Hello and welcome, thanks for stopping in. Glad to be here, etc.
This thread is for my very first complete restoration/modified motorcycle, a 1971 Honda CB500. When I bought this bike, it was basically a frame and an engine with rusty, crumbly 4-into-2 exhaust. Along with the frame and engine, I received a rolling CB550 frame, a couple of tanks, couple sets of side covers, a spare CB550 engine in unknown condition, a 4-into-1 exhaust (which doesn't fit the 500, bummer), and some spare odds and ends - an original tool kit! and a homemade highway peg mounting bar among them.
This being my first ever project like this, I tore into it with the same kind of rabid voracity you might see from a pack of starved hyenas who've just been tossed a rack of ribs. This project actually started almost 2 months ago, and I've gotten several things done already, I'm pausing now to recap for myself and to share with others who may be interested.
I did a partial tear down, to kind of get an inventory of what I had and assess what needed to be done. Then I swapped the suspension and wheels from the rolling frame onto the 500 so it wouldn't look so pitiful. It was at this point that I finally started taking some pictures
My first objective is to get the engine running. I knew that the engine wasn't seized, which was a plus. I probably should have invested in a compression tester, but I didn't. I blindly trusted that the engine had been kept someplace dry, and put some oil in it to start the process of getting everything hooked up to try to start it. I pulled the old spark plugs out and put a small amount of oil into each cylinder to see if I could kick the engine over a few times and free everything up. It only took one kick, though, to see that there was a problem. As the engine turned over, fluid was fired from the spark plug holes with great force, hitting stuff that was 15-20 feet away and generally making a mess in the garage. That fluid turned out to be oily water.
I pulled the drain plug (which I should have done from the get-go) and sure enough, about a gallon of oily water dumped out. Time to pull the engine apart!
I wish I had taken more pictures. Everything in the crankcase had a light coating of rust, as did the valve tappets, rocker arms, cam shaft, and a bunch of the steel parts of the transmission.
The shift drum and wrist pins were seized in place with rust, and I had to get creative to get them out without damaging them, but I still managed to crack one of the pistons. I was lucky enough to find a set of salvaged pistons on eBay that were in decent condition (better than mine, as it turned out) for about $30 shipped, and while I waited for them to arrive, I set about doing a thorough cleaning of all of the engine parts that needed attention.
I ordered a complete gasket set, all new seals, standard piston rings (not interested in trying to do any performance mods), a new cam chain slipper (it was probably fine, but I wanted to be sure), along with some other things not engine-related like brake shoes, throttle cables, brake hoses, and whatnot. I debated taking the connecting rods apart to replace those bearings and the crankshaft bearings, but there wasn't really any need to do so. Those parts were in very good condition, very little wear on the journals, no play in the con rods, I'm led to believe that this engine either has very low mileage, or has been completely rebuilt before.
Once I was done cleaning everything up and I had all of my parts, I set to work reassembling the engine. I had spent quite a lot of time researching the subject, downloaded and printed out some manuals (thanks sohc4.net!) borrowed an inch/lb. torque wrench from work, and invested in some assembly lube and gasket maker.
Everything went back together smoothly, and at this point I was fairly confident that I was going to end up with a good running engine, so I started to focus on some of the other items that had been on my mind. Namely, the fuel tank. Apparently the PO was a big Eagles fan (the band, not the NFL team)
As cool as it looks, it's just not my bag. I went back and forth for awhile, trying to decide whether or not I should keep that paint job for the sake of honoring the bike's history, if nothing else, but the more I looked at it, the less I liked it. It has been sanded down to bare metal (and bondo, since the PO also decided to cover up the logo brackets).
Next objective is the wiring harness. I love electrical stuff, wiring, soldering, heat shrinking, the whole jam. The old harness was kind of cracked up and had some frayed wires and 40-year-old electrical tape on it, so I took it apart, cleaned everything up, and set about redoing it.
While I was at it, I replaced the old connectors. The old ones had a good amount of corrosion built up on the pins, and these new ones are like 1/4 the size.
After completely fixing up the wiring harness only to realize that it was the harness from the CB550, which has components that are extraneous for the CB500, I took it all apart and cut that stuff out and put it back together a second time.
That pretty much more or less catches us up to today, and this is a picture of the bike as she sits right now
The tank is a little rusty inside, so I'm gonna clean it out with some diluted muriatic acid. I've also ordered a new petcock, since the brass feed tube on the old one was cracked and I lost the heckin dang wavy washer when I took it apart. The carbs have more or less checked out okay. Cleaned all the jets and ports, replaced the old float bowl gaskets and put some new fuel lines on them. They look to be in decent shape, but I guess I'll find out when I get some gas into them.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned! I haven't let a day pass since I brought the bike home where I didn't have my hands on some part of it.
Let me know if I'm doing something completely wrong or if you think this is amazing or whatever.
