Topic: My first bike! 1972 CB500

[Accorn]

Hi all,


I recently purchased my first motorcycle off of Craigslist and I am very excited to get it up and running. I have been wanting to learn about combustion engines for awhile now and I wanted a little project to call my own. Like I said, I purchased this bike from a CL add for really cheap, $250. As far as I can tell, it was a decent buy even though it does not currently run. The previous owner said that it was running until he put bad gas in it. He then just left it outside for a year and a half. The odometer says it has less than 10000 miles and the motor and frame look good so far. However there is allot of work to be done and I am new to this stuff so I will be using this site and its memebers a resource. The funniest and most troublesome about this bike was when I opened up the seat and took a look at the air box. The filter was absent and some critter decided to store and eat its acorns in the box and carb intake! Check out the pictures attached.

Problems I have found:
-clutch wont budge
-acorns in air system
-rusty gas tank
-rusty rear wheel spokes
-squishy nonworking front and rear brakes
-haven't tested any of the electricals but there are some loose wires
-leaking oil from shifter

Is there anything else I should check or be looking for? Right now I am concerned with just getting the bike running. I hope this only requires a carb cleaning to do that. Also, this will be a slow process because it is currently winter and snowy hear in MI and I don't have a place to work on it inside. Also, I am a senior engineering student who has an 8 month project to complete. I'm hoping I can just pull off the things I need and work on and take them to my school's machine shop.

What do you guys/gals think? is this a good buy or a dumb one. Either way I am excited to get my hands dirty.

[mjstone]

Welcome to the Forum!  Looks like you got a good deal.  Was there a tool tray/air housing cover with it? If not you will need to get one.  You will need an air filter, get the K&N foam filter that replaces the original, and there is a clip that holds the filter in place you will need as well, I used a tiny wedge of wood for mine until I finally scored one from a member here on the Forum.

With only 10K on the clock you should have a lot of life left in the old girl.  Mine is coming up on 45K and still runs strong.  Put almost 2200 miles on it just this summer during the week I rode in the SOHC4 Relay Rally.

Be sure to post in the 500/550 Registry thread.

MJ

[Accorn]

It did come with the tray cover but it is almost broken in two so I will have to find a new one.
I think my next step is going to be cleaning the carbs. Do I need the rebuild kit? I have been hearing both sides on that.
Thanks for the info.

[Greggo]

You will likely need at the very least: new float bowl gaskets (cheap), and float valve needles and seats (also cheap).  The jets can be cleaned, are Honda pieces are far superior to Keyster parts if you go for full kits, so reuse the stock stuff. 

That was a good price for that bike IMHO.

The clutch may be a stuck cable, or discs.  These 500's also have a weak spot in the 'clutch lifter' mechanism underneath the left side sprocket cover, so don't muscle it to free it if you can help it.

[mjstone]

Probably the Keyster kit is the best bet.  But like Greggo says, reuse your old metal parts, the original Honda parts are better.  Be sure you remove the emulsion tube and clean it out real good with special attention to the small holes in its sides.

MJ

[cmonSTART]

Looks like a fun project!  I bet you'll learn a ton from this!

[Accorn]

What can I do while I wait for good weather to work on the bike. I pulled the carbs off already, but I'm waiting to get some money for gaskets and such.

[ekpent]

You could download a manual,clean and polish,pull the plugs,set the valves,change the oil,clean the tank and petcock,there is more but that should keep you busy for a day or two    Whoops no garage correct ?  Job #1 is to find a friend with garage  Welcome to the forum from Kalamazoo neighbor---   Eric

[cmonSTART]

Do the spark plugs come out?  Or are they frozen in the head?  If you can get them out get some Marvel's Mystery Oil in each cylinder to lube things up a bit. 

You can also start going through the carbs and reading your manuals.