The Honda Ascot is a name given to two

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

s produced by

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

in the early 1980s. The motorcycles, the FT500 and VT500FT, were produced with the Ascot name between 1982 and 1984.

FT500 (1982)

The Honda Ascot, designated FT500, was sold in 1982 in the colors

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

Red or Black. The tank stripes and the "FT500" decal are gray and silver on the red bike and red and orange on the black bike. On American bikes, the

speedometer A speedometer or speed meter is a gauge that measures and displays the instantaneous speed of a vehicle. Now universally fitted to motor vehicles, they started to be available as options in the early 20th century, and as standard equipment f ...

was limited to 85 mph (135 km/h) as was required, in other markets the bike received a speedometer. The

headlight A headlamp is a lamp (electrical component), lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage (language), usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the ...

is rectangular and so are the instruments. The engine is a 498 cc

SOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

, 4-valve

single-cylinder A single-cylinder engine, sometimes called a thumper, is a piston engine with one cylinder. This engine is often used for motorcycles, motor scooters, go-karts, all-terrain vehicles, radio-controlled vehicles, portable tools and garden machinery ( ...

with 8.6:1

compression ratio The compression ratio is the ratio between the volume of the cylinder and combustion chamber in an internal combustion engine at their maximum and minimum values. A fundamental specification for such engines, it is measured two ways: the stati ...

, and one

carburetor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meteri ...

, producing at 6500 rpm. This

balance shaft Balance shafts are used in piston engines to reduce vibration by cancelling out unbalanced dynamic forces. The counter balance shafts have eccentric weights and rotate in opposite direction to each other, which generates a net vertical force. Th ...

-equipped engine was derived from that of the

enduro Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on extended cross-country, off-road courses. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges. The main type of enduro event, and the format to which the World Enduro Championship is run, is a ...

motorcycle, but tuned for highway usage through the use of a vacuum carburetor and other adjustments.

Leek The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...

, p. 46 The

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

is a 5-

speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...

(1st=2.462:1 2nd=1.647:1 3rd=1.250:1 4th=1.000:1 5th=0.840:1), also from the XL 500 but with tempered gears and a stronger chain. Stock gearing is 15/42 (3.71:1). The brakes are twin piston disc front and rear and the bike has an electric starter, foregoing a kickstart entirely. The motorcycle has a top speed of about and achieved an average fuel economy of 48 mpg. The serial numbers begin with JH2PC0708CM000019.

FT500 (1983)

The 1983 FT500 was also sold in Monza Red or Black. The tank and side cover stripes on the red bike are white and blue; and on the black bike, they are silver and red. The headlight and instruments are rectangular. The speedometer has a 120 mph (195 km/h) limit. The engine remained the 498 cc OHC, 4-valve single cylinder with one carburetor. The transmission is a 5-speed. The serial numbers begin with JH2PC070*DM100001. The brakes are dual piston, front and rear.

VT500FT (1983)

The 1983 VT500FT Ascot received a twin cylinder rather than the single-cylinder used on earlier models. It was sold in one of two colors: Pearl Siren Blue or Candy Bourgogne Red. The side cover panel on the blue bike is silver; and on the red bike, the panel is black. The gas tank wing decal is two-tone. The 2-into-1 exhaust system is black chrome. The engine is a 491 cc OHC, 3-valve, liquid-cooled

V-twin A V-twin engine, also called a V2 engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Although widely associated with motorcycles (installed either transversely or longit ...

linked to a 6-speed transmission (1st: 2.86, 2nd: 1.95, 3rd: 1.55, 4th: 1.28, 5th: 1.07, 6th: 0.87) and a shaft drive. The serial numbers begin with JH2PC070*DM100001.

VT500FT'84

The VT500FT'84 Ascot was sold in 1984 in one of two colors: Black or Red. The side cover panel on the black bike is silver; and on the red bike, the panel is black. The gas tank wing decal is three-tone. The 2-into-1 exhaust system is black chrome. The engine is a 491 cc OHC, 3-valve, liquid-cooled

linked to a 6-speed transmission and a shaft drive. The serial numbers begin with JH2PC070*EM100001.

References

{{Honda Ascot Motorcycles introduced in 1982 Shaft drive motorcycles