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Hey guys. I have been lurking around the forums for a couple months now and i decided to buy a cb500 and try to make my own cafe out of it. I am doing most of the work by myself but my dad will be helping me along the way even though he doesn't know much more about bikes than i do. The bike I bought was non-running but the rest of it was pretty solid and I did a compression test and got about 90+ pounds out of each cylinder without adding oil. Keep in mind that this bike has not run in about 20 years.
so far I have checked most of the wiring and at first nothing was working. So I downloaded some wiring diagrams, This one is amazing and makes everything so much easier to understand http://oldmanhonda.com/MC/wiring500.html I followed the power wire to the ignition and found out that it was completely rusted out and needed replacing. Unfortunately I don't have pics of this because it was thrown out. I connected the red (hot) wire to the black that goes back to the rest of the electronics and now (after taking a wire brush to some of the connections) I have all of the indicator lights (neutral, oil, beam) working and the starting motor is turning over.
So I figured the carbs needed to be rebuilt because lets face it. 20 years of sitting has turned that gas into some harrrd varnish....and I was right. Carbs 2 and 3 were by far the worst and 1 was almost impeccable. All of the jets and the bowl were spotless (on 1). I don't have pics of that either because at first I wasn't going to do a build thread. But I have something you guys will love later.
I decided I didn't want to use a lot of harsh chemicals because I don't like making trips to my recycling center and I figured that soda blasting would come in handy later. I only decided on soda blasting because I found this article on a way to do it for very cheap. The link is here http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/ . Lets just say I was very disappointed. It took some of the old crap but was not giving the results that it promised. I realized that the actual nozzle on the sprayer (harbor Freight) was restricting airflow. I was using a 22 gallon compressor and it was flowing at about 6.5 CFM at 90psi. I decided to step up and purchase a spot blaster that I saw at harbor freight and I couldn't be more impressed.
Yesir, I got spark to all 4 plugs. This leads me to my biggest problem so far. The dumb previous owner cross-threaded the 3rd spark plug hole. I did some research and ordered a tap that you insert, then expand, and then retread the hole. I hope the head has enough meat left on it but if not then I will have to invest in a helicoil
be careful with that spot blaster. You are doing a lot of unseen damage to those carbs and getting sand in places you may never get out. The soda is perfect for carbs bc water takes it right out and wont get stuck anywhere. clean clean clean those carbs and you may get lucky. But I definitly would not have used sand on a carb set.
I have the soda kit from HF and it works great, just takes a ton of patience.
be careful with that spot blaster. You are doing a lot of unseen damage to those carbs and getting sand in places you may never get out. The soda is perfect for carbs bc water takes it right out and wont get stuck anywhere. clean clean clean those carbs and you may get lucky. But I definitly would not have used sand on a carb set.
I have the soda kit from HF and it works great, just takes a ton of patience.
Sorry I forgot to tell you that you can use any media in the spot blaster and I used medium grain soda in it from HF. Worked great! I would never use sand. I am a freak about doing a lot of research before I do anything I don't already know about.
Sorry I forgot to tell you that you can use any media in the spot blaster and I used medium grain soda in it from HF. Worked great! I would never use sand. I am a freak about doing a lot of research before I do anything I don't already know about.
So when I was buying the spot blaster kit at harbor freight, the shelf had only the display model and no actual units in boxes. I asked one of the employees to see if there were any more, and he went into the back and brought out a big brown box that had no pictures and was huge for how big the actual unit was. They charged me $30 and I was out of there. I got home and sure enough there were 2 units in that 1 box. I thought about doing the right thing and taking the extra one back but I thought maybe someone on DTT would want it. If you pay shipping its free Here is what it looks like. (the black diamond sand in it was used for the speedo bracket not the carbs)
Whoops, the compressor was only 5.1 CFM @ 90psi. That's good news for people who don't want to buy a huge/expensive compressor. (I borrowed mine from a friends dad down the road). There is a pic attached of the box if anyone trusts me enough to give it a try. You do not need a high CFM compressor but you might want it to have a decently sized tank and good HP so that you aren't waiting for it to catch up (I never had to).
I took the front fender off of the bike and my dad put the handle bars down like that as kind of a joke (they were getting hard to look at). I also took the front caliper off.
The Tank is pretty good on the inside and there isn't much rust but after stripping most of the 15 or so different colors of paint off, I discovered some bondo-like grey material on one spot. Can someone tell me what it is and how to get it off? It looks like it has some deep scratches under it though. I sanded some of the tank to see what kind of finish I could get. worked down to 400 grit and its looking positive ;D
Here are some misc pictures of the space I get to work with. I cant thank my parents enough for letting me use the garage and my dads workbench/moms laundry room. ohh and another soda blasting pic. Now everything is done and carbs can be rebuilt 8)
Enough posting for one night. I am all caught up on my build. Ohh and I forgot to mention. Things might be going slower from now on due to me breaking my collar bone.....again. I have been wrestling for 7 years and I was at the district tourni and broke it trying to roll through on headlock. I waited 8 weeks and started practicing with my Rugby team once I got the "O.K." from the doc. Well I tackled a team mate during todays practice and broke it again in the same spot. Now I cant work (pizza place) so I wont have a lot of money to do bike stuff. Not to mention I'm out for the rest of my 3rd season with this team. I am livid and very disappointed. Not to mention that I cant take the MSF course I sighned up for in 2 weeks :'( it was a rough day.
Cool cool, good start. Now don't start smoking tons of weed, blaming your parents for all your fuckups, and wasting your bike money on crap euro hatchbacks. Better yet, just go read Rocan's build. Godspeed.
Cool cool, good start. Now don't start smoking tons of weed, blaming your parents for all your fuckups, and wasting your bike money on crap euro hatchbacks. Better yet, just go read Rocan's build. Godspeed.
I dont think this board can handle another rocan...but hey if you get this done in the next year you will restore my faith in your generation. Please Please Please stay on task!!!
Enough posting for one night. I am all caught up on my build. Ohh and I forgot to mention. Things might be going slower from now on due to me breaking my collar bone.....again. I have been wrestling for 7 years and I was at the district tourni and broke it trying to roll through on headlock. I waited 8 weeks and started practicing with my Rugby team once I got the "O.K." from the doc. Well I tackled a team mate during todays practice and broke it again in the same spot. Now I cant work (pizza place) so I wont have a lot of money to do bike stuff. Not to mention I'm out for the rest of my 3rd season with this team. I am livid and very disappointed. Not to mention that I cant take the MSF course I sighned up for in 2 weeks :'( it was a rough day.
Power through the pain!
I played lacrosse for a season with a broken ankle. Granted I don't recommend it Hahahah.
Looks like a cool build my man, keep at it, there's a lot that can be done on limited funds, you've got lots of cleaning to do and that's basically free. And you can do most of it with one good arm
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Here is what it looks like. (the black diamond sand in it was used for the speedo bracket not the carbs)
