[mxtwo50r]

Found this site looking for some info on a petcock replacement for a cx500. A buddy of mine recently got a hold of this 79 Cx500 Deluxe from his grandpa. 1908 miles on it. Hes relatively new to the bike world and is going to do a good general tune up on it and use it as a cruiser around town. Are these bikes rare to find in immaculate shape with such low mileage? I told him before he goes and racks up 10,000 miles on it, see if its a better idea to just get it running well and only ride it rarely to keep mileage off of it. Opinions? When i say its mint, it looks like it's new off the showroom. Carbs need to be cleaned out of course, but its a 9.99 out of 10. We pulled the seat and tank and pulled the carbs off and there is no rust, all of the chrome is mint, and hardly any dust on it. It would take very very little to make it a 100% showroom piece. I'd just hate to see him ride the wheels off of it, if its a rare example of a low mileage bike. Anyone know what it would be worth to a collector? He wont get rid of it, just wondering. I'm posting on here because he isn't much of an internet guy.



Only pic I have of it at the moment.

What do you guys think? Tell him to ride it and enjoy it, or get it right and keep the miles for a bike that isn't as rare of a find? I'm not into these kinds of bikes so I'm looking to you guys for some info. Thanks in advance.

 

[marshallf3]

Get it right and then just ride it provided you give him a list of the normal maintenance that needs to be done at regular intervals. 1,000 or 20,000 miles doesn't make a lot of difference in a reselling price on these so long as they're running and kept in good shape. It's too easy to get an old speedo that registers a low mileage (or reset one) then try to pass it off as such, the true purist will be able to tell just by looking at the condition of the bike so the better it's maintained the better you are.



If it sat that long I would expect to replace at the very least the mech seal and the seal that's on the shifter shaft.



I will assume you found the petcock replacement if needed?

 

[Perazzimx14]

I say ride it and make it the highest mleage CX500 out on the road. These bike are typically not collector items nor museum pieces. What they are is affordable, reliable well handeling fun bike If you look on ebay these bike and their parts do not command a lot of money. From what I have seen complete bike range from $250 to $1,200 depending on astetic condition. Most are in the $500 to $600 range.

 

[mxtwo50r]

I'd just hate to see him take this one and ride the wheels off of it when he could pick up another one with 15k miles on it for cheap and ride that instead, if this is a rare find.It has had maintenance done, but still original tires (not dry rotted), etc. Doesn't leak a drop of oil or any other fluids.The carbs were a little dirty and the needles were stuck, but we got all that sorted out. Just waiting on some float bowl gaskets and a replacement petcock. His grandpa had it at the dealer in the early 2000's to clean out the fuel system and I believe the Honda dealer that worked on it replaced the petcock with a non vacuum type, its just a simple off/on/reserve one. From what I've been reading looks like this bike should have a petcock with the vacuum line ports on it? I'd like to find a replacement for it but seems honda has discontinued them. Other then that the bike needs a turn signal lens and it would be 100% mint.

 

[Blindstitch]

Screw mileage. A bike isn't worth crap unless it's used. Some parts depreciate just sitting there. If he wants a bike to use just get it going and ride the crap out of it.

 

[Cobram]

Unless it's a Turbo, it's ain't worth much more than any other CX out there. There are PLENTY of bikes I personally know of that come out of mothballs with mileage like that or less. There are at least 4 on this list who got their bikes with lower mileage than that, got good deals on them too.



Truth is, the NA CX & GL's are reliable work horses, and the following they have is among "normal" folks. Unlike certain segments of the bike crowd who like to stare at stuff in their garage or put more importance on how they look on the bike than actually riding it, and get their panties in a bunch when a low mileage one is "discovered", the CX crowd for the most part like to ride their bikes, deep down know that it'll never win a beauty contest, but it's the most reliable piece of machinery to ever grace 2 wheels. Oh, and they won't pay a premium for something they could replicate with some elbow grease. Check out the bike Larry is selling, with all due respect, if I were in the market, I'd buy this one before I'd even consider a garage queen that's gonna need more work to get it 100%.



Larry's Bike



There is also another CX lister (Broncoman aka Larry T) who has a very low mileage Custom, I think he paid $700 for it, and has done nothing but ride, you can see it in this thread:



RiceOrama



I could cite plenty of other examples, bottom line is what's already been said, enjoy the bike and ride it, do the basics maintenance wise, and it'll still be around and running long after the owner has departed this mortal coil, damn the mileage.





As for the lowest mileage, there are at least 2 CX's (both turbos IIRC) that owners on this list have, which have much less than 2000 miles on them. IF your bike were a turbo, this would be a whole other discussion.

 

[marshallf3]

Kind of like when I bought my brand new Gibson acoustic 12-string. I tried to baby the thing and I still do but the guy I bought it from said to play the hell out of it, it won't lose any value if you don't tear it up. Consequently it's worth about twice what I paid for it so far. Too bad I can't play it very well though nor can I play my Alvarez Yairi 6 string any better but at least it's easier on these old fingers.



We're talking about bikes that can run 250K miles or more so one with a few miles isn't much different than one with 20K on it if it's been maintained and still looks good.

 

[Trickster]

I'd just hate to see him take this one and ride the wheels off of it when he could pick up another one with 15k miles on it for cheap and ride that instead, if this is a rare find.It has had maintenance done, but still original tires (not dry rotted), etc. Doesn't leak a drop of oil or any other fluids.The carbs were a little dirty and the needles were stuck, but we got all that sorted out. Just waiting on some float bowl gaskets and a replacement petcock. His grandpa had it at the dealer in the early 2000's to clean out the fuel system and I believe the Honda dealer that worked on it replaced the petcock with a non vacuum type, its just a simple off/on/reserve one. From what I've been reading looks like this bike should have a petcock with the vacuum line ports on it? I'd like to find a replacement for it but seems honda has discontinued them. Other then that the bike needs a turn signal lens and it would be 100% mint.

