« previous next »
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: First ride on '71' 500  (Read 958 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline JohnC

  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 14
First ride on '71' 500
« on: May 27, 2016, 11:09:17 AM »
I just got to ride the bike for the first time.  This bike had been sitting in my neighbor's garage for at least 15 years.  I put in new coils, plugs, points, condensers, oil, filters and rebuilt the carbs.  Right now it has zero front brakes and a pinhole leak in the gas tank.  I only went about a mile, no further than I was willing to push it if it broke, but it felt and sounded good.  Now to get it registered and buy a helmet.  The front brake was totally dry, so I suspect I will need to rebuild/replace both the master cylinder and the caliper.  Some POR 15 is probably also in my future.  Thanks for all the good advice and information I've found on this site.

John
Logged

Offline SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan

  • Speak up, Whipper-Snapper! I'm a
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 15,556
  • SOHC/4 Member #1235
Re: First ride on '71' 500
« Reply #1 on: May 27, 2016, 11:36:13 AM »
Nice.  Pictures or it didn't happen!  Just kidding.  Perhaps you should start a build thread to document its road to recovery.
Logged
1975 CB550K1 "Blue" Stockish Restomod (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=135005.0)
1975 CB550F1 frame/CB650 engine hybrid "The Hot Mess" (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,150220.0.html)
2008 Triumph Thruxton (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,190956.0.html)
2014 MV Agusta Brutale Dragster 800
2015 Yamaha FZ-09 (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,186861.0.html)

"There are some things nobody needs in this world, and a bright-red, hunch-back, warp-speed 900cc cafe racer is one of them — but I want one anyway, and on some days I actually believe I need one.... Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube. That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba." Hunter S. Thompson, Song of the Sausage Creature, Cycle World, March 1995.  (http://www.latexnet.org/~csmith/sausage.html and https://magazine.cycleworld.com/article/1995/3/1/song-of-the-sausage-creature)

Sold/Emeritus
1973 CB750K2 "Bionic Mongrel" (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=132734.0) - Sold
1977 CB750K7 "Nine Lives" Restomod (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=50490.0) - Sold
2005 RVT1000RR RC51-SP2 "El Diablo" - Sold
2016+ Triumph Thruxton 1200 R (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,170198.0.html) - Sold

Offline JohnC

  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 14
Re: First ride on '71' 500 -- Photos
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2016, 02:28:58 PM »
Here are a few pictures of the bike.  I didn't post because it is rather ordinary and needs to be cleaned up.  As far as I can tell it is all original except for the exhaust.  Everything works.

John
Logged

Offline flybox1

  • My wife thinks I'm a
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 14,289
Re: First ride on '71' 500
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2016, 02:41:55 PM »
Nice find.  Always did like those Jardine 4:2's
Logged
'78 750K (F3 engine) PD42b's, Modified airbox w/K&N  filter, 40/110 jets, 1 needle shim, IMS@ 1 turn out. Kerker + Cone 18" QuietCore

Past Bikes
1974 550K0 (stock), 1973 CB350F (stock), 1983 Yamaha XS400K (POS)
77/78 cool 2 member #3
"Knowledge without mileage equals bullsh!t" - Henry Rollins

"This is my CB. There are many like it, but this one is mine…"

Offline Bankerdanny

  • Eventually I will be old enough in reality to be
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 7,623
  • Endeavor to persevere
Re: First ride on '71' 500
« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2016, 02:50:21 PM »
With my first 550 in 2011, it had been sitting for 26-27 years and the brake fluid had evaporated away. I cleaned out the fluid reservoir with a cloth and some fresh fluid (don't use carb or brake cleaner) and pulled the caliper and cleaned the gunk out of it and reassembled with the existing seal. I bled in fresh fluid and it worked perfectly over 5k miles until I sold it a few months later. So you may not need to do anything to the master.
Logged
"The problem with quotes on the Internet is that you never know if they're true" - Abraham Lincoln

Current: '76 CB750F. Previous:  '75 CB550F, 2007 Yamaha Vino 125 Scooter, '75 Harley FXE Superglide, '77 GL1000, '77 CB550k, '68 Suzuki K10 80, '68 Yamaha YR2, '69 BMW R69S, '71 Honda SL175, '02 Royal Enfield Bullet 500, '89 Yamaha FJ1200

Offline Stev-o

  • Ain't no
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 35,323
  • Central Texas
Re: First ride on '71' 500
« Reply #5 on: May 28, 2016, 10:40:40 AM »
Looks good, but the tank paint is not original. 

I prefer Caswell epoxy to seal tanks, had a pin hole in my H1 and it worked well.

Get it on eBay....
Logged
'74 "Big Bang" Honda 750K [836].....'76 Honda 550F.....K3 Park Racer!......and a Bomber!............plus plus plus.........
Pages: [1]   Go Up
« previous next »