Honda CX 500 first Café build

Yup, I'm up for that.

I have been thinking and talking to dazzler about a mass meet up at the ace cafe. I think It would be a good opportunity for us all and to give a goal to those of us that are struggling to finish there projects.

Let me have your thoughts fella's and let's see if we can sort something out.

wow, just read this from start to finish...... it took forever..... but was worth every minute, what a read and a real inspiration!!

you have my absolute respect!!

OK, slightly over 400 miles, definately class that as a shakedown run!

scaredpassenger wrote:

wow, just read this from start to finish...... it took forever..... but was worth every minute, what a read and a real inspiration!!

you have my absolute respect!!

Nice of you to say that mate, I'm really pleased you enjoyed the read. I hope to get it finished next weekend but I had a minor setback with a leaking water seal. Never mind, I have one on order from David Silver Honda, so it should be here in a day or two.

Mig wrote:

I have been thinking and talking to dazzler about a mass meet up at the ace cafe. I think It would be a good opportunity for us all and to give a goal to those of us that are struggling to finish there projects.

Let me have your thoughts fella's and let's see if we can sort something out.

That would be cool, and perhaps arrange it to coinside with something related they might be doing at the Ace Café.

great thread luv the section on the seat unit the bikes a credit to you,and a insperation to me
oh luv the colour scheme

Ok, so for the last week or so I've been trying to get the Cafe 500 running, but all it does is fart and bang. I went over just about everything I know but still couldnt get it to run.

I phoned Pork's Dad to ask him if he had any ideas but got no answer on his mobile. I'm starting to lean towards stripping down the carbs and blasting them through with the compressor.

This afternoon I got a call back from Pork's Dad Rodney and I told him the problems I was having. Rod told me he was just over the road having a cuppa tea with his brother in law and when he was done would pop over.

Half houre later and Rod was on the case. He took the carbs apart and blew them through, then checked the plugs. Its still wouldnt start. He asked if I had put the HT leads to the coils on the right way round as this would cause the same problem if they were wrong. I had fitted new coils, but never even thought the wires might be wrong way round as they are colour coded. That said, they are aftermarket and may not be Honda colour coded.

And that was the problem, BUGGER!!!

All that messing about and baldy head scratching for two wires.

Anyway, this is the first startup of my CX Cafe 500. I think I'm gonna need a dB killer to get it through the MOT Test.

OK, I guess the local PC crowd are gonna be down on you like a ton 'o' bricks with that baby. Beeewtiful my man!

Thanks matey

dB killer on order

The dB killer is on and it sounds much more like it will go through an M.O.T.


I have 115 jets on order from David Silver Honda, they are 1 up from the 112's in there right now.

Next I need to get it on the dyno.

Sounds as good as it looks matey, a credit to you

Thanks matey, just got to dial it in now

Cracking job

Me thinks a top showing for a meet at the Ace in 2012

Here is a collection of photos I have taken throughout the project I put together for those of you that have been following my thread. Hope you enjoyed it.

This afternoon I had about as much of Christmas Telly as I could take, so I went down my shed and swapped the jets in my carbs.

This is the main jet the needle drops down into. The standard jet is a 112. This allows a fixed amount of fuel into the engine from the float bowl. This amount of fuel is directly connected by the amount of air the CX's air box allows into the carbs.



Because I have replaced the CX air box with Hi-flow filters this will upset the balance between the fuel/air mixture in the carbs, and the air to fuel ratio is now out of sink.

I have gone up one jet size to 115's as the hole in them is a tiny bit bigger it will let more fuel in to help restore the balance of mixture, and also produce a bigger bang resulting in a little more power.



Because of this the dB killer is now not as effective as it was and the bike is just a little more noisy than with the 112 jets.

As I've been rebuilding the bike I've been changing out as many of the old screws and bolts for stainless hex cap head screws as I can. They are so much easier to do up and undo than cross heads and look better too.







After I got the carbs back on I took it out for a short blast and the new jets really have woken up the carb's. I just need to do a bit more to the set-up, and balance the carbs, then book a slot on the Dyno to see if the changes I have made have had a positive effect on the motor.

As usual I'll be doing a write up on balancing the carbs at a later date, so if you are mildly interested keep an eye on this thread.

Following day when the engin was cold I tried to start it again and all it would do was cough and bang.

I changed out the 75/115's for a 90/120 jet setup and it now works great with my filter/zorst. I also made 2 x 1mm thick shims from ptfe plastic and fitted one on each needel. Next I'm going to balance the carbs and it will be ready to go on the dyno.

FINISHED PHOTOS

If anyone reading this wants a pride and joy to own but doesnt have the time or space to make one then check this out.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-CX-500-Cafe-Racer-/250965326115?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item3a6eb2f923

WHY ??? this bike is a credit to you, make sure you wont regret the sale......or is there a new project in the grey matter

You got it mate, new project

Good luck with the sale mate, it's a stonkin build and it's been great watching your 'cafe master class', hard to belive you've turned out such a professional and unique piece of engineering in such a short space of time, 6 months has to be some sort of record!

So, haveing seen your fighter and your cafe I'm assuming the next projcet won't be gracing these pages, what's up your sleeve and where can I follow the next thrilling installment?

good luck with sale give us a clue whats next