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Clymer 1971 Honda CB500 Four CB500KO On The Lift Maintenance Vintage Motorcycle Road Test semi cafe :-) CB400 Four CB550 Four CB650 Four CB750 Four We're back at the Clymer Tech center today with another classic on the lift - a first year CB500 wearing its original candy jet green paint. Boy I love this color and it just scream 70s. You've seen a resurgence of interest in Honda's single over head cam fours over the years. First with the restoration craze for the CB750. Of course the 750 garners a lot of attention and rightly so. But it seems to me the baby fours, starting with the 500 get over shadowed a bit.
CB500 was a sensation it own right. Hard to imagine today but the 750 was seen by many as too big. "Cycle June 1971: Face it—the 750 is too much motorcycle for an awful lot of folks—too fast, too demanding, too expensive, maybe demanding too much ego involvement." Seen as more accessible, Honda sold tons of 500s and derivatives of the baby four in 350, 400, 550 and 650 displacements. Starting with the engine, which you have to go back to 1971 and imagine what a master piece these fours were. Designed to spin, the 500s peak horsepower was 9 grand, 1000 more than the 750. Producing nearly 50 horsepower from 30 cubic inches, by today's standards its oh hum, but at the time this was modified two stroke horsepower. But this was from a readily accessible Honda, not a point and hang on Kawasaki triple.
The centerpiece, to me, of the engine and really the key focal point to the whole bike is the exhaust. I think the pipes are a work of art unto themselves. And this bike sports a pair of NOS pipes that are in great condition. And since the engine doesn't make a lot of torque you have to keep the engine spun up and you get to hear them and without being loud. She sports 22 mm kehin slide valves. This bike, being the time machine it is, still has its stock jetting. It needs some tweaking to get rid of its 4 grand stumbles, which you'll probably notice when we get her out on the road later. The two valve head is driven by a single cam. Valve adjustment, is standard screw type at the rocker. 12 volt electrics, 2 sets of points fire the ignition and both electric and kick start. One big difference between the 500 and 750 was the 500s wet sump oil system. Standard UJM wet clutch, cable operated, transmits power to a 5 speed gear box.
Out on a ride is where you see why these bikes are so popular 40 years later. Now of course this bike has been pampered and is sort of like channeling HG Wells. It does hold up well by today's standards. With so many of them out there, tons of used parts, plenty of NOS support, you see why from bobbers to cafe racers to daily riders...so many of these bikes are still on the road. As said in my dog eared copy of Cycle. Nifty...the whole machine is nifty, compact, Swiss watch quality, brilliantly executed. Super Sport How to DIY repair shop service manuals for maintenance, troubleshooting and repair from the experts at Clymer. From the basics to complete engine overhaul, Clymer manuals (not free download pdf or Haynes ) walk you through the procedures step by step. More detailed than the OEM and written for the average joe. DIY do it yourself shop manual includes PERIODIC MAINTENANCE AND TUNE-UP Tools / Daily checks / Weekly checks / Preventive maintenance schedule / Chassis checks and adjustment / Oil and filter / Periodic lubrication / Engine tune-up / Compression test / Valve adjustment / Cam chain / Spark plugs / Condenser (capacitor) / Breaker points / Ignition timing / Air cleaner service / Carburetor adjustment / Emission control devices / Clutch / Battery check / Drive chain service / Winter storage TROUBLESHOOTING ENGINE Exhaust system / Tachometer drive cable / Cylinder head / Valve train / Cylinder barrels / Pistons rings / Camshaft / Oil pump and filter / Crankcase / Crankshaft and connecting rods CLUTCH AND TRANSMISSION Clutch / Gearshift mechanism FUEL SYSTEM Carburetors / Fuel tank / Air cleaner / Manometer / Emissions control ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Starter / Starter solenoid / Ignition coil / Breaker points / Spark advancer / Alternator / Voltage regulator / Silicon rectifier / Battery / Switches / Wiring diagrams WHEEL AND BRAKE Rear wheel / Brake / Tires / Wheel alignment STEERING, SUSPENSION, AND FRAME Steering / Front suspension / Rear suspension / Stripping the frame SPECIFICATIONS Rearsets drag bars clip ons drag pipe aktront rims custom seat gauges big bore kit CB650 cam rejet carb clubmans ace cafe cafe racer tv do the ton
M332 Clymer Honda CB350-550cc SOHC Fours 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 Motorcycles in the background Yamaha DT250
Honda NX650 Suzuki DR250 Websites links: http://www.sohc4.net http://www.fastfromthepast.com http://www.cb750cafe.com http://caferacermag.com Bo Derek cover
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Is that Bo Derek on the cover? Legend has it that it is.
ClymerManuals 1 month ago
Isso que é maquina!
Mrcarloshtr 4 months ago
@Mrcarloshtr
Thanks!
ClymerManuals 4 months ago
cafe racer
ninjatronica666 4 months ago
@ninjatronica666
i'm not entering you to win jack, you are such a jackwagon :-)))
ClymerManuals 4 months ago
Next up is a new set of bronze swing arm bushings and then swap out the fork springs for a pair of Race Tech spings. Maybe a seat swap and suddenly she's starting to look like a cafe racer ? :-))
ClymerManuals 4 months ago