[kingjosiah]

This is my first post and I just bought a 78 CX500 20,000mi. I have seen on some of these bikes people have cleared out the middle and it's a really clean look. I want to do this but I don't know what I would have to do or where to mount the battery.I know you can put the little filters on each end so there's no need for the filter. But is there anything else that I need to know or a trick to doing this?



Thanks for the help and glad to be apart of this forum..

 

[Phil in Vermont]

Welcome aboard!



You can buy a gel battery which I'm told can be mounted in any position. Reposition the battery up under the seat on it's side.

 

[GoBears0305]

Congrats on your new project. My method involved quite a bit of modification, including having a new exhaust. But the outcome i think turned out nice and clean. Mine is mounted underneath the gearbox where the collector H-box used to be (i.e. mounted to the same points). It's a gel battery that's mounted on it's side.

 

[nolavox]

This is my first post and I just bought a 78 CX500 20,000mi. I have seen on some of these bikes people have cleared out the middle and it's a really clean look. I want to do this but I don't know what I would have to do or where to mount the battery.I know you can put the little filters on each end so there's no need for the filter. But is there anything else that I need to know or a trick to doing this?



Thanks for the help and glad to be apart of this forum..

Hi and Welcome from another relatively new CX owner and member here ... this forum is a great resource for me.



the little filters you refer to are usually called pod filters here. there have been many posts here re getting rid of the stock airbox and going to pod filters. It's not quite as simple as just changing them out, usually requires re-jetting of carbs at least. K&N is the popular brand.



The battery is another issue. Gel Cells are becoming quite popular as they are a bit smaller, lighter and can be mounted in any orientation... I'm not sure I'd want mine underneath as it appears a bit vunerable but that is a real nice job on the install @ Gobears... I'd probably bash that on one our legendary potholes here in NOLA... I do like the idea of moving weight lower tho.



Kinda Pricy still and requiring a different shore charger are li-po or lithium polymer batteries. Maybe 1/3 the size and 1/4 the weight of a trad acid battery, they can be mounted anywhere they will fit... I think this might be a luxury with diminishing returns unless you are going for "ultimate"...



Once the Airbox is out, you will see the mounting for it can come out (if you are brave) making some space to clean up the electrics and re mount the batt sideways in that space.



this forum has been hard for me to search and come up with results on specifics so I've just read pretty much all of it... the Quick Ref topic under General Discussion has many important and useful links.



Kneeslider.com and many other sites will have photos of "Bobbed, Chopped, cafe'd, Guzzi'd " and and other amazing modified Cxs and Gls... Check out "Phil in Low Gap Nc" and his trike projects as above. and heck, there is at least one member with a bona fide CX Chopper... his name is Charles I think

Just Google "Honda CX500 cafe"



Enjoy! Ciao!

 

[GoBears0305]

[font=arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif]



The battery is another issue. Gel Cells are becoming quite popular as they are a bit smaller, lighter and can be mounted in any orientation... I'm not sure I'd want mine underneath as it appears a bit vunerable but that is a real nice job on the install @ Gobears... I'd probably bash that on one our legendary potholes here in NOLA... I do like the idea of moving weight lower tho.

We got a lot of heavy rain where I'm at and it broke up a lot of asphalt. Now I'm dreading all the potholes that popped up around my area.

Anyways...as far as ground clearance is concerned, the CX is blessed with a lot...so the battery box actually clears just fine (the exhaust pipe would actually get busted before the battery box does...actually if i were to hit a pothole that big, i'd be concerned about a lot more important things than the bike...e.g. broken legs, arms, etc.). Well here's a shot of the opposite side showing the clearance.

kingjosiah, get creative with getting the look that you want. (while still staying safe of course). Mine took a lot of trial and error and head banging (and some tears) to get it how I wanted.

 

[CXPHREAK]

Man that's nice Gobears. Is the fuel tank chromed?

 

[GoBears0305]

Man that's nice Gobears. Is the fuel tank chromed?

So we don't "thread-jack" kingjosiah's thread, you can check out my build at http://cx500forum.com/index.php?/topic/1170-81-cx500-projectgetting-close/

The tank is actually polished to 2500 grit (but I haven't coated it yet).

 

[nolavox]

WOW.... it just looked much lower in the original pic. My only concern, burning my ankle

or possibly too much heat there for the batt... Very nice alum. Fab btw...

 

[kingjosiah]

sweet thanks a lot for all the input everyone. I'll look into the Gel and see how that works. This is actually my first Bike and I only know as much about the bike as i have pulled off things to clean. So this is a fun process I'm learning everything pretty quick and so glad I finally got a bike.

 

[Dangerous brian]

Lithium ion are renown for catching fire on older bike cos of older charging style,once alight cannot be extinguished not goo

 

[reclinedrelic]

Brian welcome to the forum. Did you notice that you were replying to a thread from 2011, ten years ago! Try to avoid the Recommended Reading list, better to follow the forum using the "NEW" tab.

 

[Dangerous brian]

Ok just joined so gotta suss it out sorry

 

[reclinedrelic]

NP