I've got an '81 CX500C that only has 9500 miles. Bought it from my brother in law 22 years ago for $250. I rode it around town a little in the early 2000's and it has been in storage for almost 15 years. I brought it home and started working on it a few weeks ago. Besides a badly rusted/varnished tank I was impressed at how good of condition it's still in. There's a few dried seals that need replacing and a little frame rust but it was like my storage shed was a time capsule. Looking forward to more videos. 👍
That's awesome!! They're cool bikes for sure. It's great that you're bringing yours back to life!! There really isn't much to do to mine beyond fill it up with gas and ride it :) Thanks for watching 👍🏼👍🏼
I just found my dad's cx500 that has the same story: it's been in storage for around 20 years. I'm binge watching every content about it so I don't mess something up trying to bring it back alive. Do you have any recommendations on other than new oil, battery, filters, brake fluid ecc?
@@flashxcate Personally I'd start by checking to see if you can turn the crankshaft manually. If the engine is seized to a point where an oil soak doesn't help then that could change the options you have and the direction you should go before sticking any money into a doomed project. I'd also check the fuel tank for any rust holes that may have happened while it was sitting. My original tank was beyond repair from rust and it's getting harder to find replacements that are reasonably priced. After my bike was sitting for so long I needed to rebuild the carbs, front brakes and flush the coolant system because the fluids went bad over time and gunked up the works. That being said, between Facebook & TH-cam there's a really good community of people that know a lot about these bikes and are usually up to answering questions and helping out. Good luck! 🙂
You can get plenty of parts for that bike. Quite a few are still available from Honda (Try Babbitt's online parts house), and you can find tons of parts, both new reproduction, and used, all over the internet at various places. I know because I have a '79 CX500 that's identical to the one you have, same color and everything. Also this model is extremely popular for building into a cafe' racer (for whatever reason). Anyway, I've had mine for quite a few years, I'm the third owner. It has 18k miles on it, and is completely original and unmolested (like yours). It's a lot of fun to ride around town, get groceries, run errands, ride around the back roads, etc. Oh, by the way, the Carbs are called "CV", meaning "Constant Velocity". It helps with fuel economy and prevents any need to re-jet for altitude changes. Also, I have a copy of the factory service manual if you need it let me know I can email it.
Awesome info! Thanks a bunch and thanks for watching. Maybe the dealer near me wasn't accurate with their info, or they didn't want to deal with it (which is entirely possible). I'll add my email address to the description of this video if you want to shoot that FSM over. It sure would be handy! It's cool that you have the same exact bike. Nice! 👍🏼👍🏼
You got that pristine original CX for free? Wow, that's the ultimate score! Very likely those carbs just need a vacuum synch, and maybe you have a small vacuum leak somewhere? Anyway, great job doing a basic carb cleaning, and getting the bike running fairly decently so fast. And yes, I agree with you, it looks better without the luggage box.
Leave off the top-box. I had a CX back in the early 80’s and I used to tune the carbs with 2 pieces of rubber tube. You put one in each ear, and the open ends in the carb inlet. You’ll hear the hiss of the air rushing into the carb, and adjust the cross-connector to get the hiss as even as possible. Worked for me !
Sounds good man, UNBELIEVABLE it was going to going to be chucked out 😱😯😱 I used own XV400 cruiser, at first it only ran on 1 cylinder ignition unit was faulty, comfy ride etc, but lacked grunt, fuel economy was not great! Better without rear box 👍👍
Those VX's are cool bikes. Yeah man, I'm shocked that someone would put it out to the trash like a broken vacuum or something. These people tried all kinds of ways to dump it and couldn't. Just amazing how some people are. It was a ru ning driver, too 🤷🏽♂️
They're great bikes, and pretty reliable. If you need good carbs I highly recommend Murray's Carbs. He specializes in these bikes and they're top notch. They're not cheap, but they're the best. Get that old CX back on the road!! :)
The luggage is important if you'll be using it to camp or just haul back a few necessities from the mart, otherwise just part with it. It doesn't trouble me with the looks, but it will be in the way if you're just using the bike for sport or the occasional jaunt about town.
Agreed! The trunk is off right now. I don't plan on changing anything on it. I've seen them sell pretty cheap in running condition. Maybe you can pick up another.
What about the air filter.. Did you clean or replace it? Loose that luggage box.. Don't toss it, but the bike looks better without it. You might just need to run the thing on the road to get the cobwebs out of it.
