CX500? Anything I should watch out for?

[daveyg]

Might be trading my truck for this:

Aside from the very well designed and built hardtail, which most on here I know find undesirable, is there anything about these Honda 500 v-twins mechanically I should look for?

[jwhughes3]

Dave they cant complain too much, its a Honda that got hardtailed! No insight but looks nice.

John

[BA80]

I used to own a 79 CX500. The way the engine is they constantly torque to the right, they aren't real powerful you gotta work pretty hard to get up to 70, the carbs are a bitch to work on in between the cylinders, the rear drum brake squeaks no matter what you do, and, speaking from experience,get some engine guards on there because if you lay it down or drop it you WILL break a valve cover.

Also, being water cooled they are great for riding in stop and go traffic but the cooling fan blades have a habit of cracking and loosening up and making a hell of a racket that sounds like your engine blew.

That's about all I can remember.

[daveyg]

Well I guess that's one point for the hardtail, prob took off about 100lbs, so I got it up to 70 yesterday on my back road behind my house, plus I'm only $1.50... So this thing, with me on it weighs less than the 11 sitting by herself lol. And the po must've done something right cuz no squeak from the rear brake...? Anything else I ought to worry about?

[FJ111200]

I've owned a couple of CX500's, and when the alternator packs up it's an engine out job to repair or replace, because it is located at the rear of the engine.
Other than that they go on forever.

[tarzan]

I had one too. Like expressed already,they are reliable and easy to ride.I had the fan crack and thought I had a rod knocking.Over time the plastic fan dries out and cracks and expands from the aluminum hub in the center.it then just rattles and sounds bad.Not too hard to replace If necessary.

[daveyg]

Ok cool, sounds like it should be a fun bike. If I'm not completely in love with it by tax time, I'll just put it up for sale, since it's worth about 1.5x the value of my truck, I can't really go wrong either way... Plus the bikes only got 15k original miles... So there's another plus...

[daveyg]

I decided to do some reading on sidecars, since it's a hardtail, it handles like shiite, so... If I keep it maybe I'll build a sidecar so next summer I might be able to take the kids for short jaunts on the chopper...? Any ideas? I read several pages about sidehacks last night on the xs650 forum and I think I understand the basic concept, and geometry, etc... And I've got lots of steel tubing and a couple spare wheels n tires laying around...

[daveyg]

Bit the bullet and traded the old rusty trusty truck. Rode the CX to work today. Definitely a bit bumpy, but hopefully I can remedy some of that with my softer seat springs (as I'm at least 100lbs less than the po).
Better pics



That headlight has got to go, I'm thinking of turning a piece of oak on the lathe, into a headlight bucket... Since this bike is gonna be 100% garage kept, and only nice weather ridden, the oak should hold up quite well.

[fredintoon]

I decided to do some reading on sidecars, since it's a hardtail, it handles like shiite, so... If I keep it maybe I'll build a sidecar so next summer I might be able to take the kids for short jaunts on the chopper...? Any ideas? I read several pages about sidehacks last night on the xs650 forum and I think I understand the basic concept, and geometry, etc... And I've got lots of steel tubing and a couple spare wheels n tires laying around...

Hi Davey,
thing is, that bike ain't got much of a frame so you'd best build a subframe that hangs off the engine mounts both sides to attach the sidecar frame. If the hardtail job left the centerstand lugs in place, there's another subframe hardpoint to use.
DON'T build a sprung sidecar frame for a hardtail bike, it gives the rig a really weird ride.
Build the frame rigid and hang the tub on springs.

[daveyg]

Fred, thanks for that insight. I have read up a lot on the xs650 site about side hack building, and I understand the subframe idea quite well, and also the geometry of how stance will affect tire scrub, but is the sidecar supposed to be able to shift up and down at all? Maybe some detailed pics of your bike, Fred, could help me get the idea rolling. And thank you again for the notion of springing the bucket on a rigid framed sidecar.

[BA80]

On the CX most of the frame IS the engine.

[fredintoon]

Fred, thanks for that insight. I have read up a lot on the xs650 site about side hack building, and I understand the subframe idea quite well, and also the geometry of how stance will affect tire scrub, but is the sidecar supposed to be able to shift up and down at all? Maybe some detailed pics of your bike, Fred, could help me get the idea rolling. And thank you again for the notion of springing the bucket on a rigid framed sidecar.

>
Hi Davey,
Go to the list's modifications forum, go to wheels and suspension and open why do I ride a sidecar outfit to see photos of my XS11 sidecar rig.
On a rig with rear and sidecar suspension the sidecar body is usually bolted hard down on the sidecar frame, same as a dualseat is bolted hard onto the bike.
With a rigid rig the sidecar body is usually spring-mounted onto the sidecar frame same as your CX solo seat has springs under it, to ease the ride.
See Harley sidecar bodies on semi-elliptic springs, old Brit sidecars with hinged fronts and rear C-springs and modern chopper sidecars with hinged fronts and the bike's salvaged rear shocks on the rear.

[Shacknasty]

Hairpin springs for your seat will prolly give the smoothest ride. Looks like a fun little water heater.

[daveyg]

Oh it's a fun little sh!t alright, and I'm thinking that the chop job sheared some weight, as I can get her to gallop about 90mph on the interstate... And a old pal has some hairpin springs he said he'd give me, as he thought they were too stiff for him on his hackjob bike, so I'll be trying them out for sure. I'm also reworking the pipes to suit my liking better, but don't want to spoil it until I have a decent start on them.