PROJECT - HONDA CB500 FOUR RESTORATION
On Saturday, January 25th I finally got to pick up the motorcycle I've been waiting all month for. This is more like the bike I've been waiting my whole life for if I think about it. It's a 1971 Honda CB500 Four K1, making this bike 43 years old this May. They only made this model for three years from 1970-1973. This is my fourth motorcycle so it's rather fitting that it's a 500 FOUR. On New Years Day I was on Craigslist looking around at some of the motorcycle posts and saw this one listed. I knew immediately that if I didn't act fast I would miss out on this awesome find. The nice couple selling it were originally from Argentina and had bought the bike over 34 years ago and hadn't been riding it for about 33 years of that. I knew that was accurate because there was only 4800 miles on it. I was the first one to arrive to view it. The rest, as they say, is history!
I have been posting a lot of Cafe Racer stuff on my blog recently, so this will be a nice change of pace. Don't worry, I'm not chopping this thing up. It is way too beautiful and in pristine condition, so instead I am going to restore it and save it as part of my collection. I know what you're thinking…"What is there to restore?" Right? Well, I agree with you, this bike is in great shape, but there is still a lot of work to be done. From what I can tell, this bike is going to need the following: Break line flush/replacement, new tires (which I've bought already), new drive chain, new battery, gas tank flush and rust remover, re-chroming of all stainless steel, carb rebuild and cleaning, new engine gaskets, allen bolt heads swap out from phillips screws, oil change, new ignition switch & keys.
On Monday (tomorrow) of this week I will be having my new friend, John, who works at JBJ Cycles, out to look at the 500 Four and give me a quote on what it would cost to restore the matters above. I can't wait to get this baby running again! I probably won't ride it very often but as of today I'm a member of the OC Vintage Bike Club and they get together once a month right down the street to keep the love and awareness of vintage motorcycles alive and well. This will be an event I'll surely be bringing this ride to once all work on it has been completed. In the meantime, I'll be taking my completed 1975 Honda CL360 over there to get some feedback. I'm about a week away from putting a fork in that project.
Here are some more close-ups of the new bike (prior to being washed and cleaned):
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