Topic: 1972 cb500s - Thing1 & Thing2 (work resumed)

[Tews19]

I'm interested in some stuff if you want to move them.

[rb550four]

I'm seeing allot of boxes , full of goodies even better!
Are those 2 bikes in the back of the truck new to the collection or are they the twins?
 Lucky man, I always wanted to pick up some twins, heard stories about it, not that lucky yet. Congrats.

[Stev-o]

Interested in a nice, original seat.

[Valhad]

I'm seeing allot of boxes , full of goodies even better!
Are those 2 bikes in the back of the truck new to the collection or are they the twins?
 Lucky man, I always wanted to pick up some twins, heard stories about it, not that lucky yet. Congrats.

Thanks! They are two "new" bikes, amazingly also both 72 500s. Just parts bikes, although one of them is pretty complete and only has 7k miles. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with all this stuff. My "twins" aren't this short on parts.

[Valhad]

I'm interested in some stuff if you want to move them.

I absolutely need to move some of this stuff.  I didn't get to making an inventory yet - just unloading all that and getting it stowed was enough for me this weekend. I'll start in on the inventory tonight, probably, but let me know what you need and I'll set it aside if I find it.  The boxes are full of 500 and 550 parts from various years, so I'll probably need some help identifying exactly which parts/years I'm looking at in some cases.

Interested in a nice, original seat.

I got a useable seat pan out of this lot, but that's about it.  Sorry Stev-O.

[Tews19]

Always interested in tank and side covers! When does the inventories begin? !

[Valhad]

Always interested in tank and side covers! When does the inventories begin? !

Inventory will begin tonight, when I get home from work - probably after dinner.   But I can tell you that I got 0 sidecovers in this lot - but I did get two tanks.  Neither is in original (or usable) paint, but either might make a decent canvas to start from. I haven't tested either tank for leaks, but certainly will.

Tank 1 is in primer.  It had some body work down to it, could still use just a little smoothing out in spots before going to paint.  It has what I'd call light-to-moderate surface rust inside.  More than you get from instant flash rust, but no scale.

Tank 2 is uglier.  It has a busted, locked cap on it so I haven't seen inside, but it rattles quietly, suggesting its got more of a rust problem than tank 1. I'll see if I can't jimmy the lock with a screwdriver and get a look inside.  I seem to recall it had some relatively minor dings/dents.

I will take a proper inventory - but some of the other things that were in all those boxes, that I can remember off the top of my head are:

• a big box full of a bunch of airboxes and plenums etc.  At least 2 complete systems, I think, possibly 3 or 4
• 4 entire racks of carbs, iirc, 2 were labelled as being off '74s
• a box of gauges and gauge mounts/backs
• a box of brake parts, including a couple calipers, and a couple master cylinders/levers
• "honda" tank badges, 2 pairs and two mis-matched
• rusty but solid seat pan
• 3 rear fenders w taillights.  I think 2 of the three taillight covers have a crack, though.
• 2 front fenders (neither perfect, I think one is chopped a little shorter than stock, the other has a couple dings)
• a loaded 550 clutch basket

...LOTS of other miscellaneous stuff. Plus what's actually attached to the two parts bikes. 

The guy I bought this from kept everything, like I do... A fair amount of this is take-off parts, I think, but mostly in decent shape.   I figure once I get some inventory list and pictures going, I'll start a thread in the for sale section.  I'll put a link to it here when I get that up

[Valhad]

as promised, I've started my "for sale" thread here:
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=142299.0
keep tuned to that channel while I make my way through the pile of boxes.

In actual news on my own project, I cracked open my melted husk of a fuse holder to see what went wrong, and found.... aluminum foil!  Some genius had wrapped the fuse in foil, presumably because the 15A fuse that was in there had already blown.  So now I know what happened, at least, and it's an easy fix.  I cleaned up the metal parts of the fuse holder, plugged in a fresh fuse, and everything lit back up.

I think this does suggest that my extra high beam lights gotta go, though.  Alas.

[Stev-o]

I would not count changing a fuse being a fix.  Something made that fuse blow and until the issue is found, it found go at any time. 
PS.  Always carry extra fuses. 

[Valhad]

I would not count changing a fuse being a fix.  Something made that fuse blow and until the issue is found, it found go at any time. 
PS.  Always carry extra fuses.

Yeah, I recognize that. I'm hoping the additional headlights are what was causing it to pull too much juice. I'm planning on removing those and switching at least the tail light to led to drop my draw down a bit. Hopefully that's enough to get me comfortably under 15 amps.

[Valhad]

...

PS.  Always carry extra fuses.

