Why My Garage Became a CX500 Graveyard
Found this 1981 Honda CX500 covered in dust behind my uncle’s barn last spring. Paid him $200 just to haul it away. Thing looked rough – tires flat, handlebars bent, seat cracked open like an egg. Honestly thought it was scrap metal at first.
But I’m stubborn. Told myself “how hard can it be?” Grabbed my toolkit and dove in headfirst. First mistake: didn’t take enough “before” pictures. Could’ve used them now for comparison.
Making This Bike Breathe Again
Started with the disgusting stuff. That gas tank smelled like rotten eggs! Poured out black sludge so thick it could’ve been motor oil. Used a whole gallon of vinegar and a handful of marbles to shake out the rust. Took three days just to stop getting rusty flakes outta there.
Next disaster: those carburetors. Gaskets were mush. Jets clogged with 40-year-old varnish. Took them apart in a baking pan so springs wouldn’t fly everywhere. Soaked everything overnight in pine-sol cleaner (cheaper than “real” carb cleaner). Weird trick but worked!
- Scrubbed every hole with brass wire from the hardware store
- Poked jets clear using unwound guitar strings
- Set float height just by eye-balling it
Electric Nightmares
The wiring looked like spaghetti thrown at the bike. Half the plastic connectors crumbled when I touched em. Tested every wire with a dollar store multimeter. Found three bad wires that looked fine on the outside but were rotten inside. Replaced em with cheap speaker wire.
Got nervous when hooking up the battery – put it in backwards the first time. Stupid mistake. Popped the main fuse. Thought I fried the whole system but thankfully just that little fuse.
When That Engine Finally Coughed
After weeks of work, time for the scary part. Poured fresh gas in, kicked it over… nothing. Tried again – sputtered twice then died. Third try? Backfired loud enough to scare my dog! Finally got it running by spraying starter fluid into the air intake. Sounded like popcorn popping for five minutes until it warmed up. Smoke poured out everywhere – but that sweet V-twin sound eventually smoothed out.
Took it down the driveway slowly, front brakes squealing like angry birds. Needs new brake pads obviously. But hey – it MOVES! Not perfect yet – still leaks oil near the shifter and the speedometer jumps around like crazy. But for a $200 barn find? I’ll call this a win.
