Author Topic: 1976 CB500/550 Project "Squirrel" (Read 285197 times)

riverfever · « **Reply #150 on:** December 27, 2013, 09:12:26 PM »

Cal I never asked but wanted to know if you painted that orange tank with spray can or with an actual paint gun?

riverfever · « **Reply #151 on:** December 28, 2013, 07:52:35 AM »

Oh those tires are ancient. The front is a Sears tire. I'll let you know what the dates are just for grins.

riverfever · « **Reply #152 on:** December 28, 2013, 07:58:53 AM »

Someone that recently looked at my bike said they thought the license plate would look better if the bracket was bent a bit more so that the plate (even though curved) more closely matched the angle of the shock. Said he thought it would flow better. I hadn't noticed it until he mentioned it. As I've gotten into this project and started making changes, I always wanted things to end up being more minimal and I think it's going that way. With the plate, I also don't want to attract law enforcement. I think the view of the plate from the back is perfect right now. I worry that bending it that way will make it more difficult to see. It would also make the bracket more complicated and I like how it's simple. I just need to come up with a light before I ride at night (which could be a while). Right now I am reconsidering the light mount and thinking about putting it under the plate. This would keep the top clean. I just have to figure out how to make a simple box to house it. This would also make it easier to hide the wiring. Thoughts?

robdrobd · « **Reply #153 on:** January 01, 2014, 08:58:14 AM »

Very nice work!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

riverfever · « **Reply #154 on:** January 01, 2014, 05:31:48 PM »

Thank you.

So, once again, my lovely wife has come through and offered to buy me something for the motorcycle. Gauges. These are the ones I've been looking at from Dime City.

The tach:

This is the speedo.

Now...I was going to order side covers from DCC as well because one of mine is destroyed (cracked in about 5 places and held together with Duct tape). But...I may hold off on that for a bit. Now I think it would be smarter to order a left hand control so that I can do all the wiring of the new gauges and horn (need to find one), try to get the high beam working, etc. all at once so I don't have to take the headlight bucket off again.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #155 on:** January 01, 2014, 07:46:09 PM »

Quote from: riverfever on January 01, 2014, 05:31:48 PM

Thank you.

So, once again, my lovely wife has come through and offered to buy me something for the motorcycle. Gauges. These are the ones I've been looking at from Dime City.

The tach:

This is the speedo.

Now...I was going to order side covers from DCC as well because one of mine is destroyed (cracked in about 5 places and held together with Duct tape). But...I may hold off on that for a bit. Now I think it would be smarter to order a left hand control so that I can do all the wiring of the new gauges and horn (need to find one), try to get the high beam working, etc. all at once so I don't have to take the headlight bucket off again.

Good idea in sticking with wiring/electrical/gauges. Why have to open up the rat's nest again? You can always do side covers later.

riverfever · « **Reply #156 on:** January 03, 2014, 08:04:13 PM »

So I live about 15 miles from some extremely good fly fishing water that I spend a lot of time on in the summers. One section of water has pullouts every so often on a paved road and I've been thinking about whether I could ride the motorcycle there. I need to be able to carry boots, waders, net, and backpack. I know I could throw a milk crate on the seat but I'd like it to look good. Would it be possible to mount a set of aluminum cases to the sides of the bike? Anyone seen this done?

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #157 on:** January 04, 2014, 12:44:06 AM »

Similar idea of saddlebags:
http://www.lossaengineering.com/2013/04/18/1970-honda-cl450/

riverfever · « **Reply #158 on:** January 04, 2014, 08:01:55 AM »

Hmmmm. That actually looks pretty good. This would also be a pretty cheap solution for storage as well because the aluminum cases seem to go for $500ish used. Great suggestion. Thanks.

dagersh · « **Reply #159 on:** January 07, 2014, 02:04:18 PM »

Why forgive? You made a beautiful motorcycle!