@@HFG If both of your cylinders (and the valves) are performing properly, as in nearly identical compression when you do a compression test, then you can easily do a static carb sync and won't need the gauges and rubber hoses and stuff. That's all I do and it works out fine.
@@trevorjameson3213 Thanks for watching, bud! I need to buy a compression tester that fits bikes. All the ones I rent from the auto parts stores don't fit, even though they say they do. It's dialed in pretty well now that Justin worked his small engine magic on it.
Ooh. Don't do that! They have a pretty massive following. There are some good Facebook groups dedicated to them. Maybe ask those guys. A lot of them really know their stuff.
I took my bike to the car wash the other day running perfectly and it started backfiring and having poor power? I've been through the carbs and lots of the electrical but idk a lot
@@CrazyViralClipzYT I'm not super familiar with the electronics on these bikes, tbh. Even when it dried out it didn't help? Maybe you have some cracked wires or maybe the CDI box is having issues.
Så här såg min båge ut. Rödbrun. Det var tider det. Den gjorde väl ungefär 160 blås men jag körde aldrig fortare än 140 men då var den fullastad och mitt ex satt bakpå
The only thing I can think of is that right around that time there was a federal law that required all vehicles to have 85mph speedometers because there was a national 55mph speed limit during the oil embargo/energy crisis at that time. It could be that your bike was built to conform to those laws. I've seen some 80's bikes with those speedo's but I think it comes down to the months/years that they were imported. I'm not 100% sure though. I wish I could give you a more concrete answer. There are some good Honda groups on Facebook. They might have the full story for you and possibly a way to change yours out to a different one, if that's what you want to do. Keep in mind that it's my understanding that some models were actually mechanically speed limited during that time because gasoline rationing was happening as well.
Hey man I have a question for ya. I just bought a cheap cx500 custom. It only fires on the left cylinder, but when I partially cover the right carb intake port with my hand the right cylinder will fire. Do you think it's just the boot being cracked and causing a vacuum leak? Or do you think it's something else?
Does it have a cracked boot for sure? That would definitely cause some issues for sure. I'd start with vacuum problems off the bat and see where that takes you. If all else fails and you want some awesome carbs, check out Murray's Carbs. Pretty much the best you can get.
@@JIMBOBALOU back in the day, if a boot looked sketchy I'd smear RTV all over it and see if it helped. It wasn't a great solution but it worked for a bit until I could track down other issues or more parts 👍🏼
that crappy gas in the carb looks like ethanol that's separated from the actual gasoline after it sat for a while. Ethanol is hydroscopic so it absorbs moisture from the air and turns into this disgusting goopy oily mess that tends to just sit in the bottom of carbs and gas tanks. Is the key reason why you don't store vehicles with gas in them; best to empty them or use 100% gasoline.
Those are the original carbs to the bike. I bought the rebuild kits online somewhere. Probably Amazon. The old crusty set I got with the bike as a spare set.
@@HFG Hi, it doesn't really matter but the pic i'm talking about is the picture of the bike behind you when you first introduce the video.The writing on your tshirt is in reverse, as is honda on the tank ect ect. Anyway all the best. Its called a reverse negative.
@@telabib I only have a phone to record with. If I record with the front camera everything is always reversed. I try to catch it and fix it when I edit the video, but sometimes I miss a few. Thanks for letting me know. Unfortunately TH-cam doesn't allow me to do any in-place editing so I can't fix it now. 👍🏼
I *think* it's R-8C-S Candy Presto Red Special. I'm not 100% sure on that since I've only ever heard it being called Rootbeer, but that's the closest color to what I have that Honda made that year, to my knowledge.
Wuaooooo creo q no sabe lo que hace cualquiera sabe que esta clase de carburadores luego de un tiempo la gasolina produce sarro y necesitan una limpiesa muy delicada jajaaja creo q esta muy lejos de entender lo que pasa
![ร้อยพ่อพันแม่ - WanMai [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XY2pNYASEbg/mqdefault.jpg)
I've got an '81 CX500C that only has 9500 miles. Bought it from my brother in law 22 years ago for $250. I rode it around town a little in the early 2000's and it has been in storage for almost 15 years. I brought it home and started working on it a few weeks ago. Besides a badly rusted/varnished tank I was impressed at how good of condition it's still in. There's a few dried seals that need replacing and a little frame rust but it was like my storage shed was a time capsule. Looking forward to more videos. 👍
That's awesome!! They're cool bikes for sure. It's great that you're bringing yours back to life!! There really isn't much to do to mine beyond fill it up with gas and ride it :) Thanks for watching 👍🏼👍🏼
@@HFG 6b7
I just found my dad's cx500 that has the same story: it's been in storage for around 20 years. I'm binge watching every content about it so I don't mess something up trying to bring it back alive. Do you have any recommendations on other than new oil, battery, filters, brake fluid ecc?
