Author Topic: 1972 CB500 Project. Am I in over my head? (Read 8836 times)

kasper.tyler · « **Reply #25 on:** May 18, 2015, 10:57:14 AM »

Also, I'm not sure if anyone here is an expert on this particular part or not, but these gauges: should I keep them or move to something more streamlined down the road? The reason I'm asking so early into the project is that since this is a smaller and more manageable part, I can work on restoring them inside my house as opposed to in my shed. And I figure since I'll spend a lot of time looking at them, they should be very, very clean. Thoughts?

kasper.tyler · « **Reply #26 on:** May 18, 2015, 12:11:06 PM »

I think I'll stick with the stock gauges, I love the look of them and to be fair, I'll be spending plenty on other parts to worry about fancy electronic ones. And to be honest, I want it to look as low key and classy as possible. Thanks for the tip sir!

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #27 on:** May 18, 2015, 12:32:31 PM »

Kasper,

I would advise against a COMPLETE teardown to bolts. Rather, remove a system from the bike that you can work on and prepare for reinstallation (such as brakes, forks, wheels). That will keep your mess to a minimum and not get you over your head too quickly.

kasper.tyler · « **Reply #28 on:** May 18, 2015, 12:40:35 PM »

Definitely, Racer Fan. I'm trying to leave most of the larger components on the frame for now, the engine it my main focus. The forks, other suspension, and electrical systems will stay intact for at least a little while.
I was going to just tear it all apart now, but you definitely raise a good point of keeping the mess to a minimum, which I absolutely want to do. Thanks for the tip.

MickB · « **Reply #29 on:** May 25, 2015, 04:07:22 AM »

Cal's right in either getting the gauges restored professionally or attempting them yourself. All comes down to how much time you have or spend the money and have them done for you. They'll come back in beautiful condition if you have them done.
Remember this is a labour of love, don't count the cost within reason else you'll never do it, it's cheaper to get a running bike.

Where are the photos?

kasper.tyler · « **Reply #30 on:** May 28, 2015, 07:59:36 PM »

Sorry for the lack of posts, guys. This past week/weekend was dominated by a wedding I was in and this week I'm housesitting, so no Honda for me.
Hopefully I'll be able to get back into it this weekend or next week!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

MickB · « **Reply #31 on:** June 11, 2015, 01:02:47 PM »

No excuses KT, take the bike with you, I'm sure the house owners wouldn't mind you working on the bike in their lounge.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #32 on:** June 11, 2015, 02:04:16 PM »

Unfortunately, without a running bike it is difficult to ascertain whether you have functioning gauges or not. You may want to hold off on addressing the gauges until you have a running bike again. If they are functioning, cleaning them up can be done by you or by having them restored/rebuilt. If they are not functioning, you can easily switch to reproduction analog gauges, smaller analog gauges or a host of aftermarket meters.

MickB · « **Reply #33 on:** June 11, 2015, 02:42:39 PM »

If you have the cables for the gauges you can put the end into a hand held drill and give them a spin to see if they work.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #34 on:** June 11, 2015, 03:09:08 PM »

Quote from: MickB on June 11, 2015, 02:42:39 PM

If you have the cables for the gauges you can put the end into a hand held drill and give them a spin to see if they work.

Yep, I should have thought about that. Very good point, Mick.

kasper.tyler · « **Reply #35 on:** September 22, 2015, 07:41:58 AM »

Man, it's been a minute since I've been able to mess around with the bike.
Quick progress update with a few pics to come later.
A friend of mine decided to spend his day off helping me dismantle the bike. We have it tore down to pieces and I'll be slowly working through some of the parts, hopefully before it gets too cold out here in STL.
First is the engine, as this is the part that intrigues me the most. I'll be going through that myself, but I'll most likely have the carbs rebuilt professionally so that I don't screw them up.
We'll probably paint everything in the spring, assemble it all sometime around there (assuming I actually stick to my timeline) and hopefully have it in riding condition by summer.
I really only plan on keeping a few parts. The engine, the frame, wiring, and a few other parts. So as I'm building this ideal bike in my head, I'd love to hear from you guys where you purchase wheels, headlights, seats, handlebars, and the like.

