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671 Posts
I just picked up my '79 CX500C, I haven't even put a tag on it yet.
It's worthwhile to do my homework so I'm learning all I can now.
It seems that the CDI craps out on this model. WAG, what percentage of them do this? When? Is it just a matter of miles, or do the CDI units suffer damage from sitting/condensating, heat cycles, or miles? I was reading in the Haynes manual that there are two different CDI units, a silver-plated and a black one, with different resistances. Is there a difference?
What about the mechanical (water pump) seal? Just a matter of "when," or do many of them go for decades? This one weeps, haven't ridden enough to see if it will stop on its own.
And the stator--is that for certain going to go out within a reasonable time? What was the problem with this? Lots of other bikes have 100k plus mileage on the stock stator, what was the flaw with this model? I have not found a clear-cut set of instructions yet outlining how to test these things, sorry if I searched the wrong terms, would somebody direct me to the right info before I get stranded?
Well what else should I be asking? A search doesn't work if you don't know what to search for...
The bike starts on choke first try and idles beautifully off of choke within a minute, if the float bowl gaskets didn't seep I would not touch the carbs, but alas, they're all brown and gross and need some love and new gaskets. Are there any parts in the carbs that normally give up the ghost regularly, that I should have waiting when I do the float bowl gaskets?
This bike has some serious front end handling problems (why I got it so cheap). I know it's neck bearings, and plan to tighten them before I buy replacements as the bike only has 10k on it. Anybody have experience saying I'm wasting my time?
I've had a lot of questions already answered just by doing a search here and thanks for that. I'm just wondering if folks would like to speak up about issues I have yet to discover....
It's worthwhile to do my homework so I'm learning all I can now.
It seems that the CDI craps out on this model. WAG, what percentage of them do this? When? Is it just a matter of miles, or do the CDI units suffer damage from sitting/condensating, heat cycles, or miles? I was reading in the Haynes manual that there are two different CDI units, a silver-plated and a black one, with different resistances. Is there a difference?
What about the mechanical (water pump) seal? Just a matter of "when," or do many of them go for decades? This one weeps, haven't ridden enough to see if it will stop on its own.
And the stator--is that for certain going to go out within a reasonable time? What was the problem with this? Lots of other bikes have 100k plus mileage on the stock stator, what was the flaw with this model? I have not found a clear-cut set of instructions yet outlining how to test these things, sorry if I searched the wrong terms, would somebody direct me to the right info before I get stranded?
Well what else should I be asking? A search doesn't work if you don't know what to search for...
The bike starts on choke first try and idles beautifully off of choke within a minute, if the float bowl gaskets didn't seep I would not touch the carbs, but alas, they're all brown and gross and need some love and new gaskets. Are there any parts in the carbs that normally give up the ghost regularly, that I should have waiting when I do the float bowl gaskets?
This bike has some serious front end handling problems (why I got it so cheap). I know it's neck bearings, and plan to tighten them before I buy replacements as the bike only has 10k on it. Anybody have experience saying I'm wasting my time?
I've had a lot of questions already answered just by doing a search here and thanks for that. I'm just wondering if folks would like to speak up about issues I have yet to discover....