cb500t-The Repsol"*NewPIcs again 2/5/11

hurley209

hurley209

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HEy guys, so most of you know i finished my honda magna cafe/whatever you wanna call it and sold it so i could keep building, learning, and have an authentic honda cb.

so here goes.

found the bike on craigslist about 20mins from where i work and i liked it.
its a cb500t, and the previous owner was beggining a cafe conversion, he did custom rearsets, clip ons, braces and brackets, also installed after market coils, and electronic ign.system so i have the option of kicking or pressing, and idk whether to believe or not but the odometer only reads a bit over 300 miles.

bike starts right up and sounds great, even louder than that magna i did.
overall i believe i got a good deal seing as how most cb's go for over a grand here in cali even if they are not running and i got it for less.
so im pretty stoked.
as for my plans, well they are inspired by many of your builds and also some pix i found online, one being of a moto guzzi cafe, ofcourse ot wont be exactly the same but il take little bits and pieces from everything ive liked.
i want a mesh of modern with vintage, subtle yet loud. i want ... a cafe racer. ;D 8)

so here beggins another wonderful journey with one of these beautiful old bikes we all love so much.

i present to you
my newly aquired cb500
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

If you got it under 1000 in California, then you did get a deal! Where are you? I am in San Francisco, and 1000 and over is certainly the norm here.

Well done, looking forward to seeing the build.
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

thanks msimm!

in donw here in the valley about 25mins from modesto.
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

Hey COOL! With a few key swaps that motor will wake right up but your biggest performance upgrade will be to downgrade the weight (see how i did that...hehe)
I stripped one of mine to what I consider the absolute minimum to be considered runnable and if i remember it came out at something like 375lbs, chrome fenders, stock seat and HD lite still in place. I imagine 360-ish is do-able if you're creative.

My current build also a 500T *should* hit the pavement at around 320lb...but it's going to be juuuust on that side of stupid.

The 500 got lower compression even WITH the longer stroke....Honda chose to give it new pistons that yield 8.6-1 I think...pretty low, but the head is regarded as 'better' than the 450 in terms of flow. I haven't compared yet though I do have a 450 head coming. If/when your motor needs freshening up, grab yourself a pair of 450 pistons (same bore shared) and you'll need to have the skirts skimmed a tiny bit to clear the crank at BDC. You *may* also need to pocket the domes though I know one guy for certain that's running just fine without having done so. The 450 cams are a little peppier as well but perhaps not worth the effort of the swap. You can send yours of to Delta in Tacoma Wa. for their "HP" regrind. I've used them on lots of other bikes and a couple cars. They do good work and it's VERY affordable. Last time I was quoted $65 per cam.....CHEAP!!

sorry.....too much caffeine this afternoon...
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

Swagger said:
The 500 got lower compression even WITH the longer stroke....Honda chose to give it new pistons that yield 8.6-1 I think...pretty low, but the head is regarded as 'better' than the 450 in terms of flow. I haven't compared yet though I do have a 450 head coming. If/when your motor needs freshening up, grab yourself a pair of 450 pistons (same bore shared) and you'll need to have the skirts skimmed a tiny bit to clear the crank at BDC. You *may* also need to pocket the domes though I know one guy for certain that's running just fine without having done so. The 450 cams are a little peppier as well but perhaps not worth the effort of the swap. You can send yours of to Delta in Tacoma Wa. for their "HP" regrind. I've used them on lots of other bikes and a couple cars. They do good work and it's VERY affordable. Last time I was quoted $65 per cam.....CHEAP!!

sorry.....too much caffeine this afternoon...
Click to expand...

Not to derail this thread, but I am about to pull down my 500T engine and was looking to hot-rod it up, so am very interested in any input/research/sources you might wish to share regarding piston/cam/carb etc. choices. I would really prefer to just pick up a second engine but they seem to be somewhat hard to find.
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

Thanks swagger! I'm going to look up your thread! I'm glad I have someone else with the same bike I'm here!
Il be watching yours too fire!

I'm definately going for the bare minimum and Light weight as I am going to try to get it super clean looking.
Idk how much engine work il do though, for now, probably just alot of clean up and then maybe during winter il start with the engine mods to wake it up a bit. But I will definately keep those tips in mind.