@@flashxcate Personally I'd start by checking to see if you can turn the crankshaft manually. If the engine is seized to a point where an oil soak doesn't help then that could change the options you have and the direction you should go before sticking any money into a doomed project. I'd also check the fuel tank for any rust holes that may have happened while it was sitting. My original tank was beyond repair from rust and it's getting harder to find replacements that are reasonably priced.
After my bike was sitting for so long I needed to rebuild the carbs, front brakes and flush the coolant system because the fluids went bad over time and gunked up the works.
That being said, between Facebook & TH-cam there's a really good community of people that know a lot about these bikes and are usually up to answering questions and helping out.
Good luck! 🙂
@@Onitrix77 thanks for the tips. My plan was to remove the sparkplugs cables and put a new battery in and see if it turns. Then go from there
You can get plenty of parts for that bike. Quite a few are still available from Honda (Try Babbitt's online parts house), and you can find tons of parts, both new reproduction, and used, all over the internet at various places. I know because I have a '79 CX500 that's identical to the one you have, same color and everything. Also this model is extremely popular for building into a cafe' racer (for whatever reason). Anyway, I've had mine for quite a few years, I'm the third owner. It has 18k miles on it, and is completely original and unmolested (like yours). It's a lot of fun to ride around town, get groceries, run errands, ride around the back roads, etc. Oh, by the way, the Carbs are called "CV", meaning "Constant Velocity". It helps with fuel economy and prevents any need to re-jet for altitude changes. Also, I have a copy of the factory service manual if you need it let me know I can email it.
Awesome info! Thanks a bunch and thanks for watching. Maybe the dealer near me wasn't accurate with their info, or they didn't want to deal with it (which is entirely possible). I'll add my email address to the description of this video if you want to shoot that FSM over. It sure would be handy! It's cool that you have the same exact bike. Nice! 👍🏼👍🏼
I would need the service manual for it
@@Emperorofthestargate did u ever get it? i need it as well
You got that pristine original CX for free? Wow, that's the ultimate score! Very likely those carbs just need a vacuum synch, and maybe you have a small vacuum leak somewhere?
Anyway, great job doing a basic carb cleaning, and getting the bike running fairly decently so fast. And yes, I agree with you, it looks better without the luggage box.
Pretty crazy that they were going to throw it away, isn't it? I definitely need to get a monometer and synch them. Thanks for watching, bud 👊🏼👊🏼
Leave off the top-box. I had a CX back in the early 80’s and I used to tune the carbs with 2 pieces of rubber tube. You put one in each ear, and the open ends in the carb inlet. You’ll hear the hiss of the air rushing into the carb, and adjust the cross-connector to get the hiss as even as possible. Worked for me !
Nice! I'll try your suggestion. My hearing is pretty toasted so I might have to make/buy/borrow a monometer if that doesn't work 👍🏼👍🏼
JIS screwdriver....I learned something today. Thanks.
👊🏼👊🏼 If you ever try them on a Japanese machine you'll be amazed at how well they work Thanks for watching
Sounds good man, UNBELIEVABLE it was going to going to be chucked out 😱😯😱 I used own XV400 cruiser, at first it only ran on 1 cylinder ignition unit was faulty, comfy ride etc, but lacked grunt, fuel economy was not great! Better without rear box 👍👍
Those VX's are cool bikes. Yeah man, I'm shocked that someone would put it out to the trash like a broken vacuum or something. These people tried all kinds of ways to dump it and couldn't. Just amazing how some people are. It was a ru ning driver, too 🤷🏽♂️
Very cool! I got the same bike for $200 like 6 years ago and it's been drying up in the desert sun over here but can't wait to get it going
They're great bikes, and pretty reliable. If you need good carbs I highly recommend Murray's Carbs. He specializes in these bikes and they're top notch. They're not cheap, but they're the best. Get that old CX back on the road!! :)
Awesomeness!! The older Hondas are very cool!!
