Topic: A glutton for punishment... 1973 CB500 resto-mod

[Scott S]

 Thank you! It's hard to get a shot of how it shins in real life. And the stripes are painted on, not decals.

[Stev-o]

Absolutely beautiful paint.  I cannot wait to see it all together and to hear a sample of those pipes in ANGER! 

+1!   

[Scott S]

 Well, I heard the pipes today! Hooked up an IV and fired her up. There's a little more valve noise than I'd like (sort of to be expected after a full top end rebuild). I adjusted the valves, but I'll go back through them again. The carbs were pissing fuel out the overflows. Again, I gave them a quick clean and once over. They were really nice carbs to begin with and I was hoping I could get by but, alas.... I'll pull them and have my carb guy do his thing. I was able to set the timing. I need to play with the Speedhut tach and get it the correct signal and pulse.
 The idle seemed high, but wanted to die if I cut back on it too much. I mostly just held it as it was and even a little higher to help seat the rings. No smoke, no big oil leaks that I can see, no exhaust leaks that I can tell.
 As a "proof of concept" start, I'd say it went OK.

 (Can someone embed the dang video for me? I do NOT know why I can't get that to work.)

[flatlander]

the first sign of life - nice 
if all goes well i take mine to the dyno on saturday to sort out the jetting.

[Scott S]

 The carbs for this project, I picked up at Barber last year. They were super clean, had some chrome bowls and tops, and supposedly were on a bike not too long ago.
 I took a quick look inside, sprayed a little carb cleaner through them, and slapped them on. That was a mistake on my part. Fuel pissing out the overflows like crazy. I've been through CB550 carbs plenty of times, but I have a carb guy within walking distance of my house. Yanked them off yesterday and dropped them off. Sure enough, the one area I didn't get into was the issue. I didn't pull the floats and fuel valves. The O-rings were crumbling.
 Rick has a method of polishing and seating the needles and he installed new O-rings on the fuel valves, main jets and drain screws for me. He also cleaned them up a bit better. Ought to be good to go this time.
 Hope to get them back on in a day or two and fire it up again and make attempt #2 and tuning it. I also re-adjusted the valves yesterday.

[Scott S]

 Just got through vacuum syncing them. Can't go for a real test ride until the tank is on, and I think I could use a larger pilot jet, as I ended up at ~3/4 turn out and stock is 1.5.
 I think I can tune it this way, but if I ever have to go back in them, I'll go up on the pilot. I can't remember if there's a 38 or 40 in there right now.

[Scott S]

 Rear fender, grab bar and tail light are FINALLY on their way here from the chrome shop. I plan on finishing up the wiring now. I'm still trying to figure out why I have a lag in the tach on the Speedhut gauge.
 I think I'll go ahead and install bodywork and seat and maybe ride it a little bit. I have access to a dyno shop in Concord. I think I'll ride or haul it up there and actually have the carbs tuned and jetted properly, depending on what I find once it moves under it's own power (other than up and down the driveway with the fuel in the bowls).

[flatlander]

sounds promising 
how do your centre and kickstand fit? all clear?
i also didn't make it to the dyno yet, wanted to plug those bloody gas leaks first.

[Scott S]

 Center stand clears fine. I re-bent the hanger I made. I picked up a NOS kick stand and dropped it off at my buddy's shop last Friday. He's going to drill and tap a hole for a screw, like you did. I only need 3-5mm to keep it off the #1 pipe. That reminds me...I need to go pick that up today.

[flatlander]

that's good news. i'm going to bend the lever thingy on the centre stand some more. when it gets pulled up by the spring, the rubber stopper gets compressed a bit for a split second and then it gets too close to the muffler, for my liking.

[ChromeDreams]

WOW! this bike is shaping up to be all kinds of amazing, love it

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Looking good -- especially the new pipes and gauge.  It'll sound nice when under load and in anger!

[Scott S]

 FINALLY got my stuff back from the chrome shop.



 I had a CL350 tail light bracket chromed. It looks like the original, but smaller.




 Got everything on the bike. I'll probably go ahead and install the seat now. I'll position the GPS antenna to be as discreet as possible back there. I could probably go ahead and install the tank and side covers, but I'd really like to figure out what's up with the tach first. I'll leave that stuff off for easy access to all the wiring.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Pretty.  You can't find chrome shops out here in Ca anymore.

[Scott S]

 Installed the NOS seat today. The ONLY thing that's stopping me from installing the bodywork is waiting for a noise filter for the Speedhut tach to get here. I don't want to take the tank on and off to access the wiring anymore than I have to.

 The seat and pan are beautiful. Even the logo.




 This bike had the complete factory tool kit in the original bag, that nifty fuse holder (that originally had 3 fuses, but I broke one taking it out. I have some spares in the tool kit), and even the original owners manual.

[Stev-o]

Where'd you find that seat?!  It's all in the details....

[Scott S]

Where'd you find that seat?!  It's all in the details....

 From a member here. I was looking at high quality covers or repro seats and he PM'd me. He gave me a great deal on it and it really fits the build.

[Stev-o]

Where'd you find that seat?!  It's all in the details....

 From a member here. I was looking at high quality covers or repro seats and he PM'd me. He gave me a great deal on it and it really fits the build.

Agreed, the seat really tops off a nice build, pun intended but so true.

Dont know how you CANT pop on that tank just to see how she will look!

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Holy smokes that seat is nice. 

Details!! The original manual looks brand new, too!

Is the Speed Hut tach "noise" causing the tach needle to bounce?

[Scott S]

 Yes, that's what they say, anyway. I've had "noise" in the signal before on a couple of Danmoto tach's and it just makes them go crazy. I had to install a resistor to quiet it down. This one is the opposite....it's lazy and seems to lag or stick.

[Scott S]

 Picked up an NOS kickstand (because I had cut off the ball on the old one and I ended up needing it) and had it tapped for a set screw.




 This allows me to lift the stand without it hitting the pipe. This pic makes the gap look bigger than it really is. I might be able to go in another thread or two and tuck it up a little closer if needed.

[greenjeans]

Just got through going through this thread.  Really diggin this build.  I need a set of Lesters.  Please post a video of those pipes when you get that beast fired up. 
Those are Killer. 

[Scott S]

 This was mostly to document the tach noise but it shows the pipes, too.

[flatlander]

that's cool with the kickstand, pretty much how i did mine too. check that you have enough clearance on left hand turns. if you do, there's no need to tuck it in further.

[Scott S]

 Waiting on mirrors, and there's minor tweaking to do, including possibly dyno tuning, but this one's basically DONE!