Bruce, the PO of my CX500 told me that the engine was really quiet when idling around town, but had a real "bark" when you opened it up. Yeah right Bruce, the "Bark" was caused by rust holes in the exhaust crossover, ha ha!
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I MIG welded a plate over each hole, which was a PITA as the metal was paper thin, and I ended up burning holes, then filling holes, then burning more holes etc. Eventually I ran out of holes, it's spit-ugly, but it doesn't leak.
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Whilst I was underneath it, I discovered that the centre stand was slightly bent when Bruce fell off. I was surprised at how easy I could bend it back into shape with a nice long piece of pipe.
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And yes, I did fire it up with the pipes off! "Bloop bloop bloopity bloop"!
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I sorted the front brakes while I was at it, it turns out one of the hoses from the junction was blocked, so I ratted thru my CB750F2 parts, and found a hose that almost long enough, so it's on for the time being. With some weight over the front end it's fine, but I'll replace it this week. It was a long day, and I didn't have time to take it for a "test ride", but I'll do that next weekend. Cheers, Terry.