Topic: CB500 Project, Leslie. Runs, rides. Fun Fun Fun

[Mo]

Sometimes, I look back at what this thread started off as, and I realize something quite sobering. I have spent more money on this project, doing things the right way instead of taking shortcuts. While this is awesome (to me, anyway), I am sad at all the money that I could have been spending on beer.


Hey All!!

So as some may know, I purchased this bike over the summer and have (slowly) been working on getting it back to riding shape. I've already popped the top end to do a freshener, and rebuilt the carbs (never got around to taking pics of it, unfortunately).

Anyways, I figured I'd start this thread to track some progress. My current goal is to get it functionally sound, and visually acceptable by the time the riding season comes around. With any luck, I'll make it!!


Here are some pics of the state of the bike:





Just doing some painting:







Tank had a really nasty rust are on the right side. Since I eventually plan on getting the whole tank repainted, I'm settling for a quick and ugly masking job:





Here's some pics on the work space. I dont really have any shelves, benches or storage so I do all of my work on the ground. I'm 22 so thank fully I don't have any back problems.



Here are my crappy header pipes. They are in rough shape and the muffler was completely rusted through so I had to chuck it. I'm hoping they'll last me at least a year until I can get some replacements.



Here are some pictures of the rear wheel. It's got some rust issues and I'm not sure steel wool alone is going to help solve it. Does anyone have some good advice on how to handle them??











And finally, I can't for the life of me figure out how to remove the rear brake assembly. The manual isn't very clear on the procedure. Thoughts?

[iron_worker]

The drum cover should just pull off. Maybe your pads are seized against the drum?

IW

[Greggo]

Best trick for removing rust from the rims is a wire wheel.

+1 to what Iron Worker said...the brake plate should slide right out.

[Mo]

On the drum brake: Lovely, so it's safe to say its stuck and will require some hamma' time.

Wire wheel it is!!

[Greggo]

On the drum brake: Lovely, so it's safe to say its stuck and will require some hamma' time.

Wire wheel it is!!

Don't beat it up just yet!  Does it spin inside the wheel, or is it totally seized up?

[Mo]

Its completely seized up. I've been spraying it with pb blaster for a few months now actually. I initially thought I had to spin it off. I'll to loosen the brakes first before pulling.

[rb550four]

Ive had luck with hair dryers, heat gun and rubber hammer. Remove brake lever,shoot PB around the brake cam, heat it let cool,heat again, install lever attempt to move by hand.
    Didn't work? heat the surrounding area around  the lever, light bumps both ways , work it loose, add more PB until moving freely.
     Lever moves freely with no resistance, brake shoes are seized to the drum . Stand the rim up, shoot pb in the hollow at brake shoes ( they are shot anyways), leave the hairdryer on high on the center of the hub, go to the kitchen and make a sandwich, oh , and grab a beer, eat sandwich and watch the wheel ( fire prevention), bump  lightly with rubber mallet until it pops loose.
      Didn't pop loose ? Remove sprocket , spray ,heat and bump lightly, the shoes are spread open but there is 2 springs pulling them together , that means that the studs that the shoes are attached to have oxidized in the brake ON position, heat the 2 dimples on the brake side , work the lever and lightly bump with rubber hammer.   should work. Didn't work? Repeat all of the steps above.

[Mo]

Will do. Thanks!!

I have some questions about my rear wheel at this point. I've been taking a wire wheel to it, attempting to clean it up. There's a lot of pitting/flaking of the chrome (which is fine since I was going to paint it anyway) but I'm not sure how safe the rim is.



Here's the worst of the pitting.



Same area, but inside the rim. I think I need a coarser wire wheel as this stuff isn't coming out easily.



Different angle



I'm pretty concerned about this chunk here:

[iron_worker]

Try reversing your wire wheel. The wires get bent over backwards and start rubbing instead of cutting.

Hang on though because it will really want to grab in the other direction. Also safety glasses would be a good idea because some of the wires may break off and shoot out.

IW

[Mo]

Haha thanks for the advice. I was pulling wire out of my hoodie for about 30 min. I was using a cheap wire wheel on my rotary tool. I'm waiting for my corded drill to come in so I can put a better wheel to use.

I think I'm going to paint over these with some VHT wheel paint. Anyone have any experience with this product before?

[seanbarney41]

Malkaysi, if you ever get over towards Kalamazoo, I have a decent rear wheel for a cb550, complete with brake parts.  Only drawback is a poorly painted hub.  I would ship it, but it is big, heavy, expensive.  Pm me if interested.

[Mo]

Thanks for the help. Here's some updates on the rear wheel. I've been going at it with a wire wheel and its just not looking good. Does anyone know if this is safe?



I got the rear hub off and it was pretty funny how trashed the shoes were. I think the inner walls need some work. Any ideas on how to handle that?

[iron_worker]

That rim looks like it's probably safe to use. Looks like the rust has mostly just bubbled up the chrome. Seems to have spared the spokes/nipples for the most part.

It would be best to replace I doubt it would explode while you're riding it or anything. Don't quote me on that though. lol

IW

[Mo]

Haha forreal? Do I need to be concerned about its popping the tubes? Also, would you recommend smoothing it down or just painting over it (to keep from re-rerusting)?

[Bankerdanny]

The metal on the rims is pretty thick, so I don't think you really need to worry. My rims were less rusty than yours. I just wire brushed them and then painted the inside with rust neutralizer.

