[PyroVee]

Hi Guys,

I am fairly new to the forum and so far have found everyone incredibly helpful, so thanks for that. I thought that I would begin this build thread to document the progress of my project and perhaps help out people who try to do similar things in the future - plus advice is always helpful. I'm still in the early stages of working through my CX500 project, at present I am not 100% what I would like it to be, given the "modifications" that have already been done to it, I can safely say that it will never be an original again so we shall see how it unveils. I do find it interesting to see how the previous owner went about with the bike and what has been taken care of and (unfortunately neglected) . Anyhow these are some of the photos of the Bike as it was advertised.



Of course when the bike was delivered to me it wasn't in as good a condition as the photos (which came as no surprise). It is however interesting that some of the jobs seem to be well done (such as the wheels), whereas others seem completely botched and are (so to speak) crap - like the wiring and a few of the paint jobs (look at picture 1 you can see the frame changes from black to grey). In hindsight I wish that the seller had been a little more descriptive however I am still waiting for the the alleged "174 photos of the build" that he was supposed to send me (as well as the V5 which I am still waiting for)... I really just pray that the engine is okay...

Problem numero uno seems to be that the swingarm has been cut at the end and therefore, hasn't got a lip for the rubber boot to slip over, probably not a massive deal but something that I think will require a new swingarm to be purchased.. what a wonderful start!



I will keep updating the post as progress continues!

 

[murrayf]

the spot welded part got lost in powder coating

 

[OCR]

I was thinking that you might be able to weld on a piece for that lip if you can not locate a swing arm quickly.

 

[dbjac]

Could just be the angle of the photos, but it looks like you're going to bottom out the rear of that frame going over any sort of bump.

 

[murrayf]

i am wondering if you could attach a lip with jbweld or marinetex

the spot welds did not break easy on the swingarm i tried to get the part off of

 

[PyroVee]

Just had a very unfortunate mishap occur. The vendor on eBay who claimed to be selling enamel clear coat has actually sent me a laquer clear coat, which has resulted in the enamel paint being lifted and crinkled!



Just really happy that I did not put any of it on the radiator repaint because that would have been a nightmare! I have ordered some CONFIRMED enamel clear coat to cover it up which should be here in a few days.




A brief look around online has lead me to believe that the crinkled paint parts will need to be sanded down to the base metal and started again from scratch because of the mixed paints... So I have decided that for now, it will just have to do and somewhere down the line I will get the parts powder coated instead, there are a few local-ish places that blast and coat parts for a reasonable price (just MORE money to spend unfortunately). After completing a few more bits, I think I will send the whole frame to be coated as well as a few additional parts that are looking a little shabby - which ties in pretty well because it means I can repair/replace the swingarm at the same time and send it off to be coated too.

 

[PyroVee]

So I was very pleased with what came in the post today!



As you can see from the photo, I am going with the electric fan conversion as the one in the engine seems to have cracks around the centre. I managed to pick up a used 1998 Zx6 fan for £20 in pretty good working condition and plan to fit the relay and 80 degree switch that many people here have already done. Inspired by Mike on this forum, I decided to go with the Mishmoto drain bolt idea for the radiator as it seemed to be one of the cleaner ways of adding the temperature sensor (hence the 16mm drill bit). I also picked up some 90/120 jets for the carbs too as there are existing pod filters and newer exhausts are going to be fitted with these silencers!



My day has been spent working on the mess of wiring around the forks...



Although it has been slow, progress is coming! I have managed to get the ignition coils wired up and the starter motor turns over. I think I will need to purchase some sort of resistor though on account of having a speedo with LED warning lights which has lead to the indicator/turn signal LED always being on, it flashes perfectly with the indicators as they are activated - but it is still illuminated when the indicators aren't on... any suggestions on that? More progress to come soon!

 

[Wood Eye]

So I was very pleased with what came in the post today!

View attachment 81801

As you can see from the photo, I am going with the electric fan conversion as the one in the engine seems to have cracks around the centre. I managed to pick up a used 1998 Zx6 fan for £20 in pretty good working condition and plan to fit the relay and 80 degree switch that many people here have already done. Inspired by Mike on this forum, I decided to go with the Mishmoto drain bolt idea for the radiator as it seemed to be one of the cleaner ways of adding the temperature sensor (hence the 16mm drill bit). I also picked up some 90/120 jets for the carbs too as there are existing pod filters and newer exhausts are going to be fitted with these silencers!

View attachment 81809

My day has been spent working on the mess of wiring around the forks...

View attachment 81817

Although it has been slow, progress is coming! I have managed to get the ignition coils wired up and the starter motor turns over. I think I will need to purchase some sort of resistor though on account of having a speedo with LED warning lights which has lead to the indicator/turn signal LED always being on, it flashes perfectly with the indicators as they are activated - but it is still illuminated when the indicators aren't on... any suggestions on that? More progress to come soon!

Some wiring feedback. When splicing multiple wires, especially on a motorcycle, stagger the joints so that they can be more neatly loomed. You don't want the loom to look like a pythn swallowing a calf.

