Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.,. CD " '" '" Q. ... '" a> ~ ~ w Z W ..J o >o " T he 5-speed Honda 5004 is fine fo r lon g touring and equally ideal for cutt ing traffic around to wn . R oadside maintenance that mu st be performed during lon g trips includes chain adjustmen t and lubricati on. Rid er comfort , fuel econo my oil-ti ght appearance rate top marks am ong ow ners. D unlop K ·7D tire replaced original rear rubb er at 4 ,000 mi les. Consumer's report: - OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE ...AT A PRICE 1971 Honda CB500 -4 Engin e yank s chain lik e a t rain betWeen 7,000 and 9.000 rpm and yet pull s its we ight fai rly w ell throughout the range. Frequent tuneups are necessary . Timing co ver from CB750 fits 500, but slants the nameplate as seen here. By Charles Clay ton The Honda CB 500 purchased b y Cycl e News for this report wa s uncrated under th e ob serva tio n of a sta ff member an d set up b y Don Bar-tram of Ash tabula Cycle Sales in Ohio. After a few hundred miles o f runnin g-in , it wa s entered in the 1971 CRA (Central Roadracing Ass ociation) 24-hour production race and raced a whole da y (1, 700 mil es) to win o vera ll. Noth ing abou t the stock ma chine had b een ch an ged aprart from removi ng stands and turn signa ls, relocatin g the p egs a nd fitro en t of lo w handleb ar s. As so on as th e tr ophy was safely in their hands, Ash ta b ula Cycl e Sales reinstall ed th e brio-a-b rae an d , except fo r some raci ng miles o n the odome ter, th e machine was st ock out o f th e b ox. I did as k Bartram to leave in the weaker throttle return spring that he had install ed, in the interest of eas ier touring. I was pleased to start th e co nsu mer test on a ma ch in e with 1,930 miles alread y b ehind it. If an yth ing is going to go wr o ng with a new m achine, it usually signals within the first 5,0 00 mil es, a nd o ur new Honda was well on th e way t oward the interesting part o f the test. In case th e fac t of its win did n ot imply it clearl y eno ugh , th e CB 500 had given n o trouble in th e firs t mil eage of it s life. RoIling out of Ashtab u la Cy cle directly o n to th e freeway tha t leads fr om it, I tested the acc ellera tio n and brakes . Fine, nothin g st artling. A t above 65 mph the solid-mounted h andlebars shoo k slightly , eno ugh to blur the im ages in th e rearvi ew mirro rs ' and between 7,000 an d 7,500 rpm in a ny gea r the engi ne vib rated tensely. I h ave rid den factory-prepared Honda ' 4s th at vibrated n o t all all, b ut the avera ge run-of-th e-lin e stocker that y o u get will always give a sligh t mas sage som ewh ere on the rev -dial. In a way I w elc ome it, as a tactile sign al o f the rpms but ! try to opera te the throttl e an d gearc hange in such a way as n ot to lin ger in th at ran ge o f dangerous harm onics. A fter ' 5 00 more mil es h ad p leasa ntly p assed in th e mountains of Pennsylv an ia and th e No r thern Ohio plains, I checke d item s recommended by th e owner's manual , changed th e oil filter (same $2 .50 unit fits th e 750 4 ) an d aimed the go ld an d silve r mach ine d o wn t he inters tate to Atlanta . Optimu m is th e adjective th at fits the 5004 optimum performance, o p tim u m handling, economy, w eight, com fo rt, etc. It can barely keep in sight of a well -tuned 500cc Kawasak i, bu t I co uld always pass him at th e gas station. On a -lo nely Kentucky road , Off-road hand ling is go od enough to let the CBSOO be ridden into better camp ing spots. th e 500 peaked out at abou t 110 in dicate d mp h and delivers 32 mi les p er gallo n at int ersta te sp eeds , or about 100 m iles p er tankful. Th ere is a 25 to 3 0 mile reserve ca pacity obtainabl e by m erely twisting th e gas tap 90 degr ees forward. The sea t is rather st in gily padded where th e rider normally sits. But by hooking my heels over the passenger p