Honda CX500 & GL500 Forum

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11-04-2007, 5:55 PM Anonymous broken bike taken in There was an 81 GL500I on ebay, link here, that had been crashed a couple of weeks ago.  The auction ended last night with no bids meeting the reserve.  Since the bike was located only an hour away, I contacted the owner, and long story short I rode it home today as the new owner. The bike did great on the 50 mile ride home - excellent handling, lots of power, sounded great.  Sweet! So there's another bike in the stable now.   The fairing is toast, so I think I'll use the headlight/turn signals etc from a non-Interstate GL. This ought to be a fun project bike for the winter.

11-04-2007, 5:56 PM DaveNearAtlanta Joined on 03-03-2006 Lawrenceville, GA Posts 500 Re: broken bike taken in Oops, that was me.  Forgot to sign in. My Home Page 1981 GL500I 1982 GL500I 1983 GL650I This User ID is no longer used. DaveF is my new User ID.    Report

11-06-2007, 7:59 AM Rusty Joined on 08-09-2007 Long Beach California USA. Posts 121 Re: broken bike taken in Looks like a good one, stereo, prolink, dual disk, all the goodies. Rusty    Report

12-31-2007, 4:56 PM DaveNearAtlanta Joined on 03-03-2006 Lawrenceville, GA Posts 500 broken no more The 81 GL500I is no longer broken.  It's been a fun project over the past couple of months and, after much work, it was put back on the road today.  There are still a few minor cosmetics to be taken care of but it's basically finished. Here's a "before" photo.  The fairing was totally destroyed in the previous owner's accident. My other bikes all have fairings, so I decided to delete it on this bike for something different.  Most of the parts needed for the conversion were available from a previous parts bike, and the balance, plus a shorty trunk, were obtained from that unmentionable auction site. A thorough inspection of the bike showed it was basically solid but many things needed attention.  A decision was made to go through it from one end to the other.  The bike was stripped to the frame, and the frame paint was freshened up. The center and side stands were repainted, greased, and installed. The swing arm was disassembled, repainted, bearings repacked, and installed. New tapered steering head bearings were installed. The bent handlebars were replaced. Several sleeves and collars were replaced in the Prolink rear suspension.  The suspension and rear shock were greased and installed. The forks were disassembled, cleaned, and new seals installed. The front wheel was inspected and wheel bearings checked. Both tires were new with recent date codes so they were not replaced. The rear end splines were lubed with Moly 60 paste, and the fluid was replaced with Mobil 1 synthetic gear lube. The driveshaft and engine output shaft splines were lubed with T.S. Moly 65 grease. The rear brake shoes were replaced, and related control parts cleaned and lubed. Many metal parts were repainted including the battery box, pannier brackets, rear brake switch lever, and others. The wire harness had been butchered so it was replaced with a good one from a parts bike. Next, attention was turned to the engine. The cam chain had gone wild so it and the tensioners were replaced. The weep hole and the spark plug well drain holes were cleaned out. The water pump mechanical seal innards were replaced using Shep's method. Front and rear camshaft seals were replaced. The clutch lever seal was replaced. The oil pump chain was adjusted. The shifter seal was replaced. The cam chain tension adjuster bolt o-ring was replaced. The stator was replaced with a rewound one from Rick's. Numerous oil and water passage o-rings were replaced. The water pump housing seal was replaced. The valves were adjusted. The spark plugs were replaced. The spark plug cap resistors were replaced with brass rod stock cut to length. The oil filter was replaced. The fan was replaced. The radiator hoses were cleaned and inspected. Finally the engine was installed. The brake master cylinder and calipers were rebuilt.  The brake pads were replaced. A problem was encountered when installing the horn bracket. The supply brake hose leading to the brake manifold, used with dual disc brakes, interfered with the non-Interstate horn bracket.  Non-Interstate bikes had single disc brakes so they do not have a manifold. A similar horn bracket from another bike was in the junk bin.  It was modified by cutting and welding to provide the needed clearance.  This is the modified bracket after a coat of paint. Here is the installed brake manifold and modified horn bracket. From this point on, reassembly was fairly straightforward. All mechanical cables were inspected and lubricated. The carburetors were not disassembled because the bike had been running well.  This can easily be done later if needed. The intake manifold o-rings were replaced. The fuel tank, carburetor, and battery drain hoses were replaced. The carburetor-to-petcock vacuum hose was replaced. An inline fuel filter was installed with new fuel line. The fuel-air mixture was adjusted and the carburetors were synchronized. A set of Hondaline CX500 engine crash bars were installed. Here is the bike ready for its initial ride. The first ride was about 20 miles in length with no issues.  The bike handled great and had lots of acceleration.  It also seemed much more nimble than my other bikes with fairings and touring packages.  This one's going to be a lot of fun.  My Home Page 1981 GL500I 1982 GL500I 1983 GL650I This User ID is no longer used. DaveF is my new User ID.    Report

