Hello All

Hi

just enrolled as I have become the proud owner of a 2001 CB500. Not taken a lot of pics yet to upload but whenI have made it a bit more presentable I may well do.

A bit about me, I am 70 on the outside and about 28  inside in my head, which coincidentally, is also my inside leg measurement, so I needed a bike with a low seat height.

Recent unsuitable mounts owned by me for varying short periods include
 BMW R1150RT. Big red monster, dont what I was thinking about.
BMW K750 bit lighter but needed a clutch took me 4 days solid work, lockdown project. It had to go.
BMW F800GT lovely bike, loved riding it but still a bit too tall and heavy for me now.
Royal Enfield 500 2017 model. What had I been smoking when I bought that? must have been drunk at least...
Finally, settled onmy recently acquired 2001 CB500 in blue, and gold wheels and rust, lots of rust. But she
goes and 2 new Michelins means she handles again, and a new battery today should improve cold starting.
Bought this one as a fixer upper so wil be a medium term project for a rolling restoration.

Welcome along. Great bikes the CB5. I'm on my second after forays away with other models and marques. You will be duly rewarded in restoring one to former glory for your own enjoyment.

Welcome to the forum, i also have a 800gt and can’t decide if I like it, started riding it on August 1st. I find it a very similar weight to the 500 but very poor fuel range, my trusty cb500s does 228 miles per full tank not counting the reserve of about 20.

the F800GT is a good bike, one of my favourites, but it was too tall for me and that lead to a bit of instability at junctions. The mpg is not great but there is nothing wron with the performance. Still, Im glad I have ended up with the Honda. Just done oile and filter, new battery, all I think it needs now is de-restricting and new throttle cables throttle action very stiff.

Easily rectified, you're well on your way now.

Glad to hear you made the right choice! (CB500 is always the right choice)

The stiff throttle cables may well just be rust (the cables have a habit of taking on water and then rusting) - you might be able to make this better by lubrication - it won't do any harm.

Do you know what mechanism has been used to restrict the bike?

Hi,

yes changed the cables bit of a pig of a job but all done now and works so much better.

The type of restriction turned out to be none at all. Nothing. Zilch. The previous owner thought that was hilarious and just said he was glad he had not been stopped riding an unrestricted bike on an A2 license for 2.5yrs !

Wow.  But I can't say I'm surprised about that - mine worked quite well when it was restricted, unless you were bazzing it (mine had a throttle movement restriction) - that was a 33 bhp restriction... so I think if you are riding in a 'day to day' boring/commuting type way then you won't notice too much.

Equally, if you've ridden other bikes, I can quite imagine that the CB500 feels a bit slow by comparison - I know that mine does after I've just got off my wife's Triumph Street Triple!

If you want to access the more 'performance' side of the CB500 then some 'right-wrist action' will be required - it only starts to really go above about 6 or 7k rpm - getting to this point will be made easier by your new throttle cables!

I hope that you've found the CB500 goes better than the Enfield!

Thanks, yes it does feel a bit sedate after my old Beemer 800, and yes I have discovered the  'power band' over 7k,  but as for the Enfield. My pushbike goes better than the Enfield...

my CB needs a new exhaust system, anyone got any advice on suitable aftermarket ones?

My generic stainless headers came from racing lines of derby (he races in the thunder-sport cup) and I sourced a suitable link pipe and nice shiny can from eBay, I fitted it myself in an afternoon without any issues… it still looks great and its been on my bike for 10 years…..   After a gentle rub with the solvo autosol it looks like new. Racing lines number is 01332 331716 his name is Rob mawbey pretty sure you can get mail order from his shop… google racing lines derby.

Delkevic are what I just fitted. I couldn't be happier. I ordered from their eBay page, headers and pipe separate as it was £10 cheaper than the full system which is just a combo of the two. Only went on this summer so can't comment on longevity yet but there's a big warranty, 5 years I think, and Delkevic have been around a good while.

thanks guys will look at both of those suggestions and let you know what happens

Went with a Delkavic can, stainless, oval, in the end, good price, delivered in two days, 15min to fit. 

I did not do the headers, as theres no holes in them I decided the priority was a set of rear Hagons, due next week.

Well with around £600 spent on bits so far my bike kitty is out of £££ so all I can do for a while now is clean and ride...

Excellent work. I really like the looks and sound of mine. Which length did you opt for? I went 350mm oval in stainless and it's nice baffle in or out but I've kept the baffle in.

When my downpipes rotted I went for Delkevik pipes and a Fuel end-can that I got second hand.

I suspect you are right in spending your money on the Hagons rather than new downpipes. Will make the ride better!

You should post a picture of the bike with its new shiny end can and shocks...