Alpha Dog Builds a CX500

CarbsAndCylinders said:
Very nice, Alpha.

I am looking at getting a CX650 right now, haven't decided but after seeing your work I am getting closer to getting it.
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The CX's are awesome machines. I want to get one for myself. My customer with this one got it for free as a non-runner. Sure runs now!

I have to post some new pictures. Now it has some more detail done to it, the Murray carbs and Murray's "H" box bypass pipes, and new mufflers.
 
AlphaDogChoppers said:
We ended up going with the Murray carb kit, and the performance is simply astonishing!

I was able to keep the air box. I simply carved it up a bit with a reciprocating saw to make room for the pods to stick into it. That way, I still had the hanger posts for the side covers, and the oil breather still had a place to go. I also polished up the Murray intake manifolds to pretty them up. They are beautifully made with nice welds. A little sanding and polishing and they look awesome!

Anyone building a CX500 would be simply out of their mind to not do the Murray carb conversion. It starts pulling like mad at 2,500 RPM, and keeps pulling well past redline. The owner of this bike had it up to 110 mph and it was still gaining when he closed it down. The speedometer was pegged at 85. It was the GPS that documented the speed at 110. Tony was certain it would go to at least 115 if he had kept on it.
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This is what I have been trying to tell people.....it turns it from an OK ride into "this thing goes like snot". I always get a little surprised when I havent ridden it for a week. Hopefully I will the CX650 in my 500 frame ready for next year with a set of his carbs on the 650......that should just haul ass!
 
Kamn said:
This is what I have been trying to tell people.....it turns it from an OK ride into "this thing goes like snot". I always get a little surprised when I havent ridden it for a week. Hopefully I will the CX650 in my 500 frame ready for next year with a set of his carbs on the 650......that should just haul ass!
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Link to the carbs please. If I can get that kind of performance without fussying with the stupid CV Carbs I may bite the bullet and pay.
 
Every time the owner of the CX500 comes by, he has a big shit-eating grin on his face.

Everything about the bike exceeded his expectation. I had it running damned good with the stock carbs after removing the flame arrestor & snorkel and putting in a K&N filter. After installing Murray's carbs, it's a mind blower.
 
Maritime said:
Link to the carbs please. If I can get that kind of performance without fussying with the stupid CV Carbs I may bite the bullet and pay.
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He's known as cxman on this forum.

http://www.murrayscarbs.com/

Here's a thread on the CX500 forum:

http://cx500forum.com/forum/cx-customization-modifications/14289-first-impression-murray-s-carbs.html
 
I thank you and he has been helping me with the CX I built and I would love to send him some $$ by buying his kit. Your bike turned out beautiful and getting it to haul ass too is a nice bonus.
 
Well shit he even does GL kits. His site is under renovations right now so I will email him, What does he charge for the CX kits?
 
He gave me some help on my CX build, too. In particular, he coached me on a simplified method of replacing the mechanical seal on the water pump. As it turns out, you don't really need to open the cases to change that seal. You just have to be clever. <G>

He has carb kits for a LOT of different bikes.
 
I'll leave pricing between you and him.

You have to get rid of the "H" box in the exhaust, too. There are pipes and baffles inside there that cause all kinds of weird reversion issues. The carbs are tuned, with tuned length intake manifolds for the engine to have true dual exhaust. Murray also sells bypass pipes to weld onto the headers to get rid of the "H" pipe.
 
Cool, thanks. I ditched the H pipe on my CM450 and it made a huge difference, it is still on the CX and I think it is part of the issue I am having with tuning. I think I may haul it off and do the pipe replacement the same as I did on the CM this winter.
 
I had a flat spot around 1/8 throttle, but I figured I would be able to tune it out. The flat spot disappeared then I installed Murray's bypass pipes, but low end wasn't good with the stock carbs. I was still too lean, because of what I did to get more air through the box, but didn't really get into fine tuning it because I knew we were going to do Murry's carbs.
 
Every now and then there is a motor I see and this hardly fictional scenario plays out in my head.

*gawking at pics* "That....is just...."

"Honey, if it were between me and that hunk of metal which.."

"Oh definitely the motor."

" :eek: ..........OOOOOOH, I get it, haha, good one honey."

"Get what?"


I personally think that the pokey engine is compensated for by the incredible handling!

Nice work, Alpha!!!
 
now that its all running good raise the main needle one lift and get it running a bit better lol

if one lift is good then try 2 in the cooler weather it should be ok with iridium plugs
 
Redliner said:
I personally think that the pokey engine is compensated for by the incredible handling!
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Ain't nothin' pokey about that motor after doing the Murray carbs. It easily lofts the front wheel when you hit second gear.

We upgraded the suspension all around, too. The bike is a dream to ride. We get it to stop by installing a dual piston caliper from a CB900 on the front. The stock caliper isn't much good. Took some creative research to figure out which caliper bracket fit the CB900 caliper to the forks. (I forget which. Tony did the research.) We rebuilt both the caliper and the master cylinder, and the front brakes work great.
 
AlphaDogChoppers said:
Ain't nothin' pokey about that motor after doing the Murray carbs. It easily lofts the front wheel when you hit second gear.
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I know the Keihins are...Keihins, but is that all you did to get some good bump to the butt?
 
The carbs, and the true dual pipes. That was it. Easily a 20% increase in power, and the powerband is clearly wider.
 
Sorry about the butt in

the "carbs " are a complete system including new tuned length flow tested intake manifolds i developed

the carbs are prepped then i run tune and balance each set before they are shipped

to allow for quality control and a true bolt on and go experience

the bike was fit with iridium plugs to boost ignition and help burn the sometimes richer mixture

the Dual pipe conversion allows for 1 3/4 pipe all the way back from the original header to allow a much higher

flow rate and far better scavenging

all of these changes and additions culminate in a very awake bike
 
The whole system works beautifully. I would have never thought that you could get that much more power from an engine without changing anything inside the engine. You'd think we bolted on a turbo. It's that much more powerful, and the powerband is dramatically improved.

You were absolutely correct in that it is an easy bolt-on job. I'd say that the task of routing the throttle cable was probably the most complicated part of it. Yes, it's that easy. A very minor tweak to the idle speed, and it was ready to go.

We'll be taking some more pictures soon to show off some of the finishing touches we've added. Tony got a set of reverse megaphone mufflers, because it was a bit too loud with the shorties that we had on there. They were no more quiet, but they look a whole lot better.
 
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