SOHC.co.uk Forums > CB500/550
Help needed to identify my CB500-4
B11sey:
Very useful list but unfortunately doesn’t help me differentiate between a French or UK bike.
The French frame numbers start 1010713
English numbers are start 101 and the rest is illegible
My number is 1015211
Useful parts list to have though
Trigger:
It is a UK Bike from the right hand switch gear . Show me a picture of the pilot lights as, these were a different set up in europe ;)
Seabeowner:
Didn't the UK get a unique rear mudguard?
B11sey
However I’m not doing this for a profit but to relive some of the memories of the riding we did back in the day.
How far did you get?
Oddjob:
Pilot lights can’t be seen as definitive though Graham, if it is an import then the first thing the dealer needs to do is convert what isn’t standard on the bike to UK spec, as the headlights of those days were handed beam wise they’d change the headlight for one dipping the correct way, change the headlight and you change the pilot light. I agree that the parts book has some errors but not in the country designations for certain parts, only the USA got a different right hand switch as it has extra functions that the rest of the world didn’t need.
From the carb numbers it’s not a German or Dutch model, it could be French or European Direct Sales. What’s interesting is that if you study the frame in the parts book certain countries got different frames, maybe they had an additional bracket or something but what that difference is has never been listed, could it be the VIN plate for instance, UK and certain other countries didn’t get that feature but we all know the USA did.
If I had to guess I’d say logic dictates importing from the closest country if you couldn’t source one in the UK, in that case France is favourite, what makes me wonder though is why if Honda didn’t send any to the UK officially why are numbers allocated to the UK market? It could be as simple as Honda Japan making them to UK spec but HondaUK deciding for some reason not to import them, which makes you wonder why they’d do that. In line 4 cylinder bikes were in demand, the 500 was a new model, only the second 4 cylinder that Honda made so interest in them would have been high, it was also significantly cheaper than the 750, so again a strong selling point yet Honda decided not to import them until the K1 came out. Pressure from the UK government to try and protect the British bike manufacturers? something we haven’t factored in like a dock strike making importing hard?
It could be something as simple as Honda diverting bikes to Europe intended initially for the UK and dealers encouraged to go and import a few in the backs of vans.
B11sey:
Hi Seabeowner
Longest trip was through France,Spain to Morocco along coast to Marrakesh then to the oasis Ouarzazate and back along edge of the desert to Fez. 2 up the CB handled it all without any problems apart from getting through the crowds that formed in the towns
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