Gersh

riverfever · « **Reply #160 on:** January 07, 2014, 05:51:40 PM »

I got your message last night Cal. Thanks for the advice. I laid in bed for hours thinking about my tank and how unhappy I am with it. At this point I don't know what I'm going to do with it. I have two matching CB500 side covers now that I will turn my attention to. I'll clean them up, sand them out, fill in the holes where the badge went (was planning n using either filler or epoxy?), prime them and then wait until spring when it's warmer to figure out paint. I'll also sit tight with the tank until then probably and figure out if I'm going to scrap the tank all together, or continue to work with it. My fear right now is that I obviously don't know enough in terms of technique to know how in the hell to make the concave portions of the knee dents smooth since I'm using my hands to sand instead of a block. Last night I started thinking about using a piece of PVC with sand paper wrapped around it to be more consistent. This tank was an ambitious project for first time body work. Oh well. I probably won't throw in the towel with it yet but just walk away for a bit and do some other stuff.

riverfever · « **Reply #161 on:** January 07, 2014, 05:53:20 PM »

Oh and thanks for posting those pics. I blew them way up to se as much detail as possible. Looks really nice. That bike will be sharp when you guys are done.

dagersh · « **Reply #162 on:** January 08, 2014, 09:11:13 AM »

Cal - I knew you were joking! Great bike you ended up with!

River, follow this man!

Highjack over!

Gersh

riverfever · « **Reply #163 on:** January 11, 2014, 10:41:46 AM »

I won't lie...struggling a bit here lately with this thing. Simple things though. I recently realized that this bike had a 550 left side cover and a 500 right side cover. The left side is destroyed so I've been on the hunt for a new 500 one. Amazing what these sell for used. I finally found one the other night for 30 and paid 10 to get it shipped here. Like the one I have, it was going to need some sanding and cleanup before paint but that's fine. Well I got home the other night and the box was on the door step. I was excited to see it so I opened it up, went to put it on the bike and...it cracked. Couldn't believe it. The plastic is just so brittle. This morning I was going to repair it by plastic welding it and one of the mounting tabs broke off. I give up. Just on the side covers. I think that old plastic just gets really fragile. I'll end up ordering some replica replacements from the guy on here that sells them most likely.

dagersh · « **Reply #164 on:** January 12, 2014, 06:19:54 AM »

Riv,

Its a common story unfortunately. Remember, these bikes are four decades old, and many were considered "disposable". That plastic was not well cared for in most cases, and the UV rays have done their damage over time.

I recently picked up a '75 CB750 in Planet Blue - 100% there except for the stock exhaust. When I went to remove the side covers, they both literally shattered - and I was being VERY careful, spraying some lubricant into he grommets. I will be replacing them with repops...

Look at this way, if you went through the trouble and expense of painting them, and then they cracked, it would REALLY suck!

As for you plateaued progress - take a breath, make a list of what your next steps should be and start knocking them off one by one. Soon enough, you will be moving forward and feeling satisfied.

Keep it up!

Gersh

riverfever · « **Reply #165 on:** January 12, 2014, 08:36:52 AM »

Hindsight being 20/20, I knew right away when it cracked a bit upon installation that I had made the wrong decision. My wife cringed but I wasn't that mad at all. You're totally right too. Those covers come off and on quite a bit. It would have cracked eventually. After paint. Then I'd be really disappointed. I'll take a break from the tank and regroup. Gauges will be here soon and, hopefully a left side control. I need a horn and I'm taking Cal's advice and will be putting on some small blinkers. I'll probably stockpile stuff until I get all of that so I can just do electrics all at once. Then I'll come back to the tank and side covers and probably be ready to talk about paint scheme. I still keep waffling on that.

rb550four · « **Reply #166 on:** January 12, 2014, 02:59:29 PM »

A month or so ago I got some Frankenstuff side covers, I think you'll like them.lightly sand them before priming.
I would take off the rubber side cover stays ,stick them in a freezer bag with a couple spoonfuls of Simple Green to clean and rejuvenate them. I dab a little grease in them before sticking the covers in them, that way they stay lubed and allow an easy removal next time you take them out.

dagersh · « **Reply #167 on:** January 13, 2014, 10:24:38 AM »

Simple Green rejuvenates Rubber? What doesn't this stuff do? Fantastic!!!