Sorry for not posting hardly at all. We lost our dog recently and with work and friends, plus the heat, this project sort of fell by the wayside. I'm glad to be back in it though!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

kasper.tyler · « **Reply #36 on:** September 22, 2015, 07:57:41 AM »

That's a good idea, thanks for the tip. What product do you recommend? The frame is already pretty rusty, but the paint is still on it. I was planning on leaving it like that until we would be painting it, and just sand, prime, and paint all in a short amount of time.

And parts wise, I'm looking to go with a cafe racer style on it. Something inconspicuous rather than flashy. Simple is best, and the cheaper the better. I probably won't have any chrome on the bike when I'm finished. I attached a picture of a different build that I really really like. Hopefully that gives you somewhat of an idea of where I'm going with it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

kasper.tyler · « **Reply #37 on:** September 22, 2015, 08:02:36 AM »

Haha yeah, tires may look cool, but I like my body too much to risk it sliding all over the ground just to make the bike look a little better.
I'll definitely look into that stuff from Home Depot when it comes time to sand it all down. Thanks for the tips! Much appreciated.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

flatlander · « **Reply #38 on:** September 22, 2015, 11:26:33 AM »

sorry to hear about your dog. i went through the same thing last year

kasper.tyler · « **Reply #39 on:** September 22, 2015, 11:28:49 AM »

Thanks flatlander, sorry to hear about yours too. She was old and had a good, long life so that softened the blow a little bit. Still sucks, but that's life.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

flatlander · « **Reply #40 on:** September 22, 2015, 12:40:56 PM »

it is hard, you basically loose a family member.

2strokeTrush · « **Reply #41 on:** September 22, 2015, 03:10:44 PM »

Good project, Im in

kasper.tyler · « **Reply #42 on:** September 22, 2015, 03:14:46 PM »

Thanks 2strokeTrush, hopefully I actually finish it and don't disappoint all of you guys haha.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

2strokeTrush · « **Reply #43 on:** September 22, 2015, 05:04:15 PM »

Quote from: kasper.tyler on September 22, 2015, 03:14:46 PM

Thanks 2strokeTrush, hopefully I actually finish it and don't disappoint all of you guys haha.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Get on it then!

kasper.tyler · « **Reply #44 on:** September 23, 2015, 02:07:07 PM »

I was planning to work on this throughout the day, but I got called for a last minute interview for a job, so I had to cut the day short. At any rate, here's my little update.

I got the shed a little more organized so I can navigate it better. Also sprayed the hell out of it for bugs, cause I don't have time for that nonsense.

This is how we left things on Monday, we were both exhausted from getting the engine off the frame that we didn't bother trying to organize too much.

Every single screw on top of the motor was stripped out and wouldn't let any screwdriver/drill bit grab onto it. I made some cuts in the top of some of the screws with a dremel to help me get them out with a flathead.

Worked great for a few of them, but I ended up having to go grab some penetrating spray. Stupid me decided to make the trip on the Suzuki, so that lead to some interesting placement of items to get them back home. Notice the brushes in my pocket and bag of PB tied to my belt loop. Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Haha.

Cleaned up the breather cover a bit, there's actually metal under all that dirt! It'll get either painted or polished later on, don't mind the scratches.

Too much PB and bug spray meant I had to concede and put a fan in the shed. Great idea.

With the breather cover off, I noticed these little ridges inside. What do these mean? Are they normal or are they a sign that I'm about to find even more problems? I'm officially out of my wheelhouse and across the street, so to speak haha.

I decided to let some PB do its thing and hung some tools up as best as I could in the limited space. Can't put up pegboard, so this is how I'm gonna do it for now.

More disassembly as the screws began to loosen up a bit.

I removed another cover, this time exposing the mechanical parts that the chain run on. I'm not sure of the terminology. Thank god for big rubber bands and wide screwdrivers.

I can see what I believe would be the starter, towards the left, now that the cover is off. And I'm also starting to wonder if this bike was buried underground for some time, as it looks like a small garden was started inside.

