Topic: Grandpa's 72' CB500 Rebuild "Gramps"

[farinhite]

Been posting questions for a while, so I figure I'd share the rest of the rebuild with you guys.

I got my grandfathers motorcycle shipped to LA from Ohio back in March. I've been dreaming of restoring this bike since I was 15 and I finally decided it was time to just do it (even though I had no previous experience with motorcycles).

Naive? Yes. Stupid? Maybe. Determined? For sure.

This is what it looked like when my Dad pulled it out of the garage after sitting for almost 20 years. The Exhaust was cut off by my uncle, who tried to restore it, but quickly gave up.



After a nightmarish ordeal with Uship, and a month later, I received the bike.


The bike is almost completely 100% original with 3,600 miles on it. Original paint, seat, exhaust (now headers) ect.


So we started tearing the bike down, and it was surprisingly clean. Some rust on the frame here and there, a lot of dirt and decades of dust of course, but everything looked to be in tact. The engine kicked over.

Did run in to a few problems of course. Because it had been sitting for 20 years, it had a considerable amount of rust and varnish in the tank which would need to be addressed. Also the master cylinder and front caliper were completely locked up as well.

Got a new battery and electrical proved to be in working order, however one of these days I'll probably go back and clean and recap most of it.

Overall it was in good shape. After cleaning the carbs and and putting fuel filters on we started it up, surprisingly enough it started up almost right away.

[farinhite]

After a bunch of cleaning, polishing, chem dipping/cleaning the carbs, and general TLC I went ahead and bought a pair of MAC 4-2 pipes, and cut down the stock headers to fit. I do like the look of the 4-2s, however someday my goal is to do a complete teardown of this bike and find a pair of NOS 4-4s. Until then, these will do.


Next, I decided to tackle the wheel situation.


I knew that I probably didn't want to do this process more than once, so I completely broke the wheels down and got new spokes. I also decided that to save money I would polish out the hubs myself, which was one of the biggest arduous chores on the bike yet.


I sent the rims out for chroming, which proved to be expensive, however when they came back Im glad I did.


Re-laced them myself. Took me a couple times per wheel to get them right, but it's actually pretty straight forward once you get the hang of it.


Bought a pair of Bridgestones and took them to Atlantis in Silverlake to get wrapped and trued. They were a little pricier than I was hoping for truing, however they were very nice people and I'll probably take my stuff there again. Wheels looked good when they came back.


After a month and a half of just working on the wheels, I finally got them back on the bike, and boy did they make a difference.


Note: Girlfriends and center stands make nice bike stands when combined. Also remember to put your front fender on BEFORE the wheel. 

[farinhite]

And my dad even sent me a birthday present! Original owners manual in my grandpas handwriting, and of course a Neil Young CD, cause he's rad like that.

[goldarrow]

Very nice. Keep it up

[jerry h]

Your wheels look great!   
Where did you send your rims if I may ask?
Really cleaning up nice.

[farinhite]

Your wheels look great!   
Where did you send your rims if I may ask?
Really cleaning up nice.

Thanks!

I got them rechromed at Astro Chrome in Van Nuys. It was a little pricey, about $300 for both, but when I took them to Atlantis to get the wrapped the Hondaheads over there were freaking out cause they looked so good.

Im sure there might be cheaper place to ship your rims to get chromed, but I didnt wanna chance it.

[Greggo]

That tank looks beautiful.  Nice bike.

[farinhite]

That tank looks beautiful.  Nice bike.

Yanno, the left side is immaculate, however the ride side has a nasty scratch on the black and the emblem needs re-painted. I need to find someone who can touch it up without re-painting the whole tank.

Any ideas of someone in LA?

[dave500]

man thats excellent,a true heirloom,,i hope you keep it forever!

[Retro Rocket]

I love that color....

[farinhite]

man thats excellent,a true heirloom,,i hope you keep it forever!

Ha! Much agreed. Even if I ever decide to stop riding, it'll have a front row seat in my living room.

[Greggo]

That tank looks beautiful.  Nice bike.

Yanno, the left side is immaculate, however the ride side has a nasty scratch on the black and the emblem needs re-painted. I need to find someone who can touch it up without re-painting the whole tank.

Any ideas of someone in LA?

Have a go at painting the emblem yourself with some Testors model paint.  See if that makes it good enough for you, and go from there...it may just be.

I only know paint guys up here in the Bay Area.

[farinhite]

That tank looks beautiful.  Nice bike.

Yanno, the left side is immaculate, however the ride side has a nasty scratch on the black and the emblem needs re-painted. I need to find someone who can touch it up without re-painting the whole tank.

Any ideas of someone in LA?

Have a go at painting the emblem yourself with some Testors model paint.  See if that makes it good enough for you, and go from there...it may just be.

I only know paint guys up here in the Bay Area.

Might be time for a trip up the coast soon anyways. ;-)

[farinhite]

So an update. I took the carbs apart once again, as I was still having issues with poor idling and the float bowls over-flowing.

I went at the jets with some guitar string and really got them cleaned. Also I noticed that the float pins seemed to be somewhat gunked up, so I went ahead and cleaned those again with some carb cleaner, light sand paper, and a little steel wool.



I put them back together and threw back on the bike, and that seems to have helped tremendously. In the near future I will buy the entire carb rebuild kit, but for now this will do, just to get the bike running.



Next up, fork seals, lower fork polishing and new boots!

[harisuluv]

You can buy the front rim new for $78.58 (Honda OEM) the rear wheel is not listed as available from the place I looked at.  You might be able to find it listed under another model though.

Beautiful bike!

[MoMo]

Good story, keep the family heirloom going ...Larry

[farinhite]

You can buy the front rim new for $78.58 (Honda OEM) the rear wheel is not listed as available from the place I looked at.  You might be able to find it listed under another model though.

Beautiful bike!

Yeah... I've realized that. However I was not able to find a rear rim with good enough chrome to match an OEM rim, and I was getting impatient, so I just decided to have them re-chromed. Expensive, but they came out beautiful and my hopes is to never have to chrome them again.

[farinhite]

So I've finally got the bike tuned enough that I feel comfortable going on more than 15 minute rides around the block.

Just installed a new Uni filter and plugs, however it looks like its still running a little rich. Plugs are pretty black. Let the mixture screws out a little, that seemed to help a tad. Also might need to re-adjust float heights again, it seems to be spitting gas every once and a while.

But for now, it's on its way.

[Jay D.]

  Subscribed.  Keep it coming.

[stuartni]

lovely bike

[iron_worker]

I'm starting to really like that green.

IW

[farinhite]

I'm starting to really like that green.

IW

It's funny you say that. When I was a kid, I hated the color, and always thought "Why'd grandpa pick that color".

The older I get, the more I appreciate the color. It's got a really nice almost two tone undercoat to it as well. Really dig it.

I wish I could find someone in LA to fix the minor scuffs it does have without repainting the whole tank.

[Stev-o]

Nice bike and great story.    Paint is only original once, if the scratches are not too bad, just leave it for now.

[dave500]

yeah if the factory paint is still good leave it,good on you.

[paulmac]

This is what a new tank of that color looks like. I am restoring a 500/4 72 and I just got it back from my brother in law. He did a great job and only cost $150 au. Great to have in-laws in the trade.