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Honda CB516 Cafe
Mace53:
Gents
Im porting this over from the .net site to the uk one. I figured it was more relevant over here, and better placed for local tips and other stuff. Just bear in mind I started this project back in October 2012, so dont expect a quick finish!
Since starting the project I bought a new house, started a new job and last year got engaged. Marriage coming next month. More bike spending after!
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Greetings everyone. Ive been reading all the topics regarding cafe racer rebuilds, and have decided to take the plunge and keep myself busy with a bike this time (i normally work on classic cars). I have therefore gone and picked up a CB500 (not sure of which k version it is) from 1975, i managed to get it all for £550 with delivery. As far as i know it has been stationary for quite a while.
Im hoping for a simple design, cheap and original and have two ideas at hand:
As you can see there isnt much to the bike, and ive recently stripped pretty much everything off of it in order for a complete rebuild.
Home:
- So my first hurdle are the carbs, and after taking off the chamber sets i had a little moment of, "oh $%£&", as you can see i have my work cut out for me!
It doesnt take a genius to figure out this is quite a serious problem, and as im new to bike restorations any advice would be much appreciated!
So theres good news -
But also very bad news! This 40 jet snapped inside the thread, doesnt look like i will be salvaging this one then!
- After 1 hours bath:
So today ive focused on grinding off those annoying little side panel mounts, and after annoying the neighbors for a while ive managed to get there in one piece.
All a man needs in his life. Flat head, massive hammer, angle grinder and a hacksaw.
I admit this looks like ive cut straight through the frame at a right angle, i can assure you i havent!
Top stuff
However as always i have bad news:
I was wondering why they were stiff!
--- Quote from: rb550four on October 14, 2012, 11:03:03 PM ---You can use a rack of PD carbs from a K model ( like the last pic I posted here) but , you will need the K model intake manifolds and pucks because they are larger than the carbs that came on your bike. You will also need the correct Throttle cables from the K and possibly a choke control cable and bar set up .
--- End quote ---
Cheers for that info, i have no doubt that i may end up using these.
So I admit that ive not been best at keeping people updated with progress on my build :-\
Having bought a new house, moved into a new area, starting a new job and getting engaged, sadly the build got shelved for a while. But this summer I got back into it after I persuaded my dad to buy this:
http://www.kottmotorcycles.com/builds/2015/7/10/-grey-and-maroon
Needless to say, he is no longer a Beemer snob!
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So a few pics of where I am at:
The only items remaining from the original bike are the frame, front forks and the front and rear wheel hubs.
Everything, and i mean everything else got binned (carbs, wiring, wheels etc)
I have lovely brand new rims/ spokes/ tyres, headlight (to be painted), rear shocks, mini gauges, front brake caliper , clip ons, and i even picked up a used tank from a 500 twin. The front forks have progressive springs installed in them and they are damn stiff now!
Im even debating on how I want the speedo mounted, i've settled on this position;
Thoughts?
Once I have the rolling frame sorted (just finishing up some painting on the brake disc and rear axle), I am going to be doing my very own ultrasonic cleaning of a new set of carbs I bought from a CB550. Theyre already in pretty good condition, only a few minor residues of fuel in those hard to reach places.
An old picture on my new carb cleaning progress.
Manky disc!
Brake disc covered and ready for some primer!
More to follow over the next few weeks (ive got a week off work now 8) )
So I've made the decision to split the engine myself. I figured with a bit of common sense and patience I can do the job myself.
I also decided at a spur of the moment to cut the rear foot peg mounts off.
I got everything attached to the engine blasted, and I'm going for an aluminium look with gloss black on the cylinder block.
I'm also doing a 1mm overbore due to some pitting damage. I tell you what there aren't very many kits for the 500/4. Lots for the 750, 550 and 450. But not many for mine. I had to get one ordered from Japan. I was going to go for the 4mm overbore bringing it up to 553cc, but I bottled it on the price
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So I've been quite busy over the last few weeks. Since getting the engine blasted, the 57mm piston kit has arrived from Japan.
Furthermore, it's amazing how indecisive I've been about how I want the engine to look. I ended up painting the crank case and cylinder head in aluminium, but I wasn't happy with the finish. So I went and stripped it all off. I've now painted it black, and I'm going for a high polish finish on the clutch and sprocket covers.
The next task is to get the cylinders overbored so I can start to rebuild the engine in the frame.
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Mace53:
Quick update from today's antics.
I got a load of truly awesome sisal mops etc from thepolishingshop.co.uk along with some polishing compounds, and here is the before during and after shots.
This stuff really really is from heaven. I cannot rate it highly enough.
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petermigreen:
Great thread, please keep it coming.
Mace53:
--- Quote from: Oddjob on September 22, 2016, 12:39:38 AM ---Don't whatever you do fit the PD carbs off the CB550K3, more trouble than they are worth AND the 500 carbs are far easier to source and TBH are better carbs anyway, maybe not as economical but I suppose that isn't a problem anyway.
--- End quote ---
Why so? They're all I've got now as the original 500 ones were badly badly damaged. Is it the jetting that's an issue? I'm planning on running a 4-1 with the pod filters.
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hairygit:
No, they are designed for fuel economy, and some of the internal passageways are very tiny and prone to clogging and blocking. Ultrasonic cleaning sometimes helps, but often not! If you do get them sorted it won't be long before they clog again (they were like it when new) and they are a pig to set up and get running right, and difficult to get spares for, and the spares are expensive.
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