Topic: 500/550/650's that followed me home

[rb550four]

 Yes , the Pamco.... A year +ago I asked Scott S how he did his ignition on a 650 swap while retaining a 550 harness. He told me Pamco Pete hooked up a Pamco ignition on  a 750 points plate , ran a hot wire ,and was able to bypass the 650 harness ,CDI boxes and all , and stay with the stock 550 harness. That being the case and with decent 650 harnesses in short supply and No Aftermarket replacement, I was thinking , since there is an aftermarket 550 harness for around $100, it only makes sense to go Pamco (since Pete is a member). Way cheaper than repurchasing CDIs and messing around with a 650 harness on a 550...although I do like the 650 fuseblock, the location doesn't jive with the 550...of course , everything can be altered , but wouldn't it be nice to have a fresh aftermarket harness that is made for the stock 550,  with the 650 stock engine, a replacement electronic ignition (pamco) , no CDIs and no timewasting horsecrap to deal with. I sent Pete a few messages, he said he needed to know if there was other guys interested...there were a few , maybe not enough at the time, to put that Pamco package together . I wonder if there would be enough interest now. You know , I don't see why the same idea with Dyna S  electronic ignition instead of a Pamco wouldn't work.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Yes , the Pamco.... A year +ago I asked Scott S how he did his ignition on a 650 swap while retaining a 550 harness. He told me Pamco Pete hooked up a Pamco ignition on  a 750 points plate , ran a hot wire ,and was able to bypass the 650 harness ,CDI boxes and all , and stay with the stock 550 harness. That being the case and with decent 650 harnesses in short supply and No Aftermarket replacement, I was thinking , since there is an aftermarket 550 harness for around $100, it only makes sense to go Pamco (since Pete is a member). Way cheaper than repurchasing CDIs and messing around with a 650 harness on a 550...although I do like the 650 fuseblock, the location doesn't jive with the 550...of course , everything can be altered , but wouldn't it be nice to have a fresh aftermarket harness that is made for the stock 550,  with the 650 stock engine, a replacement electronic ignition (pamco) , no CDIs and no timewasting horsecrap to deal with. I sent Pete a few messages, he said he needed to know if there was other guys interested...there were a few , maybe not enough at the time, to put that Pamco package together . I wonder if there would be enough interest now. You know , I don't see why the same idea with Dyna S  electronic ignition instead of a Pamco wouldn't work.

I'm still interested, even if I go with a M-Unit harness.

[rb550four]

So I still have to clean out the inside of the tank, make a clutch cover gasket,and get a new battery
            But,
  I've been trumped with" pics or it didn't happen."  So there shall be pics.

 There was an initial teardown to get all the old paint and rust off the frame.

 and the repaint of the frame

  The engine needed a good cleaning and fresh paint, oh and a carb clean, and clutch plates, and an oil change.

And I needed more out of life than a stock color tank and just a silver engine so...this is it now.

[rb550four]

  David , thank you for asking. I did get to frame up and roof my daughter's house, she does however , expect me to get back to put up some Adirondack siding (Live edge kinda stuff) she likes it , I hate it so I'm not feeling prompted to go and do it yet.
  In  other news here on the homefront, the falling down barn, this winter's project

 To make more room in the shop for the 550s

So this is it today...looks a little better ...I mention this because of the bonus  motorcycle parts and storage of different variety of Honda

it's a work in progress.

[Restoration Fan]

Very nice work, rb.
I'll admit that I liked the shop better before you cleaned it out.  With all those SOHC's sitting in there, it's one of those place I hoped to one day get a chance to come up and walk through and admire all of them.

Also, I dig the solar panels on your daughter's roof.  Very nice.

Ron

[RAFster122s]

I believe he only showed us the shop expansion photos, not the daughter's place.
That is traditional lap siding is I think the name for it. (Please correct me if I'm wrong...) I will blame it on the fever if I am...just joking. I do have a fever today with this virus... was helping mom while she had it for about two weeks and after a week I picked it up . She's 78 and it is a nasty virus according to the doc (my brother).

So, she going back to work next week . She works 4 days a week at my brother's practice as receptionist and office mgr. He has a cash only business which makes more sense for people who don't ever reach their in network or out of network deductible... They get better care than most docs in the area because he truely cares about his patients and his rates are cheaper than most docs as he does have the additional overhead of staff to handle insurance claims. He provides the coded receipt the patient can send it for out of network claims. Anything major is often handled by specialists and they can switch to in network if they are going to have major expenses that year.
Enough about that and sorry for the side track...