Like it has already been mentioned, not a rare bike, but who knows, to someone it may be worth anywhere over $1000-$1500.



Thing is, it is not a collector kind of bike because there were so many produced and are still many on the road in service.



Get it road ready, ride it and enjoy the fact that, for little money he has a very nice 30 yr old bike to ride daily.





If you are looking for long term investment and appreciation, I do not think these are the bikes, unless its a Turbo.



Good luck and enjoy the ride(s).

 

[CXBarnFind]

I'm a newbie and don't have a lot of experince with my CX that I picked up last weekend, haven't even started working on it yet.



The one I got is a 78 CX500 standard with less than 2600 miles, I purchased it from the estate of a guy that had it stored for at least 20 years.



Having said that I didn't buy it as an investment, I got it because I did a lot of reasearch and found that these bikes, while having a neat design and in my mind are very cool, are very reliable and long lived if properly maintained.



They're not terribly collectable, but they are great bikes and can provide a lot of enjoyment for a long time at a low cost!



I'm with the rest of the forum, tell your buddy to ride it and enjoy it, that's what I'm going to do with my low mile bike.

 

[marshallf3]

Not a total rarity but enough of a unique design to turn heads when they see one. As time goes on I'm sure a few more will come out of hiding as well and once they find our and the other forums they'll be back on the road just as fast as others are retired. I certainly am not going to put my relatively low mileage bike up for sale once it's restored, could never sell if for what I've put into it and darn it - I bought it because I wanted to ride it. Every time a crowd gathers around it and has questions is worth $100 to me in payback.



The more interest we get going on these the less will be scrapped or in the worst case the more used parts we've got available. I remember one guy last year that was looking at mine and thought he had seen one retired at a friend's barn, I could only go through the basic details in the short time we could talk but I'll bet he went out to try and get the thing.

 

[Dash]

I agree with everyone else. CX500's aren't collector motorcycles so go ahead and ride and enjoy the bike. Here in San Francisco, the prices for CX/GL500's are a bit more than the rest of the country. I'd say you could ask $1800 and expect to get $1500 for your bike out here.



For comparison, Vespa's have some collectible value even though they made a lot of them. Here's a recent ad on craigslist here in San Francisco and the $4500 price is about average for what is being offered. I've seen similar Vespa's for twice that amount too. A Vespa is not 1/4 the vehicle a CX500 is but heck, people are willing to pay it.



Vespa for sale

 

[Interstater]

I think the pic shows a CX500 Custom, not a Deluxe.

I say get it road ready and ride it, but take really good care of it. With proper care and maintenance it can always be a very nice bike, regardless of mileage.

 

[Trickster]

I think the pic shows a CX500 Custom, not a Deluxe.

I say get it road ready and ride it, but take really good care of it. With proper care and maintenance it can always be a very nice bike, regardless of mileage.

Thats what I was thinking too, sure looks like the side covers and tank from a custom. Me eyes are getting tired and the pic



is at quite a distance.



Want a ballpark value? Check this link nadaguides



Usually pretty close to the sale-able value, but factors will come into play as usual, location, availability, etc.



Good luck

 

[marshallf3]

If the picture is of the actual bike no doubt it's a Custom. They ride a bit differently due to the handlebars and have a far smaller gas tank but I prefer the look over the regular ones - on top of that they're a little lighter but just as with most models virtually all the parts can be found if you're ever in need.



I'd jump on it if you already haven't, on rare occasions one appears for sale on craigslist here it rarely stays there long. I still think I've got the only one in OKC, my friend in Okarche has several and I've seen one at one of the Casinos out in Shawnee. I still need to make up some "Come Join Us at our Forum" cards and keep a few along with a few rubber bands in my wallet if I ever sight one again.

 

[goodsteel53]

mxtwo50r... That photo shows a Custom, and I just paid $1600 for my 82 with 6800 miles on it. One owner, and I haven't looked back! I'm having as much fun as I did when I bought my 79 Custom brand new in... 1979! Good luck!

 

[RVP3]

My personal experience and ebay research of low mileage, mint condition CXs tells me the present value is $1,500.00 tops, I recently paid $1,300 for a one owner, garage kept, just under 3K miles bike. Even at that, many would say "too much".



IMO, if the value of Customs is to rise, it is likely not any time soon. (I believe the value of sharp Silverwing Interstates will rise steadily, don't know about turbos.) Another reason you'll never get rich off a CX: Like mine, bikes that sit for long periods of time can look pretty good, but problems with all kinds of seals and gaskets can arise as a result of its lack of use. (radiator recored and speedo repaired so far/1st month) It may take some time/miles for these to appear, but it makes sense to think that such problems will do so.



If the body paint, aluminum and chrome are in as good a shape as you indicate, I'd ride it not only to get the pleasure of showing the world a pretty cool, sharp looking vintage bike (vintage plates, anyone?), but also to get familiar with it and discover any problems that it may have. That might give you a better sense of its value.



Finally, my bike is a '79 Custom and it has the simple on/off/reserve petcock, no vacuum.

 

[marshallf3]

'79 didn't have a vacuum petcock.



Sadly they don't sell vintage plates for motorcycles around here and oddly enough it's $5 more to get one for my van than just getting a regular plate.