Totally! Too bad Honda had discontinued the parts
"I dont know much about carbs" rebuilds two carbs quickly and starts first try. Great video.
Thanks, bud!! I'm glad you liked the video! :)
37:00 lol man when you pulled out the choke it sounded like it was about to go on a runaway
Haha yeah. Those carbs took awhile to settle in. They came around a lot more when the weather warmed up and I got to ride it some :)
I took all my JIS screws out and replaced them with Hex bit style stainless screws. Sprayed a little ACF50 since it different metals, they work great.
That sounds like a good upgrade 👍🏼
Definitely NO luggage!
My humble and belated opinion.
I enjoyed your video.
Thanks! Yeah, I've had the luggage off of it. I need to work on the carbs again. Kinda sucks 🤷🏽♂️
Screwdriver advice is really helpful, thank you.
You're welcome. I'm glad the info was helpful. Thanks for watching 👍🏼👍🏼
Its the crankncase breather- will not hurt your bike fornit to be disconnected- it will just make your leg smell like fuel.
Thanks!! It was running pretty good last summer.
Thank you for your time and efforts - that was an interesting video. Really liked your tip regarding screwdrivers.
Thanks! Those JIS drivers really make working on these old bikes so much easier. 👍🏼👍🏼
The luggage is important if you'll be using it to camp or just haul back a few necessities from the mart, otherwise just part with it. It doesn't trouble me with the looks, but it will be in the way if you're just using the bike for sport or the occasional jaunt about town.
👍🏼👍🏼
You can obtain spares for Honda's from "Silvers" based in the UK near Peterborough!
Thanks for the info. I'll check it out 👍🏼👍🏼
Leave Trunk OFF! Please keep it stock! I had a ‘79 New and really wish I had it back!!
Agreed! The trunk is off right now. I don't plan on changing anything on it. I've seen them sell pretty cheap in running condition. Maybe you can pick up another.
What about the air filter.. Did you clean or replace it? Loose that luggage box.. Don't toss it, but the bike looks better without it.
You might just need to run the thing on the road to get the cobwebs out of it.
The air filter was brand new. It runs pretty good now. I just didn't ride it much last year.
Got the same bike! Had it for 16yrs and have now had carb issues, rebuilt em but the thing just wont idle, currently trying to figure out out!
Mine need to be sync'd/balanced. Maybe that's what yours needs too? I don't have a monometer here to do it.
@@HFG If both of your cylinders (and the valves) are performing properly, as in nearly identical compression when you do a compression test, then you can easily do a static carb sync and won't need the gauges and rubber hoses and stuff. That's all I do and it works out fine.
@@trevorjameson3213 Thanks for watching, bud! I need to buy a compression tester that fits bikes. All the ones I rent from the auto parts stores don't fit, even though they say they do. It's dialed in pretty well now that Justin worked his small engine magic on it.
I just love having to work on double and quad carbs I hate having to have to sync them I usually just build a cross over intake so I don't have to
They definitely aren't fun to reassemble :(
I'm close to throwing mine away too with a parts bike haha
Ooh. Don't do that! They have a pretty massive following. There are some good Facebook groups dedicated to them. Maybe ask those guys. A lot of them really know their stuff.
Dope stuff man ! Tuning in
Buddy, I've sub'd to your channel a few times already but it keeps deleting my sub :(
@@HFG lol I believe it. TH-cam has a good way of motoring. I’ve learned if you say subbing in the comments they ding us lol
We need a code word I guess.
I took my bike to the car wash the other day running perfectly and it started backfiring and having poor power? I've been through the carbs and lots of the electrical but idk a lot
It's my only transport tho
@@CrazyViralClipzYT I'm not super familiar with the electronics on these bikes, tbh. Even when it dried out it didn't help? Maybe you have some cracked wires or maybe the CDI box is having issues.
Så här såg min båge ut. Rödbrun. Det var tider det. Den gjorde väl ungefär 160 blås men jag körde aldrig fortare än 140 men då var den fullastad och mitt ex satt bakpå
Trevlig. Jag kör inte den här särskilt fort
They made a cx500 turbo as well
No kidding? I thought that was only on the 650. I've never seen one before. Awesome!