12-31-2007, 6:58 PM fll1441 Joined on 11-06-2006 Fort Lauderdale, FL Posts 751 Re: broken no more Nicely done, Dave. Sounds like a lot of work. The bike looks good. 1982 CX500 Custom    Report

01-01-2008, 7:58 PM Vulcan61 Joined on 05-06-2007 Nashville,TN Posts 64 Re: broken no more Completed in two monthes, alot of work done. Would have taken me alot longer to do. Great job!! 85 Honda Shadow 82 GL500I ( work in progress ) 82 GL500 (parts???)    Report

01-01-2008, 10:20 PM hueyslick 291 Joined on 07-27-2007 Morgan Hill, CA Posts 156 Re: broken bike taken in Nice job.I wish I had your abilties to do the same to mine. Getting better at doing it myself but not ready to take it down to the frame.    Report

01-02-2008, 1:45 PM RichNCT Joined on 03-02-2006 Posts 2,262 Re: broken bike taken in Nice work Dave, it's no surprise to me though .  I like the style of the "naked" GL.  It's not anorexic looking, just full figured with nice curves.  Born to be relatively wild    Report

01-02-2008, 5:03 PM DaveNearAtlanta Joined on 03-03-2006 Lawrenceville, GA Posts 500 Re: broken bike taken in Thanks for all the nice comments, guys.  Your appreciation for how it turned out is very rewarding.  RichNCT wrote: ...I like the style of the "naked" GL.  It's not anorexic looking, just full figured with nice curves.  Absolutely!  The shape is very appealing to the eye - it's almost screaming RIDE ME.    Honda definitely got this one right. My Home Page 1981 GL500I 1982 GL500I 1983 GL650I This User ID is no longer used. DaveF is my new User ID.    Report

01-02-2008, 6:22 PM hueyslick 291 Joined on 07-27-2007 Morgan Hill, CA Posts 156 Re: broken bike taken in How did you post the pictures on this site. I still unsure how to do it.    Report

01-02-2008, 9:36 PM Floaterdave Joined on 06-05-2006 Portland,OR. USA Posts 33 Re: broken bike taken in Looks great! That's alot of work in such a short time. -Dave 1979 CX500 C 1980 CX500 C 1980 CX500 D(Work In Progress)    Report

01-03-2008, 3:03 PM DaWei Joined on 11-25-2006 Atlantic County, NJ Posts 444 Re: broken bike taken in  hueyslick 291 wrote: How did you post the pictures... Go to Photobucket (or another image-hosting site) and upload pictures from your computer.  Click on IMG Code under the uploaded pic, then paste that string into the text of your post on this site.  The image remains visible here as long as you leave the pic in your album at Photobucket (or other). Dave in NJ '80 CX500 C - out of action, pending Triple Bypass '78 CX500 - needs NJDMV Title before 20-Aug-09    Report

03-10-2008, 6:39 AM BiggerHammer Joined on 07-26-2007 New England, USA Posts 31 Re: broken no more That's beautiful. Your work makes me proud that I ride my Interstate! Thank you for sharing this. 1982 GL500 Insterstate    Report

03-11-2008, 4:15 AM instructorpilot Joined on 12-15-2007 Orlando FL Posts 297 Re: broken bike taken in I love happy endings. Al 2 CB350F's, 1 CX500, 1 GL500, CB750F, XV500, 2 GL1100's, DL1000    Report

06-14-2008, 3:07 PM PWG in Lowgap NC Joined on 01-08-2008 Minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway Posts 733 Re: Rich, you're a pervert with words You nasty little devil. http://httassociation.com 82 GL500 / 66 MGB Trike "Old Yeller" 05 Suzuki S50 "Plaything" ANY WARM DAY ABOVE GROUND IS A GOOD ONE (unknown senior citizen)    Report

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