Unfortunately I had to throw in the towel right there for today, my interview is in a few hours and I have to make sure I'm properly prepared.

So my questions for today are:
1. What are those ridges in the metal under the breather cover?
2. How the hell do I get those other stripped screws out? They crumble under any pressure it seems, and the dremel and rubber band trick haven't shown much success for the couple of them remaining.
3. What should I be doing/not be doing next?
And finally, 4. Am I still not in over my head? Kind of feels like it haha. But seeing some metal through the dirt and stuff was a big morale boost for me.

Cheers!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

kasper.tyler · « **Reply #45 on:** September 23, 2015, 02:50:27 PM »

I had no idea those screws were an entirely different type. Wish I had bothered to ask sooner! Hah.
As far as keeping things organized both in photos and in bags, most of it is being put into ziploc bags to keep them organized. And I took about 30-40 photos today, showing where the screws came out of and such, I just figured you guys didn't want to see them all.
Glad to hear the ridges aren't bad news as well, it was nice to see nice, clean metal when the cover came off. Can't judge a book by its cover, right?

And I think I'm keeping my head above water on this. I'm trying to be meticulous and save everything as it was when it was taken off so I can find suitable replacements or re-use the parts and pieces.
Thanks for all the advice once again, calj737!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

flatlander · « **Reply #46 on:** September 23, 2015, 11:01:27 PM »

i can only echo what cal said re. taking pictures of every step, before/after. and put all parts you remove in bags or boxes, labelling them. it will make it so much easier to remember what goes where, when you are ready to assemble it again.

you have an old style rocker cover, where the rocker shafts were able to rotate and wear out the holes in the cover that they are stuck into.
check for wear as if it does exist, it will make it impossible to set valve clearance properly.
if it's not worn there's a trick with adding o-rings (same as used on the pins for the end caps on the cover), jam them in the wholes before putting on the caps and that apparently stops them from rotating. if it's worn you're best off sourcing a new cover, from a 550 k3 or f2 model.

for more details you can search the forum for "550 rocker shaft wear" or check here on of those threads:
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,131933.0.html or
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,122627.0.html

[edit]
just realise you have a 500. i know this problem from an early 550 but apparently, the same thing can happen with the 500.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #47 on:** September 23, 2015, 11:03:08 PM »

JIS bits and a "manual" impact driver are key. The kind you strike with a hammer.

kasper.tyler · « **Reply #48 on:** October 06, 2015, 01:34:23 PM »

Tiny update on the build.
I finally invested in a manual impact driver. Best purchase ever.

With the help of that beautiful tool, I was able to get the valve cover off the head. I was very careful to take everything off and store it appropriately. Namely these small nuts and screws from the rocker arms.

So far I'm very happy with what I'm seeing inside the engine! It seems pretty clean, and the deeper I get into it, the better I feel about rebuilding it.

I have no idea how to take off a timing chain. Haha I'll be researching the rest of the tear-down before I go much further.

I'm working day 5 of 7 in a row, so I've barely had any time all week to work on it. As usual, I took plenty of pictures for each step and organized things afterwards. Let me know if anything looks out of place to you guys. It all looks great to me, but I'm not an expert like you guys.

Hopefully everyone is making solid progress with their own projects and builds!

Cheers!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Puffin · « **Reply #49 on:** October 06, 2015, 02:04:17 PM »

Subscribed....

Hey man... I started a project very similar to this only a few months before you and I had absolutely zero mechanical experience as well. I wondered many times if I was in over my head but so far so good.

If I can offer any advice it is be patient, tackle tasks in smaller manageable chunks, do your research on each component until you are confident you understand it, use the parts manual as the ultimate guide, take loads of photos and keep parts organised when you take them apart.

As well as the Impact Driver my most essential tool has been a brass wheel on the end of a battery operated drill - cleans rust, paint and crud off almost everything, particularly old bolt threads.

Hope my build thread can help you and good luck

News:

Author Topic: 1972 CB500 Project. Am I in over my head? (Read 8836 times)