So today I stripped off the rear fender and rear light, was going to take it for a spin but I think the carbs need a good cleaning the bike either revs up high or dies out when I release choke, and also just stopped starting I checked the battery and it was really low so hopefully that gets it starting if not off I go on a search for spark.
Either way il probably start stripping the bike this weekend so I can get the frame cut where I want and repainted, the clean up and paint the engine and then hopefully start building.
Any suggestions on the engine trouble would be rad! Thanks!
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

Haha hopefully!

Well just checked the coils and I have big fat spark. Still not starting hmmm
any ideas?
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

well im thinking if i have spark at the coil then there should be spark at the plugs, wires are almost new, and plugs are new, so im thinking carb issues.
i think a good cleaning/soak in lemon juice will help.
its weird, it was starting up fine, then stopped. hmm.
oh well i hope the cleanse helps both idle and starting problem.
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

Just pull a plug out and make sure you are getting fire there to be sure, like you said, it should, but since it is so easy to check, I would just do it for peace of mind. I would go ahead and take the carbs down and clean them good. Rebuild them if they look like they have not been done before, that float valve can cause you tons of headaches that you can avoid by simply installing a new one. Typically if it is the float valve the carbs will piss or drip fuel out of the overflow. You may have a needle problem. Now I am actually thinking it may not be a fuel problem at all, it may be a timing issue! If your getting fire and fuel, but it seems to not be firing right, it may be firing at the wrong time.
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

Thank brandon, I'm goin to be diggin into it a bit tonight to see what I can come up with, I'm definately going to clean the he'll outta those carb, although they don't look to bad but inside could be a different story.

I also suspect a timing issue so il jump on that too, hope I can have it sorted out atleast by the end of the weekend.

Il keep you guys updated
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

hurley209 said:
Thank brandon, I'm goin to be diggin into it a bit tonight to see what I can come up with, I'm definately going to clean the he'll outta those carb, although they don't look to bad but inside could be a different story.

I also suspect a timing issue so il jump on that too, hope I can have it sorted out atleast by the end of the weekend.

Il keep you guys updated
Click to expand...

+1 on the timing. And you might as well check the points while you're in there. I'd buy s new set for peace of mind since you can get them for like 10 bucks, and it can cause way more than $10 worth of headache medicine when they are screwed! Luckily you're working on an old Honda, and there's only so much that can go wrong with them....I love 500t's. Good score!
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

Kanticoy said:
+1 on the timing. And you might as well check the points while you're in there. I'd buy s new set for peace of mind since you can get them for like 10 bucks, and it can cause way more than $10 worth of headache medicine when they are screwed! Luckily you're working on an old Honda, and there's only so much that can go wrong with them....I love 500t's. Good score!
Click to expand...

elec. Ignition so no points ;D lol, but I am goin to adjust the timing.

But it's like you said only so many things can go wrong so no biggie as long as it fired up and turned a few times before I'm not worried a little love and shel roar again.... I hope lol

thanks! The guy in the shop called me this morning to tell me he had my paperwork and extra parts ready, and said he's had a ton of people calling and walking in trying to buy it lol haha suckers!
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

Great score! I look forward to following your build. I have a 500T in progress and I'll soon be starting a build thread.
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

Butts said:
Great score! I look forward to following your build. I have a 500T in progress and I'll soon be starting a build thread.
Click to expand...

thanks!

awsome i cant wait to see man! ;D
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

this is the tank i plan to use.
the idea is to take the filler section for the honda and weld it into theis tank, and make a cowl from the tank.
what do you guys think of the tank?
 

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Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

Certainly sounds like fuel delivery... Remember to start with the simplest fix man. Before you tear the carbs apart, check everything else from the tank down... And congrats brother! I love the bigger Honda twins. Such badass looking motors.
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

Well I got some starting fluid and sprayed it in and the engine fires, so I have spark, which takes me to the conclusion that my carbs need a trip to the lemon juice spa and the timing needs adjusting. Hopefully that takes care of it.
 
Re: PRESENTING THE NEW CB500T BUILD!

carbs are off and i went though them a bit with carb cleaner. Tommorow theyll go for a lemon dip, and friday il heat them up and then a once over again with carb cleaner. saturday hopefully i will do the timing.

so opinions, what do fellas think about the tank? should i keep the stock, stock with knee dents, or use my suzuki tank with knee dents?
(whick was the original plan)
im leaning towards the suzuki with knee dents as it has somewhat of like a bcr style to it a little. i think the knee dents would make it perfect


check out the pic of the suzuki tank on the cb
not the best quality pic but you can make out the lines of the tank
 
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