Why does my 1980 Honda cb500 only has a top speed of 80 on the odometer
The only thing I can think of is that right around that time there was a federal law that required all vehicles to have 85mph speedometers because there was a national 55mph speed limit during the oil embargo/energy crisis at that time. It could be that your bike was built to conform to those laws. I've seen some 80's bikes with those speedo's but I think it comes down to the months/years that they were imported. I'm not 100% sure though. I wish I could give you a more concrete answer. There are some good Honda groups on Facebook. They might have the full story for you and possibly a way to change yours out to a different one, if that's what you want to do. Keep in mind that it's my understanding that some models were actually mechanically speed limited during that time because gasoline rationing was happening as well.
Good ole honda
Yessir!
Hey man I have a question for ya. I just bought a cheap cx500 custom. It only fires on the left cylinder, but when I partially cover the right carb intake port with my hand the right cylinder will fire. Do you think it's just the boot being cracked and causing a vacuum leak? Or do you think it's something else?
Does it have a cracked boot for sure? That would definitely cause some issues for sure. I'd start with vacuum problems off the bat and see where that takes you. If all else fails and you want some awesome carbs, check out Murray's Carbs. Pretty much the best you can get.
@@HFG ok, sounds good. They don't look good at all. I'll do that stuff for sure thanks.
@@JIMBOBALOU back in the day, if a boot looked sketchy I'd smear RTV all over it and see if it helped. It wasn't a great solution but it worked for a bit until I could track down other issues or more parts 👍🏼
@@HFG that's a good idea, thanks
@@JIMBOBALOU good luck 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
that crappy gas in the carb looks like ethanol that's separated from the actual gasoline after it sat for a while. Ethanol is hydroscopic so it absorbs moisture from the air and turns into this disgusting goopy oily mess that tends to just sit in the bottom of carbs and gas tanks. Is the key reason why you don't store vehicles with gas in them; best to empty them or use 100% gasoline.
Yeah. We had some gas stations with bad gas a few times. I'm guessing that was part of the problem.
Where did you get the new carbs
Those are the original carbs to the bike. I bought the rebuild kits online somewhere. Probably Amazon. The old crusty set I got with the bike as a spare set.
How are you so lucky, I wishI got it for free but no have to buy it
I can't believe that they tried to throw it away and no one took it 🤷🏽♂️ I just got lucky
I had one of those!
Sweet! They're fun bikes.
@@HFG Yeah mine was fun all the way up until I hit the back of a pick up truck and flipped over it lol
@@oldschoolsteve5116 OMG!!! I'm glad you're still around. Jeez.
That picture is in reverse, the battery should be on the left side.
I don't know what picture you mean. The video is a couple of years old. The thumbnail? It's correct. The stickers are the right way.
@@HFG Hi, it doesn't really matter but the pic i'm talking about is the picture of the bike behind you when you first introduce the video.The writing on your tshirt is in reverse, as is honda on the tank ect ect. Anyway all the best. Its called a reverse negative.
@@telabib I only have a phone to record with. If I record with the front camera everything is always reversed. I try to catch it and fix it when I edit the video, but sometimes I miss a few. Thanks for letting me know. Unfortunately TH-cam doesn't allow me to do any in-place editing so I can't fix it now. 👍🏼
Do you have any idea what the colour code is for the paint on that bike ?
I *think* it's R-8C-S Candy Presto Red Special. I'm not 100% sure on that since I've only ever heard it being called Rootbeer, but that's the closest color to what I have that Honda made that year, to my knowledge.
@@HFG OK, thanks for that.
@@telabib 👍🏼👍🏼
I just bought a 79, I’ll take that trunk lol
Nice!!! I kinda like the old school vibe of that trunk. I saw one just like it on FB Marketplace not too long ago, too! Cheap!
Are you a Nintendo fan?
Hell yes! I used to have all of the consoles. Now I just have a modded Wii and a few modded xbox's. Old school Xecuter hard mod gen 1 boxes.
Wuaooooo creo q no sabe lo que hace cualquiera sabe que esta clase de carburadores luego de un tiempo la gasolina produce sarro y necesitan una limpiesa muy delicada jajaaja creo q esta muy lejos de entender lo que pasa
Problemas típicos de combustible antiguo. No hablo español
Sorry.
You went through all the easy stuff but skipped how to link em, wtf!!!
How to link them? I thought it was self explanatory.