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Canadian CX500 Cafe Racer Conversion

437K views 996 replies 87 participants last post by  2ndCXowner 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello everyone,

As with many members on here, I figure I should document my (slow) cafe racer build and maybe get your guys opinion along the way on a few things. I love getting inspiration from others builds and a lot of the things that I do to my bike come from other great members out there.

First a little back story: For as long as I can remember I've always wanted a motorcycle, but never had the money to get one. Last year I was searching the web when this 1980 cx500 custom caught my eye. What a cool looking bike I thought. Long story short I went and picked up my first ever bike and I was so happy. Got it for $250, and knew I had lots to do, starting off with replacing the stator. (Also the PO did not have the ownership and it was an american bike....that took a while to get worked out lol) Fixed it up and it ran great after a little tuning. At that point in time i just wanted to have a bike to ride so I didn't do much to make it look pretty, but now that i have a bit of extra cash (I don't really lol) I want to get it running better and looking fantastic.


Index

Page 1: Background, front fork rebuild, front fender chop, clip-on handlebars, new exhaust wrap and mufflers, new headlight and front signals.
Page 2: New engine new temperature gauge.
Page 3: Painted engine tags and clutch cover.
Page 4: New temperature sending unit.
Page 5: Radiator guard design.
Page 6: Engine paint prep, gauge design and radiator guard fabrication.
Page 7: Dummy lights and gauge redesign
Page 8: Muffler repacking, new tachometer and speedometer, engine painting, engine guards and shock painting, frame touch-up and engine mounting.
Page 9: E-fan mounting and wiring.
Page 10: Redesigned e-fan mounting and steering limits.
Page 11: Gauge and dummy lights wiring and gauge mounting brackets fabrication.
Page 12: Gauge brackets redesign and fabrication.
Page 13: Gauge brackets painting, dummy lights mounting, gauge mounting, lights testing and carb cleaning.
Page 14: Bike startup and oil leak.
Page 15: Cylinder cover painting and test drive.
Page 17: Rim tape installation.
Page 18: Bike drawing start, LED strip testing and tank designs.
Page 19: Rear fender and licence plate holder design.
Page 20: Tank designs, rear fender redesign, bike disassembly and tire hugger design.
Page 21: Tire hugger design and brake light switch bracket fabrication.
Page 22: Battery box design and fabrication.
Page 23: Battery box fabrication and painting and rear fender support tubes fabrication.
Page 25: Rear fender support tubes and rear fender fabrication.
Page 26: Rear fender fabrication.
Page 27: Rear fender mounting bracket fabrication and start of rear fender assembly.
Page 28: Rear fender assembly, test fit and more fabrication.
Page 29: Licence plate bracket design and fabrication, final rear fender assembly, turn signal testing/concept and rear frame modifications.
Page 30: More rear light ideas.
Page 31: Rear hoop and signal mounts fabrication.
Page 32: Rear hoop fabrication continued, new shocks and signal test fit.
Page 34: Rear hoop mock-up, shock limiters, rear hoop modification, rear fender mounting bracket clean up, front electronic pan fabrication.
Page 35: Rear electrical pan fabrication, license plate bracket fabrication and rear fender test fit.
Page 36: Licence plate lights, regulator and starter solenoid mounting and wiring and rear tire hugger fabrication.
Page 39: Rear brake pad replacement, rear hub painting, frame clean up and welding in rear hoop.
Page 40: Priming and painting frame.
Page 41: Getting tire hugger and rear fender ready for painting.
Page 42: Rear fender inside coating.
Page 43: Rear fender and license plate painting, new shock spring coating, shock assemble and install and rear fender, tire hugger and turn signal mounting.
Page 45: 12 Volt time delay modules.
Page 46: Wiring and painting of rear tire hugger and electrical pans.
Page 47: Mounting tire hugger and electrical pans and wiring battery and starter solenoid.
Page 48: Cleaning up electronics and wiring rear turn signals.
Page 49: Pod filters.
Page 50: Header breather tubes and front fork stiffness modifications.
Page 51: New LED brake and running light.
Page 52: Brake flasher module.
Page 53: Brake light mounting and electronic testing.
Page 55: Tire choices.
Page 57: Disc lock.
Page 58: Final Tank designs.
Page 60: Seat pan mock up and fabrication.
Page 62: Changing tires and paint supplies.
Page 63: Tank stripping and seat upholstered.
Page 64: Priming gas tank and new ignition switch.
Page 65: Painting gas tank.
Page 67: Wet sanding tank.
Page 68: Fixing tank mistake, building ignition switch, final 2K clear coat on tank and buffing/polishing tank.
Page 69: Bike pictures and tire hugger mounting clarification.
Page 70: More bike pictures.