egs an d leaning on th e wind in a sem i-racing cro uc h , I c overed up to 500 mi les a day with out an y disc omfort . The longer I rid e in th is positio n, th e more com fo rtab le it gets, wh ich I fin d unusual. I wonder if th e J apanese intended it so. lt has b een said th at the machine is " gear ed fo r Daytona" and th e d escription is o nly a lit tle o ff. More lik e for Talladega, where, a ll th e turns are supered, Fi fth gear is an overd rive th at should o nly be engaged ab ove 60 m ph when accelerating and chang ed d own a t abou t 40. It pulls alo ng st eadily , uphill o r fla t , in fifth , but th ere is no acceleration o n tap . To pass traffic, say from 50 mp h to 70 yo u h ave to shi ft two gears, like o n a motocrosser , all t he way to third if you are in a h urry. Yes, the 500 d oes require a bi t o f stirrin g with t he left toe in o rd er to b e dri ven abou t smartly, but th e resultin g se nsations a nd slic k sh ift actio n are deligh tful. Ac cel era ti on in gene ra l is tame , b ut ad eq ua te. Yet General overall excellence of handling. speed, depend abi lit y w ere pr oved w hen th is very same machine won 24 ·hour road race fi rst overall against producti on motorcyde of every si-:re.- · th ere is pl enty of torque in th e 50 ho rsep ower engi ne t o move off from a dead stop with o ut undue buzzin g o r slip ping o f th e clu tc h. Occasio na lly, when I forgot th at I was not riding m y bi gger twin, I'd idle off th e lin e and stupidly kill th e engine , th en th ank Honda for el ectr ic starting. Although th e CB500 is p erfect in ju st ab o u t every way, it has o ne gia nt, co mp ro mising fau lt . It has n othing to d o with th e asse mb ly lin e fin ish , fo r there aren ' t any squeaks or ra ttl es eviden t afte r 5 ,000 mi les. An d I d on' t m ean the rear tir e whic h wo re o ut com pletely in o nly 4 ,000 miles. The fa ult is that, w ith a demanding rider o n th e b ars, t he machin e goes o u t of 'tu ne much too quickly . You h ave to take it into the sh op afte r every moderate ride of 500 to 1,000 miles. Price for the d ealer ser vice and t uneup is 52 8. 9 5 plus parts - just about wh at a Cadillac costs. But th e car will go ten t imes as far b etween bills . In o th er words th e Honda h as a Ferrari servic e record. Fin e, if you ca n affo rd it. . What h appens is, th e ligh tweight parts st retch an d wea r. Th e ca m chain len gth ens, tossing th e valves o ut of time. Th e carb ureto r slides w ear off th eir mating surfaces , d et u nin g four jugs at a whack an d the clu tch p la tes wear b owlegged, caus ing th at infamo us H onda lurch as the lever is fed home. It really ta kes the edge o ff you r toy in a hurry. It turns a fin e motorycle in to a n oisy , jerky derelict. The tru e en th usias t will co un t fr equent mainten an ce a reaso na b le pric e to p ay for th e co n ti n ued enjoyme nt o f his 500's charms, a nd eit he r eq uip h imself to p er fo rm th e regular retuning ri t ual o r plan on visiting his d ea ler about every tim e the payment co mes true. Drive chain adj ustm en t is too frequent and cri tical no t to do o ne's self. But chai n replacement (recommended every 7 .0 00 to 10 ,0 00 m iles) req uires a sp ecial key whic h on ly th e d eal er p osesses, T he primar y d rive is by Hyvo- type chain, wh ich is self adjust ing an d has n ot required atten tio n yet. And t he bra kes are rem ar kabl y long-last in g. .I n short, based up o!, my experience with a 5,000 mll e- o ~d CB50 0, I recommend it very highly to t he enthus iasrwh o likes to tinker with ma ch inery or who can afford to hav e one of the servants take it in' for that periodical checkup, say, every w ee k o r two. T he p leasure it excites caus es su ch ad dic ti o n that you wa n to __. -U.cotst ' rid e it every chance yo u get, no matter what "_

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