Topic: Buy 78 CB550 or 75 CB500T?

[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.