[OUBob]

Hello,



I got an itch last year to get a motorcycle, I was looking for something cheap and (semi)running. Took about 20 minutes to find a 78 cx500 near me and cheap. Went to check it out, liked it, bought it. The guy even delivered to my house because I had never ridden anything this large before. I was alerted to an issue where the engine cuts out, almost like hitting a rev limiter at 5k. I did some research regarding basic major issues with the bike, recalled items and the like.



I've been wrenching on cars for 15+ years now and I am very familir with Honda. I do not know the first thing about bikes, other than the internal combustion engine.



Basically, I'm digging into this bike blind and am looking for info. What are the major pitfalls of this bike? What kind of durability am I looking at? My bike has 26k miles on it, when am I looking at major services?

 

[DakotaMK]

I do not know the first thing about bikes, other than the internal combustion engine.



Basically, I'm digging into this bike blind and am looking for info. What are the major pitfalls of this bike? What kind of durability am I looking at?

First, please take a few minutes to edit your profile. Location and don't forget to put your bike in the signature line, so along the way others can more easily help you. If you do not yet have your motorcycle endorsement, many of us would strongly urge you to take a safety class- in most cases it gives you basic knowledge to start off riding, and can circumvent having to take the test(s) at your local drivers facility. Look around the site, there are "pinned" threads, covering a lot of the basics, and a lot of the questions you have or will have have probably been asked. If not, ask away- no matter how obvious it may seem.. there is more knowledge with the guys on this site than you will ever find in the Haynes books

As far as durability- not one person I have ever talked to has called our engines anything but "bulletproof".



Welcome to the family! Post often and have fun!!

 

[Trickster]

Bob, congrats on the find and welcome. You will find no better site than this for any info required.



The 5K "rev limiter" is a common issue, and as I recall it is related to the CDI. There is a group buy for this part a



couple times a year here, for a great replacement. In this "General Discussions" section of the site is a thread 3 down



from the top, titled "Quick References" put together by Blindstitch. This is a must read section and will answer many of



your questions.



Durability, these bikes with proper and regular mtc will clock thousands of miles, over 100K, hey its a Honda.



A must do mtc item, cam chain and tensioner usually before 40K, I think.



Ask away anything, somebody has an answer here, guaranteed.



BTW as Dakota mentioned, this site has more info than Haynes manuals or even your local



Honda Service department, because everyone here has one.



Good Luck

 

[DakotaMK]

BTW-



your question posted @ 1:15pm



first response @ 1:31

second response @ 1:37pm



there's usually somebody on to answer you pretty quickly

 

[lucky]

24/7 theres always some one on kinda like motel 6 were they leave the light on well us here we leave the doors unlocked and the lights on even on holidays



congrats on the new bike and i also would think a bad cdi if i recall there are a couple members near you that might let you borrow a cdi to check to see if that is the problem

 

[gopher]

Geez that's all warm and fuzzy.



Welcome Bob Lawrence. A good first step is to download the factory service manual for your bike. It's here and it's free. This way you will not receive a reply like RFM.

Also, the oldtimers don't want to know if you put mustard on your ham sandwich.

 

[OUBob]

Kick butt.



I have my M/E, took a weekend safety course, $25. The bike came with a hrd copy of the FSM, downloaded one from here, thats how I found this. (Thanks!)



Other than starting hard and running funky, the bike seems great. Has simple problems like a broken ign switch, the seat is splitting at a fake seam. I figured I have to be missing something.



Looks like there is a group buy in the works on the Ignitech ignition. This could make for a great spring.

 

[DakotaMK]

This could make for a great spring.

It's a great everything here! Do you have pics of your bike yet??? Yes, we love pics!!

 

[Allan]

I think the 5000 rpm problem is most likely because the high speed winding in the stator is bad. If you look in the "quick reference" thread at the top of this forum you will find a link to a test for the stator.

Also search for info on the "white wire fix".

Either way, an ignetch would probably fix the issue.

 

[OUBob]

I think the 5000 rpm problem is most likely because the high speed winding in the stator is bad. If you look in the "quick reference" thread at the top of this forum you will find a link to a test for the stator.

Also search for info on the "white wire fix".

Either way, an ignetch would probably fix the issue.

Ran through the stator test, never made the conncetion between the white wire and the "high speed winding". All my resistances were ok (at the edge of their range) this was about 20% out. I see.



First nice day I'll knock the dust off it and get pics. Its all stock and complete, red on black tank, funky iridescent dark metallic on front fairing.

 

[DakotaMK]

a CX with a fairing?

 

[Shep]

Rev/power limits can be caused be several things including,

CDI unit

Faulty Advance and retard unit.

Bad plug/s

Bad Plug caps

Bad coils.

Bad fuel delivery(Float heights/Tank Vacuum/Faulty fuel supply.



Always go for the cheapest options 1st as many parts could be over 30 years old so see these threads,



http://globalcxglvtwins.hostingdelivered.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=84



Coils,



http://globalcxglvtwins.hostingdelivered.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=335



Carbs,



http://globalcxglvtwins.hostingdelivered.com/viewforum.php?f=19&sid=90001e172173503afabe59ce5c12a0f9



HTH

 

[tthexic1969]

howdy this site is great with a lot of great people . welcome aboard

 

[81custom]

Bob,



get a multimeter and measure the resistance of the stator - it could well be stator related, and if so - you want to make sure 100% before you start digging into the motor, then you should also consider doing a bit more when you have the motor out (cam chain & tensioner, water pump seal) depending on the previous owners maintenance records (if any).



the ignitech ignition is a recognised band aid solution - depending on the type of problem you have.



my stator was working low and high BUT was not charging the battery..I put up with it for quite a while (having to charge the battery 3 times a week- and getting reduced running mileage - no night riding - no headlight use)..until after a long run over a 4 day trip it decided to die on the high side...and very quickly started to die on the low side as well...

solution

I already had a rewound stator ready, gasket kit, water pump seal - motor out - motor in - then all is good.

Mechanical side of things - these are easy motors to work on....

my $0.02 worth

cheers

 

[81custom]

http://s870.photobucket.com/albums/ab262/81custom/?action=view&current=statortest.jpg