What did you do with your CB500 today?

So an update on the fuel thing... 60 miles of a and b roads for the cotswold trip, then 70 miles of motorway (max 75mph, lots of slow-ish riding in dense traffic and rain..the rest of a 170 mile tank was local b roads, the odd farm track with nothing over 60 apart from a few fast overtakes.
Result, 64.5mph.

In other news I got some fork seals and various items from motorcycle products, all safely delivered and good prices.

muttley1

That's great mileage muttley1,  thanks for the heads up on the motorcycle products site. 
A wide range of bike specific kit on there

Cheers, I came across the site without really looking, I've used Wemoto before and their parts were fine. The parts are all pattern ones and look ok too. I've some fitting to do.

As to the mileage, my other 1999 cb5 hasn't ever done 60 mpg, its best is 58.

muttley1

Out and about for a ride today, 2 up and mixed riding with some country lanes and c.15 miles on the motorway filled up with 100 miles on the odo and brimmed the same as last fill 7,05 litres which works out at about 64.4 mpg not quite yours muttley1 but pretty close.

On another topic I start with my local Blood Bike charity next week and will be using the CB for 'out of hours' couriering for the local NHS hospitals.

I found that I made a "terrible" mistake - I used google for conversion from litres per 100km to mpg... and google gave me tiny US gallon values. Who could have thought gallon isn't equal to gallon 

Turns out my mileage (in Imperial) is somewhere around 52-54 mpg, which is far better than 45 I earlier thought it was. 
Anyway - I'm still amazed by your 70+mpg...

aramis wrote:Who could have thought gallon isn't equal to gallon 

Those who use SI units. Metric units if you will. Here, a meter is a meter and a liter is a liter. Everywhere.
SI: Systeme Internationale. Standardized units.

The whole idea of using bodyparts, rocks and other variable size/shape objects as reference for quantisation is silly.

With reference to petrol frugality, I'll offer my statistic, assembled over the last 77 thousand kilometers; 21.50 km/liter.

If USgallons != UKgallons, then what about nautical miles vs non-nautical miles? Why, oh why...

Finally got around to fitting the LED lights to the bike, headlights not so good so looking forward to giving them a try.



Sorry didn't like the pics being portrait 

Mot Passed yesterday with no advisories... yipeee

Current consumption for last two fill ups at 65.37 and 64.45 mpg respectively, really pleased with that or indeed may be running a little lean as I can detect the slightest bit of hesitation on a constant throttle between 2 and 4k revs, no issues at all pulling through the rev range tho  might be just be that it is coming of pilot jets onto the mains... thoughts?

So last weekend I and a few others headed off to Normandy for a few day. Fantastic roads, great rides, strong beer.......and then on the way back it all went wrong. Approaching the docks at Calais suddenly power is all but lost, she spits and farts with the clutch slipped to the port. Formalities done, we check the bike. The battery is cooked and distorted. The ferry operator refused to allow me to take the bike on board. So I spend the next 2 day in Albania-On-Sea while a garage looks at the bike and shrug shoulders. After establishing that the do not do much in their 10  minute work break, they eventually agreed to fit a battery (80EUR) This doesn't fix the problem, but allows me to get home and call breakdown from Dover.
The problem appears to be the regulator, @5000rpm I get 17v at the battery!!!!!
New regulator and a check of the wiring (earths etc) Just need a good afternoon now to ride out and check all is well

Radny wrote:...and then on the way back it all went wrong.

The problem appears to be the regulator, @5000rpm I get 17v at the battery!!!!!

You've just encountered the CB's primary weak-point... The other being a rattling cam chain tensioner (CCT).

The workshop not knowing this - or being able to figure it out, seeing the wrecked battery - indicate they're neither Honda experts nor clever mechanics.
Was it a modern-day place sporting young people accustomed to computer diagnostics? AKA sparepart-replacers...

Anyways... Good you got home after all.

Going forward, my input is that you take the stress off of the new regrec by relieving it of the job of dumping excess production. You do that by always having the headlight turned on.
You could also go belt&suspenders and install a voltage monitoring device. I have good first hand experience with this tiny thing from Gammatronix:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/201338527109
It doubles as a fake alarm blinker.

I've had that voltmeter installed for years.
Do not return to the original regulator without aluminium fins on the top.
I think very well of the electrex or even better to go to the perfect triphasic shindengen (only the Japanese!) with 3 yellow wires + positive and negative= 5 wires total but with 2 diferents plugs.
for sale even on aliexpress everything you need to make the change connections.
That incorporate the current cb500, bmw, ducati.triumph, various japan etc.

stormbringer wrote:

Radny wrote:...and then on the way back it all went wrong.

The problem appears to be the regulator, @5000rpm I get 17v at the battery!!!!!

The workshop not knowing this - or being able to figure it out, seeing the wrecked battery - indicate they're neither Honda experts nor clever mechanics.
Was it a modern-day place sporting young people accustomed to computer diagnostics? AKA sparepart-replacers...

No, they are just French 

burudi wrote:
Do not return to the original regulator without aluminium fins on the top.
I think very well of the electrex or even better to go to the perfect triphasic shindengen (only the Japanese!) with 3 yellow wires + positive and negative= 5 wires total but with 2 diferents plugs.
for sale even on aliexpress everything you need to make the change connections.
That incorporate the current cb500, bmw, ducati.triumph, various japan etc.

I better fill in the back story
2 months ago the bike failed, flat battery. Jump start and no lights home, charged the battery. Bike started and rode fine. I checked the battery, and it had dropped below 12V. At 2000rpm it was still under 12v. So I replaced the regulator, with a new much larger finned version. It is this new one that went hay-wire. To their credit Wemoto replaced it FOC without any quibble.

I have ordered https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/392889740991 Thanks for the tip

At first glance it seems to be the electrex but the Chinese clone the exterior but not the internal technique.
Rare is the Chinese with mosfet technology that barely heat up, not so the Chinese. That gives them away......

I bought https://www.wemoto.com/bikes/honda/cb_500_y/00/picture/regulator_rectifier

with that final price and finishing details......china


heat will give it away......elemental transistor inside

Radny wrote:No, they are just French 

I care to disagree.

Nationality has little no impact on skill.

Not referring to their ability, just their work ethic. They work so few hours in a day that they have little time to showcase their skills 

I've a leaking fork seal of late so good excuse to take both forks off and do them together, new oil, bit of a clean up.
All in pieces now, two of the little bolts holding the forkbrace / mudguard had sheared, a real pain to remove.
I've put a post in the workshop section ref the springs..

Good week for my '95 cb5. Mot passed with no advisories on Monday. Always good news, and got even better with two new bt46 tyres fitted today.
I got the tyres from Blackcircles and they arrived within 24 hours of ordering, £209. Fitting was £32.50/tyre at my local independent bike repair place, that's for dropping the bike off and picking it up later. Normally I take the wheels out myself but no time this week.

muttley1'