SOHC.co.uk Forums > Project Board
500-4 scrapheap challenge
haynes66:
the frame has been disposed of as it was really bad on the offside. i wish i'd taken a photo of it. the area around the battery box/side panel had rusted away completely, probably as that was the side that got rained on the most. i've had a panther frame re-fabricated many years ago but this was too far gone. it didnt have a log book either. i do have a superdream frame which could work!! a CB500N would get the purists gnashing their teeth! seriously though, i have a big enough task stripping the engine. the only other salvageable parts were the wheel hubs, forks and rusty swingarm
haynes66:
so, i posted the above post about a cb500n in jest. but the idea kept going round and round in my head until i thought i'd sit the 250 frame on top of the engine to see where the sprocket position was, and to be honest, it wasnt far off.after further butchering of the frame it sort of almost lines up, so at this stage it's a possibility. the only thing that will scupper the whole thing is front wheel clearance as it's a fair bit further forward than the 250 motor.
it's a bit of a squeeze and there is no room for an airbox but it could be an interesting project. so why am i even doing this when i already have a couple of 750's on the go? well, my wife and i have had a turbulent couple of years but things are a lot more settled now. however, i still have a lot of thinking time in my work which doesnt help, so i'm spending 30 minutes of my lunch hour to do a little work on the project every day. so instead of dwelling on negative thoughts about the past, i'm focusing on the next hurdle/bracket/bodge that needs doing next. i call it the 'clutter principle' where i fill my thoughts with relevant stuff instead of what i tend to dwell on. anyway, it works for me!! also, i think this project has some comedy value to it and will certainly confuse a few bikers if it ever sees the light of day. the idea at this stage is to build it up to a rolling stage and more or less establish where everything will fit and so on, welding brackets where needed as i go along. and even if it doesnt all work, it will be therapeutic for me over the next year or so.
some people might get a little annoyed that i appear to be butchering two 'classics' to make this thing but the 500-4 cost me very little and the engine is potentially scrap and the superdream was about to be chucked in a skip. if the engine is salvageable and i did get this thing on the road, i suspect that a few years down the line the motor would be returned to a 500 frame and the superdream bits thrown away, so no great loss there!
mike the bike:
Could be worse - a CB550 frame with a Superdream engine
Colonial-Clive (yindi):
Keep us updated I like the oddball ideas that work. And it looks like that just might make it.
haynes66:
i've thrown everything together just to get an idea of front end clearance and it's not looking too good.
in the second pic i'm holding the ruler fairly horizontal and it is 5" from the filter bolt to the tyre. can anyone with a 500 take a quick measurement from the same points please?
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