The kicker is that there are/were two extra fuses in the little rubber fuse holder that fits into the tool tray.  Someone just preferred aluminum foil... Or didn't know those fuses were even there.  I bet they felt very clever at the time, riding around on a bike fused with foil, while literally sitting on top of a pair of good fuses. 

[Valhad]

Well, we had a couple of totally unreasonably nice days lately, didn't we?  It was enough to get me back out into the garage and working on Thing 1.  (Thing 2 is still exactly how I got it when I rolled these twins into the garage.  One Thing at a time  )

I hadn't bothered posting in a while, as I've mostly been busy breaking down that big parts lot.  Still a bit of that to go, but most of the good stuff is gone now so interest has understandably dropped off.

Anyhow, I pulled the high bars off Thing 1, as well as removed those extra high beam running lights.  In the process, I had to unhook most of the electrical in the bucket, so I just went ahead and unplugged everything in there, and cleaned every connector, and when I reassembled, squirted a healthy gob of dielectric grease in each socket.

Pulling the control wiring through the handlebars was a bear.  But I greased the wiring up, and got it pulled through, eventually.  Only when I went to reconnect the throttle cables and re-mount the brake master cylinder did I realize what I should know off the bat - I needed all new cables.  Without the extra high rise bars, my cables were comically long.

So, new throttle cables, and I replaced the upper brake hose with one from my new parts heap.  I haven't done anything with the clutch cable yet - it's clearly a bit long, too, but seems less problematic.  I think I've got a good one in my pile, for the day I have that motivation.

The bike wouldn't start and run, though.  It had been running fine, but I couldn't get it to run for anything.  I pulled my gas tank again, and discovered only one of the outlets on my newly-rebuilt petcock was flowing.  Turns out I hadn't de-rusted the gas tank well enough, I guess.  So, this time I went at it with prep&etch, and it seems to have done better.  Obviously, I disassembled and cleaned the rusty gunk out of the petcock, while I was at it. 

Confident in being able to deliver nice fresh gas to the carbs, I hooked the tank back up, and it ran great.  That's when I realized - I could DRIVE it.  I had working fuel, working lights, working brakes....  So I did!

I took it for the very first trip 'round the block.  My blinkers don't blink.  But otherwise, that went well. 

Then I decided to take it a little further - about .5 mile, to the gas station to fill the tank with clean gas. 

Well, I got there okay.  But while I idled in a parking space, waiting for a pump to open up, I noticed that I was pssing gas all over the ground under my bike. 

It's from (at least) one of the overflow tubes. And it seems really weirdly intermittent.  So, probably a bad/sticky float or float needle.  So, I didn't fill it up after all - I just rode back home.  I've got the carbs all back off again already - I didn't even think to take a picture while I (breifly) had it all back together with the stock bars back on. 

Not QUITE as close to being ready to ride as I hoped.  But getting there.

[Valhad]

I took the carbs back off, and found and fixed a cracked drain tube.  I added a Hondaman ignition, adjusted my valves, put some new tires on to replace the original rubber, synchronized the carbs, and took an awesome little ride. Thing 1 is running great! Now i just need warmer weather to really get here.

Still trying to figure out how to get one of these comfortable for a 5 foot tall rider, though. I should have a king/queen seat coming, which i hope helps some. I am willing to try new shocks and pushing the forks up, but not more than an inch or two, and i think the seat width/height is the real killer...

[Stev-o]

Some have cut down the foam on the stock seat, installed a 16" rear wheel and put short shocks on to lower the seat height. 
What makes the bike uncomfortable?  You don't feel you need to have both feet on the ground do you?

[Valhad]

Well, at 5 feet, my wife can't get either foot on the ground. I put the king/queen seat on, which seems to help. Now she can get toes on both feet down. I think I'll probably get shorter shocks, and push the front forks up to bring it down an inch or so.
While getting just toes down might be enough long term, right now she has almost no riding experience being able to reach the ground easier would help her build some confidence.
...also, I really want her to ride with me, so i want to make that as comfortable and enjoyable for her as possible.

[Valhad]

My other option is to let her ride my triple. It's narrower, and easier for her to handle... but it's a little finicky, and I think the steady reliability of the Hondas would be less frustrating and concerning for her.

[Stev-o]

My other option is to let her ride my triple. It's narrower, and easier for her to handle... but it's a little finicky, and I think the steady reliability of the Hondas would be less frustrating and concerning for her.

I hear ya about the a Triples being finicky.  I'm currently rebuilding a '74 H1.

[Valhad]

I thought you might be able to relate.

[Retro Rocket]

If your wife has very little riding experience and is short in stature I would recommend a much lighter bike. My first road bike was a 750 Honda but I was around 5'10" and a fit 16 year old with some dirt bike experience, I was strong enough to hold the bike and maneuver it around but it was still quite a heavy bike.... Just saying, i would be a little worried...

