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Author Topic: It's not four, it's not an OHC!  (Read 2493 times)

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Offline Duanob

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It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« on: July 09, 2014, 04:02:41 PM »
It's a Honda-guzzi! Just picked this up on Monday. I like the way they look, (except for that fat-ass goldwing style seat). Not going to cafe it but make a bit more sporty looking. I'll put a different seat and rear fender. Possibly go with bonneville style rear lights and blinkers. Down the road I'll paint it, either gloss white or satin black but not sure just yet.

The guy took very good care of it with all the proper manitenance. It's never been dumped, the tank is clean, the paint is good, the chrome is spotless. He even filled it up with gas for me for my 190 mile ride back home! It does need the carbs gone through it runs a bit rich. He even through in the carb kits as he didn't get around to doing it himself. All in all it will be a whole lot different experience from the SOHC4 but it will be a fun ride.
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"Just because you flush a boatload of money down the toilet, doesn't make the toilet worth more",  My Stepfather the Unknown Poet

1974 CB360T
1976 CB550K2 Resurrected
1976 CB550F2 Barn Find
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2007 Moto Guzzi Breva 750ie
2015 BMW F700GS
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Offline Stev-o

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #1 on: July 09, 2014, 04:07:28 PM »
Congrats, I like all my Non-SOHC bikes.  Now what about that windshield??
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Offline dusterdude

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #2 on: July 09, 2014, 04:53:50 PM »
A friend of mine had one many moons ago,fast son of a gun,still cant get used to the looks of it


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Offline goldarrow

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2014, 05:24:35 PM »
Cafe it!
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Offline Duanob

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #4 on: July 09, 2014, 10:50:21 PM »
Yeah that windshield was nice to keep the bugs and wind away but I couldn't see over it. It's already gone. Along with the rear luggage rack and crash bars. I may keep them for long trips.

I like the looks of the bike....all except for the seat and rear fender. I have some plans. Not a cafe so much as a classic look. What inspired me was the MotoGuzzi V7 Stone at a fraction of the price. It's a nice ride. Very different from a SOHC4. It's fast in a different way. The torque curve kicks in a lot earlier. I'll post pics as I change things.
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"Just because you flush a boatload of money down the toilet, doesn't make the toilet worth more",  My Stepfather the Unknown Poet

1974 CB360T
1976 CB550K2 Resurrected
1976 CB550F2 Barn Find
1979 CX500 VG "HONDA-GUZZI"
2007 Moto Guzzi Breva 750ie
2015 BMW F700GS
Another 1976 CB550K Cafe?

  __o
_- \_<,
(*) /' (*)

Offline Duanob

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2014, 09:50:03 AM »
Does that seat make my ass look fat? :)

Here is the seat I was thinking of going with:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/301177979773?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Also a smaller rear fender and possibly a Bonneville tail and flashers on all four corners. That will just melt the pounds of the derriere!
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"Just because you flush a boatload of money down the toilet, doesn't make the toilet worth more",  My Stepfather the Unknown Poet

1974 CB360T
1976 CB550K2 Resurrected
1976 CB550F2 Barn Find
1979 CX500 VG "HONDA-GUZZI"
2007 Moto Guzzi Breva 750ie
2015 BMW F700GS
Another 1976 CB550K Cafe?

  __o
_- \_<,
(*) /' (*)

Offline bjbuchanan

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #6 on: July 10, 2014, 08:16:29 PM »
Get on to motorcycleseatdirect.com and poke around. That ebay listing is by them, guarantee it. The price and shipping are the same

That site will custom make a seat for you that fits your bike with no mods if they don't have one already made that you like. Check it out
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Offline 70CB750

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #7 on: July 11, 2014, 06:45:41 AM »
Congrats!

I always liked the looks of the Hondaguzzi.  Larry MoMo knows quite a but about them too.
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Offline Duanob

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #8 on: July 11, 2014, 08:42:17 AM »
Quote from: 70CB750 on July 11, 2014, 06:45:41 AM
Congrats!

I always liked the looks of the Hondaguzzi.  Larry MoMo knows quite a but about them too.

Thanks for the info, I will have to hit him up. As with any old bike, the carbs need cleaning and these CVs are a bit more complicated then my 550's.
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"Just because you flush a boatload of money down the toilet, doesn't make the toilet worth more",  My Stepfather the Unknown Poet

1974 CB360T
1976 CB550K2 Resurrected
1976 CB550F2 Barn Find
1979 CX500 VG "HONDA-GUZZI"
2007 Moto Guzzi Breva 750ie
2015 BMW F700GS
Another 1976 CB550K Cafe?

  __o
_- \_<,
(*) /' (*)

Offline flybox1

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #9 on: July 15, 2014, 06:45:16 AM »
Nice and clean, Duane.
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Offline Duanob

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #10 on: July 17, 2014, 01:55:11 PM »
Quote from: flybox1 on July 15, 2014, 06:45:16 AM
Nice and clean, Duane.

Thanks! This is my rider Rob, not my wrencher.  ;)

I don't have a current pic but I took all the hiway 'stuff' off of it. Looks a lot cleaner and less bulky.
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"Just because you flush a boatload of money down the toilet, doesn't make the toilet worth more",  My Stepfather the Unknown Poet

1974 CB360T
1976 CB550K2 Resurrected
1976 CB550F2 Barn Find
1979 CX500 VG "HONDA-GUZZI"
2007 Moto Guzzi Breva 750ie
2015 BMW F700GS
Another 1976 CB550K Cafe?

