CB500-4 daily rider/cafe project
 

ent and picked up a non running '72 CB 500-4 for $800 this morning. First bike I've had/ridden, and just had to get one.

On the ride home.

Attachment 201168

First thing we did was drain the gas and spray some carb cleaner into the bowls.

Attachment 201169

The bike started right up with some new gas, but ran a little rough, so we let it warm up and did a few laps around the neighborhood with it. After a little while I had my roommate follow me to the gas station, then to Jimmy John's for a victory dinner.

Here are a few pictures from the garage after. I'm going to tear the carbs apart to clean them as the choke has to be on to run decently and the bike feels like there is much more power to be had. The speedo doesn't work, and the starter needs to be rewired, and many things are going to see some flat black paint in the near future. Also I'm going next weekend to take the motorcycle course so I can get my endorsement.

Attachment 201170

Attachment 201171

Attachment 201172

Attachment 201173

Attachment 201174

Attachment 201175

Congrats, now stay off the street till you get that endorsement! A drill press is your friend. Softly mount the threads of the screw in the chuck, bump the speed up to max and use some very fine grit sand paper on all the bolts, they'll polish right up. Takes me about 30 seconds to do one. Hit everything else with flat black (although your paint looks decent), chop the fenders and you'll have a good looking cafe bike.

Yeah, I'm not riding the street any more till I get that endorsement. The bike has no tag and is not currently registered, so that is just an accident waiting to happen. Also, while I can ride I have no place on the major roads right now as I cannot imagine what I would do in an emergency situation, and have a bunch to learn.

Cool bike.

Beater bikes are the best to learn on, and it won't be too fast for you. My $400 GPZ has been good to me, minus the other night when it stranded me an hour from home. lol

I just bought a cheap 82 KZ1000 like yours to though just my .02

Mine is '82 KZ550.

I cant wait for warm weather to cold

I'm in love with this bike.

Great look, great color...and I've never ridden the 500Four...but want to.

Congrats. Dress for the crash...not for the ride.

I sold this to buy my Miata-

Attachment 201151

When I got it it looked like this-

Attachment 201152

Go to Welcome to SOHC4.NET, the Home of the SOHC/4 Owners Club | SOHC/4 Owners Club Check out the forum. They are the experts on these things. Loads of knowledge there.

The bike above was a 750, but I have owned a 550 in the past and having ridden both, as well as a friends 500 (the guy/bike that got me interested) I can tell you the cb500 is the one to have. a bit more high strung than the 550 (in a good way) and frankly the 750 is just to fucking big. I dont mean power I mean weight, the 500/550 just feels batter to ride and the power difference is not nearly enough to sacrifice the handling. Bit like comparing Miatas to mustangs actually...............

So, what's the one thing I would do right after work today?

If you guessed rip the bike apart for some cleaning/rebuilding you would be right.

Attachment 201117

We fixed the #1 carb which was stuck closed, got the electric start going, took off some things to be repaired/painted, and did some general cleaning up. For some reason the car still isn't firing on cylinder one and not strongly on cylinder four, so we are going to pull it back apart tomorrow to try and clean out the jets better, and paint a few things. The coil is sparking, so I know that isn't the issue.

Also, this is why my side of the garage is amazing.

Attachment 201118