Honda-SOHC
SOHC.co.uk Forums => Other Bikes => Topic started by: Honda enthusiast on January 26, 2025, 10:02:30 AM
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I've just finished my 1978 us import CX500, I bought it from D and K. It's only done 2886 miles and was parked up presumably because the left hand head gasket blew which I have repaired along with the other one. I've painted it as the side panels had faded along with new decals from Image Works, new tyres , front brake rebuild and Protech rear shocks, the rev counter had a broken drive spigot as the cable was wrongly routed on the barn door fairing it had on, and yanked it on full lock. I got a nos one from eBay along with a nos fuel tap as the sealing washer had perished, bummer couldn't buy that on its own...it was a delight to work on 😃 Roll on spring and unsalted roads
Hubert 👍
https://youtu.be/2LL-lijc930?si=GkdDrVlgCt5hVrLq
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The ‘compressors’ are not really my thing, but that looks like a really nice, usable restoration. Enjoy the summer…👏
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Looks late enough to have had the cam chain mod, only thing i ever remember doing to them!
One hint is if you ever remove the engine put the first pint(500cc) of oil into the engine down a rocker cover to fill the camshaft oil bath or shaft/rocker wear will occur
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That CX500 looks beautiful, nice restoration.
The son of a mate of mine bought a brand new one, bought by his Dad when he went to University.
I was Irish green with envy every time I saw it when we visited his parents, this would have been in 1978/9 iirc.
Too long ago to remeber the details but he did have a few issues with it, I do remeber him saying it was very economical.
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Looks and sounds great Hubert, next to no miles covered as well. Plus one for unsalted dry roads in the springtime. I had my rough and ready 550 that I ran early last year but it’s currently going through a bit of rebuild but hopefully retaining a bit of patina.
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They used to be the courier bike of choice as they were very reliable and economical…at least that’s what I think I remember🤔
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Nicely done and very clean 8)
Did a CX500E (Euro Sport) some time ago (parts are even more sparse on those) so I can relate...
The fella wanted to keep the "original patina", which held additional challenges...
Among pretty much every seal, gasket and hose, I also had to replace the cooling fan/propeller over being worn out/loose on the shaft; something to observe on those cause if that detaches it'll certainly boil over, risk of blowing head gaskets...
Petcock gasket from a Kawa fitted quite well; power supply for temp and fuel gauge was dead, Dr.Emel-ed out the resin and hid a modern step down module inside the original metal casing and reused the original wires, you've to get creative... ;)
Adored that Honda quality, not a single bolt snapped or threads damaged during the process...
Inside of tank was a total mess though... intense cleaning and POR 15 did it...
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Thanks 👍😊 guys it's good to hear your comments and insights into it....I think it might suit me well, although a big fan of the sohc fours, I like the simplicity of these twins as you say a bit like a compressor , Sesman😁👍....I can't see a stamp on the crankcase to see the cam chain mods done, it's quiet now but I am prepared to do it later along with the mechanical seal for which I got the genuine seal from DSS. I had my eye on the look out for a Revere but this one has all the classic credentials we all love and hopefully reliable , Ted like you mentioned about despatch riders but you never know do you. I seem to remember some very early ones had the wrong big end clearance? 🤔
Agree with you, ST1100 nicely built and a great to work on. And a good tip on top end oil, Bryan 😄 I'll remember that when the time comes...
Hubert 👍
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The pump seal is a myth, leaks are usually from the copper washer under the domed nut holding the impeller on which is a single use item.
Cam chain mods were only on early ones, later ones with your type graphics were altered on the line.
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I had and ran a GL650 Silverwing which I purchased from eBay, I think it was £350 that’s what I bid and so it was collected from Hull somewhere and delivered to me. It had all the panniers and top box and was a nice runaround for a couple of years. Engine sounded good little oil usage but for some reason suffered complete lower end failure in the form of a quite sudden overheat and a catastrophic seizure. Never discovered what exactly went wrong but resulted in a knackered crankshaft. So broke it up and sold all the parts that was any good. Still got the panniers and one key I think. Dissapointing!
You get what you pay for maybe?
