Author Topic: 72 CB500 Portland, Oregon  (Read 1270 times)

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Offline Tuff240

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72 CB500 Portland, Oregon
« on: November 17, 2012, 06:59:07 PM »
Hello everyone!
New to vintage bikes. I've been missing riding, but have no self control to ride the liter crotch rockets of my past. Grew up riding cr125 dirt bikes and got my first taste of real speed when I bought a new Triumph 595 Daytona in 1998. Had a 1998 r1, a 00 r1, a Duc 748r and another 01 r1 before I finally realized 180mph was probably dangerous on the street. Gave it all up. 10 years on I'm pining to ride again and the individuality, uniqueness and comparatively slowness of the smaller cafe racer look/styling vintage bikes convinced me to find a cheap one to tinker with.

Back ground is restoring/modifying/club racing cars to a show quality level. Started off with restoring VW Type 3's for a Japanese collector when I was 20ish. Dabbled with older Porsche 911's a bit and finally found my niche in Volvo 240's.

Now all the boring stuff is outa the way, I happened across a 1972 CB500 with 13k miles I picked up for $250. It's been sitting since 81 so it needs a lot to be road worthy again but it seems manageable. Plan is to get it running and road worthy then decide which direction I go. Could be anything from a decent original stockish daily rider to a fuel injected turbo'd monster. Only time will tell.

I'll post some pictures of my work and the CB when I'm on PC.
- Patrick
1972 CB500
1980 GS450S

Offline Tuff240

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Re: 72 CB500 Portland, Oregon
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2012, 06:40:44 PM »
1st picture is from the craigslist add.
2nd picture is from first day of cleaning.
3rd pic is the engine compartment in my 83 Volvo daily driver
- Patrick
1972 CB500
1980 GS450S

Offline Spike

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Re: 72 CB500 Portland, Oregon
« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2012, 07:59:08 PM »
Nice attention to detail on the Volvo... you'll do just fine.
Any road...anytime
IBA# 6154
'73 CB 500
Concours C14
BMW R100/7

Offline WildJack

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Re: 72 CB500 Portland, Oregon
« Reply #3 on: December 02, 2012, 03:02:13 AM »
Nice bike and even if if was in a corner since 81 you will have a lot of fun with it. Please keep us updated with the restoring/cleaning procedure.
Cheers
W.J.
CB500 Four 1975 ... I bought it in the same year and it's still with me. ツ
CBR600 PC19 1987

VIDEOS: http://www.youtube.com/user/WildJack500Four/videos?view=0

Offline dhall57

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  • The 70's! SOHC4 Honda's & Marcia Brady of course.
Re: 72 CB500 Portland, Oregon
« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2012, 03:57:26 AM »
Welcome from North Carolina Tuff. Great find for $250 and looks like it's all there. How's the condition of the factory pipes? I like it better minus the backrest to ;)
« Last Edit: December 02, 2012, 04:00:31 AM by dhall57 »
1970 CB750KO
1971 CB500KO-project bike
1973 CB350G- project bike
1974 CB750K4-project bike
1974 CB750K4
1976 CB750K6
1977 GL1000
1997 Harley Wideglide

Offline Tuff240

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Re: 72 CB500 Portland, Oregon
« Reply #5 on: December 04, 2012, 03:13:39 AM »
Pipes are okay. I didn't think they were that great until I looked around at the rust and patches others are dealing with.

No real progress to report. I'm part way through restoring the carbs.  All parts were soaked, washed, checked, soda blasted and 2 of the 4 tops and bowls are partially polished. I'm nervous to take the misc parts to the zinc plater because I have no spares if they lose anything. It's also a small batch so trying to wait for other projects that need zinc plating as well.
- Patrick
1972 CB500
1980 GS450S

Offline spinefine

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Re: 72 CB500 Portland, Oregon
« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2013, 04:38:55 PM »
I'm in Portland with a '72 CB500, too...just got mine a couple of months ago. I paid the same as you did, plus or minus a couple grand. :) I'm a total noobie to bike maintenance and am having a good time learning what this bike needs to be happy! I'll be uploading some pics here as soon as my custom seat is ready...

Offline Duanob

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Re: 72 CB500 Portland, Oregon
« Reply #7 on: May 22, 2013, 04:06:10 PM »
PNW welcome. You got a west coast steal! Even in PDX the guy could've got close to $2K for that with a title and a bit of spit shine.
"Just because you flush a boatload of money down the toilet, doesn't make the toilet worth more",  My Stepfather the Unknown Poet

1974 CB360T
1976 CB550K2 Resurrected
1976 CB550F2 Barn Find
1979 CX500 VG "HONDA-GUZZI"
2007 Moto Guzzi Breva 750ie
2015 BMW F700GS
Another 1976 CB550K Cafe?

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Offline scottanderson76

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Re: 72 CB500 Portland, Oregon
« Reply #8 on: June 05, 2013, 07:30:53 PM »
I miss Portlandia!
75 CB400f original
78 CB550K cafe

Offline pangloss

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  • CB500 K2 1975 NZ model
Re: 72 CB500 Portland, Oregon
« Reply #9 on: June 05, 2013, 08:08:30 PM »
We get here in Oz...great stuff..