[Valhad]

If your wife has very little riding experience and is short in stature I would recommend a much lighter bike. My first road bike was a 750 Honda but I was around 5'10" and a fit 16 year old with some dirt bike experience, I was strong enough to hold the bike and maneuver it around but it was still quite a heavy bike.... Just saying, i would be a little worried...

Hmm.  Thanks Retro.  Maybe I ought to just spend some more time with the kz250, and get it into prime shape for her.  It's just such a boring little bike... But I need to remember that boring isn't necessarily bad. Something to consider, at the very least.

[Retro Rocket]

If your wife has very little riding experience and is short in stature I would recommend a much lighter bike. My first road bike was a 750 Honda but I was around 5'10" and a fit 16 year old with some dirt bike experience, I was strong enough to hold the bike and maneuver it around but it was still quite a heavy bike.... Just saying, i would be a little worried...

Hmm.  Thanks Retro.  Maybe I ought to just spend some more time with the kz250, and get it into prime shape for her.  It's just such a boring little bike... But I need to remember that boring isn't necessarily bad. Something to consider, at the very least.

The KZ250 would be a far better first bike, lighter, lower and sensible power.....

[Stev-o]

If your wife has very little riding experience and is short in stature I would recommend a much lighter bike. My first road bike was a 750 Honda but I was around 5'10" and a fit 16 year old with some dirt bike experience, I was strong enough to hold the bike and maneuver it around but it was still quite a heavy bike.... Just saying, i would be a little worried...

Hmm.  Thanks Retro.  Maybe I ought to just spend some more time with the kz250, and get it into prime shape for her.  It's just such a boring little bike... But I need to remember that boring isn't necessarily bad. Something to consider, at the very least.

The KZ250 would be a far better first bike, lighter, lower and sensible power.....

Agreed.   That should be her bike anyway, prolly too boring to ride after your S3!

PS. Are you on the Triples forum?

[Valhad]

If your wife has very little riding experience and is short in stature I would recommend a much lighter bike. My first road bike was a 750 Honda but I was around 5'10" and a fit 16 year old with some dirt bike experience, I was strong enough to hold the bike and maneuver it around but it was still quite a heavy bike.... Just saying, i would be a little worried...

Hmm.  Thanks Retro.  Maybe I ought to just spend some more time with the kz250, and get it into prime shape for her.  It's just such a boring little bike... But I need to remember that boring isn't necessarily bad. Something to consider, at the very least.

The KZ250 would be a far better first bike, lighter, lower and sensible power.....

Agreed.   That should be her bike anyway, prolly too boring to ride after your S3!

PS. Are you on the Triples forum?

I bought the kz to be her bike, but it's a little small feeling, even for her. I am going to try swapping some different bars onto it to see if that helps.
I am on both of the main triples boards that I'm aware of, with the same username as here. I don't post much though, mostly I read. Much like here, all the really good questions have been asked if you just look deep enough.

[Valhad]

Well, I finally got some decent weather, and took Thing1 to work.  It's a 25 mile ride one way, and a coworker and I took a nice long ride at lunch, though his daily rider is much newer.  Overall, I think I put 75 miles on it - just enough to get the new tires broken in.

Before we left for lunch, he was looking over my bike as it warmed up, and he noted that it seemed loud.  I shrugged this off, as I knew the exhaust had some holes along the bottom of each pipe.  As I pointed at the exhaust to explain this, imagine my surprise when we looked down and saw this:



It hadn't been like that when I left my house.  Clearly the rust was worse than it looked, if that whole section fell off on my ride in.  So now I need to really figure out what I'm going to do about replacing the exhaust.  My headers are all fine as far as I can tell - it's just the mufflers that are rotting out.  I have three options, as I see it.

1) cut the mufflers off, and replace them on the existing headers.  This is the option I'm most curious about, as I would prefer to keep a 4-4 exhuast.  It's also the least straightforward option, as I have no idea how one goes about selecting replacement mufflers, or how I'd mount them, or anything.

2) & 3) when I purchased that parts lot, I did get two different sets of 4-2 exhaust.  I'm attaching pictures, in hopes that someone can tell me anything about them - good or bad.

I'll call this one 2)



and this one 3)


here are 2&3 hanging next to each other - 3) is clearly at least several inches longer and larger overall.  I do have the other of 2, I just slapped it on Thing2 for a minute to see how I felt about the look, so it's not pictured here.



So, can anyone help me ID these pipes?  And/or steer me to replacement mufflers that would be suitable?

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

See if you can find some reproduction exhaust pipes.  If not, you could replace all of your mufflers (if they are similarly rusted out) with Cone Engineering reverse megaphones welded in.