Restoration and Customization Project

[TN2Wheeler]

Started here in November:


Ended (sort of...) here in March:


Project BLOG is HERE

[VersysRider]

Have you had a chance to put it through it's paces? How's it ride?

[Patmo]

That came out VERY NICE!   

[TN2Wheeler]

Have you had a chance to put it through it's paces? How's it ride?

I've ridden it about 500 miles. It does reasonably well for a 500cc with a single disk brake. The fork brace and fresh tires made a huge difference in the handling but It's certainly not in the same league as a modern bike and it looks a lot faster than it actually is. But that's okay, it's responsive and fun. I knew from the outset it wouldn't perform like a modern bike and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out aesthetically. It's definitely a conversation starter. Seems a lot of people had a CX or GL 500/650 back in the day and they all want to talk.

[DirtFlier]

Jim,

I rode several CX500s extensively in 1980-81 when I worked at the Mother Ship in CA.  It had the most "squishy" suspension of all the Honda street bikes so I can fully appreciate the need for a fork brace.  I can't recall all details but it seems that it had smaller diameter fork tubes than the CB750?   
Anyhow, I loved the large fuel tank and flat, broad seat on long trips.  Nice work on the restoration and redo into a cafe racer!   

Tosh

[TN2Wheeler]

Yep, this is a '78 (first year) with skinny 33mm forks. Later CX and all GL models had larger forks. I increased the springs rate by shortening the front springs and increased the damping with heavier fork oil and, as noted, added a fork brace. The forks actually work surprisingly well. I may replace the rear shocks at some point with better ones. These are the originals and they are definitely not as good the forks. The spring rate seems about right but they are seriously underdamped.

[DirtFlier]

Oversprung and underdamped would generally describe Japanese shocks from that era. Apparently the suspension engineers must have thought all Americans were overweight and liked to bounce a lot.      

My VT500F's rear wheel would land with a loud "THUD" when I pushed it off the centerstand.  After I changed to Progressive Shocks, coming off the centerstand was nearly silent because the shock actually moved!   

[umdrp]

Very nicely done.  You wouldn't want too much power with the limited suspension.

[stevegrab]

Seeing those two pictures back to back, what a huge change. Nice job.

[TeeCee]

Awesome work! A great resto. Loving the Cafe look

[RichGrab]

Great job. Looks stellar. I wouldn't expect anything from that era to compete in any way with a modern bike - unless lots of things were modernized. Keep up the good work.