Anyways, here are some pictures from before:

How it looked when I bought it:

Land vehicle Vehicle Motorcycle Motor vehicle Automotive tire

Land vehicle Motorcycle Vehicle Motor vehicle Automotive tire


First time taking the engine out:

Land vehicle Vehicle Motorcycle Motor vehicle Automotive tire

Engine Auto part Automotive engine part Vehicle Machine


Repainting the tank (temporary):

Fuel tank Bag Vehicle Baggage Rolling

Sculpture Auto part Fender


Redone seat cover (temporary):

Vehicle Fuel tank Motorcycle Motorcycle accessories Auto part


The bike as it stood last year before any serious mods:

Land vehicle Motorcycle Vehicle Car Headlamp
 
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8
#3 ·
First thing I did was rebuild and paint the front forks:

Auto part Tool


Painted the wheels with black rim paint and matte clear coat:

Auto part Automotive tire Vehicle Automobile repair shop Engine


Trimmed and cut the front fender:

Auto part Fin Fender


All together (fender is just laid in place):

Tire Alloy wheel Automotive tire Wheel Rim


Next step was to redo the front headlights, signals, handlebars, mirrors and clean up the rats nest of wiring behind the headlight bucket.
 
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#4 ·
Took off the stock headlight and WOW....what a lot of old wires. Someone had been back there before and made a hack job of a lot of the connectors. Shortened everything to a good length and put all the connectors and fuses into a project box mounted on the front. Painted it black and it seems to blend in pretty good. Over the winter I would like to redo it all again and tuck it all under the tank.

What a mess:

Engine Auto part Vehicle Automotive lighting Automotive engine part
 
#5 · (Edited)
All of the parts I purchased for the first round of modifications:

Auto part


Got rid of the old handlebars and put on some clip-ons. Bought new brake assembly as well seeing as the old one was in pretty rough shape.
Painted the top of the triple clamp black for now. I may make it a bit smoother looking later on.

Tire Automotive tire Auto part Product Vehicle


Also wrapped the headers in a black fiberglass wrap, although it is more of a gunmetal color now that it has dried and baked on a bit. I may change this or not.....who knows lol.

Auto part Bumper Automotive exterior Exhaust system Pipe


Annnnnnnnnnnnnd new exhaust. Making the brackets sucked.....but i think they turned out alright (a little rough though I know).
You can also see the new foot pegs. What are they made of? BMX pegs and grip tape lol. Saved me from machining them and they were pretty cheap too. I think they don't look too bad, maybe a little big is my only complaint. But for now they work good, and the grip tape helps my feet stay on them really well.

Auto part Vehicle Tire Automotive tire Bumper

Auto part Exhaust system Exhaust manifold Pipe Automotive exhaust
 
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#6 ·
Hello neighbour! That's shaping up pretty nicely. I wana do a cafe too with the spare CX I got. Well I say that but time and money and excuses are what's happening right now. :) Can't wait to see yours!
 
#7 ·
Hey, its good to see a fellow Cambridgean with a cx500 finally :D Once i get my bike running again we'll have to meet up sometime!
And I hear you lol, money and time are my biggest enemies haha.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Bike was acting up, so new coils, new caps, new plugs.....and a little bit of red expandable sleeving to make her look good, and she was running a lot better.

Auto part Fuel line Engine Automotive engine part Vehicle


New headlight with a cool startup feature that I didn't know about. Me likey :eagerness:



And pics of it mounted on the bike with new turn signals:

Automotive tire Vehicle Tire Automotive lighting Auto part

Auto part Motor vehicle Vehicle Engine Automotive tire


Of course....all these fancy new lights and gizmos means I need a new version of the most important thing on the bike........the horn...