So, you are cleaning out the tank after you have painted it?  I presume it is not a risky cleaning procedure, merely for junk and maybe varnish.  Bike looks really good, despite being a cruiser style 650.  I prefer the std bikes...but hey I don't have a dog in this fight so I guess I really don't have the right to an opinion and you don't do these for others so, you aren't really looking for approval.  Yeah, I played the "pictures card" so, I am grateful you obliged us voyeurers... we only read it for the articles or is it only the pictures...I don't remember what goes first.
I am glad your shop is doing good. I miss the rafter collection of tanks and pipes. That's cool you did the solar panels. Trouble on a lot of northern climates is the lack of sunny days to make it economical. I lived in Columbus Ohio for 19 years and didn't like it that much. Lived in Dayton for 6 months after having lived in Tucson for 3.5 years. Funny thing is Dayton had about 80 days of sun a year. I returned to AZ to Sierra Vista 80-90 miles from Tucson to SE and they had less than 80 cloudy days a year.  Solar panels work really well in Southern AZ and the power companies have very lucrative incentives to put them up on the business properties or houses. A church I went to in Tucson had covered parking with solar panels on top of the structure for about 3/4 of a 600 space parking lot for free. After a few years , not only supplying them with less power needs and lower electrical bills they would actually get the lower rates plus a check from the electric company for whatever the going rate was for that power supplement they could feed to the grid.  The Air Force base has a huge solar panel farm near the base housing and it lowers the gov't electricity needs for the housing and base with excess sold to the power company. They already had a berm buffering the housing area and a large buffer zone for protection of that housing as so the solar farm didn't cause any issues

[RAFster122s]

Did the bikes move to your other place?

Western Hills Honda's old NOS parts got raided by CML from the Netherlands not too long ago. They hit up a few other dealers old stock as well. It sucks because they may have it but it costs a fortune to get it from them and shipped to US or Canadian customers.  It is good a company that appreciates the collection and will be a resource for years to come and they do have to have parts to sell them.

Oh yeah, if you haven't shopped at Honda dealer South Sound Honda in Washington state, Olympia if I recall correctly... price them on your Honda parts orders. They are very good in both price and service.

There is also a small place, well not so small really, that is in Yuma, AZ that has tons of old stock parts for all kinds of bikes. They closed their doors in the 70s or 80s and  put everything in a warehouse and storage containers and storage facility. They just started selling stuff on ebay since 2003 so you have parts that were very good quality aftermarket and some NOS dealer parts small stuff. The husband died about a year ago and she's running the ebay business now alone. Things like points sets they had made in Japan that were to their specs and are not ND or Tec but they work great and are of much higher quality than nearly every points set that isn't Tec or ND. I have bought some stuff from them in the past and recently asked a question and with some exchanges of email I learned the back story of this seller and their source of parts. Ebay seller name is Mac Cycles and I think the ID is mac_cycles on ebay if I recall correctly. I have her phone number and email address. I think email can work if you know what your wanting but email is probably more time consuming than phone.  They ship quick at economical rates has been my experience. I bought a set of TEC points from them a couple years ago for my 550 but I don't know if they went through that collection or not. Their points have had no complaints from any customers about quality or ability to set like the Daaichi crap.  By and large the stuff they carried was of very good quality or they would not have been in business long nor would they have been able to afford the sheer volume of parts they amassed before closing their doors. They didn' t go out of business due to bad business, merely to retire. Hard to believe thay paid for storing the parts so long before starting to sell what they had.

David

David

[rb550four]

David, virus in the summer is just wrong. Get better soon. A 78 yr old Mom working 4 days a week, incredable. Good for her!
  The barn part is for overflow  bikes  ( like the 175s) and parts storage, spare engines and stuff that was taking up the space where I wanted to park the bikes together....really , it's just another hideout .
   I haven't moved the herd to the shop yet, I want to do the Goldwing this summer , looks like allot of big parts. Since I'll be a 1st timer on a GL, I'll need to keep the space open for an orderly dismantle ,orderly storage,and hopefully an orderly rebuild.  When it's done, I'd like to move them all back home.
   Yeah this is the cruiser type , not the classic 650. I can't stand the comstars either. Who the hell thought that was better than spokes? Some corporate ladder climbing brown noser with bad taste....,all water under the bridge, comstars exist.
   The angled nonclassic slant on the seat and tank was an emerging style issue all the manufactures fell for it. They all look like Yamahas to me.
    But even though it isn't a classic look (unless you are in your 20's) and has comstars, this 650 has been a really good bike for me and it deserved to be freshened up somehow.
   The tank wasn't too bad inside before, I was getting all neurotic about it and decided to go the vinegar route to save the paint....backfired. Gonna see a guy about a dryer and dry clean it with bolts, then vacuum it out clean. No flash rust. Problem solved ,right?

