Picked up a 76 CB500 twin today..

For a whopping $250 bucks. Spent some time talking to the guy selling it. Seems that when he bought it he sent some buddys just to look at it, and they just went ahead and bought it. It wasnt running, but he rebuilt tyhe carbs and fiddled with the electricals until he was able to make it run fairly reliably. At some point he was tooling around the block and as he pulled into the drive the bike just died. for some reason the clutch wouldnt dis-engage and the bike seemed to be stuck in 3rd gear so moving the bike was a real PITA. Thinking he had a jacked up motor, he pulled off the top end and found the cylinders, pistons, etc in good shape so he buttoned it back up. By this time he had lost interest and just no longer cared about it, just stuck it in his garage.
I went over today to check it out and the clutch will sorta dis-engage but Im guessing its going to need replacing. other issues I found:

Paint is ratty, which I dont care about
Tank is a little beat, but not bad, no need to replace but it might be anyway
Cracked points housing with a piece missing, shouldnt be too hard to find a replacement
misc screws missing from the covers, which I will pull and check anyway
Seatpan is in good shape but the cover is cracked, might re-cover and put up for sale, or just sell as is
Obviously the motor is questionable, and at the least will need the top-end pulled apart and checked (PRIME opportunity for upgrades...)


No solid plans yet, but Im thinking to hot rod this bike up- hot cams, port up the head, maybe an overbore kit,fab up a nice SS exhaust, maybe a set of flatslides? Just thinking out loud here...

for the tank.... well I have all the stuff here to fab up an aluminum one, and was going to do that for the CB750, so maybe I keep this tank and just paint it up real nice, or maybe make an alloy one for this bike to?? hmmm

This bike will be getting a cafe seat as well, although I will likely just make my own this time. Nothing against Roc Citys fine workmanship, just thinking more along the lines of a carbon fibre or alloy seat for this bike.

The Honda twins just scream racer to me, and I definitely want this bike stripped down and as light and functional as possible, just not sure as yet how its going to get there...



I have some pics I took of the bike as inspected on my phone and will upload them a bit later. As always, input is very appreciatted.

Also, this will take awhile, I have the GT550 going together for mock-up this weekend, but then it goes into paint, and of course there will still be re-assembly needed. Somewhere in there I hope to have the CB500 ( I really should name these bikes!!) torn down to the frame, decisions made about the motor, wiring, seat, and tank, and be ready to go forward as soon as the GT550 is "done".

get some pics up!

cant wait to see it start...

Pictures:

Not in bad shape, just beat and old-




Broken points housing, found one on evilbay for about $50 bucks and shipping, but I can probably weld it up and machine it back. Note the nearly stripped screws which = FUN!!




Had the Tahoe with me yesterday so I was not able to just pick it up and bring it back to the shop so me and Chris are going over tomorrow to grab it. I really dont think it will take much to get it up and running, buuuut I am thinking it will be torn completely down.

Welllllll- the good news is the bike itself is fairly nice, but there is something seriously wrong with the powerplant. I think it is the transmission itself, but wont know until its all torn down. I pulled the tank, seat, etc off the bike and it looks liek this one will need to go down to the frame, just like the GT550. So much for a quickie! HAHAHA, Oh well gives me an excuse to build the motor into a hot rod, and gives an excuse for powdercoat etc. Most likely I will tear it down and get it sorted into powder, paint, and polish piles, then send it all off while the engine/transmission gets sorted.

Will post pictures in the morning or afternoon, Im beat