For your bike I would use a medium grit sand paper to take off any sharp edges on the interior rust, then seal with neutralizer. Make sure you install new rim strips before you install the tire and tube.

The tubes are not under high pressure like a skinny bike tire, so as long as you make sure there aren't any jagged edges you should be fine.

[Mo]

Aww man, you guys are the best. I was just about ready to drop $100 on a new rim.

[cheftuskey121]

great work so far man, keep it up. I just had fun with my rear wheel today (almost completely taken apart, but I m completely rebuilding) and my shoes were seized up too. keep it up man, I am 23, and have such an attraction to these bikes, glad I'm not the only young one!

[Mo]

Sorry if this is boring ya'll, but more wheels Progress! PAINT!!

I had rust reformer on there to clean up some rust. 24 hours later, I shot it with some primer layers.



Followed that with a few coats of black satin and then clear cover and voila!







Admittedly, not the cleanest job but when compared to what I started out with, I'm super happy.

[Mo]

I was able to drive up to the garage this weekend and did some re-assembly of the various parts I had taken off to clean, etc.

I'm gearing up to try to start her up, but my electrics are still funky. Everything looks connected properly in the bucket, but I'm still not getting anything.

1. Starter Switch Issue: I press it, nothing. I checked for continuity (one probe on the red/yellow bullet connector in the bucket, the other on the handlebars (stock) and nothing there. Any ideas?) Solenoid and the starting motor work correctly.

2. Neutral Light: It looks properly connected as per the diagram, but the light never comes on. The rear wheel is off, but I'm pretty sure I have it in neutral as I can rotate the engine side sprocket with my hands.

That's all I really spent time checking when  I was there. I'm getting anxious as spring is right around the corner. I'm trying to hit the street, you know what I mean? 

[iron_worker]

1) So you get no continuity even when the button is pressed? This is probably an issue of corrosion inside the controls. If you're going to attempt to pull it apart make sure to take pics for reference as there a lot of small pieces and springs etc.

2) Is your actually light working ... could it be burnt out?

IW

[rb550four]

Fuse? Fuse leads clean? Did you check with probe that the power is actually crossing the fuses?
If if checks out , follow  your wiring diagram on each of the wire to find where the electric stopped flowing.
Are you running an old ign. sw ? Have you checked that? Corrosion is is certainly one of the usual suspects on older machines, Human error is also another factor, recheck your connections while you probe,and cancel the error factor.
I am assuming that you are running stock wiring harness.
 Iron worker is  right - have you checked the condition of the bulbs and sockets?
No offence but it sounds like somebody didn't check anything on the wiring, sounds like "plug it in and see what happens" to me, That approach usually means that you'll be doing it twice. No worries, riding time is plenty far away, don't be frustrated, take your time and go through the wires, you'll find the problem ,correct it , and still have plenty of time to polish it before it's riding season. good  hunting.

[Vinhead1957]

Could be the safety switch if so equipped I chased my tail on an intermittent one. I think you can bypass it by connecting the dk green to the green/red check your diagram

[Mo]

So a few more details:

The obvious:

I replaced the lights on the indicator panel with new ones and they all work. The sockets were all checked/cleaned. The oil light indicated socket was the worst of them, and that now functions correctly. The flasher light, oil light and headlight light all work. Just neutral.

I've tried several combinations of the ignitions system, (kill on/off, key on, etc). The headlights (hi/low) also both work.

As far as I can tell, the CB500 only had one fuse, from the line going directly into the system from the positive terminal on the battery. This too has been replaced and there is current flowing.

I think my next plan of action is to disconnect, clean and then reconnect all the bullet connectors.

Some questions:

1. This may be dumb, but what are the key ignition positions. From http://oldmanhonda.com/MC/wiring500.html it looks like there is a position 1 & 2. Whenever I try my key, I can pull it out when its in 2, but not in 1. Am I missing something here?

2. Also may seem dumb (but I can't really tell with my rear wheel off) but is the bike in neutral?

Honestly, this is all I can really tell from now. My garage is ~40 miles away so I don't really get a chance to check it out during the week.

[rb550four]

Your neutral indicator wire above the front sprocket , is it plugged in?Did you take any of that stuff apart? Did you put it all back together and have an oblong part with a hole in it left over?If you still have the case cover over the chain on it, take it off.  Check and see if the cam is on the switch. Shouldn't be a problem with the neutral indicator switch if the wheel off as it is monitored at the transmission.
 Are you able to shift the machine? Could it be between gears? Have you or PO taken the clutch case off and removed the shifting mechanism, and was it put back together properly? Think that you should take the wheel with you next time and count the gears a few times, neutral is always in the same place unless, you are between gears. When you find true neutral , check out the neutral switch and make sure it's all there and doing it's job when shifted in and out of neutral position. Let us know how ya make out.

[MotorFist]

Just a bit of my experience when I first picked up my 500, it wouldn't start on the button either. My problem was the actual contact on the button inside the switch. rb550 mentioned this is a good place to check too.

I carefully took the switch apart and used Emory cloth to clean the contacts. Great news is I picked the bike up cheap because the P.O. was too intimidated to try and sort out electrical issues. 

There is a lot of knowledge to be found on this forum from some really great people!  Congrats on your bike and dont stress about the issues you are fighting with now!  I ride the piss out of mine and love it!