Monthly Archives: September 2022

Honda CB500-4 Cafe Project from England Needing some Magic

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
28 Sep

This old 1972 inline four Originally came across the waters about 18 years ago now and has never run on this side of the pond, sat in storage for many years, this old girl needs a little pick me up to see if she indeed will ever run again, as no idea on the history of the bike much or if the motor is ok, but it has compression and a little bit of spark so on to at least a fighting chance.

The Carbs are a right mess and not surprised being sat for all them years and all gummed up like an old man with no teeth.

It needs two throttle cables as only one on there right now but can get new ones once I get this inline four fired up again, it is a great bike and look forward to later on in the month riding it, although the gas tank has 20 year old gas in it, so need to get that out and get rid of the toxic fumes that really stink, plus I do not want the tank to delaminate either.

Them old Gold Plastic tubes have no filters etc., so think I may get some Spun velocity Stacks or some Pod filters or bread box set up, but- the main thing is to see if this old girl will fire up, I did squirt some carb cleaner in the carbs and check for spark and she coughed a few times, but these carbs have got to be gone through and I am sure she will run.

If these carbs could only talk, I am sure many yarns would be heard and would love the history of this inline four machine as it was ridden well for quite some time back in England.

Carbs are off and they need some love, been sat for decades and never been run in that time at all, everything seems to function as well as the choke lever, so thats a good sign already.

They surely have had a hard life, but, nothing that I have not seen before in the 22 years of playing with these over here in California, and these will get a new lease of life for sure and be great to hear that old 4 cylinder Honda fire up again.

Now thats look a lot better right? These are cleaned, vapor blasted, rebuilt, new parts, polished, plated, ceramic coated and synchronized  and ready to go back on the bike.

So, at least we have a good chance of this running now and hopefully the motor is ok and will fire up after some persuading with a New battery and New fuel etc.

This is no show bike but the carbs had to be re built, so may as well go the extra mile right?

Lets get these Carbs back on the bike and see if we have a fighting chance of getting this bike fired up, I am sure it will smoke for sometime as no idea what’s up the exhaust pipe?

I got a small fuel leak from the bowls on first start up but all good now and just need two throttle cables for a snappier return but happy she fired, the exhaust I am sure will smoke for a while until it burns over 20 years of dust from inside it off, but hope you liked the video?

Classic Honda CB500-4 Cafe from Back Home now resides here

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
22 Sep

Well, its always great to add another ride to the stable here at home and this one is a real doozy, as this is a super cool Cafe Bike that was built a long time ago back home in England and is now all the way across the pond with me.

This 1972 CB500 Four still wears the original license plate from Back home and I love the fact it is still there as it brings back so many memories of my Motorcycles I owned when I resided in England and super stoked to have this with me now.

The bike is a time capsule in a way and really is how we built Café Bikes in my era of the 70’s, this is a very cool ride, not my favorite Color I must admit but a true old Café of my era that i saw everywhere that I rode to and hope to get this fired up soon.  This has not run for many many years, carbs are stuck, front brake is stuck and am sure the tank needs to be recoated inside as it is a Fiberglass version.

Bodywork is very reminiscent of the Bimota series of styled bikes and I will one day paint the whole bike again as the frame is painted that teal color and I thing a New Livery would be just what the doctor ordered, but that’s for way later on, as I need to get to work and see if I can get the 50 year Old inline four to breath a new lease of life once again.  She has never run in the USA so will be eager to get this sorted out and will be fun taking it for a run around the twisting roads in the canyons that I have here where I live.

I am super excited to get the old girl going and see how she handles around the country roads around here, the rear sets are pretty cool and set back nicely, so my legs will fit tine on this machine, I do have to source another Master Cylinder but no Biggy there and I know the brakes will need to be gone through and again, no worries there either just time and energy of which I have bags of.

The Carburetor’s are another story, as they are stuck and I will tear these ones down to see what the issue is and address the issue to get this running again, no idea what the wiring is like either so a full inspection is needed to see where the lay of the land actually lays and I can get some sort of List together of parts needed and work to be performed on this half century bike.

Its sits pretty level too which is nice has a made up 4 into one exhaust system, front header is stainless and rear is steel, interested to see how it sounds once she bursts into life, of course I need to get a new battery, new plugs and oil plus filter etc. but that is the same for any bike that’s not run in years.

You don’t see too many of the CB500 Models, mostly the slightly bigger 550’s, so its cool to have a 500 four here at the shop and look forward to kicking this back into life once more and seeing how she handles on the Southern California Tarmac.

These are a fun compact Powerhouse of a machine and back in the day, Several CB500 machines were entered in the Production TT races on the Isle Of Man in the early 1970s. Bill Smith won the 1973 500 cc TT Production race (four laps) riding one, 8.2 seconds ahead of second place Stan Woods mounted on a Suzuki Two Stroke Twin.

