Comments on: cb500t – engine rebuild – Part 3

By: steven

steven — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 22:50:11 +0000

Do you have an adress for piston ans rings 0.25/0.50 for cb 500 t 1974 . Thanks

By: ed

ed — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 19:25:52 +0000

@Randy
Mine vibrates the same as it always did.
Sorry, I don’t work on other people’s bikes.
You can do it yourself. It’s really not hard. It just takes time.

By: Randy Montgomery

Randy Montgomery — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 17:31:14 +0000

Great website! I keep reading about how bad the stock CB500Ts vibrate above 60 mph. So is yours even worse? If so, could you get it balanced by drilling holes in the flywheel etc.?
I am buying a 1976 CB500T with 11,000 miles. Supposedly runs well. I am in Western NY. Due to time constraints am wondering if you would be interested in doing my engine into a 550 cc just like yours. Except I don’t want 11 to 1 C.R. or more, a bit less for modern fuel and less vibration and less strain on the engine. (I will concentrate on the engine first, worry about new tank, seat, bars and mufflers later, or maybe leave it stock looking as a “sleeper”.) Could you provide a guesstimate of the price? I could bring the engine to you or ride the bike down and get a ride back in my car with a friend. P.S. Instead of that old school Indian Head gasket shellac, spray on modern copper based sealant. I guess the main obstacle is sourcing the 73 or 74 mm pistons?

By: Ed

Ed — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 07:50:48 +0000

@willie
If I remember correctly it is a pain in the ass but I used a pair of channel locks to rotate the cam a little until the cam chain grabbed it and held it in the right place.

By: willie

willie — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 05:13:43 +0000

First of all….Nice work! I am currently working on a cb500T. I am rebuilding the engine….painting the case and polishing the end pieces. I tried putting the exhaust cam shaft in the head tonight and could not get the timing marks to line up. The intake side is alined perfectly. Any advice?

By: ed

ed — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:34:22 +0000

@poop
I installed another set of new oem clutch springs and clutch plates that I bought from dime-city.
It holds up well.

Before the rebuild, the clutch used to slip a tiny bit at high-rpm and now it holds.
Also… make sure you use actual motorcycle oil and not car oil. Car oil will contribute to the clutch slipping on a motorcycle.

The engine now makes a tiny bit more power. I’m kind of about as fast as a cb550 four. Which is def faster than before.

By: poop

poop — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:14:44 +0000

@ed, great job, thanks for the info. were you able to find stiffer clutch springs for the 500t? if so, where? if not, is your clutch holding up to ask that, keeping its grab? thanks again for the info.

By: chin on the tank – vintage motorcycle enthusiasts in philadelphia » Blog Archive » cb500t – engine rebuild – part 4

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:43:26 +0000

[…] Read about rebuild Part 3 […]

By: ed

ed — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 20:38:35 +0000

@taylor
thanks man.
your build sounds rad too.

By: Taylor

Taylor — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 20:00:30 +0000

Lurker from Phoenix,AZ here. Great work on that engine, looks like that bike is going to be clean and mean. I’m working on building a 550/650 hybrid at the moment. Picked up some 836cc pistons and gonna have the 650 block machined to accept 750 liners.

Anyways… great work and keep it up. You guys are inspirational for this lone rider out here in Phoenix.

By: Ron

Ron — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 04:45:54 +0000

That paint set is ridiculous. I can’t wait to see how this bike turns out.

Great work!

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:59:26 +0000

Yeah, man. Your bike is going to be slick.