider]

Its weird how the frame is stamped though..
It couldnt have been made in 1980 maybe 81 or 82.

[DohcBikes]

Actually John is right, it is not a Nicholson.LOL. Wow. Yes he was right about it not being a Nicholsen, and he was wrong about the bike having a custom frame and an engine that wasn't designed for a stressed load and he sure took it better than you did.

Have a great day Mr. Clean.

[DohcBikes]

Its weird how the frame is stamped though..
It couldnt have been made in 1980 maybe 81 or 82.

The bike is a 1980 xr500.

The three wheeler parts are nearly all 1983 200x

[Mr. Clean]

LOL. Wow. Yes he was right about it not being a Nicholsen, and he was wrong about the bike having a custom frame and an engine that wasn't designed for a stressed load and he sure took it better than you did.

Have a great day Mr. Clean.

Thanks I am having a great day, every day is a great day in my life. Make assumptions much about how I took it? I did not quote you or was not even addressing you or your concerns about frame stress loads.

The thread title is 1980 Nicholson 500x build? If you search google much like I did when I got my Nicholson 500, it will link you to threads like this and its good information for the masses of people who are uneducated about what is and what is not a Nicholson framed trike.

[DohcBikes]

Sounds legit. Moving right along.

[Mr. Clean]

Great ..... how bout some more Gore Porn ?

I am pretty sure you know how to use your search engine of choice. How else would you come up with those witty meme's, and gif's?

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For the original poster, here is my second gen Nicholson 500, that is torn down at the moment for a nice come back to its former glory.

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[Joseph Farrow]

Here is a pic of my early style Nicholson 500 that uses the ATC185s/200s parts vs the later version that used the 200x parts like Mr Cleans.

This is a custom built bike using the Ascot 500 motor that came with the down pipes and electric start. It was almost set up to be street legal. From what I have found out Nick built some for a few NFL players on the West Coast and this may be one of those bikes.

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It is not going to stay like this as bad as I hate to change anything about it because of it being an original bike built in the early 80's but it is going back to what it was originally intended for......A Race Bike! In particular it will be set up like the bike Wax is riding in this pic.

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"Big Moe" will live.... just as a HPATC/RD now. :)

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