CB500T OWNERS GALLERY
 

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SEVERAL CB500T owners have sent me pictures of their pride and joy, so I thought it was about time we had a gallery. If you have an immaculate or interesting 'T,' please drop me a line before sending any photos.
 

HERE is an 'A' reg model from Dawn of Brighton. Not sure if it's an import, it sure is in good condition. Even the seat base is in good nick. Note that the exhaust balance box has been replaced with a piece of tube, a big improvement in the aesthetic stakes.

Photos taken by Dawn on the West Pier at Brighton.

  

Beside the sea

Twilight

February sunset over the Channel
 
 

THIS is our first CB500T. I bought the standard bike from a dealer for £60; it was covered in oil and filth, largely due to a blown head gasket.
After fixing the engine I set about customising;

For a while this was purely cosmetic (top), but in an attempt to improve the braking and get rid of the rusting rims and spokes, things got a bit more drastic.

Yamaha XZ550 front end, Honda CM200 tank, Yamaha SRX600 swinging arm and Suzuki GSX600 rear wheel. The biggest problem with the bike was the silencers, aftermarket HD Sportster items. They may have been OK on a Harley but the CB's harsh bark was deafening and I had to stick a couple of VW Beetle outlet mufflers in them.

  

Bryony's first bike.

Bit of a hybrid.
 
 

OK I know it's not a 500, but John Boettger's 1968 CB450 'Helllcat' is such a high quality restoration I had to include it. Let John tell you about it:

MY 1968 HELLCAT (as it is known in Canada) was completed August 1, 2002. It carries the Ontario plate H L C T, and is a big hit at Honda Canada headquarters which is a mile away from my home.
The machine was unmolested, had 10,000 miles, and was stored in the previous owners recreation room for 23 years. Nevertheless I still spent $14,000CDN on the restoration and it is virtually authentic; chrome is chrome, cadmium is cad; zinc is zinc. The non-authentic bits - frame is powder coat, seat top is not correct grain, front fender 4 rivets were drilled out to ensure proper electroplate and were replaced with SS machine screws. The signal lights are from the German 450 model. The engine internals are stock - although new seals, clutch, and the 30% updated 1970-1/2 NOS oil pump is installed.

The bike has a completely new NOS Honda wiring harness which cost me a whole $87USD and all new functional elements including the updated Honda rectifier.

 

CB450 Hellcat

 

TWO extra electrical earth straps were installed; from battery to frame, and from frame to engine. The engine runs very well however it is being completely rebuilt this winter. To that end over the last 3 months I purchased approximately $5000CDN in NOS parts from around the world. Each part number was compared to the Honda Master List 2002 to determine the updated part number. All the NOS parts are the updated parts where applicable. The crankshaft will be disassembled and balanced to the reciprocating weight of the new parts, for instance the 4th oversize pistons. The balance factor will be 47%. My intention is to cross Canada on the bike, something that was out of the question for me in 1968 when the machine was new.
 
 

DAVE Edwardes sent these pics of his immaculate CB500T and the following:

I purchased the bike earlier this year from a chap who had bought it about 7 years ago for his retirement. After 3 months of ownership and only 67 miles he, unfortunately, had a car accident which left him slightly brain injured and the DVLC pulled his license. He kept the bike garaged and hoped he would recover enough to be able to ride it again but, sadly, this was not to be the case.
While it was laid up, it had been kept clean and lubricated and an electronic ignition had been supplied by Kirby Rowbotham (basically a Boyer-Branson unit with a Hall-Effect trigger) and fitted locally.

I bought it for £1000 with a full years MOT (overpriced, I know - but I did knock him down from £1500!). I have replaced certain rubber bits i.e. handlebar mounts, rear shock mounts, front fork oil seals and dust boots, fuel filler cap seal, front brake master cylinder and slave seals, and, of course, the tyres - the originals were still fitted but had a massive amount of tread on them. The oil has been changed, the oil filter cleaned, the chain removed cleaned and waxed, the fuel filter replaced and a new battery fitted.

Initially, the bike would not rev above 4000rpm and petrol would leak from the overflows. The float levels were reset and after inspection, I decided that the electronic ignition must have been fitted by a plumber since none of the crimp joints were tight, the fuse was a 13 amp mains plug type and the HT connectors to the coil had not been soldered to the leads! I also replaced the spark plugs. This seemed to cure the faults and it started to rev freely and not leave a trail of fuel behind.
It has the usual problems with the starter being unreliable so I tend to kick start it. It also fouls the plugs if the choke is left full on for more than about 3 milliseconds, but I also understand this is a known problem. The cam chain has been tensioned and doesn't rattle (too much) and now that the valve clearances have been reset the engine is a lot quieter.

  



Why I bought it is a mystery to most people, but I had one when I was 19 and so the nostalgia thing kicked in. Lets face it, it has reliability issues, the handling is crap, if taken much above 60 mph then the vibration is almost enough to make my eyeballs explode and in it's standard form it probably wouldn't pull the skin of a rice pudding, but I think it looks great and I feel fantastic when I ride it. Plus the fact that I haven't had a bike for the last 20 years and it's a "sensible" bike which I can't ride too fast. Born again bikers are a menace and I don't mind admitting that I am not man enough to handle the "F" factor!!!! F stands for Fireblade, of course.

 
 

 

    
 

NOW here's a really nice chop from Belfast. Owned by Helen, it features a Suzuki Bandit 1200 front end & rear wheel, mated to a Cobra gooseneck hardtail frame with 3'' rake.

A King Sportster tank, 2 into 1 exhaust (baffled 3 times in order to pass mot !)and Raask rearsets add up to a really nice mix. Sensibly Helen has thrown away the standard bike but kept the best bit (that lovely twin). Topped off with green to purple flip paint, it's a classic marriage of modern running gear and a real motorbike engine.

  

CB500T chop

Belfast CB500T chop