I am going to try this on my 550 Grommets.

Gersh

riverfever · « **Reply #168 on:** January 14, 2014, 05:38:50 PM »

Not much new to report but I did weld a small tab on the plate relocation bracket so that just in case that lone bolt comes loose the whole thing doesn't go into the spokes. I'll prime and paint it this weekend.

riverfever · « **Reply #169 on:** February 06, 2014, 10:07:27 AM »

Hey Cal! No worries. It would have still been sitting here anyways. Pretty excited to see it though. The timing is great as I have some other stuff on the way for the project that should be here real soon too. Thank you again.

riverfever · « **Reply #170 on:** February 06, 2014, 10:19:15 AM »

Really haven't done much to the project in a while. I have some stuff on the way that might be here this weekend. In preparation for that, I decided to take a look at the wiring harness where it runs along the frame under the tank. It was wrapped in electrical tape. Not sure why I decided to remove the tape and have a closer look other than just piece of mind I suppose. Glad I did. While I was unwrapping the tape, I found about 4 areas where the wires had been spliced and patched up. When I removed this tape, they all looked suspect. So I reworked them.

I also found 2 areas that looked just like this.

No tape covering them and the wire that was spliced in just ended. I also found the wires for the turn signals were cut and also left hanging but I'm pretty sure they are not connected at either end. So...this wiring harness isn't exactly pretty but everything seems to work and I think it's probably safer than it was. If I end up keeping this motorcycle then the long term plan (perhaps next winter) will be to strip it all down, look more closely at the internals of the motor, paint the frame and then do some updates to the electrical system and wiring to make things cleaner and simplified for a hack like me.

riverfever · « **Reply #171 on:** February 06, 2014, 03:54:43 PM »

Is there a way to repair the connector for the ignition wires? One of the wires came out of the female spade connector (pulled out of the back of the connector). Can I get a new spade connector, replace the wire and then reinsert it into that connector and still use it or do I need to find a used 4 wire connector and splice it in? I'd rather not buy a new ignition.

riverfever · « **Reply #172 on:** February 06, 2014, 04:07:07 PM »

Would the old spade connector come out from the front or the back?

riverfever · « **Reply #173 on:** February 06, 2014, 04:16:45 PM »

OK...I got it out. Pretty simple really. Off to Radioshack to see if they have what I need. Thanks again Cal.

riverfever · « **Reply #174 on:** February 08, 2014, 12:02:25 PM »

Bit of an update. Yesterday my new gauges, left side control and horn showed up. So I started this morning.

With the smaller gauges, I felt the need to go back and rework the mount I previously made for the ignition. This flows/looks better.

At this point I think the gauges are wired correctly. The tach was easy but the speedo was a bit more involved. Here's where I have some questions. There are positive and negative wires for each of the four indicator lights (turn sigs, oil, neutral, hi beam). There's 2 more wires for the back light for the gauge. I took all the negatives together and grounded them. I left the turn signal wire hanging because I don't have them yet. I took the positive for the oil and wired it to the blue/red wire which should be the oil sensor. I took the positive for the neutral and wired it to the green/red wire from the NSS. I took the positive from the high beam and wired it into the blue from the headlight. When I turn the key on, the gauges light up but even in neutral, I don't get the neutral indicator light to illuminate. Not sure if the motor needs to be running for this to happen. I don't have an issue with the oil light not coming on. I'd rather not see that light up but I do want to know that I have it hooked up correctly.

Next I started working on the left side control. This looks to be a bit of a pain and I would love some help. Here's the switch mounted. I considered drilling the bars but the wiring harness is pretty big and I'm not sure a hole that big in the bar is a good idea.

This is the wiring diagram and I don't know where to go from here.

The black and pink will go to the horn so I can handle that.
Wondering if the yellow for hi beam will connect to blue?
2 turn signal wires will get ignored.
Green should go to white for low beam.
I have no clue what the brown/white wire is but I'm thinking hot with the key?
No clue where to go with headlight main wire, and parking light, and the kill switch main and ground.

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Author Topic: 1976 CB500/550 Project "Squirrel" (Read 285197 times)