Topic: Newbie with a 72 cb500

[Acb5088]

Hey, a while ago I thought it’d be fun to rebuild a motorcycle, so naively, I bought a 72 cb500 four as my project bike. I may have gotten in over my head as my main focus when buying the bike was initial price as I didn’t have a lot of money....$400 later, the bike needs an entire rebuild. Looks like the wires are burnt and nothing works. Luckily the engine turns over but I suspect there is a leak somewhere as I can hear the whoosh sound every time I use the kick starter. 

To begin the rebuild, where do people suggest I start? Should I focus on electrical first or dive straight into the engine? This is going to be a long journey, but hey, it’ll all be worth it when it’s a fully functional bike in the end.

[toma]

I hope that you have a shop manual. Probably the first thing to do is pull the head. With the 500 you can do that with the engine still in the frame.
Keep asking questions on this list -- There are some folks here that really can help you. Good luck.

[jaytee-nz]

Don't start taking the engine apart until you know whether it runs or not. You could end up paying for parts and other costs for no reason. If you are inexperienced, do some research and learn the basics of how engines work.
There is a lot of really good information on this site so read up and use the search facility.
Sounds like you need to fix the burnt wiring to start with.

[Scott S]

https://4into1.com/main-wiring-harness-32100-323-040-honda-cb500k-1972-1973/

[bryanj]

Not sure about that loom for a 72 500, some wires and blocks dont look right to me.
You can start it by just putting power to the coils and making sure points wires are connected then jumping starter solenoid to see if engine any good before putting loads of money into it

[Scott S]

 They offer a few versions. He said he has a '72, so I linked that one. I've used their harnesses before. Good quality, plug and play.
 I used one on a '73, but I had a 550 engine so I'm not sure which one I ended up using.