[Stev-o]

it's one of those place I hoped to one day get a chance to come up and walk through and admire  make a purchase  - all of them!

Fixed that for ya, Ron

[Restoration Fan]

it's one of those place I hoped to one day get a chance to come up and walk through and admire  make a purchase  - all of them!

Fixed that for ya, Ron

LOL, well I'll admit that I sure wouldn't mind taking one or two of them off his hands.  But as wonderful as my wife is about not complaining about my motorcycle habit, I'm fairly certain I'd be a single man if I came home with all of those bikes.

I suppose I could do like Bill B and have one on my kitchen table as a centerpiece! 

[rb550four]

  I was thinking about Bill B and a Honda centerpiece on the kitchen table...shear genius!
Although my wife puts up with allot of motorcycles first and other inconveniences like bike purchases on a Sunday outing or picking one up during a Mother's Day ride in the truck ...with attached trailer ( she never saw that one coming but, she's onto me now)Hmmm. I did have a notion at one point to decorate a living room corner with a nice 3 foot stainless stand I had bought and put  a rebuilt 550 engine on it. Tastefully done  I thought, however she disagreed, so it was never brought into the house. The woman is probably right, you got to draw the line somewhere. I guess.
 mini progress update:
 I took the day off and made the gasket I needed. took 15 minutes, holds oil, no problems. The clutch was looking to be in great shape, so I readjusted the bolt in the actuator a half a turn as my new gasket is just a little bit thicker than stock, seems like it'll work out okay, there is still all the adjustment left on lever. I'll find out for sure after the tank gets an Evaporust cleansing next week .My guy with the dryer with no heating element told me the whole thing finally STB, so I had to use  an alternative method to get it rust free. Then it's fire it up time and a shake down ride. And it'll be finished.
  This has been like my longest project ever. I wanted to slow down on a project and savor it, but I always thought about it at the strangest times when I could do nothing about it. Savoring a rebuild is a myth.  And should not be attempted by those who need results and immediate gratification.
 The chain was a little rusty , so while the swingarm was out during paint ,I ditched it and ordered a different one with a master link ...I ended up with an O ring chain. Don't know if I'll like it, if it's better' or if it's just a big mistake. The sprockets didn't have a 500 miles on them yet, looked new , so they weren't replaced. the masterlink was a PITA , I must say , to get on, and hopefully it will remain intact.
  Found a nicer set of tank emblems on a tank swinging in the rafters. Put them on this tank and it really is amazing how much better it looks by just doing that.
  Just checking in. Think I hear the fave 500 calling me. Yes that's what it is... we're going for a ride.
 

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Nice!  I had to do the same (premature chain replacement) a month ago.

[rb550four]

Finished the 650 Friday evening. The Evaporust worked great...for those who need to know...that stuff is like 30 a gallon but, it also comes in a 3 gallon container for $60 . worth it.
  Put some new 91 octane non alcohol fuel in it and away we went, emptied that and filled it again. it's running great, no hesitations, it's looking good , and we're feeling good. Got home from that and took my fave 500 on a charity run with maybe 50 Harleys and 1 Kawasaki dirt bike. Haven't rode with Harley guys since I was a teenager. The bikes are a little quicker now, they can put a little space between us on the straights alright but they can't get out of the next turn without the 45 year old 500 shadowing them. It was fun. Well, until we got to the 3rd bar and they were doing shots, can't see  that, don't need it, so I waved as I took off. All in all a very nice day.
 

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Finished the 650 Friday evening. The Evaporust worked great...for those who need to know...that stuff is like 30 a gallon but, it also comes in a 3 gallon container for $60 . worth it.
  Put some new 91 octane non alcohol fuel in it and away we went, emptied that and filled it again. it's running great, no hesitations, it's looking good , and we're feeling good. Got home from that and took my fave 500 on a charity run with maybe 50 Harleys and 1 Kawasaki dirt bike. Haven't rode with Harley guys since I was a teenager. The bikes are a little quicker now, they can put a little space between us on the straights alright but they can't get out of the next turn without the 45 year old 500 shadowing them. It was fun. Well, until we got to the 3rd bar and they were doing shots, can't see  that, don't need it, so I waved as I took off. All in all a very nice day.

