Topic: A glutton for punishment... 1973 CB500 resto-mod

[palepainter]

What a great bunch of components!!!!!  Following along.

[Scott S]

 Started working on some 400F pegs while I'm waiting to get back all the stuff I dropped off last week. Still need to modify the heim joint on the shifter and modify the brake lever.

[Scott S]

 I have enough to do two full sets (meaning pegs, shifter, brake pedal and 550F kicker) and a third set without the brake pedal and kicker. Figured I'd do up a few while I'm at it and maybe sell one or two. But they seem to be getting rarer....maybe I'll hoard them.

[GV1390]

I have enough to do two full sets (meaning pegs, shifter, brake pedal and 550F kicker) and a third set without the brake pedal and kicker. Figured I'd do up a few while I'm at it and maybe sell one or two. But they seem to be getting rarer....maybe I'll hoard them.

Argh!!! You know I'm in line for a set still.

 

[Scott S]

I have enough to do two full sets (meaning pegs, shifter, brake pedal and 550F kicker) and a third set without the brake pedal and kicker. Figured I'd do up a few while I'm at it and maybe sell one or two. But they seem to be getting rarer....maybe I'll hoard them.

Argh!!! You know I'm in line for a set still.

 

$250 sounds about right these days, Scott. Especially after all the hand work put in to get them beautiful.

 I'll be keeping the really pretty set for myself!
 Despite what people say, these don't just "bolt up" to the 500/550. I flip one end of the heim joint on the shifter so that it's a straighter shot and not in a bind. You have to cut/grind off part of the RH peg, and you have to bend the brake lever and add a tab for the rear brake light switch.

[GV1390]

I have enough to do two full sets (meaning pegs, shifter, brake pedal and 550F kicker) and a third set without the brake pedal and kicker. Figured I'd do up a few while I'm at it and maybe sell one or two. But they seem to be getting rarer....maybe I'll hoard them.

Argh!!! You know I'm in line for a set still.

 

$250 sounds about right these days, Scott. Especially after all the hand work put in to get them beautiful.

Only if it was Scott's only post! Maybe more than double in value then.

[Scott S]

 Piece together all the parts, clean them up, make the mods, find a 550F shifter....it adds up quickly.

[RAFster122s]

Top triple from FZ06 is fit for R6 triples and comes eqipped to run handle bars for a clean look.  I have a spare set of top triples I can sell you if interested. A respray or powder coating (for best looks they need one or other, as they have a small scratch in the paint recommended) applied after trimming or fitting a key lock and any other cosmetic changes to the triple would be good.

[RAFster122s]

Guessing the bar is going to be very clost to the fork dampner tuning pieces...camera angle off a bit and they probable are clearing with space for a deck of Uno cards split between each side of the handle bar and the top of fork tubes hardware.

[Scott S]

 Those risers are taller than they look in the pic and they had a set of bars for mock up. But I'll definitely check. That's pretty much the same way Franky did his:

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=118983.0

[Scott S]

 Got the frame home yesterday. Wedged in the fender I hope to use, just to see if it would work. Looks like it'll be easy to make it fit.
 The bars clear the fork adjusters easily (those are not the bars I'll be using, though).

[Scott S]

 Spent some time doing disassembly and working on the non-glorious stuff, like cleaning up random bits and pieces and hardware. Plenty of time with degreaser, Simple Green, EvapoRust, wire brushes, etc. Most people will never see this stuff again once the bike is put back together, but I'll know that every single bit has been touched, cleaned, polished or replaced.

[Scott S]

 I modified the brake pivot to work with the 400F brake lever. This gives you the proper ratio with the shorter foot pedal.

[Scott S]

 Got the head all cleaned up and installed the new valves. Decked .020 and 1.00mm over intakes, new exhaust valves.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Your projects move at an impressive clip, Scott!

[Scott S]

 Stripped the frame to get it ready for powder coating. Dropped off the swing arm to have the inner sleeve and shock mounts pressed out. New bushings will go in after powder coating.

[Scott S]

 And here's a picture of the front Lester with FZR600 rotors and the spacers to make it all fit the R6 forks. Just because I think it's bad ass! 

[Scott S]

Your projects move at an impressive clip, Scott!

 Thanks! But sometimes I feel like it's going painfully slow! Lots of waiting and bursts of progress....at least that's what it seems like.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

And here's a picture of the front Lester with FZR600 rotors and the spacers to make it all fit the R6 forks. Just because I think it's bad ass! 

Those fully floating rotors look great with the Lester front.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Your projects move at an impressive clip, Scott!

 Thanks! But sometimes I feel like it's going painfully slow! Lots of waiting and bursts of progress....at least that's what it seems like.

Sometimes it's hurry up and wait.

[Scott S]

 Cleaned a few more batches of hardware. Also cleaned up the Lesters. I've painted/polished them before, and I had my Henry Abe's powder coated, but I decided to do more of a "sympathetic restoration" on these. I didn't want them too shiny...and I didn't want to deal with all the taping up for paint. They're in pretty good shape, with the rear being the worst. It has/had one spot of flaking paint and a few little spots of surface corrosion (no pits, just discoloration).
 I cleaned them with car wash soap, followed by a few passes with Purple Power and varying grades of SkotchBrite and fine steel wool. I'll go over the lips again with some 0000 steel wool and aluminum polish. The plan is to get a sheen to them like they would have had right out of the box.

[Scott S]

 More "invisible" work while I wait for parts to get back.

 We replaced the shift shaft seal (say that 3X, fast). Also honed the cylinders...



 ...and modified a cam cover so that I'll be able to degree in the cam.

[Scott S]

 And one thing that's often overlooked is servicing the starter. In the past, I've experienced sluggish starter operation, and cleaning the starter really makes a big difference.
 Here's the "before" from this bike:



 I neglected to get an "after", but here's some pics from a different build.

 Before (nowhere near as bad as the current build):



 After:

[grcamna2]

That must start like new now 

[Scott S]

That must start like new now 

 It made a HUGE difference on the other bike. That's why I went ahead and did it on this one, since I'm sort of looking for stuff to do while I'm waiting.