What did you do with your CB500 today?

skyerae wrote:Carried out this upgrade as part of fault finding mission this weekend. I had it jury rigged and then found the fault on the pulser coil wiring. Wired it up correctly this evening, soldered the connections and heat shrunk the connections and cable tied into position. Still started until I pushed the pulser coil connector into position. Then it wouldn't start again so checked connector. Unless the connector is pushed totally home (and the securing clip is very slack) the one connector doesn't make the circuit. Pushed it home and left it as it is - at least if it cuts out I know what the issue is and will solder the connections instead. The CB now start instantaneously rather than a few revolutions (about 3) before firing into life. Will see how she is tomorrow and how the fuel economy is altered (if at all) over the next few weeks. New plugs also fitted as part of the fault finding so part service carried out.

Well done for finding the problem.

I would just solder it, heat shrink it, tape it up and be done with it. It will only go wrong at the most inopportune moment otherwise...

'Nobby',my 500s is coming along nicely,albeit slowly. I.only get to work on it during my lunch hours. To date,the replacement seat fairing has been prepped and sprayed along with the front mudguard. The front fairing has had a few minor cracks repaired and is in primer ready for top coats. A Renntec rack is also prepped and primed. Various other bits have been cleaned,new(to meanyway) shocks are fitted and it's beginning to look pretty good

I have replaced some of the light bulbs on the cb with brighter led ones.

The speedometer lighting (T10 sockets) did not change at all.

The oil/neutral/longbeam (T5 socket) are brighter, but not that much. The led bulb does not work for the indicators light - it would light only for the right or left indicators, not for both - probably because of the led bulb not being non polarized.

Installing a led for the tail light has been an improvement - not only the tail light is significantly brighter but the number plate and the road behind the bike is much better illuminated.

You can change the flasher unit to suit led indicator bulbs. They don't draw enough current to work with the standard flasher unit.

ANDYC wrote:You can change the flasher unit to suit led indicator bulbs. They don't draw enough current to work with the standard flasher unit.

Thanks, that's correct. Briefly tried one led bulb for the indicators and the unit flashes faster as if there is no bulb.

The indicator light I mention in my post is the indicators warning light on the instruments panel.

today i replaced my foot pegs, only the left one needed changing as most of the rubber was gone and it was mangled like and moving all over. not to mention it was missing the spring, the split pin and washer. replaced both anyways and it feels good! been adjusting the gear lever cause i never felt comfortable with it but everything feels right and refreshed now i installed new ones. bought the one linked in this forum thread http://www.cb500club.net/t5695-frong-foot-peg-recommendation?highlight=foot+pegs

a little dismayed by the fact the rubber bit cannot be replaced unlike the oem's but the whole set costs the same as a piece of the rubber replacement off wemoto. the spring i had to bend downwards to hold on to the peg. cant beat it for the price though and it functions perfectly

managed to get the cam cover off, but had to destroy one bolt to get it out. cam chain seems ok, it's not lifting off the cogs so uncertain what is causing the rattle. I am going to remove the breather box and the carbs to see if I can get the rear mounting bolt out. I tried a 350nm impact gun on the bolt last week to see if it would free up but no such luck. may end up having to drill it out like the front one

You know that stainless is the way to go.

Sadly just commuted to work and back.....still it was the best part of being at work!

So very, very true 

Made some progress with rear subframe on project. At the mo its  bodge taped together pending mate with welder.

Next pic shows the seat support frame which will be bolted to underside of flattrack seat unit.

And the seat (pad is on order) looks like this.


Colour scheme yet to be decided. I spoke to a local shop about my prefered scheme but when he suggested about £750 I guess I'll think again. 
Anyway both brakes serviced and front seems to work well with my cheap chinese levers and Goodrich front and rear.
Once back end is welded up the rest (lights, indicators etc) should be easy and while tank is away for paint I'll probably fit a pair of AndyC's stick coils. Of course prògress now depends on how much funding I can hide from the missus!

thats the problem i had with mine, my local paint sprayer wanted £500 to spray the tank,front mudguard and the seat unit it was then that i broke out the rattle cans and did the job for about the price of about 5 cans of paint and thats it in my avatar 

Stripped the carbs and airbox out of the frame today and gained better access to the rear engine bolt. got that out without too much difficulty, though which surprised me. after lining up the timing marks behind the alternator spy holes I noticed the two marks on the camshaft sprockets were not in line with the edge of the cylinder head, the rear sprocket mark was 15mm above the edge and the front was about the same below the edge so somehow the camchain has jumped a tooth, unless it has always been out since I have had the bike.

luckily there is no damage to valves or pistons, and the barrels look to be in amazing condition considering the mileage it's done and I could not detect any kind of lip between top of the barrel and top of the pistons.

the biggest shock to me though was the size of the shims - I thought they were a lot bigger than the size of a watch battery.

next step is to have the barrels off and check the rings and look for any play in the conrod bearings.