Spoke Bicycle part Tire Automotive tire Vehicle


And lastly what the beastie looked like when I finished stage 1 of the front end. Slowly turning into a cafe racer....ish:

Land vehicle Vehicle Motorcycle Motor vehicle Automotive tire


Land vehicle Vehicle Motorcycle Automotive tire Motor vehicle
 
#9 ·
Just noticed some of my pictures are upside down when viewed on an iPhone or if you click to see the full picture :confused: Sorry about that, I'll try to resolve the issue for the rest of the posts.
 
#11 ·
Cleaned it up, Took off the rad and rear cover, changed the stator out for my G8 one, and just waiting for the Cam Chain to come in the mail now. Gonna pull the rotor/flywheel tonight, and maybe start making the power relay and temp switch circuit for the e-fan.
I also bought a new water temp gauge so I need to make myself a 7v regulator. Lots to do lol, but I'm enjoying it for the most part :)
 
#12 ·
This is about the point where my motor seized on me.......yeah.....it sucks. Took it out and found brass flecks in the oil.....looks like a bearing went on me.
Instead of putting a lot of money into a high mileage engine (59,000 miles) to get it redone, i decided i would look around for a new engine. Forum member Kameron had one lying around and I picked it up about two weeks ago now. (Thanks again!)
I'm in the process of changing the cam chain and seals as well as putting the newer stator and clutch plates in from my bike.

My bike as she stands currently :(

Grass Furniture Yard Lawn Chair


New engine to work on though :)

Engine Auto part Automotive engine part Vehicle
 
#14 · (Edited)
Thanks Skyler, I really like it too. It was just what i was looking for. Something with a classic look but modern technology....and i really liked the halo feature lol
The headlight light along with the CCFL halo is all one unit. No mods done or anything. It comes with four wires; ground, running light, high beam and the halo. I just plugged the halo wire into an extra 12V wire coming from the ignition.

I was just looking for anyone else selling the black version of the light but can't find it anywhere anymore. Here is the chrome version of the light though: Amazon.com: BikeMaster Angel Halo Headlight with CCFL - Chrome FA54 CHR: Automotive

Edit: I found the headlight in black here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007GR4FCO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
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#15 · (Edited)
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#16 ·
Farmer john: I think I remember seeing that one when I was looking for a headlight. It's a nice combination but I didn't like the "boxy" shape of the rear of the headlight. Still a nice light though!

And there was no extra room at all inside the new headlight as it is only a 5" one I believe. Rather than have all the connectors and wiring sticking out I wanted to clean it up a bit. So I bought a project box (basically just a plastic box) that fit between the forks. I then trimmed all the connectors and wires making it all a bit neater. Stuffed what I could inside the box including the fuses and just put split loom on the wires coming out.
You can sort of see it tucked behind the horn in the one picture.
Over the winter I want to put it all under the tank though, and just have nice covered wires going to all the components.
 
#17 ·
Hey Farmer John, Thanks for that link.
Now i know what I will be using when the fairing comes off permanently.
 
#18 ·
Flywheel/Rotor is off, surfaces are prepped for new gaskets, Mech seal cup is cleaned and ready to receive new parts, and G8 Stator is in place. Tonight I'll hopefully change over the clutch plates. Hopefully the cam chain and gaskets comes soon!

In the meantime I've been fooling around with the engine tag colors that I might do. What are your guys opinions?

Text Font Logo Banner Brand
 
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#20 ·
New coolant temp gauge came today as well as the relay to do the e-fan conversion. Still lots to do on the new engine but she's coming along slowly. Looking at getting some paint for the engine. Originally I was going to do an aluminum color....but the darker cast iron has caught my eye............

Here is the gauge. I'm sure you've all seen it before though lol. I didn't know it came with adapters and a sending unit so that was a pleasant surprise:

Gauge Speedometer Measuring instrument Auto part Tool
 
#21 ·
Hey Micah just a few questions. Nice build Btw. Like the new headlight!
About the clipons.
What kind are they?
Also i noticed the caps for your forks are similar to mine. I wonder if the rest of the forks are as well. When you took em apart to rebuild do you recall if the spring itself was in two sections? Did you have to compress the spring down with the cap in order to re-seal it?
 