Congrats on completing the 650.  Damn nice refresh.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Your 650 has been nominated for BOTM.  Great bike and one of the rare 650s to get recognized!  Please accept your nomination in the following thread:  http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,159806.0.html

[rb550four]

Thanks for the nomination. This was a great month for BOTM, the newly finished machines were just beautiful, such quality and care went into each machine by all of the members...all of them, just beautiful.

  It's been weird around here, I picked up an 83 550 nighthawk in very poor condition, been sorting it all out little by little
 ( PO got into everything and did it all wrong....Surprise right?) It's a little different than our cb's and the learning curve (for me) took a little longer than expected. Finally got the engine and carbs dialed in and took it for a ride.
   It's quicker than our cb's, it a 6 speed  but 6th may be too tall, it just acts as an overdrive. But the other gears will get you there in a hurry.
  The ride:  It's a similar feel and stance to 81 650's, strange upright position,long forks, funky handlebars... it's just weird and I feel it is hard to handle. So changes will be made.  And it's a shaft drive, that adds an even stranger feeling when accelerating , especially if you've always been a chain drive kinda guy.
  I've been checking around on the night hawk forums, and it seems that the nighthawk 650 shares the same engine bay configuration as the nighthawk 550. The 650 tranny is geared differently and will climb through all 6 and not act boggy or in overdrive. The 550 frame is not as heavy as the 650 frame ,making a transplant a decent idea if one wanted to shed some weight and use the excess hp. The only thing that needs to be changed over is the airbox boots, everything else works.
  As luck would have it, a year or so ago I picked up a NH 650 that had so much rattlecan flat black paint on it, I couldn't tell that it wasn't a 750 that the seller claimed it was....and it came with a bent front rim ( I didn't catch that) so it's been disgracing the corner of my garage ever since. But I might be thinking upgrade the 550 with it. I'm not ready for that yet only because the 550 night hawk needs some work to be attractive (to me) and handle better than it does now before it gets any more power.
  The 550 NH was a one year wonder here in the US and the lack of parts availability is horrifying. So I wonder if it can all be made into something decent and in the end , will it all be worth it. I guess I'll be making up my mind about soon, but for now, that's what 's been going on here. Didn't fall off the face of the earth.
   

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

The 550 NH was a one year wonder here in the US and the lack of parts availability is horrifying. So I wonder if it can all be made into something decent and in the end , will it all be worth it. I guess I'll be making up my mind about soon, but for now, that's what 's been going on here. Didn't fall off the face of the earth.

Always good to hear from you, rb!

[CBJoe]

  David , thank you for asking. I did get to frame up and roof my daughter's house, she does however , expect me to get back to put up some Adirondack siding (Live edge kinda stuff) she likes it , I hate it so I'm not feeling prompted to go and do it yet.
  In  other news here on the homefront, the falling down barn, this winter's project

 

Kudos to you on the barn rebuild....I have a 1920's house that I have started reglazing/repairing/refinishing all the windows on and it's a pain.  Each window gets easier, but it's for sure not to scale with what you did there.  Classic Wood Double Hung windows...also looking to build new 2 light storms before winter hits if I'm lucky.

[rb550four]

CbJoe,
Yeah , I was a stickler for original windows , trim and hardware in every old house I went into for years...especially in my own house... we did the storm windows on Columbus Day Weekend every year and the cleaning of the glass in May when we it was time to take the storms off...30 years of that. One year my daughter only wanted a vinyl window with screen for Christmas because the old style were drafty, frosted all winter and the flies snuck in in the spring.
  Reluctantly I changed them all out a few years ago. Saves all kinds of $ on the heating bill, Much quieter in the house with closed windows now, and no more flies,lady bugs or mosquito .
 No more changing storms,screen, They're efficient , and I don't have to paint them every year. It's like getting 2 bonus weekends a year now

[rb550four]

So in the last few weeks I've been pecking around between that one year wonder , the 83 550 and the other 83 650. Both machines share the same engine except for bore and stroke, same transmission except the gears on the 650 are cut for progressively better top end (I like that) . the 550 has a collapsed lifter (non available of course)....runs like a sob even so.
   The 650 , I've found has ignition switch issues and a different wiring harness than the 550....Oh and bigger carbs...I haven't had it running yet. But I'm thinking the day I hot wire it and see if it turns over nicely, Both motors come out , the 550 will be the spare parts engine and the 650 goes in the lighter 550 frame.
  I changed out the 550 bars ,which are allot like the 80's cb 650 bars. You know, I just can't see why the factory sent bars inside the crate if they were sending those bars....just so lame. Anyways, I put on a 3" rise, should have gone 3 1/2 or 4"...controls just touch the tank when fully left or right...but the entire machine looks sooo much better and control is less of an issue, seating seems better too. So if any of the stuff above works , I can see running this machine  a bit. Pics when I actually do something.