I remember doing this to my Side Covers back in the day to get the thing to breath, ha ha, so much fun back then trying all you could to squeeze extra power out of your Motorcycle, these carbs need to be totally over hauled but it will sound so nice when running again.

Something about home made Rear sets that I love and this is  a great little set up, no show chrome here, just road racing type rear sets that get you a more low down ride and faster gear changing etc.

I wont make any Modifications as such as this is a Classic Cafe with British Styling, but will make sure it runs well, Hard and sounds throaty for sure, I may change the headlight for an earlier style as that’s an aftermarket version and bring the headlight in more towards the frame and change turn signals to a stealthier look but early style.

Its a fun little Road Rocket and am sure with this Ohlins steering stabilizer, this will help with the wobbling in the tight bends that lay around where I live and will keep you updated on how this rides later on in a blog on the website.

So there she is, a great British Build Cafe Bike that oozes Nostalgia and I am happy that I will be able to ride this soon and remember the days I used to go to all the Road Races around the UK on my little Buzz Bomb.

Thanks for reading my Blog today, hope you fig this bike as Much as I do and I shall be doing follow ups as I go along as many of you ask if I can keep taking photos and writing what antics I have gotten up to with these Classic in line Four Machines.

I guess its time to get back into the Barn and turn some wrenches today, the Carburetor’s first, then the brakes, but love what I do and the challenges ahead, I will of course keep you posted on how I do here at Carpys Garage.

 

World’s Fastest NITROUS Street Bike…and how it started as a 1980 Suzuki GS 1100!

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
11 Sep

A must see for any Suzuki GS 1100 or Pro Street Motorcycle drag racing fan, we head to York, PA to get a good look at Brad Mummert’s restored 1980 Suzuki GS 1100 alongside the world’s fastest nitrous Pro Street motorcycle.

We do a deep dive into both motorcycles to see all the modifications from stock including the billet cylinder head and block, the custom throttle bodies and multi stage nitrous kit, hours of chassis fabrication, billet crankshaft installation, carbon fiber bodywork and a whole lot more.

Enjoy this inside look at one of the most impressive motorcycles in the world.

 

A Cycle One Chopper gets New Life Again at the Shop

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
10 Sep

Over the years I have had quite a Few Choppers in the shop, some mine, many customers, from Denver frames to Arlen Ness and no two are alike, they have their own design and character, that’s what I like about them.

I had an older Gentleman call me a few times about issues with his machine and if I could help out over the phone, we chatted for a bit and then a few times after that, he then asked if it was possible to send me his bike from Arizona, so I could get to grips with it and sort it out.

So about a week later it turns up at my door, an awesome Cycle One frame Chopper with a Paughco front end, this was a sweet ride that was built quite a few years ago and he needed a few things sorting out, the carbs were bad and had to be totally overhauled and then tuned for his altitude etc.

This is one fine old girl and it was fun bringing her back to life, the bike will be heading back to Arizona next week but wanted to share a few pics before she leaves my shop.

It sits really well and love the aggressive rake on the front end hand made exhaust sound quite mean and growl as soon as you open the throttle.

A Nice Custom Chopper with an 836 motor to help it get along the tarmac all day long and is a well balanced machine for its length as must be 9 feet long almost.

Forward controls are comfortable and I could ride this anywhere to be honest, big 5.5 gallon tank and a super comfortable seat makes for fun cruisin.

Thanks for checking these out, thought you would like to see something a little different from me and it was a fun bike to get my hands on that’s for sure, runs great now.

The Milwaukee Special CB750F HONDA SOHC

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
04 Sep

Well, here we go with another Model, this time a CB750F model, yes, the old Super Sport, I like the 750F models mainly because of their Disc rear brake, as the K model has a Drum rear, and this machine has some good lines to it, this was a basket case sometime ago and I plod along adding then taking away as I am not happy until the penny drops.

The Penny may not of dropped far but I think I am almost there with the design and the over look is quite sleek and streamlined, The Motor is rebuilt as well as the carburetors, but I have been to and from on the seat set up and after 6 or 7 different set ups, I came to the conclusion to keep it simple and will be fitting one of my Own Rocket Four seat assemblies to this bike and hopefully get it painted soon.

I think I am going to go with Smooth side covers, these were something I was experimenting with as one side had a hole in it, but I prefer at this time a smooth side cover and will paint a graphic or something on the side once I have come up with a good scheme.

Always something going on in the shop but need to get this completed and painted etc. then get some miles on it and then offer it up for sale for someone to enjoy, but a ways to go with this machine , am enjoying the way it is going at the moment. New rims, pretty much New everything, so this will be a fun and reliable Motorcycle when it is completed and on the tarmac, stay tuned……….