#22 · (Edited)
Thank you very much!
The clip-ons were from eBay, just generic ones i think but they are actually very nice! I chose them because a lot of the other ones had less metal on the part that connects to the fork, or only had one bolt clamping it and I wanted something that was stronger.
Here is the link to the one I bought: 33mm Black Aluminum Clip on Handle Bar s Honda CB350 CB400 CX500 CB450 CMX250 | eBay
The only thing I could complain about them were that they angle down a bit, which gives a bit lower riding posture....that being said i think they look a lot better like that.
Another thing i have yet to fix is that when i turn the wheel all the way to the side, the controls hit the tank. You could rotate the clip-ons so they don't hit, but I didn't like how far they stuck out then. I think i will just limit the steering somehow instead (it's only off by an inch or so)

The forks are stock as far as I can tell. The spring was indeed in two sections with a washer between them. I did have to compress the spring seeing as without the cap on the spring sticks out a couple inches. It's not too hard to get it back on though. I push it on with the palm of my hand and twist it until it catches. Then grab a giant adjustable wrench and crank her down.
One thing i want to do is add a preload spacer in between the two springs as my front end is kind of bouncy and it's a simple fix. Here is the thread if you're interested in doing this too: CX500 GL500 650 Global ? View topic - Fork Preload Spacers.
You can also see he had a great idea to put the cap on without the springs, and mark where the threads met, so that when he put the springs in and pushed the cap down the threads were already lined up.

Hope that helps! :D

EDIT: These are the clip-ons that I didn't want to buy. They just look a bit sketchy is all: CNC Motorcycle Aluminum Billet 'RS' Clip on Ons Handle Bar 33mm Black Black | eBay
 
#23 ·
#24 ·
.........shoot.....i really like that lol. It's got that modern feel which I like.......and looks easy to install too. Just put it right inline with the hose. I don't have the money right now to buy that as well which sucks....but I do believe i will be adding that to the project eventually. Thanks for the link :)
 
#25 · (Edited)
So just in case anyone is interested, or just to look at things to spend money on (I do that too often :shame:) i have made a list of items i have purchased for this build, as well as the links where said items can be found. Anything else I buy I will add on later.

Headlight: Amazon.com: BikeMaster Angel Halo Headlight with CCFL - Black FA54 BLK: Automotive

Headlight Mounting Brackets: Motorcycle Black Head Light Bracket Fork Mount Universal Kawasaki KZ Cruiser | eBay

Clip-on handlebars: 33mm Black Aluminum Clip on Handle Bar s Honda CB350 CB400 CX500 CB450 CMX250 | eBay

Coolant Temperature Gauge: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EVU8YI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Horn: Amazon.com: Wolo 300-2T Universal 12 Volt OE Low Tone Disc Horn: Automotive

Tail Light (to be mounted): Amazon.com : Black Tail Running Brake Light w/ License Plate Mount for Harley Bobber Chopper Honda Yamaha Suzuki Kawasaki : Automotive Electronic Security Products : Car Electronics

Turn signals (rear to be mounted): Amazon.com: 4~Black/Amber Panhead Turn Signal Light For Harley Bobber Custom Chopper Cruiser: Automotive

Side Mirrors: Amazon.com : 2 Way Universal Motorcycle Billet CNC Aluminum Black Anodized Direct Fit 7/8" Handle Bar End Convex Blindsight Rearview Side Mirror For Cruiser Chopper Touring Standard Street Naked Racing Sport Bike New : Gsxr Handle : Sports & Outdoors

Fiberglass wrap: DEI Black Fiberglass Exhaust Wrap | Black Motorcycle Header Pipe Wrap

Muffler Clamps: 1.94" - 2.12" Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Clamp | Stainless Steel Motorcycle Exhaust Clamp

Mufflers: 16" Chrome Shorty Slash Cut Muffler | Chrome Shorty Slashcut Cafe Racer Motorcycle Exhaust Can

Clutch Plates: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WJBKFI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Fork Seals: Amazon.com: 1979-1980 Honda CX 500 C Custom Motorcycle Fork Seals: Automotive

Radiator temp switch for e-fan: KSD301 Temperature Switch Thermostat 80 °C N O KSD 301 | eBay

Ignition Coils: Ignition Coil Yamaha ATV Badger 80 YFM80 New 1989 2001 | eBay

All other little parts came from Parts N More - Japanese Vintage Motorcycle Parts , http://www.siriusconinc.com/, https://www.davidsilverspares.com/ or grabbed at the local Canadian tire.
 