[RAFster122s]

RB, the NightHawk 450 was punched out to make the 550 and then again when they made the 650.  If I recall correctly the 650 motor was not as reliable and they had problem from taking it too far with the bore job.  The 700 and 750  NH were a new engine and were much better overall.  The NH have a strong following and were popular...last few years of production were just slim on color choices, red or black....some years both and then it became one year red and next black.  I was not a fan of the chopper like stance and handlebars... 
I guess I am a snob only liking the adventure bikes and std bike configurations...cruisers really don't interest me.
It isn't like people are forcing a bike on you...you pay your money and you buy what you like.
was looking at NightHawks before choosing to look at even older bikes liking the CBs the most.
Glad you have had some fun with the bikes... guess you need to be spraying soon before the weather makes you do it indoors or wait for good weather.  It probably will be a snowy winter for us since the last one was almost a nonevent.
David

[rb550four]

David,
 I was starting to panic about the 650 maybe not being as reliable as the 550. Then I remembered, I don't do big miles, I ride my fave 500 and the 80 650 most of the time so's not to beat up all my machines at once. This upgraded 550/650 nighthawk would only bridge my history with the 550/650 implants in the cb's.   Kinda , maybe ,sorta....well anyways, it should be a blast to ride. And cb's will always be my favorite.
   I got some side covers and painting coming up that will finish 3 bikes that didn't have covers when they were mechanically finished. Hoping the cold weather will hold off a bit longer, like March would be nice.
 Last year,  well ,  we're gonna pay for that.
 

[Restoration Fan]

rb,
Something you said made me curious.  You prefer your 500 over your 550's?

Ron

[RAFster122s]

RB, probably like the PRV V6 (Peugot-Renault- Volvo) joint venture to develop a 6 cylinder put in the Volvo 264 that developed a reputation for eating camshafts and having liots of other bad raps.  Had a friend who bought one that had ate its cams and he had the head reworked and oil passages cleaned and new cams installed. He had nonee of the problems because he changed the oil on time and it was a reliable car he had years of enjoyment from.   The problem related to insufficient maintenance of oil changes every 3k miles and the dirty oil would coke in the head oil passages that should have been a little larger to have lessened this risk, but proper maintenance was proven to prevent it.

So, the rumors of their demise maybe greatly exaggerated.

It is possible that information on the Nighthawk 650 was false.
The motor evolution is correct though...that the 650 began with strong roots in the 450 version.
That is common practice and often Honda developed motors that were not pushing the envelope in performance to trade for longevity and reliability.

[rb550four]

Ron,
  It's a strange thing, I have had a beat old cb 500 stored hiding in a corner of my barn for years,  which was a no-no since I agreed and sold all my other bikes when I had kids .... a common agreement made between man and wife while holding their infant child. A piecrust promise...easily broken but hard to admit to. So it stayed under wraps in the corner for years. Sometimes  (when she wasn't home ) I'd work on it. especially when it was nice and I could hear  the Harley guys riding to local bike meets.
  One day, after my kids got out of college, I was in the barn tinkering on this old 500  and it fired. She was home..heard it and wasn't happy. After the " right of passage speech", the" to be a  man is to decide his own destiny argument", and then the" tough $hit I'm gonna do what I want proclamation" . She had an understanding.
  This little 500 was the machine that brought me back from being an over worked , bored out of my face, empty nest syndrome Dad who's idea of big fun for the past 20 years was going to an antique show. It reopened the door to what I loved about motorcycles not 25 years earlier. Risky perhaps but a chance to live again. I know allot of you guys know what I'm talking about. Yeah, that. So it has it's place in my heart for that reason. That and it's probably the most customized bike in my shed , and it's just comfortable to ride.
  Don't get me wrong , the 550's , oh, I really like them.... allot. but there is no shame in loving the 500s, and maybe a 650 or 2 on the side.
Yes Ron, you have a keen sense for reading between the lines, and that's the story  of my fave 500. Thank you for asking.