What did you do with your CB500 today?

Today I did the coil-over-plug mod after purchasing a pair of coils from Andy C. It took a bit of time but that was mainly getting the bits together.

I found some spade connectors that fitted directly into the existing primary wiring connectors and made up a pair of wires for each coil using these spades and the connectors Andy supplied.

The old coils are a pain to get to so I left them attached and just tucked the HT leads out of the way for now.

It ran first time. I've not taken it out yet. It still idles badly but maybe it will be a bit more eager to rev.

..i just bought this:

Nice! Love the colour.

steeeve66 wrote:..i just bought this:

pretty. those generation of the cb+650 look the best imo. how is the power on it? it is on paper slower than the old cbs but is it noticeable?

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on topic, had to call break down sorvices cause of a stupid puncture. any tips on removing the rear wheel? ive never done it before

Pretty interesting video, I'm happy with the results but I'm totally not baist with my Dainese D-Dry riding gear.

Very interesting James, seems like it's "you gets what you pays for"!

mikethebike wrote:Had a new DID chain and JT sprockets fitted (66,000 miles).  Starter motor brushes seem to be on their last legs - had to bump the bloody thing after it refused to start, just clicked.  Tested the battery - all good.  More expense in the coming weeks no doubt...

in a hurry you can put bike on centerstand, switch 5 or 6.th gear, and turn engine a bit via rear wheel.
then, maybe, your starter will turn engine.
do that many times on my old xj600 - in some engine ( pistons) position starter still turn engine, on some - not.
sure, brushes is very wearout, when i finally bought second hand good starter on ebay, and replace mine, but till that moment i workaround in that way.
sadly, most nowadays bikes do not have kockstarter, and due big displacement and compression, not to talk about weight, it was hard to impossible in some situations, start it up by pushing around...

Today I noticed that one of my wingrack brackets had sheared, and the other was holding on by a thread.

So I had to remove the rear fairing to remove the rack for it to be welded.  The brackets were showing signs of rust, so removal and powder coat was on my 'to do' list.

Considering it's nearly 20 years old, I was impressed how well all the nuts and bolts came out OK.

My beloved Honda got smashed up by me crashing it and then later that same week, the wind blowing it over on the other side...

Today was lots of fixing. I can only live with myself if it comes out of this ordeal in better shape than it went in so I have my work cut out for me. A new fairing, new tail light, new heated grips, new headlight, new sparks and new bar risers will hopefully get it in better shape. 

Looks like I need a new chain as well. More like 20k miles out of this DID x ring than the 30k I was hoping for

stormbringer wrote:Grrrr!

That lasted for less than one day! Wife just canceled the whole trip. She had forgotten about upcoming exams.

That leaves me free to set my own destination - and that won't be Toscana. Somewhere mountainous. Norway would be nice. Going in April may actually let me avoid the norwegian mosquito-season, rumoured to be particularly unpleasant. But how cold is Norway in April?

Depends a bit on where you want to go but if you take the ferry from Hirtshals to Larvik you only need to ride a few hours to be on about 1800 meters... Enough mountain for you? Then you could go to the south-west. Lots of mountain roads. Then go down the coast and take the ferry from kristiansand. I put in a route suggestion for you  .
Temp could be a problem though.. Can be Ok on daytime but nights are still cold and could be freezing, and even snow and ice... No mosquito-season this time of year, and that is usually just a problem up north, and in the woods in the east of Norway.   

Link to map so you can zoom in 

ojacobs1 wrote:Enough mountain for you?
I put in a route suggestion for you  .
No mosquito-season this time of year, and that is usually just a problem up north, and in the woods in the east of Norway.  

Now, there's an answer I can use! Thanks a bundle

No. Never enough mountains. So far, the romanian route 7C - Transfagarasan - tops the list. I'm on the lookout for something wonkier, wilder and more spectacular.

Mosquito-season; info appreciated. This makes me think about bringing a tent and do a bit of camping.

Would you consider it an issue if I asked for a scandinavian 2-bike (or more if other interested parties exist) meetup? I see you live in Skien, which is en-route...

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Wife now got her eyes fixed on interior redecoration. Which means I could do with an excuse to get out of the house. Married male readers will know what I'm talking about...
Only problem is, it's major redecoration, not just rearranging furniture. Not sure if it's smart to leave the house afterall...

@ojacobs1 - you might like this: proper 4x4 RC driving

Passed MOT!

Changed brake pads* front and back. Adjusted brake fluid level to match.

Topped-up the leaking left fork leg. Haynes manual states 150mm distance from top to oil - on compressed forks without the spring inserted. Right; I just wanted to top-up... So, after much swearing I got the right leg opened up, got both springs out, got the forks compressed, adjusted oil level, extended forks, put springs back in and am now in a position to tell y'all that the distance from top to oil with extended forks and the spring still in is 24-25cm.

So, topping up next time - unless I get around to actually replacing the seal - will be a lot easier!
Cap off, adjust to 25cm, cap on, job done.

Besides - which blubbering moron decided to remove the drain screws from forks following the R-model? An arrangement akin to brake fluid drain screws would've been a nice thing to have for adjustment!

While on the subject of fork oil; mine's gone all 'silvery'. I guess this indicates the teflon-coating on internal bushings has worn off - but does that indicate they (the bushings) are single use and should be replaced with the oil?

