Topic: Buy 78 CB550 or 75 CB500T?

[Vhonda]

ok looking at:

78 CB550 condition 8 needs basic brakes, tune-up to make road worthy, and excellent stored barn find.

75 CB500T condition 7 needs replacement stuff like brake and clutch levers, tune up another barn find stored indoors.

Both same price.

my dilemma is that the 550 has more power and I currently own 2 (73 CB500 and a 76 CB550), which I love. I want a 500T because I don't have one but here is my list of doubts.

BAD:
1. Heard the 500T is not balanced and vibrates a lot.
2. Spongy rubber joints including handlebars
3. Down on power from the 550k setup, 34hp vs 50hp
4. I love the two 500 and 550 I currently own.
5. Not as reliable, crappy reviews.
6. Want a black 500T not brown

GOOD:
1. Twin (look and sound)
2. Tank

[pekingduck]

Will the CB550 will replace one of the others?  Sometimes it's hard to pass up good deals, even if you really didn't want them.
As for the CB500T - a good deal on something you don't want is not a good deal.

[Vhonda]

No I am keeping both 73 cb500/76 cb550, if anything the yamaha may go if I decide not to do anything with it

I would take a CB Supersport over both (cb500t and 1978 550) but haven't found one in the same barn find range

Pictured below is 500T (brown) 15k miles , 550K (black) 9k miles.

[seanbarney41]

Twins are fun.  Totally different power delivery than a 4 so basic hp number comparisons do not tell the whole story, and yes they ALL vibrate a lot more.  That said, I think Honda got it wrong with the 500T, both the engine and stylistically, especially all that brown.  I am not a fan of brown.  If you want a great Honda twin, wait around for a 450.

[Vhonda]

seanBarney41: Thanks I have never ridden a CB Twin so having your insight on Twins and hp delivery is what I was looking for.

I do like the 50 lbs less weight and 45hp vs 34hp of the 450T

[BenelliSEI]

Those look very nice. Package deal, take them both home and then decide? Good way to end up with one “free bike”…….

[MauiK3]

I've always like the look of the 450 dohc twin motor.

[HondaMan]

Something that can make up MY mind about the 500T is:
if the stock OEM airfilters and cross-connect seals are missing, walk away. It will never idle, won't have any low-RPM power to speak of, and is almost impossible to start when hot if these critical parts are missing. Many are. It would take a long post to explain WHY, but when they come here for help, all I can do is to literally silicone-seal something together for the owner as no parts are available, and they MUST be in place for the bike to run when hot. With pod-type filters, they barely will even run.

[carnivorous chicken]

Twins are fun.  Totally different power delivery than a 4 so basic hp number comparisons do not tell the whole story, and yes they ALL vibrate a lot more.  That said, I think Honda got it wrong with the 500T, both the engine and stylistically, especially all that brown.  I am not a fan of brown.  If you want a great Honda twin, wait around for a 450.

This. Them 500Ts are uuuuugly and piggish. Except maybe the tank (if you repainted it).

[bryanj]

Both of those have absolutely terrible carbs and neither like to be stood anything over a couple of weeks, twin is worse to get parts for and don't think ever came in black, starters rarely work and can destroy generator rotors.

Personally I would walk away for both unless free

[HondaMan]

I've always like the look of the 450 dohc twin motor.

The 450 DOHC was/is a terrific bike, and my favorite twin. Honda did something really nasty to make it into the 500T. I never figured out 'why', either?

[BenelliSEI]

Counter point. My 1978 cb550K was my first SOHC four Honda and I rode it for many years. One of my favourite bikes.

[jonda500]

My cb450 was one of the most reliable, powerful and favourite bikes I have ever owned. It had pod filters and two car coils for the whole time I owned it and always ran very well with no carby issues in the ten years I had it for.
John

[bryanj]

The 450 was better but still had, i think, 3 big carb mods

[Vhonda]

WTH guess I had to 

[pekingduck]

The CB450 wasn't super-smooth, but the CB500T was rougher, less revvy, probably because of the stroker crank.

[BenelliSEI]

WTH guess I had to 

Good call! That bike looks to be in excellent condition! Congrats.

[MauiK3]

More photos when able, nice bike!

[Stev-o]

Twins are fun.  Totally different power delivery than a 4 so basic hp number comparisons do not tell the whole story, and yes they ALL vibrate a lot more.  That said, I think Honda got it wrong with the 500T, both the engine and stylistically, especially all that brown.  If you want a great Honda twin, wait around for a 450.

