Topic: Cb500 light dimm, hard clutch lever and oily head

[Clasico]

As i explained in my introduction i'm about to buy an impressive K1 cb500 four.
The bike looks gorgeous (i'll post some pics ASAP) and drives -at least on the parking lot test i did- very well.

The cons
- the clutch lever is pretty stiff
- there is some oil mist round the head possibly coming from the valve cover gasket but not sure
- front brake very poor, dont know if it is normal
- lights dim at iddle, front, rear and even idiot lights

Are those above of any big concern or just model treats?

[Randy]

Congrats on your bike...

did the bike sit for a long time?..

I would do alot of searching on this site... i have found answers to all my problems here.. If there was a problem with a cb500, someone has already had that problem and fixed it..
Randy

[Clasico]

Thanks Randy. Even though i dont have the bike yet, i should be closing the deal this week.

The bike was restored some 5 years ago by its previous owner and has been little used by its present one which is more of a fastidious owner than a biker himself.

 It's in good nick though and everything seems to work ok apart from details lusted on my first post

[martin99]

Congrats on the bike.

Sounds like it may have been sitting a while and in need of a little straightforward maintenance. If the lights get brighter when you rev it, you can be reasonably assured it's charging ok. Could be just a case of needing to recharge the battery, or if it's five years old you may find it needs a new one.

Again, if it's been sitting it may explain the heavy clutch. Plates might be sticking. Lube the cable, change the engine oil and adjust as per the manual. Sometimes some gentle rocking to and fro will loosen things up. Poor front brake might be piston seized in the caliper, glazed pads, blown hose - probably best to go through it all properly.

If the source of the oil leak isn't obvious, clean it all up, dust some baby powder over it, run it and then you should be able to see where the leak is.

You haven't mentioned anything that doesn't come under general maintenance anyway, get it sorted and enjoy!

[wowbagger]

While you are at it with the clutch and given that it's a cb500, I've pull the left side cover and make sure that the clutch push rod is still in once piece, that the ball bearing that sits between the clutch actuator and the push rod is still there and that the actuator and collar are not cracked. These are all fairly common issues with the cb500 clutch. They are not expensive to fix but all play a part in how easy the clutch level moves.

[Clasico]

Thanks oldkoolnuts and wowbagger.
Regarding the  clutch, the seller tells me that it's been changed recently for apparently no good reason cause the discs were perfect -sic-
I gather from your comments that i should treat stiff clutch lever with some suspiction on rod lever state.
 I guess that if it's been changed recently it shouldn't be hard to engage, should it?
.

[Bailgang]

While you are at it with the clutch and given that it's a cb500, I've pull the left side cover and make sure that the clutch push rod is still in once piece, that the ball bearing that sits between the clutch actuator and the push rod is still there and that the actuator and collar are not cracked. These are all fairly common issues with the cb500 clutch. They are not expensive to fix but all play a part in how easy the clutch level moves.

+1

That was precisely the issues I had with a 73 500 I recently picked up. The outer shell of the adjuster was broken, the pushrod was broken and someone put the wrong clutch plates in the clutch throwing the stack height off. Fortunately I had another cb500 clutch with the correct plates, made my own pushrod and picked up another adjuster from ebay. It all works perfect now.

[Bailgang]

Thanks oldkoolnuts and wowbagger.
Regarding the  clutch, the seller tells me that it's been changed recently for apparently no good reason cause the discs were perfect -sic-

If the seller still has the original clutch discs then you might want to nab them just in case he put the wrong discs in like the PO of my 500 did.

[Clasico]

Good idea bailgang, i'll ask the seller

[bjbuchanan]

Clutch cable routing and lubing come to mind as well. It really is surprising how different it feels compared to a "good" setup