Topic: First Bike - 71 cb500 - clean up and mild cafe

[zurke]

Just got my first bike a week ago today  ... 1971 cb500. The bike is original (that I know of) except for the bars... I love the patina and can't wait to get the bike where I want it to be. So my plan is first of all to clean the bike up, get it tuned right/ learn the basics, and do a mild cafe. Since I am new to this I welcome any recommendations of what to do or NOT do... Let's just try to keep it nice, haha.

So far I haven't done much except for get the title transferred and the bike legal. I also removed the blinkers this weekend since they weren't working anyways. The first thing I would like to do is replace the exhaust since there are some rusted out areas on them. They are not too bad so I am sure I can find them a good home... I would like a 4 into 2 or 4 into 1 but haven't done much research yet.

[goldarrow]

Bike looks great with nice patina.  Just ride it and get comfortable with the bike, then think cafe later

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Bike looks great with nice patina.  Just ride it and get comfortable with the bike, then think cafe later

Since this is your first bike, get it running reliably and safely. Then ride the bejesus out of it through the summer before you do any cafe mods.

[zurke]

Was the build for this bike online?? If so, I haven't seen it. That would be helpful and neat to see

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Thought this might be the patina bike. I say ride the heck out of it. Get to know how to care and feed it. Maybe do some cosmetic mods along the way but ride it, ride it and ride it. No rebuild necessary.

[zurke]

Thanks for the info guys! It's really neat to see the build of this bike. Steve was very helpful with the sale and title transfer. He is also very honest because everything he told me he did to it was documented in the thread... THANKS STEVE 

[zurke]

Also wanted to note, I said mild cafe because I do no plan on doing a true cafe... I just want to do a lower profile seat and simplify the bike a little more. I do not plan on hacking away at this bike. All the original parts will be saved so that it can be returned to a more original look at any point. Thanks for the input everyone... I will take your advise and ride, ride, and ride some more. Already done quite a bit of that, This thing has been getting cruised daily!

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Also wanted to note, I said mild cafe because I do no plan on doing a true cafe... I just want to do a lower profile seat and simplify the bike a little more. I do not plan on hacking away at this bike. All the original parts will be saved so that it can be returned to a more original look at any point. Thanks for the input everyone... I will take your advise and ride, ride, and ride some more. Already done quite a bit of that, This thing has been getting cruised daily!

There are options for aftermarket seats that use the stock hinges (look at a replica Gluliari seat -- great looking seat with an upholstered speed hump).  Air-Tech Streamlining makes a fiberglass 1-up seat with a hump, but you will need to paint it, fit the hinges and upholster it. 

[Stev-o]

Welcome Zach.

You're now the third forum member to own that bike. Sean bought it as a project but got hurt, so sold it to me.

It's truly a good bike and fun to ride.....you have to promise not to chop it! [or these guys will be mad I sold it to you]

[goldarrow]

It's truly a good bike and fun to ride.....you have to promise not to chop it! [or these guys will be mad I sold it to you]

You mean not to steampunk?!

[Stev-o]

It's truly a good bike and fun to ride.....you have to promise not to chop it! [or these guys will be mad I sold it to you]

You mean not to steampunk?!

exactly

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

It's truly a good bike and fun to ride.....you have to promise not to chop it! [or these guys will be mad I sold it to you]

You mean not to steampunk?!

exactly

Damn straight on this one. The patina on the tank is too cool to mess with.

[zurke]

Welcome Zach.

You're now the third forum member to own that bike. Sean bought it as a project but got hurt, so sold it to me.

It's truly a good bike and fun to ride.....you have to promise not to chop it! [or these guys will be mad I sold it to you]

Come on now...  I believe I said "I do not plan on hacking away at this bike. " I am young but I do have an appreciation for classics. I would never do anything to this bike that can't be undone. I looked for a bike for almost 2 years and love this one. The patina is killer. Thanks though; I encourage advise on anything to do or not to do.

Also, thank you very much for sending the rubber mount for the tank and the exhaust stud. Both were causing a little racket from vibrations. I threw on the rubber mount after work but will do the stud tomorrow.

[zurke]

Stopped on my way home from work today. The view is much better on a bike.

[zurke]

So looking for some diagnosis help...  I took the bike to lunch today on my break and had some issues. Luckily I made it back to the office... Whenever I would give it gas the RPMs would stay fairly flat and it would not speed up. After giving it gas and not speeding up, sometimes it would all of a sudden 'jump' and take off; other times it would just turn off. I had even more trouble trying to make it up hills. Seems like its a fuel/carb problem. My guess was hopefully a clogged up petcock screen...? Possibly the carbs aren't in sync?? Any thoughts or recommendations?? I would like to add that there is fuel in the tank and the petcock was in on position. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Stev-o]

Sorry to hear you have an issue.  The carbs were fully cleaned and rebuilt using K&L kits. New plugs, caps, points and condensers were installed and ran great after tuned.  The tank was flushed and is pretty clean inside but there is always a possibility of crap in there. Check fuel flow out of petcock and when running, that all four head pipes are hot.

[zurke]

Thanks for the help guys... I messed around trying to figure out the source of the problem this past weekend... drained the tank and checked the lines to/from the petcock for gunk/rust/something and didn't find anything. But for some reason when I hooked the lines back up and added fuel it ran fine!?!  So I have no idea what was going on but it appears to be running fine again. Maybe bad gas?? No idea. Either way I have cruised the bike daily since and have not had any issues. Thanks for the suggestions Steve.

[goldarrow]

Perhaps fuel line was kinked?

[zurke]

so just an update: I began having issues with my carbs again... The bike runs initially then dies and will not start back up until it is left to sit. I opened up the petcock and it was about half full of tiny pieces of rust. I am assuming this came from the tank and thus gummed up my carbs? At least that makes sense to me. This kinda sucks because I'm not sure I have the ability to clean them and sync them again on my own. A friend of mine suggested using seafoam but I feel skeptical of it. Anyone have much experience with the stuff?

I have also been reluctant to work on it because even if I get it running I need to clean and seal the tank before using it again. Any suggestions and/or advice?

[Stev-o]

Hey Zach...sorry to hear your having issues. I did flush the tank and after checking it did not think it was necessary to seal and had no issues.
I like to keep my tank full of fuel, it lessens the chance of rust.  Rust will not gum up your carbs, gas sitting in them for a year will.
It is possible there is rust and/or sediment clogging your petcock. Did you clean it out? You may want to drain the tank as well. Look in it with a flashlight, I do not remember there being a lot of rust in it.
Dropping the fuel bowl is pretty basic, this will give you an idea of what is getting in your carbs.

[zurke]

thanks a lot for the replys! I'm busy the next few days so won't get a chance to look at it until after work sometime next week... I will take your advice and drain the tank, check the petcock again, and check the bowls. That makes me feel better that rust shouldn't gum up the carbs... hopefully its getting suffocated somewhere before the carbs and its an easy fix. That would make sense since last time I drained everything and it ran well for a while.

Are there any local meetups or cruises that take place? Just curious cause I'm also a VW guy we meet up once a month to chat and do a cruise..

[Stev-o]

Def do that first.  You missed the Harvest Classic last weekend in Luchanbach, it was a great bike show and we camped the weekend. Great roads to ride in that are too.
Here is last years report...

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=111515.100

[zurke]

Well good news, I took advantage of the warm weather this weekend and got the bike running  . Yalls advice was superb, much appreciated! I put 30 miles on it yesterday cruising around and gave it a good bath. Can't wait till it warms back up.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

The Patina bike rides again!

[Stev-o]

Good to hear Zach. Ride on!