SOHC.co.uk Forums > CB500/550

Ken's (oddjob) 500/4 resto??? Where are you with it?

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McCabe-Thiele (Ted):
Trying to think outside the box as to a suitable switch:-

Can't remember what car it was, back in the day some had a mercury switch for the boot light.

House door alarm sensor has a magnetic proximity switch.

I never work out how the interior light worked on our old Jeep WK as there were no visible typical door shut switches on the doors or in the frame.

Does anyone already make a kit suitable  for older bikes?

Johnny4428:
Surprised that there’s not just an after market kit that has been developed just to fit to these old bikes, there’s plenty of them about to justify the development of such an accessory along with wiring details. I would buy at least one.

Laverda Dave:
When you say you sealed all the welds Ken, where were the welds exactly and are they uniquie to the 550 or common to other models? I ask becuase the 400/4 has a bit of a reputation for rotting on the lower left frame loop at the sidestand mount so maybe the water finds its way into the frame tube via weld?

K2-K6:
For the sidestand "switch" you could possibly use a bicycle derailleur cable as they are fairly small and available with stainless bowden material.

If you fit two ferrule, one in each end of sidestand spring, thread the cable up through the bottom one so the nipple is captured in that end, top ferrule bored to accept outer cable, then as the spring is moves in down position (spring is left more extended) it'll pull that cable.

Route the cable up along the frame into underseat area to mount a suitable switch there.

Switch wiring, could go to earth and T into one of the points to coil leads. Stand in down position switches that line to earth and cuts two cylinder out. It'll then stall if set correctly to run on all four.
But critically, it would give you an element of fail safe should it activate inadvertently, allowing you to have some control over pace in that eventually. 

Honda and other's have some level of fail safety built into loom via neutral light status etc.

Oddjob:

--- Quote from: Laverda Dave on February 13, 2025, 10:44:00 AM ---When you say you sealed all the welds Ken, where were the welds exactly and are they uniquie to the 550 or common to other models? I ask becuase the 400/4 has a bit of a reputation for rotting on the lower left frame loop at the sidestand mount so maybe the water finds its way into the frame tube via weld?

--- End quote ---

I noticed when I was stripping the frame of all it's paint prior to having it powder coated that all the welds Honda did, not seam welds, but welds where a lug had been welded to the frame, lower front engine mounts for example, they were spot welded rather than seam welded, this allowed water to get under the lug and essentially just sit there and rot the frame over time, made worse because there is no paint under there to stop them. The more I looked the more gaps I could see, it is for example why the 500 tends to rot out the exhaust brackets welded onto the back of the frame, where the pillion foot rests go. Water run down the frame tube, into the gap in the weld and then drops down to the bottom of the bracket, there is a drain hole there but it's small and not always in the right place and sometimes people don't see it and it gets painted over. There are gaps everywhere. So I decided I'd get them all closed up before having it powder coated, cost me about £50 IIRC. Now they are all seam welded and no corrosion can get under them. I was talking to the welder and he pointed out all the drilled holes in the frame tubes, blow holes for when it was welded originally, without them the welds won't close as the air can't escape, so I decided to use those to gain access to the inside of the tubes, I bought a meat marinading needle set, very thick needle, so should be fine for thin paint for instance. I now intend to fill each section of the frame with a thin zinc paint, this should coat the inside of the tubes and stop any further corrosion, I'll then drain out the paint and reuse. After I've done all the frame I thought I'd do the same thing but this time with Waxoyl, can't hurt and you never know, might just work better than the paint. So the frame is now sealed outside and in, hopefully that should stop any corrosion and rust happening in the future. I won't live to see the benefit I don't think but my lad who will inherit my bikes will see the benefit with a little luck. I even intend to zinc paint the inside of the headstock, it does get rusty as I've found out, and the inside of the swinging arm, had those welds closed as well.

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