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Messages - masonmart

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1
Project Board / Re: Dresda Restoration
« on: December 20, 2021, 02:22:00 PM »
I did finish the bike in the end
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I stopped when I'd got past £20k spend. The bike was running and went amazingly well but I didn't like it. The flat bars didn't work and the front mudguard from a CB500 wasn't right. I had a new Kawasaki Avenger A7 project to do and put the Dresda into the garage for the future. I'll probably sell it for whatever it'll fetch. Would make a good buy for somebody, nearly everything is new.

2
CB500/550 / Re: CB500 running
« on: November 21, 2020, 11:33:21 AM »
Thank you all for the comments.

3
CB500/550 / Re: CB500 running
« on: November 20, 2020, 03:41:46 PM »
I assume you have checked float height.


What air cleaners/airbox do you have?


Sent from my SM-A750FN using Tapatalk

Hi John, checked the float heights when I assembled the bike and they were fine. Air cleaners are aftermarket foam jobs.

4
CB500/550 / CB500 running
« on: November 20, 2020, 03:18:33 PM »
Having finished my Dresda 500 I'm trying to get it running well. Have experienced a problem whereby the bike starts on choke, In warming, it initially runs on no choke but after a while coughs and then stops running. Leave it for a while and this repeats. We hooked up an exhaust gas mixture probe and what happens is that on choke it has the correct mixture for normal running, is too lean when the choke is opened but then the exhaust just gets leaner and leaner and eventually gets so lean it doesn't run. The fuel supply is from an elevated tank and the fuel lines run fine.

This happens with the engine on tickover but it seems not to happen when the throttle is opened into the area where it is running on the main jet not the slow running jet. On my brit bikes I'd look at checking the slow running jets and perhaps raising the needle a notch but I'm not sure with these carbs but I have them off the bike now and will check the jets. Any thoughts on this lean issue, especially why it would just keep on leaning out and stopping. The obvious thought is fuel starvation but the supply seems good.

5
CB500/550 / Re: CB500 Alternator
« on: November 05, 2020, 11:41:51 AM »
The problem was I fitted the wrong Regulator. It needs one with a positive lead back to the alternator and I got one without the lead. Bought the right one from Electrex and it charges well.

6
CB500/550 / Re: Cerakote on engine cases
« on: November 04, 2020, 01:05:23 PM »
I think I know the answer to this before I ask it.

Can you Cerakote on engine cases, head etc.
The nature of ceramic coatings is that it retains heat. These engines are air cooled so anything that retains heat is probably a bad idea.

Fine for covers not for bits that need to keep cool.

Is my thinking right? Has anyone tried it on the engine? I like the idea of it because it's so durable and I don't have to upset the other half by ruining the oven.

I have my complete engine and pipes coated with Cerakote, looks great and no problems of any kind.

7
CB500/550 / Re: CB500 Alternator
« on: September 07, 2020, 09:03:13 AM »
Many thanks for the tips gents. I'm going to have to educate myself on how to test electrical devices and I probably need to start with a wiring diagram as the electrical system is completely non-standard. The engine had been crashed at one time too so damage to the alternator may be a possibility.

8
CB500/550 / CB500 Alternator
« on: August 23, 2020, 08:25:52 PM »
Having finished my Dresda CB500 and registered it I've at last had chance to run it. It ran like a dream but the battery flattened so no charge. It had been left outside for 40+years so my guess it is the alternator but not my area of expertise. A quick look around seems to show that they are rare or, if NOS, very expensive. Can anybody advise on possible solutions like aftermarket parts, rewinding or anything else I may be able to look at?

Many thanks.

9
CB500/550 / Re: various 500 workshop videos
« on: December 31, 2019, 03:05:12 PM »
The engine stand is good and whilst very American he seems to have a good understanding.

10
Project Board / Re: Dresda CB500
« on: December 22, 2019, 07:25:43 PM »
Well, when you pop yer clogs they can bury you in that tank to save expense  ;D ;D ;D

Thank you oddjob but that is the tank they were sold with.

OK, this isn't a sales pitch but in the opinion of people on here what is the possible value? It's cost me around £15k (the clocks and wheels about £2k alone) but I learned so much from it and enjoyed the work. I have a feeling that the parts are worth more than the value of the bike.

11
CB500/550 / Re: Stiff clutch
« on: December 22, 2019, 05:42:29 PM »
Perfect now.

12
CB500/550 / Re: Stiff clutch
« on: December 20, 2019, 07:08:15 PM »
I've found at least part of the problem. With the clutch adjusted at the cover end as per the manual, the actuating lever in the casing is at around 45 deg at the start of pulling the lever in and vertical when the bar lever is at full travel. This increases the force needed by a very large amount (as above). I disassembled the actuating assembly, re-assembled it and readjusted it and it does exactly what it should. Still heavy but massively better. I'm not sure exactly what I did but I must have done it wrong when I first did put it together. The cable routing needs sorting out and maybe the length reducing to keep it straight.

13
Misc / Open / Re: Restoration or renovation?
« on: December 18, 2019, 12:26:00 PM »
Being pick I'd say that renovation is restoration but partial rather than the type of restoration that brings the bike to as new or better than new condition? For me the perfect partial restoration is to get the bike so that it functions as good as new in terms of handling and performance and in terms of Aesthetics then if it looks like an early 70's bike and it is an early 70's bike then perfect. If it's a 70's bike and looks new then there's a contradiction. First it will cost a fortune and secondly the quality will be unknown unless you know and trust the person who did it. Funnily the market is changing and "Patina" is becoming the buzzword, collectors now are putting a premium on bikes that are in original condition rather than fully and perfectly restored.

14
Project Board / Re: Wise words before assembling.
« on: December 18, 2019, 10:47:55 AM »
Way more important is patience

Bryanj, patience is very much peace of mind or perhaps the whole of peace of mind but gumption is what drives you within those parameters. They form the quality that people like yourself have and others, even so called experienced shop mechanics don't have. I don't have it and perhaps never will. I have a couple of projects to do and am going to develop the patience. I have gumption but am very vulnerable to gumption traps that always knock me off course like damaging a key component, not being able to do what I need or buying the wrong parts.

15
CB500/550 / Re: Stiff clutch
« on: December 18, 2019, 10:37:14 AM »
If it has "drop" type bars the clutch will never be light

Thanks Bryanj. The bars are raised a couple of inches but the frame isn't standard but a compact Dresda frame so it could be cable?

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