#26 ·
WOOHOOOO!! Cam chain and gaskets are finally in. Can't wait to get this silly engine in the bike and running! :blob6:
 
#27 ·
So while I was waiting for the parts to come in I decided to paint the tags and some parts of the motor. Wasn't a perfect job by any means, and I wouldn't brag about it, but overall it looks alright I think :)

Second coat of red after primer. Then sanded off the paint on the letters and polished them up a bit:

Red Fuel tank


Masked off the areas I wanted to then shot it with some black for the tags and cast iron for the clutch cover:

Font


Annnnnnnnnddddddd a final clear coat to give it some toughness. Hopefully it all stays on there! You can also see the advance pulse cover and oil filter cover as well (coolant tube thingy is off camera in same color). It did come out with a little bit too much texture for my liking but I don't think I'm going to bother sanding and polishing it as it's just the engine and it'll get dirty soon anyways :

Emblem Auto part Vehicle Symbol


And the state of the motor as I left it last night (rotor is on now though) :

Engine Auto part Automotive engine part Vehicle Machine
 
#29 ·
You mean after I put the primer and red coat on? I just used 200 grit sandpaper to slowly sand off the paint and was careful not to touch the red in between the letters. It was easy because the letters are raised a fair amount and if you just kind of go fast only the tops of the letters lose the paint. After that I used 600 grit sand paper, then 2000 to polish them up a bit.
If you look at the first picture you can see around the inside edge of the tags there is metal showing in some spots. This is just where I sanded a bit too far, but since the black was going over top I wasn't worried about it too much.
 
#30 ·
Nono I mean as prep work before painting it red.
For example the rectangular honda badges on my bike are black background and the letters are silver. Black is peeling and flaking. I'm assuming yours looked similar before paint. Did you scrape the old paint off first?
 
#31 ·
LOL ohhhhhhh i see what you mean now haha. Sorry about that :redface-new:
When I got the new engine the tags were actually already stripped of paint completely. I just assumed that's how most of them came from the factory. I just cleaned them up with some Varsal, did a pre-polish on the letters so I wouldn't have to do it so much again after the paint was on, then hit it with some primer then the red.

If I had yours though I would most likely take a Dremel with a somewhat soft wheel and slowly work off the paint that way. You might get scratch marks though, which you may have to do some extra prep work before you paint, depending on how gentle you were.
Aside from that you could get paint remover. Just brush it on, let it do it's thing, then wipe it off. It might do a better job of getting in the nooks and crannies than the Dremel would.
Other than that.....I can't think of anything else lol.
 
#32 ·
Yeaaaaa I'm pretty impatient Lol so I'm prob gonna go the chemical stripper route. I hadn't thought of the dremmel idea thou. I'm pretty sure there has to be a chemical paint stripper out there that'll do the job.

Thanks for the ideas
 
#33 ·
You and me both lol. I cannot wait to get this bike on the road again!!! I'm trying not to cut corners though this time haha.

Yeah it's probably the easier route for sure. If the paint wasn't that bad I would just clean it up a bit then paint over it. It's not a part that gets abused a lot so the paint should stick fairly well.
One thing I should mention though, is that the paint I used on the tags was high heat engine paint. I only did this because I was worried that the heat from the engine would be enough to ruin the paint on the tags.

And no problem! Happy to help a fellow member :D
 
#34 ·
Hey Motomicah ... nice build so far and thanks for posting all the detail..

Quick question regarding the temperature gauge. Did it come with a workable temperature sending unit adapter that screwed right in to the engine or did you have to make something to get it to work?
 
#35 ·
Thanks! She's coming along slowly lol.

It did indeed come with a temperature sending unit adapter that fit right in. I was originally going to do something that Murray suggested which involved taking out the old sending unit and using the brass body of it as an adapter (once the end was chopped off and the insides gutted and the proper size tap run through it), but when I was fooling around with the adapters I noticed the one fit in perfectly. Put some pipe dope on it, and put it in without any problems.
The end of the sending unit just poked past the adapter about 1-2 cm, which should be far enough into the stream of coolant to give an accurate reading (fingers crossed). I have yet to test it though, so for now I shall assume it is all good.
One thing to note is that the gauge is a 12V one so you will not need to use the 7V regulator. I will try and take a picture of it installed tonight and will let you know how it works once I get everything hooked up and running.
 
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