*) Sintered Vesrah

stormbringer wrote:

.

Besides - which blubbering moron decided to remove the drain screws from forks following the R-model? An arrangement akin to brake fluid drain screws would've been a nice thing to have for adjustment!



*) Sintered Vesrah

Probably a result of production being transferred from Japan to Italy. Forks probably sourced from someone like Paoli and to keep costs down the drain plugs were omitted.

Oafski wrote:

stormbringer wrote:Besides - which blubbering moron decided to remove the drain screws from forks following the R-model?

Probably a result of production being transferred from Japan to Italy. Forks probably sourced from someone like Paoli and to keep costs down the drain plugs were omitted.

Reasonably sure I found a 'Showa' label somewhere on the forks, and mine's a Y-model made in Italy allright. I'm rather suspecting this is a nudge from Honda to help people like me (rogue DIYers) from doing it wrong. If bushings are indeed single-use, having people do the full disassemble-clean-inspect-replace-assemble-adjust routine increases the chance of said people actually changing the bushings.

I, for one, did. And now the oil is silvery again.

Oh well. Those forks have been round Europe a couple of times, including one grueling ride to Romania. Compared to the UK road network, romanian backroads (and a fair bit of the main roads) are a lot worse. Fair to say the forks have done a brilliant job and schedule a complete service, bushings included.

Visited a not-entirely local dealer and got me a smallish click-on-tankbag for daily commute.

I'm getting rid of the rucksack I'm currently using. Primarily because rucksacks are potentially dangerous in accidents, secondarily because the bloody thing is awkward to fit.

Clicky the friendly tankbag replaces Magneto the evil tankbag, whose goal in life seemed to be ruining my bike's paint job.

Here's Clicky at work (and almost exactly what I see when riding; no screens, no mirrors*, nothing blocking the view):


And here's Clicky with his new friend Guido who's good at leading the way:


*) I don't like stuff blocking my view to the world. Sometimes I wonder if tin-can-drivers with their screen-mounted satnavs, rearview-mirrors, noteblock-holders, dangling dice-on-a-string, 3-months-ago-inside-cleaning-job (dirty glass!) and whatnot are able to see anything at all. Above setup leaves an empty view out the visor - but tilt 5 degrees down and it's all there - meters, indicators and mirrors. 10 degrees and the satnav's in view too.

Hi SB.

Where did you get the mount from for your satnav? I want something like it for holding my TomTom, without it getting in the way of my ignition key, instead of using the bolt on to handlebar device I use now

stormbringer wrote:
While on the subject of fork oil; mine's gone all 'silvery'. I guess this indicates the teflon-coating on internal bushings has worn off - but does that indicate they (the bushings) are single use and should be replaced with the oil?

As far as I know bushings are not single use and are to be replaced when they are worn. And that's probably to be checked visually or if there is some play felt in the forks.

The fork oil does undergo quite some changes with time but I don't think this is necessarily bushings related.

Crash- Elmit wrote:Hi SB.

Where did you get the mount from for your satnav? I want something like it for holding my TomTom, without it getting in the way of my ignition key, instead of using the bolt on to handlebar device I use now

@Crash- Elmit:
I was in exactly the same situation as you are now. So I made one myself.

CB500 Tomtom Rider mounting plate (5'th gen. I think - the ignition key issue required some modding):
https://www.tinkercad.com/things/8BbZeqMQayI

This is a plastic-fantastic thing (all 3D-printed things are) so it won't withstand any abuse. Therefore you'll have to copy the shape onto a piece of aluminium and cut out, add four short lengths of aluminium pipe and bolt it all onto the top yoke, replacing the OE handlebar bolts with longer ones.

Once you've done that you will observe that the display is too horizontal for comfort. That's a simple fix: Remove aluminium plate and bend the protruding 'tab' downwards. Then insert a suitable wedge to fix the satnav console properly. It's a bit of a faff, but entirely doable with a little patience.

15 degree wedge:
https://www.tinkercad.com/things/jt1gieaPWbJ

The wedge works nicely even if made in plastic on a hobby 3D-printer

Close-up of the mount:


So there you go. I hope this has been helpful.

Yep, the drain plugs on the forks are great, only prob with my bike is that the centrestand has long gone so when I change the fork oil I'll probably just take them off the bike to do them.

muttley1

Gave it a wash as it's going to Italian Bike Day at the Ace Cafe on Sunday.

Oafski wrote:Gave it a wash as it's going to Italian Bike Day at the Ace Cafe on Sunday.

thechnically an italian bike

Sadly mines not in the best condition after the ravages of several uncaring previous owners but it attracted a bit of interest as I put a notice regarding its pedigree on it.

newwly fitted shiny chain and sprockets. well not so shiny as the old grime stuck to them

Took the missus out to see a bit of forest and early spring. Brought home two pictures. Here's one of them:


And prior to that - last saturday - I joined up with 57 other bikers for the yearly "Bøttern køreskole forårstur". My driving license instructor from 2013 hosts a yearly springtime rideout, offering new license holders an introduction to the 'rideout' concept - including frankfurters from the grill in his own garden as a finishing highlight. I think it's a brilliant idea! Not only do I get to see a few pals from back then and catch up on things, I'm the acting CB500 ambassador, making any CB500-riders in the crowd aware of our forum. This year one potential new member was approached. I hope to see him here soon.