Jaymo's first cafe build - CX500

Hi guys, this is my 1979 honda cx500 I picked up from a guy who was building it into a cafe racer.
I got it at a great price as it had a running issue


First things first I looked into the running issue, I don't know much about carbs but the way the bike was running it definitely sounded fuel related. So checked air line were good then took the top of the carbs off and found the float on on was sticky, so cleaned it up and lubed it a little and it seemed to sort the problem.

Decided then to start stripping her down.

I want to go for the open frame look under the seat so whipped the air box and battery out and have ordered some pod filters and some #90 and #120 jets.

So I'm looking now where I can locate the battery and where I can locate this (starter module??) to


Any help would be great!

Then I stripped off some parts I would like painting as the crappy black paint job does nothing for me or the bike!



These are what I want to get painted, got a quote from a local place today for £610+ Vat haha... No thanks.

The front discs were looking a bit worn out and grooved so decided to take them off too whilst the wheel was off to make room for the mud guard!



I decided I would try prepping the tank to see what the condition was in and found a bit of filler. Popping to see another guy today for a more reasonable price to get these bits painted too.

Have a lot of plans for this and a lot of work to do to get it to where I want it!
List of things to do:
Clip on bars
Have top yoke modified to remove evidence of old bar mounts
Have parts sprayed.
Find some suitable indicators and wire in
Remove gauges and buy new speedo (may not run a rev gauge)
Find a way of mounting the neutral, oil, indicator lights
Find suitable foot pegs
Get a gel battery and relocate
Relocate starter module out of sight
Find/have made custom rear mudguard hugger
Get the seat cushion retrimmed for a nicer material (maybe a brown faux suede)
Tidy up and hide wiring
Fit new jets to suit the pod air filters
Change the rear tyre and maybe paint the wheels
Replace front discs

And there is probably much more I haven't even thought about yet!!

looks a good project to get yer teath into   as for moving the battery etc to open the back of the frame up, you could get something like an Odyssey battery, which is sealed and a lot smaller, that way you could fit it under the rear seat hump.

Thanks haha.

So not much has happened the past few days. Stripped a few bits off the bike and my parts are still down at the painters getting painted. In the mean time I've bought a few parts which I wanted to change the bikes image.

The PO had modified the fuel tank brackets so that it would sit further back on the frame (to allow for full steering lock with the bars turned down) I personally don't like seeing the big gap at the front of the tank with the frame exposed so will be adjusting the position again once I can borrow a welder. This was how he modified it:


The bolt is the new front tank support and he moved the back fixing point further back.

So knocked the threaded bar out in prep:
Will need to patch the holes up:


Removed the gauges too, I'm planning on just running a speedo I think as I can't find a matching rev gauge for the speedo I have found, but I am unsure what to do about the cable drive port on the engine.


A couple of my goodies turned up today:


Test fitted the filters:


They seem fine (the engine should be getting dropped out soon so I can tidy it up)
Need to order my jets still as well!
Also decided I didn't like the tail light which was fitted to the bike too, I wanted something that looked a little more 'cafe' period. Here is the old one:

And the new one for comparison



Like I said, not much happening at this moment in time.

Currently I am looking at new seat unit options too, but don't want to jump into anything just yet!

Stay tuned

comin along great jaymo. your right the new rear light keeps it looking more period, what colour you going for ?

haven't updated this in ages! i'll bulk load from another thread:
Bits have been painted:




Started on cleaning the engine up:


Stripped off more parts to go for paint:


Parts for paint









THEN

A hefty bit of progress won't go into too much detail.
Got the painted bits back:
Laid them on to see how they look






Got these badges too but I believe I have 2 right handed badges when the ad stated 'left and right handed' as this one seems wrong in its orientation:


Anyway, I plodded on this evening and got the engine out ready to be worked on!


More to come!


THEN!!

with the engine free i decided to just give it a lick of paint as i've a look in mind for the bike overall and the engine looked a little grubby so gave it a clean down and painted it in VHT black paint:





Did a few other bits today but now my focus is on sorting the frame and de-lugging the bits i dont need, getting my underseat box welded in then off for shot blasting and powder coating!

some more:

Haven't updated this in a while.... But things have still been moving on.

Engine was degreased and painted in VHT satin black.

Wheels/forks have been painted.

Rejetted the carbs

Had the frame powder coated.

It's about ready to start building back up.... Here's a quick shot of the colour scheme



Pic quality is awful but you get the idea! More to come!


I've slowed down since the bad weather arrived here and the 1971 beetle has taken a lot of my time and money due to being rusty but have made some progress with de-bulking the wiring under the seat by removing the plug adapters, hopefully more will be coming soon!


I'd love to hear some feedback guys

hi, quite like these bikes as cafe racers, theres plenty of weight you can shift off them, & the shape of the tank is great,like the tank badges as well,not sure about the rust coloured frame though, what inspired you,? your VW beetle !. whats wrong with your tacho, it looks the same , just paint it. was it the studs around the seat cover you didn't like, or the whole seat ? the seat shape itself looks good to me .you can buy a batterie which is a 20% the weight of your standard batterie , ie 750g as opposed to 3750g , cost 3x as much though.

particularly liking the colour scheme.

nice to see someone else who doesn't feel the need to polish everything.

things have moved on somewhat. the pictures will do the talking
Got the exhaust heat wrapped, the exhaust back on and the rear brake/brace back together.


The seat isn't fixed down just placed it on for some photos.
















There is still plenty to do but its inspiring me more as I see it take shape!


Any feedback guys?

damn that looks great. I like colours you have used. Not having it polished gives it such a cool look. what are you doing with the seat? Good job jaymo!

Jaymo that is looking great! The only suggestion I would make (and I know it sounds pedantic) you've done the same thing we all do when first wrapping pipes, started at the top, what that means is the leading edge on the overlap is sitting upwards/forwards and that becomes a trap for rain and road sh*te.

If you start at the bottom and wrap upwards the overlap edge is pointing downwards/backwards and doesn't get anywhere near as dirty. Just a suggestion, not criticism!

pauliexjr wrote:

Jaymo that is looking great! The only suggestion I would make (and I know it sounds pedantic) you've done the same thing we all do when first wrapping pipes, started at the top, what that means is the leading edge on the overlap is sitting upwards/forwards and that becomes a trap for rain and road sh*te.

If you start at the bottom and wrap upwards the overlap edge is pointing downwards/backwards and doesn't get anywhere near as dirty. Just a suggestion, not criticism!

Thats a great point raised actually. I thought about wind flow mainly and not wanting the wind being able to get under it anywhere and start to unwrap it haha. I guess i'll see how it holds up, I am not likely to be riding it in bad weather so hopefully will be fine but thanks for the comments