So I bought this...

1973 Honda CB500 28k miles, last tagged in 2013, been stored without gas in the tank or carbs since 2014. Seller had the Clymer manual as well.

Rough plan is to get it running and ride it. I'm not planning to do anything with the patina as I kind of like it. Safe running and ride is all I want.

Very very nice!

I'd get a new clutch lever from Honda and ride it as is. Probably some new grips as well.

Outstanding choice!

I had a '77 CB550F Super Sport for twenty years. They are essentially the same bike and they are fantastic motorcycles.

Pro Tip: Clean all the the electrical connections in and around the fuse box and, of course, all the grounds as well. Adjust the valves. It's actually kind of fun. Adjust the cam chain tensioner very carefully. It's easy to strip.

There should be a tool kit under the seat. It should contain almost every tool that you need to work on the bike. And you can learn a lot from the owner's manual.

Ride and enjoy.

DO NOT replace the stock airbox with pod filters. You'll regret it.

Also, I am jealous.

Nice. What did she set you back?

Woody- PO already did. I'm working on finding a stock air box.

Appleseed- $1200. But all the others around me have been chopped or cafed. I actually went to Asheville to get this one because I wanted to keep it as stock as possible.

Sadly, I've done nothing but roll her off the trailer, fill the tires with air, and push her into the garage. I did find there is a vintage motorcycle group in Knoxville

While $1200 seems expensive, buying back missing trim, rare parts, etc... will easily crush any budget.

Yeah I agree on the price, I mean who doesn't wish it was cheaper? I did talk him down, but not by much. I also wonder if I had waited until deep winter if I could have found one cheaper. I also know I'm odd because I didn't want a CB750.

But I wanted one that looked like it came from 1973. I didn't want one that had been restored to better than factory standards, cafed, bobbed, chopped, or butchered. And weirdly, I wanted brown.

In the end, no buyers remorse...yet. I just want to get to work on it. I brought it home Sat, and left out of town Mon. I hope to get to at least look at it later tonight... I hope.

Looks pretty good - I don't see much 'patina'. A good clean and polish, replace the clutch lever, get some new grips and some mirrors and you should be set.

Nice, I have a 1974 Honda CB550. Love that bike

That bike is worth every bit of 1200. It is perfect, love the CB.

My buddy has two CBs of similar years. Great bikes. Good find! Look how clean it is!

So I finally got to look at it some more last night:

Here is what I got done:

• It was my first time putting a bike on a center stand, that looked like a monkey humping a football I'm sure. But the center stand works.
• Cleaned the bike
• Cleaned/lubed the chain
• Tank and side covers removed so I could clean and lubricate the places that needed it.
• Either I got a bad key, or the ignition is stuck, or bad.
• The front brake wasn't grabbing at all. I went ahead and bled it and now it grabs a little but its not fully operational yet. I'm going to take the front wheel off and see if the pad may be stuck in the piston, or if the piston is frozen.
• It does turn over with the kickstarter

Parts needed

• Battery
• clutch lever
• grips
• stock airbox

Very cool.

Growing up, my friends dad had two old Honda bikes, complete but non running tucked in the corner of the garage. One was the same color as yours. We used to walk past them almost daily to get to his Penthouse magazine stash.

I'm not a bike guy, but I always thought they were a neat looking bike.

I found the SOHC/4 forum. Wow!

Turns out the locks don't match. Key doesn't seem to match any of the locks on the bike. Great.

Also the front brake pad is stuck in the caliper. I'm trying to get it out now.

Try this:

Honda NOS keys

There should be a number on the tumbler like T4567 the numbers are all different. if you have that code you may be able to have a key cut to match.

edit - Oh, slippery beat me to it.

^Yup. I've bought Honda keys that way and it's actually the only way to get them now. Honda dealers don't have those blanks anymore.

When I got my CB400F the front pad was stuck in the caliper. I took the whole assembly off and used the brake lever to gently pump enough fluid down to pop it out. All of your fluid will follow. Wear eye protection. Then I used steel wool soaked in brake fluid to polish the cylinder bore and piston. I was broke. I cleaned everything, changed the o-ring and reassembled. It didn't stick and never leaked.

Update

• I've tried to make contact with 3 different key places, with no luck. Someone said there was a guy on eBay, but I haven't had a chance to look there yet.
• I realized I had no room to work where the bike was currently parked, so I had a small garage reorganization. Sadly I think the other members of the garage are curious why this one is getting special treatment.
• Found the front brake pads were stuck in the piston. I was able to pop them and the piston out using a grease gun. (very neat trick)
• I let the brake caliper halves, and piston soak in Pine Sol overnight and then cleaned them up.
• The rear brake was not grabbing, no matter the amount of adjustments I made, so I ended up removing the rear wheel and pulling that apart. I'm still not sure what was going on with that. The brake shoes seem to be in spec, and the drum isn't overly worn anywhere. So that is still a work in progress.
• I got the crusty grips removed
• More cleaning as a I come across areas that need cleaned.
• And because everyone likes pics more than words.

First teardown spot that didn't work out.

Brakes after soaking in PB Blaster overnight

Brakes after grease gun extraction

Brakes after Pine-sol soak

New parking spot and jealous onlookers...

Current state

Rear brake

Did you try the website I mentioned? That is THE place to get keys for a Honda.

Good progress!!

I really like that bike.

I did, that is one I tried, but my key is the T series and it says contact them. So I did, but no response. I'm going to try them and one other place again today.

Re the front brake, if you live in any sort of humid climate or somewhere where they dump salt on the roads, see if you can get the pin out and grease it. I remember having tons of fun on my CB750/4 and CB400/4 with partially seized brakes because the pin was partially seized in the caliper mounting plate.

The shoes and drums can glaze, resulting in near zero friction. Easily corrected with a bit of crocus cloth or sandpaper.