Solid advice here from Sean, except color, that is subjective!   My buddy bought a 500T for his girlfriend, was not a good bike.

If you want a twin, get a CB450!  That's what I did...

[CycleRanger]

Imho, the CB500T gets more hate than it deserves.
However, I have to admit the brown seat is a real turn-off.

The Black Bombers are truly iconic but not my style.
If I was going to get a 450 it would probably be the later 450's like a '72 or '73.

Glad you got the 550, that would have been my choice.

[jlh3rd]

king of the road in my world in 1972

[rotortiller]

500T is cool with torsion bars for valve springs.  People do not seem to collect them much but who cares, it's a change, they ride fine and they are under-appreciated.

[HondaMan]

WTH guess I had to 

Wow, in that light it looks brand new!

[carnivorous chicken]

Twins are fun.  Totally different power delivery than a 4 so basic hp number comparisons do not tell the whole story, and yes they ALL vibrate a lot more.  That said, I think Honda got it wrong with the 500T, both the engine and stylistically, especially all that brown.  If you want a great Honda twin, wait around for a 450.

Solid advice here from Sean, except color, that is subjective!   My buddy bought a 500T for his girlfriend, was not a good bike.

If you want a twin, get a CB450!  That's what I did...

If only black bombers were as cheap and easy to find as CB500Ts...

[HondaMan]

Twins are fun.  Totally different power delivery than a 4 so basic hp number comparisons do not tell the whole story, and yes they ALL vibrate a lot more.  That said, I think Honda got it wrong with the 500T, both the engine and stylistically, especially all that brown.  If you want a great Honda twin, wait around for a 450.

Solid advice here from Sean, except color, that is subjective!   My buddy bought a 500T for his girlfriend, was not a good bike.

If you want a twin, get a CB450!  That's what I did...

Now, THERE's a bike! One of those taught me that I had arthritis in my back at 22 years of age.
They are a road-rocket, though.

[Deltarider]

500T is cool with torsion bars for valve springs.  People do not seem to collect them much but who cares, it's a change, they ride fine and they are under-appreciated.

I agree. All in all it was quite a sophisticated and expensive design Honda had chosen. In the 80s we rode all the way to Spain and back, a friend on a CB500T and me on my CB500K2-ED. His gave no probs at all, mine developed a somewhat leaking O-ring (oilpump) at the top of the Pyrenees, which I choose to cure myself at a friendly dealer in the next town on the Spanish side. Apart from the cosmetics, were there really mods that made it a lesser quality bike than the CB450?

[Bankerdanny]

Both of those have absolutely terrible carbs and neither like to be stood anything over a couple of weeks, twin is worse to get parts for and don't think ever came in black, starters rarely work and can destroy generator rotors.

Personally I would walk away for both unless free

I'm going to disagree. When I bought my first SOHC4 in 2011 it was a '77 550K that had been sitting for 28 years (with gas in the tank). It was in a climate controlled garage most of the time, so it cleaned up and looked like brand new. it still had the original tires and battery from the factory. The carbs were very gummed up, but a weekend of hard work took care of that. I replaced the tires, battery, and fuel lines and installed new main jet o-rings and float bowl gaskets, and a few months after I brought it home I rode it 1,600 trouble free miles around Lake Michigan in the first Relay Rally.

Drain your bowls (easy to do on PD's since opening the drain screws sends fuel through the overflow instead of out the side of the bowl like non-PD carbs) when you put it away for the winter and it will easily start again the Spring with no special work.

As long as the carbs are clean to begin with it will happily sit for a month+ at a time and still start right back up again.

[HondaMan]

I have another method that works well, but does require some discipline on the owner's part: all winter long, go out in the garage and turn the petcock ON for 5 minutes or so to keep the float bowls in the carbs full, and make sure the gas tank is also full. This 'wet storage' method prevents rust in the tank altogether, and the modern fuels that cause Orings to swell won't deteriorate the carb's hoses and Orings if they are kept wetted. It is the wet-dry-wet-dry cycles that make for Oring issues in ethanol-laced fuels.

This also makes the bike much more ready-to-ride on those warm winter weekends.

[Deltarider]

Yes, it's important to open the petcock from time to time. Amazing how much vaporizes nowadays. I don't remember this of the gasoline back then. This carb hibernation method has served me best in the past 44 years. Never had to separate the carbs from the rack and the O-rings at the T-joints are still the same Keihin put in, in... 1975. http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,191309.msg2264155.html#msg2264155
Owners of a CB550 models with still that breather thingie in place, are advised to have the oil level no higher than halfway the dipstick.