1973 Honda CB500 Four Cafe Build-Project Clunker

YogiBear

Over 1,000 Posts
I decided that I should start a build thread for my 73 Honda CB500. I got it mostly stock, although jerry-rigged to H*ll. The previous owner owned it since 1984 and I don't think he ever fixed anything correctly. From the crappy (what looks to be house paint) paint job with the tins on the bike! to the wiring rat's nest, to the filthy greasy grimy engine and all of it's other flaws. The original parts were mostly bent/cracked/rusty/destroyed so that made me lean heavily towards a cafe build. I have done a little work to date, but the progress has been slow. The first couple pics of it are when I first got it and I have one of what it now looks like. The rear comstar wheel is just a roller. I have finished the rear wheel. Anyways, I'll be updating this thread as I build the bike. I've got lots of ideas flowing and an ever changing thought of what I want the bike to look like when I'm done. So, what do you guys think?
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Re: 73 Honda CB500 Four Cafe Build

Cool bike.

[list type=decimal]
[*]Any progress?
[*]What did you use for paint on the wheels ?
[*]What are your plans for it ?
[*]What kind of exhaust is that ?
[/list]
 
Re: 73 Honda CB500 Four Cafe Build

IndieSol said:
Cool bike.

[list type=decimal]
[*]Any progress?
[*]What did you use for paint on the wheels ?
[*]What are your plans for it ?
[*]What kind of exhaust is that ?
[/list]


Unfortunately, not at the moment. The only thing I've really done is contemplate build ideas. lol. I used a really good quality Rustoleum Painter's Touch 2X coverage for primer and Duplicolor? (I think) caliper paint from Oreilly's in Red. The Rustoleum paint is really thick and shines great. My Brother painted a 72 CL350 Scrambler frame with it and it looks amazing. Now that I'm thinking about it, I think I might take the wheel apart and have the rim powder coated. I want to do a really quality job with this bike. That and I'm not totally settled on whether or not I want to use a rear 16" wheel. My plans for the bike are: Red frame, red rims, lots of polished parts, I have a nicely done upholstered cafe seat that I'm planning on using. I might change it up though, seeing all of the nice fiberglass and metal seats on here. I am going to paint it Pearl white with the possibility of some accents on the body work or a stripe. I am also going to do a mono shock for the rear. I already bought a set of Chrome clip ons for it. The bike will have no signals or horn. I am going to cut off the passenger peg mounts and fab some rearsets mounts. I want to swap out the stock tank for a CB750 tank. There are lots of other things I'll have to figure out on the way or change. :) But, that's part of the fun! right? I'm not sure about what make the exhaust is. I couldn't find a tag on it anywhere. It kind of looks like a Kerker, but I don't think it is. I do have a 550/500 Kerker that I got with a few parts bikes. So, there's a possibility that I might change it up. Who knows, months from now I could change my build plan considerably. haha.
 
sxecafe said:
Deep drop?

What do you mean? The wheel came from my 74 CB750. I took the CB750 wheel apart so I could go with an 18" rear on it. The rim is a Harley rim.
 
Oh! I thought it was a 16" Honda wheel. That's why I asked if the center of the rim was one of those drop center deals. I was way off tho.
 
sxecafe said:
Oh! I thought it was a 16" Honda wheel. That's why I asked if the center of the rim was one of those drop center deals. I was way off tho.

It is a drop center rim. Made by Harley. It's the same rim you'll find in those kits on ebay. I liked it at first, but now I don't. I'm going to go back to an 18" rear for this bike
 
I would agree with you. 16 seem very small to me. It would look sweep if you were doing a bobber, but alas, that is not the case.
 
I wish. The only updates are my major change of plans/direction for the bike at the moment. The bikes been sitting in the garage waiting
 
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