If ANDYC reads this can you tell me how to check the chain without having to completely strip the engine to see if it is indeed wore out?

Take off the chain guide from the top run, the one held by 4 bolts that sits inbetween the cam sprockets. Once that's off see if you can lift the chain off the sprocket at about 45 degrees to the head surface. See how far it lifts and judge it from that. It's how I check, I'm curious as to how others would check it.

Got back yesterday from a road trip to visit my son in France. Great weather + great roads + great food and drink = Great Time!  What impressed me the most is the community spirit amongst bikers there.  Every biker would say Hi by sticking an arm or a leg out.

Being new to bikes I was surprised how comfortable the CB is.  It was only the last half hour of the longest legs that I started to feel a little saddle sore. I've got out of cars feeling worse.

I'll blog my adventure on here in due course. Let's say I had a few experiences 

Thanks ANDYC, that is what I did, and could not move the chain at all so it's not worn out.
Also discovered today the timing was not out, it was me lining up the  wrong marks on the sprockets.
I was looking at two little indents, like centre punch dots, instead of the line with an o next to it. I was 360 degrees out. have got two broken exhaust studs and one broken bolt from the water pipe fitting on front of barrel to now drill out.

A lot of folks make that error. 
Mainly because they forget that the camshafts only travel at half the crank speed.
Broken studs and bolts are just part of owning a Honda really. You just have to replace them with quality items when you have the chance. I recommend m6 high tensile grub screws to replace the exhaust studs.

bit of a calamity with the head.
managed to grind stud ends so flush with casing and started to drill remainder out, starting with small drill bits and working up to correct size prior to tapping.
one stud was no trouble, but the other was/is a disaster. began to drill it out but bit was blunt so changed for a fresh one. as soon as I put bit in hole the end snapped off flush with end of stud so I cannot get it out. I drilled and tapped the other lugs that are opposite to originals hoping to use them to clamp exhaust only to find the distance between centres is less, so exhaust header clamp will not fit. I then had a brainwave and began to drill the clamp holes out bigger to give enough clearance to get bolts in. both drilled out to 10mm no problem, but with 10.5mm, 11mm 11.5mm, it just destroyed the cutting edge on drill bits so have not been able to make hole big enough.

Opened the garage, pulled the CB out, tightened up its loose rear left indicator, rearranged the other bikes in the garage in order to get my laid up ZZ-R600 project bike out to start and warm up.  Once warm put the ZZ-R back in the garage under it's cover, followed by the CB. Locked the garage door.  I'll ride the CB tomorrow when I go back to work, honest!

Said I do a bit more by my next post (see above).  Spent a lovely afternoon T-cutting and polishing the old girl yesterday, before whisking her away to have some brand new Daytona hot grips fitted today.  Blissful ride coming home this afternoon chasing the sun with warm pinkies - actually looking forward to my winter daily commute now.  Last year was a bit like playing Russian roulette with my former grips which decided when they wanted to work.  

mikethebike wrote:Last year was a bit like playing Russian roulette with my former grips which decided when they wanted to work.  :lol:

That's almost worse than no hot grips at all!

One of my hot grips died while the other worked. Cut the wires off and removed system as it was worse than not having any at all. Now have heated gloves - makes autumn and the early stage of winter bearable.

40 miles on backroads today, first cold ride of the year. Rinsed off the mud and cleaned the chain. WD40 on plastics, shocks etc and a very small amount on the tank. Looks good for a 1995 bike and finish holding up better than my 1999 one.

muttley1

GollyGosh wrote:Got back yesterday from a road trip to visit my son in France. Great weather + great roads + great food and drink = Great Time!  What impressed me the most is the community spirit amongst bikers there.  Every biker would say Hi by sticking an arm or a leg out.

Being new to bikes I was surprised how comfortable the CB is.  It was only the last half hour of the longest legs that I started to feel a little saddle sore. I've got out of cars feeling worse.

I'll blog my adventure on here in due course. Let's say I had a few experiences 

Of course we EU-bikers say Hi to oncoming fellow bikers. We ride in the *right* side of the road and therefore have a hand available - you brits would have to let go of the throttle...

The CB is comfortable. Methinks. YMMV. Yes, they're mostly thought of as courier- and/or commuter-bikes, but are perfectly okay for long-haul. Looking forward to your blog on the ride