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That's another lovely looking bike Hubert - hope to see it 'in the flesh' sometime soon. Perhaps we might get another meet up like last year? I'll do my best to use a classic if we do and give the Forza a rest!
I bought a new CX500A in January 1981 and rode it home from the dealers on snow covered roads - misguided youth! It was the first shaft drive bike I'd owned but many more followed - VF750 S plus many 'Wings. I did 35000 miles on that in 3 years and got the bug for Continental touring after fitting Sigma luggage and a Vetter handlebar fairing. Apart from servicing and tyres, it only needed 1 rev counter cable and one rear lamp bulb.
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This was the day I sold it - all back to standard
Ian
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Nice job Hubert. 👍
I'm all for another Scottish meet up like we had in Crieff last year. Any suggestions for a place and date?
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Lovely that. Must be pretty early model as rare to see without the flyscreen. My brother had one in that spec and I always look for lack of screen but few appear.
Love the exhaust note on those.
Nice to see one not converted into a cafe racer which is all the rage now!
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There is an early CX for sale here in Orkney, I can get more info and pics if anyone is needing one!
From the same (bereavement sale) source as the 750/4 I posted a while back - that has a new custodian in Orkney.
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Gareth,
I'm certainly up for another meet - Crieff was good, perhaps Johnny and I could ride in again? I'm away mid April for a couple of weeks and we hope to meet up with SteveD and his good Lady in Orkney on June 11th, otherwise should be about.
Ian
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The pump seal is a myth, leaks are usually from the copper washer under the domed nut holding the impeller on which is a single use item.
Cam chain mods were only on early ones, later ones with your type graphics were altered on the line.
Cheers Bryan 😄 that's great to know, thanks for passing that on, one less thing to have in the back of my mind 👍👍
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I was working at Mead and Tomkinson in Gloucester when the CX came out and it got to the point that i could do the cam chain tensioner mod inside the allowed factory time which as anybody in the trade knows is pushing it. As an example Hondas factory time to replace a crank in a 500 is 8 hours from wheeling in to riding out!
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Thanks guys 😁👍 I didn't realise how many people like them, I remember my friends one and the exhaust note sticks in my memory...that's the thing, Johnny there's sometimes little warning of an impending engine catastrophe, that's a risk we take with all these old motorcycles!
Yes, Ian Gareth Johnny and any guys who can make it this time, I'm up for a meet again ....maybe somewhere else to make a change...let's firm it up over the next few months 🤔😊👍
Great to hear your CX500 comments and tips
Hubert 👍
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Never a big fan but easy to work on and service. Done hundreds of them in my time. That looks like an original first series, I remember the CX500a coming out and the main differences were the small fly screen on the clocks and the change from flat paint to metallic. We did hundreds of camchain mods on the early models, in fact I remember one turning up at 5:40 one night and we were all washing up getting ready to leave at 6:00. Foreman comes down the ramp and says he’s ridden all the way down from Scotland to have the mod done and hasn’t got the money for a hotel etc, anyone interested in staying behind so we can get him on his way tonight, we all looked at each other to see who’s going to volunteer and no one did, so I said, if we all chip in and work together we can get this done in no time. 6 mechanics all working on it, air tools whining, people running to the spares dept for the kit, in 5 mins the engine was on its radiator on a bench, in 10 we’d removed the rear cover, changed the tensioner etc and in 15 mins it was being ridden away by the owner. Still proud of that to this day. Whether it made it back to Scotland in one piece we never found out 😁😁
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Very impressive Ken, although not sure I would have wanted mine done that quick!😳 I’m sure it was in good hands.😜
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I found it easy to work on too,Ken... definitely not up to those speeds here but I get there 🙂👍
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Similar memorable engine out feat. Back in 1970 I lived with my parents in the countryside. I needed to remove a mini engine at home. I had a chain block & tackle that I had borrowed using a tree branch near the trunk as a hoist point. From a cold engine start I undid the long center branch exhaust, removed whole exhaust, undid the Hardy Spicer drive shaft joint, removed the carbs and manifolds, removed the starter motor, removed the dynamo, removed the brake servo, removed radiator, removed the distributor, undid the various electrical connection, undid the engine mounting to subframe bolts, removed the gear lever , removed the gearbox remote unit, removed the clutch slave cylinder, removed the one pushrod cover plate with the oil separator, attached the engine removal brackets to the rocker cover bolts, pushed said car out onto the road to align the engine with the block & tackle suspended from tree. Removed engine and pushed car off the road onto driveway.
