"5000 miles in 50 on a CX500" or "What I did this summer"

Just a few pics from my first season of riding, or rather the 2 rides I remembered to bring a camera AND take pictures I got my endorsement this March, and although I have been riding dirt for awhile, I have come to love the road as well.......

My Ride: 1978 Honda CX500 with 20,000 miles, local barn find, paid $550

The Rides: Over 5000 miles logged (and counting) over 5 months all within a 50 mile diameter of my house, an 80/20 mix of Paved/Gravel back-roads. The loop below is a rough outline of my playground.



"Upgrades": (in order) All fluids flushed/replaced; Inline fuel filter installed; New front tire; Black duct tape seat repair (2Xroll); New fork seals (wanted to add 20w to improve handling but was impatient and went with the 10w available, will upgrade eventually); New battery; Multiple carburetor cleanings; "Silhouette" windshield creatively mounted (detachable); New rear tire - Shinko E-705 Dual-Sport, one size up from stock; The "Pine Sol Surprise"tm;
<o></o>
ATGATT?: Of course.

Like I said, just a few pics of my purchase, and from a couple of my earlier rides this year. Hope you Enjoy!


the machine

[/URL][/IMG]
[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]


[/URL][/IMG]


[/URL][/IMG]


[/URL][/IMG]


[/URL][/IMG]


[/URL][/IMG]


[/URL][/IMG]


[/URL][/IMG]


[/URL][/IMG]


[/URL][/IMG]


[/URL][/IMG]


[/URL][/IMG]


[/URL][/IMG]


[/URL][/IMG]


[/URL][/IMG]


[/URL][/IMG]


Mt. Hood in the distance, you can see 5 or 6 volcanoes on a clear day from this spot.

[/URL][/IMG]


Thanks for checking out my very first post!

Good looking bike!!!! Did it give you any trouble on the trip??

Nothing that you wouldn't expect from a 30 year old machine.....actually it runs great. And just for clarification, my summer was a compilation of well over 200 rides - mainly trying to get my street legs under me. Thanks for the compliment!

AH, the Cx 500. My second bike and first shaftie. Nice bike and good pics.

For some reason I always thought those were good looking bikes.
Killer deal!!...Al

glad to hear you are having a nice time getting your feet wet. those CX500s seem to be very reliable.

the cx is bullet proof, nice playground. have fun.

Bravo! When you expand your range, check out the road from Carson to Randle, WA. Runs N. from the Columbia river east of Mt. St. Helens. There are countless forest roads that branch off of National Forest Road 25. I just rode to Windy Pass on Mt' St. Helens last night (got soaked) and truly enjoyed it.

Here's an introduction:

http://www.soundrider.com/current/aug10/fs_25.htm

Enjoy!

Thanks everyone! I keep my fingers crossed that my CX lives up to it's long-lived reputation, I just have to always keep in mind Iv'e got 30 yr old technology under me and ride accordingly.....I will admit, I now long for a modern day sport-tourer.......

-Thanks for the suggestion ON FS25 fish......I don't think I've seen a more detailed description of a road, I will definitely be giving it a whirl - great advice in the column as well, first I heard of the Vanishing Point Technique...Funny, I work in Stevenson and have been longing to check out the Gifford Pinchot....do you by chance attend the Sport Touring Northwest Rally held in Stevenson? I learned about that this year as well.....Anyhoo, thanks for the tips..have a great (if soggy) weekend! :dog

I'm going to go hit this a few times before it starts to rain again...luckily it's only 15min away!

Cool bike, & beautiful country for riding in, a vertible bargain too, and a great first bike (and best looking of the CX's). And they do indeed last a long, long time, in the UK they are/were infamous as messenger bikes. There is some electrical component that can fail, (forgot which) that's apparently buried deep in the engine, other than that....

Great stuff! Brings back memories...I had a blue CX500!

Thanks for sharing your rides in some spectacular country. I've ridden all those places, since I'm local, too, and there's nothing like discovering those roads for the first time. I've been in the area for 20 years and just got to some of them for the first time last year. You have your own slice of heaven there. Keep reporting. Your photos are excellent.

Great report. I had the exact same bike. Loved it and put a bazillion miles on it.

Thanks for the kind words, and encouragement all......I am having an absolute blast sharing my rides with you!

More to come soon.........

Love it! A late friend of mine was on that very machine in 1978 when both it and my CB750F were new and we met on tour and it turned out we only lived an hour apart. We hit it off and both took an additional week. That began a 31 year motorcycle friendship until his passing a year ago. I myself later had a CX650E, a rare Euro model. Apart from the lack of full fairing, essentially a turbo without the turbo. Marvelous machine.

Not mine but the correct color and model:

Did you have any problems finding parts for the bike? I have been thinking about one of those for my daily commuter.

Benny

@ RedDog.....so sorry for your loss. I have never seen the 650E...but I LOVE the retro quasi-sportbike look! Smart move for Honda as I guess the real turbos have the tendency to burn themselves out very quickly. Thanks for sharing!

@ bbuice....it seems most of the common bits and pieces are readily available, there are a couple of parts that are rare - such as the CDI unit, and the h-box for the exhaust.....the most common major problem with these bikes is the stator cooks itself, and to get to the bugger you have to remove the entire engine (apparently not a super-scary operation, as the engine comes out with 4 bolts and a car-jack)...and shell out at least $200 for a new, or rewound one - you can find used, but chances are the used one has been fried as well. Same goes for the CDI unit.....although there is a Russian company that builds ignitions and they have a model that works in the CX -about $300. The "key" as far as I can tell is finding one with relativley low miles and IMMEDIATELY putting a new battery in and keeping it charged up! Also - VERY IMPORTANT - if you look at one of these, make sure the Cam-Chain upgrade has been done.....indicated by 3 dots in a triangle punched into the lower left hand engine casing next to the engine serial number. This was the super weak point when these bikes were first released, and a recall was done, so most of the bikes out there should have received the upgrade, but some surely slipped through as well.

All in all though, these machines make great commuters, good luck!

There are a few of these in our club (CJMC)

Great pics! Takes me back to my first summer riding... Back then it was all about the ride, now it's all about farkles and keeping the bikes running Have fun out there!