  __o
_- \_<,
(*) /' (*)

Offline Killer Canary

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #11 on: July 17, 2014, 03:00:27 PM »
It apparently makes a difference as to what type of anti-freeze is used. The green stuff wears out the mechanical seal; the owner's manual recommends the pink stuff. Mine had the green stuff in it and the mechanical seal was bodged.
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Offline lone*X

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #12 on: August 21, 2014, 08:20:21 PM »
The coolant does make a difference.  Honda specifies silica free antifreeze for my VTX due to the seals, and I have read somewhere that that applies to most if not all of their liquid cooled bikes.  The silicates are abrasive.   Since the bike doesn't take a lot of coolant I have continued to use the Honda branded antifreeze.   Just found this:

http://pages.infinit.net/mcrides/engine_tech/engine_coolant.htm
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Offline Terry in Australia

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #13 on: August 22, 2014, 02:08:29 AM »
Here's a pic of my 1980 CX500 "Custom" after I pulled it out of a garage and did a lot of work on it. These are great old bikes, but I fell about laughing when I saw some references to "Fast" in previous posts. These things weigh as much as a CB750 with only around 48 horsepower! The only way you'll get one to do the ton is to drop it down a mineshaft, ha ha!

But they are a good honest old thing, not bulletproof, but if the oil and coolant (don't use the acid based stuff or it'll eat all the solder in your copper radiator and it'll fall apart, use the cheapest green stuff and it'll be fine, check with one of the guys on the CX/GL500 forums, they know more about these old boat anchors than anyone here. http://cx500forum.com/

The carbs are crap and an absolute baastard to clean, I mean, the worst crabs to clean in the world, bar none. If you want to make it go "fast" (a relative term for a CX500) dump them and contact Murray Feldman in North Carolina and buy a set of his 34mm Mikuni's like the ones on my bike. That'll fix one end, but to make it breathe properly you need to also bin the original crossover pipe under the engine and the OEM mufflers, the crossover piece is a muffler in itself, and restricts the crap out of that little engine, it really needs it.

Apart from that, the early models have expensive ignition problems, (requiring the engine to be pulled out to fix) but surprisingly they handle quite well, and with Murray's carbs and better exhaust they are great fun to ride, and I loved mine, but I needed the cash to buy my BMW so I sold my little CX500 Custom and was surprised at how much I was able to sell it for.

I've got another one here, it's a 1979 Shadow like yours, that my son and I am building into a "Bobber", it was in really rough shape, so I don't feel guilty about chopping off the horrible rear frame section under the seat and making it look a lot more attractive. (another word not usually associated with "CX500", ha ha!) Have fun with it mate, that one looks so clean you cold just keep it original and once you get sick of being dragged off by Hyundai's, sell it for more money than you paid for it! Cheers, Terry. ;D   



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Offline trueblue

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #14 on: August 22, 2014, 03:18:26 AM »
I damn near pulled the trigger on a CX the day before I bought my 650.  The one I was looking at was an EC sports.  Nice little bike and went reasonably well considering its relatively small size.  I'm glad I waited and bought the 650 though.  It is a far better bike ;D.
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Offline ponti33602

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #15 on: August 22, 2014, 08:33:33 AM »
These make great cafe builds.  These old push-rod design lasts forever.  I know many folks with Guzzi's that have more than 100K on the clock with nothing more than oil changes.  Easy as can be to fiddle with as well.  Here is a shot of my recently departed Guzzi to make room for my 400f (her dad's bike).

Congrats!

« Last Edit: August 22, 2014, 08:36:52 AM by ponti33602 »
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Offline grcamna2

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #16 on: September 05, 2014, 04:20:34 PM »
That is one Clean beauty of a CX500  8) there Duanob  ;)
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Offline MoMo

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #17 on: September 05, 2014, 06:01:47 PM »
As Terry said, the word fast and CX  are oxymorons.  It has great low end torque but by no means would I call one fast.  I never had trouble with the carbs and found them easy to remove and reinstall.  You'll enjoy the ride....Larry
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Offline Terry in Australia

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Re: It's not four, it's not an OHC!
« Reply #18 on: September 06, 2014, 04:27:10 PM »
Yep, to be fair my bike sat for a long time in the PO's garage before I bought it, (he fell off it and was too frightened to ride it again) so that may have been why the carbs were such pigs to clean, but if you want to make a CX500 "Fast" (that is, fast for a CX500......) Murray's carbs and a free flowing exhaust is a must.

Mine was a "Custom" with a silly 16 inch back wheel, but Honda didn't think to change the final drive gearing, and it was pretty gutless, so I sourced an 18 inch rear wheel from a shadow to reduce the revs by around 1000 RPM @ 60 MPH. It really was a nice little bike, and I'm looking forward to getting my son's shadow "Bobber" on the road this summer. Cheers, Terry. ;D 
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I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't afford new bike boots, until I met a man with no legs.

So I said, "Hey mate, you haven't got any bike boots you don't need, do you?"

"Crazy is a very misunderstood term, it's a fine line that some of us can lean over and still keep our balance" (thanks RB550Four)
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