On my own except my Dad helped me push the car and he operated the block and tackle as I tilted the engine to clear the bulkhead. All done in a tad under 2 hours!
PS Worked on my back for the underneath jobs, no trolley jack.
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I take it that was, shall we say several, years ago mate, takes me two hours just to find the tools and open the door now
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I take it that was, shall we say several, years ago mate, takes me two hours just to find the tools and open the door now
That pretty much sums it up for me too Bryan
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Nice work in recommissioning Honda enthusiast.
Quite a different note for a V twin too, much more bubbly ? and general soft loping demeanour.
I suspect the seat, possibly one of the most comfortable originals, played a part in both it's couriering and touring life. Like rolling along in a soft marshmallow :)
Wonder if you could stick a magnet on the wheel spokes to see io what material they are formed. I know definitely the CB750 F2 are steel and satin chrome, thought these were maybe the same too, and prior to aluminium base in early market bikes.
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I take it that was, shall we say several, years ago mate, takes me two hours just to find the tools and open the door now
Same here. I work at a very slow pace these days. Mind you, my nickname was Lightning when I was young so I've always done things slowly! 😂
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Never a big fan but easy to work on and service. Done hundreds of them in my time. That looks like an original first series, I remember the CX500a coming out and the main differences were the small fly screen on the clocks and the change from flat paint to metallic. We did hundreds of camchain mods on the early models, in fact I remember one turning up at 5:40 one night and we were all washing up getting ready to leave at 6:00. Foreman comes down the ramp and says he’s ridden all the way down from Scotland to have the mod done and hasn’t got the money for a hotel etc, anyone interested in staying behind so we can get him on his way tonight, we all looked at each other to see who’s going to volunteer and no one did, so I said, if we all chip in and work together we can get this done in no time. 6 mechanics all working on it, air tools whining, people running to the spares dept for the kit, in 5 mins the engine was on its radiator on a bench, in 10 we’d removed the rear cover, changed the tensioner etc and in 15 mins it was being ridden away by the owner. Still proud of that to this day. Whether it made it back to Scotland in one piece we never found out 😁😁
I've memories of very familiar work, did you remember to centre punch 2 dot marks preceding the engine number tho?
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No, don’t remember doing that but another mechanic may have, it was a little hectic at the time. I remember the owner stood at the door watching the action, must have looked like an F1 pit crew to him.
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Remember me and my mate (a fellow biker) back in the 70’s cruising about in his Cortina Mk2 1600e.
Friday night country run coming home from a dance and blew a frost plug and boiled the engine just made it back to town and parked it up at his rented garage. The next morning me and him tore the engine out and replaced with another engine (which came from a donor 1600e) which he had for spares. We were back cruising about on Saturday afternoon. No nitrile gloves in them days! Grease and oil up to the elbows! 🤣🤣
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I had a 1978 CX500 in the late eighties and loved riding it, newest bike I've ever owned. It handled really well, happy to lean to ridiculous scraping angles, great front brake. As it was in a mess when I bought it I made a few modifications. I slid the fork stanchions about 2.5 centimetres up through the yoke to lower the front end. Hagon shocks on the rear, turned the handlebars upside down, took off all the plastic, made a seat which was basically a piece of aluminium with some carpet glued to it. I replaced the headlamp with two CB125s units bolted together, and made my own two into one exhaust system which went into a BSA A10 silencer. I had never seen one made into a cafe type racer before but now there are lots of them around. It was great fun apart from the fact that it leaked water, never managed to seal the water pump properly, despite various attempts with ceramic seals. It lived on Radweld and cost me a fortune in antifreeze.
One invisible modification which was recommended to me by an auto electrician after he had rewired my alternator was to put fuses in the three wires which come out under the seat. Alternator burn-outs were a common fault on the early bikes.
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Sounds and looks like you've had great fun on yours, that's what it's all about not just getting them shiny 😀...I'll look into doing your fuse mod, ta 😁
Hubert