In the future, instead of using butt connectors - a failure point due to corrosion and vibration - butt splice the wire and shrink wrap. The technique we use on custom bikes is to strip the wires back about 3/16", slide on shrink tubing well out of the way, stab the wires together end-to-end so that the strands intermingle, solder, and shrink wrap. That type of splice is strong and takes precious little room more that the wire itself, important when hiding wiring harnesses inside handlebars and frame rails. It can be a trick holding the wires in place while soldering them together this way. The custom trick is to make a holder: two alligator clips connected by a short length of solid copper wire - shaped in a 'U'. These extra hands hold the stabbed wires together while you solder them.

 

[Son of eevil]

stagger the joints so that they can be more neatly loomed. You don't want the loom to look like a pythn swallowing a calf.

Yes one the things I wish I had done.

 

[ramprat06]

I assume your baggies hold the jets you got, 90/120? Something didn't look right when I took a closer look at the pic you showed. Yours seem different than those pictured on the Jets R Us website for the general appearance. The first pic here is the main jet. (NOTE: Stock Photos, for comparison only, not exact sizes shown)

This pic below is what they show for the slow jet.

Are you sure you got what you were looking for?

 

[ramprat06]

I knew I remembered Larry posting about this. So with you having the 1980 model, this may give a bit more help

http://cx500forum.com/forum/technical-help-forum/4287-jets-sizes.html

 

[PyroVee]

I'm uncertain about the precise nature about the jets, I worked on the carbs with my dad and as far as I can tell, the "small hole" Jet was replaced with a 90 and the "big hole" jet was replaced by the 120, I can't say how it runs for a prolonged period of time as the bike has since had the radiator off and I don't really want to run it without any coolant. On the flipside, I have removed the exhaust downpipes and given them a whirl with some wire brushes and they have turned out pretty nice! I think I will have them dipped in some rust remover just to strip off anything I may have missed prior to getting them painted.



I presume that they are made out of stainless steel? If anyone knows it would be appreciated if you could clarify. At the moment the bike is currently very naked as I am going to be fitting clip ons, a new headlight and some fork gaiters, the tank is currently off for repainting and the electrical mess that I posted previously is slowly being cleared up thankfully! As far as the fan conversion is going, I have discovered that someone has already had a previous shot at it and with some help from members on the forum I have managed to source some replacement parts that have been damaged and caused leaking.



I also fitted an under-engine battery box which has really cleaned up the space between the rear wheel and the engine, I am really pleased with it.




Finally, I remember there being some "glitter" in the oil when I first drained and replaced it a few weeks back - nothing major I wouldn't have thought, but the oil looked a little too metallic for my liking. I therefore decided to drain a small amount out and have another look as the engine was running for short periods of time a week ago. - The oil is as follows...




I don't think it looks drastically bad, but if anyone who has had experience with this sort of thing is willing to chip in, that'd be great! I will keep updating with progress as the build continues

 

[OCR]

Did you change the filter too!
That would be the place to look for any trapped metal filings.

 

[PyroVee]

I did indeed, as far as I could see there was nothing major in there but I think when I am replacing the cam end cover (damaged when fan removed by previous owner), I will drop the whole engine and replace the mechanical seal as well as remove the back cover to see the cam chain condition, if anything just for peace of mind.

 

[PyroVee]

Resurrection of an old Thread, Pyramid Parts Tapered Bearings

Been a bit of a while, but it has been a hectic couple of months and progress has been slow. One thing that definitely rings true with a project, for every problem you fix there are two more things you find that need doing.

I noticed that my bearings were shot so I decided to go for a tapered upgrade from Pyramid parts, only to find that the all balls kit came highly recommended and should have been the way to go. Ah well nothin ventured I suppose. The top installation went beautifully and the dust cover sat on there nicely.



However the dust seal on the bottom bearing was both too big to fit into the bottom of the bearing groove and also rested on the bottom of the frame when I tried to install it, leaving about a 5mm gap between the bearing itself and the seal (couldn't show it whilst holding it with one hand).



Solution? Find and purchase a smaller dust seal (30x50 I believe) and a 2mm thick washer to rest under it



Should work out nicely I reckon! Will update once I have the triple tree back from the paint shop, but definitely a bit more optimistic.

 

[ramprat06]

It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.

 

[CXPHREAK]

The pyramid bearings should be supplied for the CX with a 2 mm spacer to go under the bottom bearing.

They don't supply one.

 

[PyroVee]

Pyramid Parts Bearings Continued

After a little bit of work with the new seal, I noticed that it locked against the frame once pressed in and will not happily rotate, after a bit of thinking I came up with this idea to get it all working properly. I may post this in technical help too just to put it out there. What do you guys think?

 

[PyroVee]

Yeah, lesson learned, just don't buy a tapered bearing kit from pyramid parts...I have had to do a load of custom work and pay for extra parts just to get the ting to work. God only knows what they were thinking with this seal...



It just sits on the bottom and leaves about a 6mm gap between where the bearing should be.

I have had to buy a new smaller seal, a 2mm washer and a multitude of other bits to try and get it to work, in the end I am going with the following (from bottom to top)

Triple Tree
Dust Seal (Cut Down)
2mm Washer
Bearing
Cup

Just buy the all balls kit...