1971 Honda CB500 K0 Restoration Begins

[Sniper X]

I absolutely love the 500 fours. Back when I was but a lad of about 15, a neighbor who was a lawyer had one. I think this was about 1974 or so. He saw me riding my TM125 over to his neighbors house, (my buddy) and asked me if I knew how to work on bikes. I said yes and he asked me to tune his CB500/4 up and ride it for a week to make sure it was perfect.....I JUMPED AT IT! I rode it home, and wondered why he wanted it tuned up since it had only 1450 miles on it, yes 14 hundred and 50. I changed the plugs, checked the timing and valves, and synced the caerbys. It DID run much cleaner, but I also put new gas in it and used premium. Turns out he had put some premix in there out of a gas can he used for his old ass 2 stoke lawn mower....yes a 2 stroke lawn mower!

Anywho, I roe the hell out of it for a couple weeks to include some show off flattracking in the dirt parking lot of the local high school. Turned out to get me quite the hero rider rep to be seen on it and flattracking it!

Beautiful bike, made me want one forever but I never ended up buying one......

[noman]

unless upgraded by PO, pretty sure you have ball bearings in the steering head. easy enough to check by loosening the adjustment collar a bit and taking a peek. if they're not "notchy", you might consider leaving them.

if changing them out, make sure you have no open holes for the balls to drop into, ie plugs removed.

got mine from http://www.peakmoto.com $53 shipped by priority

[loggers-road]

Great bike, nice to see one going back together. Last winter I rebuilt a 1978 CB750 Super Sport, a complete teardown and a joy to see finished. The bike is a blast to ride extremely reliable and fast with all four of those cylinders.

[Skowinski]

Originally Posted by Sniper X

I absolutely love the 500 fours. Back when I was but a lad of about 15, a neighbor who was a lawyer had one. I think this was about 1974 or so.....Anywho, I roe the hell out of it for a couple weeks to include some show off flattracking in the dirt parking lot of the local high school. Turned out to get me quite the hero rider rep to be seen on it and flattracking it...

Sounds like your lawyer friend should have kept a closer eye on you!

Originally Posted by noman

...got mine from http://www.peakmoto.com $53 shipped by priority

Thanks! Those tapered rollers are going in, doesn't matter what the condition of the originals are. Same for wheel bearings and swingarm bearings/bushings.

Originally Posted by loggers-road

Great bike, nice to see one going back together. Last winter I rebuilt a 1978 CB750 Super Sport, a complete teardown and a joy to see finished. The bike is a blast to ride extremely reliable and fast with all four of those cylinders.

Cool old Honda!

[Skowinski]

In case anyone else is reading and has the same problem, I found a source for the muffler brackets:

http://www.cmsnl.com/products/cb500-..._cb500setstay/

Apparently they are reproductions of the OEM parts. That won't bother me one bit, no one will know but me!

Oh, and I discovered that just ordering OEM mufflers off a website like BikeBandit, especially if you are a AMA member and thus get a 10% discount, is much cheaper than buying from some of the guys who sell these muffler sets on ebay. Like about $200 cheaper...

[Skowinski]

Well, the electronic ignition arrived. Planning to mount the new points/condenser plate, get it set up and running, then install this. It will be nice to effectively have two ignitions systems, a backup in case of failure!



And, a really great guy from the SOHC4 forum sent me two right side handlebar switches to inspect, with instructions to just choose which one I wanted and send the other back. Didn't ask for any money in advance. How often does someone help out like that? Thanks Tom! I decided on the one on the right, which although somewhat more faded (the other is NOS) is the more correct part for my bike. Sent him the other one back along with some cash.



Sure looks better than what's on there, not to mention the fact that it has a starter button.

[TeneRay]

I'm going to warn you, SOHC4's can become and addiction.

I've owned a '78 750F in the past an now have one '72 750 runner and one '72 750 project. I don't know what it is about these old fours but I just can't get enough of them.

Have fun!

[BWatson]

Looking for a update on your project. Here is mine K0, maybe a little inspiration?

[Skowinski]

Very nice! You are way ahead of us. Probably be at that point in a month or so.

Edit: how did you get the engine so clean?

Here are a few pics from this weekend, finally got it up on the work stand, and started working on getting down to the bare frame.





Of course, noticed some things about the wiring harness. Looks like some of these connectors got hot at one time. Reminds me of my old GS1000 Suzuki. When the stator went on those it would really get the connectors to it hot. Not sure that is what caused this yet though.



And, a few spots where the insulation is rubbed off (or melted?). No big deal, easily fixed.

[MSrider]

Originally Posted by Skowinski

Very nice! You are way ahead of us. Probably be at that point in a month or so.

Edit: how did you get the engine so clean?

Here are a few pics from this weekend, finally got it up on the work stand, and started working on getting down to the bare frame.





Of course, noticed some things about the wiring harness. Looks like some of these connectors got hot at one time. Reminds me of my old GS1000 Suzuki. When the stator went on those it would really get the connectors to it hot. Not sure that is what caused this yet though.



And, a few spots where the insulation is rubbed off (or melted?). No big deal, easily fixed.

Hey, nice bike to start with. Very good condition for building.

Originally Posted by BWatson

Looking for a update on your project. Here is mine K0, maybe a little inspiration?

Super nice work. Did you clean the engine(cylinder block and cases) or is it painted?

[Skowinski]

Progress is slow, but moving along. The latest was to pull the wiring harness. Everything on these bikes basically connects through the headlight shell. The wires are color-coded, but some things seemed like they might not be clear months from now when it all gets plugged back together. So, Mrs. Skowinski methodically labeled everything so there will be no head scratching and hours of staring at wiring diagrams in the manual.

[Centaurious]

Just to let you know, these old Japanese Bikes don't have Phillips screws. what they have are JIS screws, Japanese Industrial Standard. The angles and such are close, but not a match. this contributes to the heads stripping.

Using a JIS bit in a hand impact driver will remove most of the screws, some just have to be drilled.

Good Luck

[anonny]

Originally Posted by Centaurious

Just to let you know, these old Japanese Bikes don't have Phillips screws. what they have are JIS screws, Japanese Industrial Standard. The angles and such are close, but not a match. this contributes to the heads stripping.

Using a JIS bit in a hand impact driver will remove most of the screws, some just have to be drilled.

Good Luck

Like a dis?

By bake98 at 2011-09-04

[hajime]

This is Mrs. Skowinski. Just read through this entire thread. Thanks everyone fof the information and encouragement. While Mr. Sko fixes dinner I have confiscated the moto lounge computer. This is going to be fun.
Background: While I was working away from home in a place where no motorbikes exist, deprived of the fantastic machines, Mr. Sko brought this bike home. Now it's my turn to have some fun.

[hajime]

Check out this old brake fluid.