The project

[twisteroo]

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So, Twitch even PM'd to see if I was OK. I have not been posting much or anything since my jul/aug vacation. Meh, just on to a new project is all.
You may remember me saying one time I was gonna buy an old junker motorcycle and next summer head west. Well, right after that jul/aug vacation the hunt was on, I got this old pile up in Watertown, NY for more than it was worth. It has good tires and almost good brakes, and ran like shit.
3 times I had the carbs off and finally yesterday after the 3rd time and 100 PSI from the air compressor I'm pretty sure the carbs are back up to snuff.
The trail run had it going like a motherfucker. It would dog out about 4,000 rpm up till about 6,000 rpm, then go like hell again. After yesterday cleaning I could stay in 5th gear down to like 25mph and just roll the throttle back and let it accelerate right up though 70mph or so without so much as a hiccup.
The front tire goes soft, it has been crashed, I don't think it has even seen a garage in 30 years, it has either 9k miles on it or 109k, I'm not sure which.

On the plus side, it passed inspection, idles like a champ, don't overheat, the antifreeze is good to 40 below, all the bags lock, and the fairing is sweet, this is the first bike I have ever had with a fairing.

Yep that tank was painted with a rattle can, you should have seen it before. I put a gas filter on it, a new air filter, and changed the oil....so far.
I have 10 foot of 3/4" EMT conduit, now I just need to get my brother-in-law to stop by and bend up some highway bars so I can stretch out my legs while riding.
It's raining today or I would probably go for a ride and give it a little work out.

I have about 11 months to play with it, then I'm headed to the Pacific.
If it craps out on me and I can't get it going with my buck knife and my 4 in 1 screwdriver it is gonna stay where it quits.
I'm gonna travel light too, I'm gonna make sure that everything I take can be lifted with one hand, so I can hitch hike with the other.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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Too bad I gave my bike bag to Dana. I forget the name of the brand but you can turn it to a backpack for walking when you take it off the bike. You can stuff a week's worth of clothing in there too and we did on a few trips.

It looks in pretty good shape other than sitting around and needing to work the bugs out of the engine. You picked water cooled on purpose or because it just happened to be what this bike had on it? Chain or drive shaft?

[LKTraz]

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I'm guessing that's an early 80's Honda Silverwing 500. Yes?

[twisteroo]

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1982 honda silverwing, shaft drive, water cooled. Fucker still running like shit.
I don't get it, it ran like a raped ape yesterday and today runs like shit again. Now it seems like the little vacuum diaphragm gas on/off thing is not letting enough gas through during the acceleration process or something. Fucking piece of shit might find it's self abandoned in a ditch a lot sooner than South Dakota.

[LKTraz]

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Sounds like you need to do a carb rebuild.
Also you might want to pull, drain and flush the fuel tank.

[Rhubarb]

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Also you might want to pull, drain and flush the fuel tank.

That is just what No1 son did to his Dad's Kawasaki while we were away. Try it out tomorrow, if the bike got too low on fuel it was a pig to start again.

You got a Honda Twist!

[twisteroo]

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I drained the tank, it had shit in it, that is why I put a little clear in-fuel filter in it, the filter was made in Iran, but it is grade A top notch A number 1 performance part highly endorsed by the Shaw.

Those 30 year old carbs are still good, I swear.

[Rhubarb]

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I'm guessing that's an early 80's Honda Silverwing 500. Yes?

Mark tells me this bike was marketed as a CX500 over here. That explains why I've not heard of a Silverwing.

My Dad had one for work briefly after going through a couple of Eastern Block bikes ('cos they were cheap)

[LKTraz]

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The actual model # is in fact CX500 but the U.S. market added the Silverwing name. Just like the 1100 CC version was CX1100 Goldwing.

[twisteroo]

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Yeah, what LK said, they are all based on the CX500, this one is a Silverwing or a GL500I.

I put a new gas filter made for motorcycles on it, for gravity fed machines. It seems to run good enough. If it is running like it is right now next summer when I'm ready to try for the west coast, I'm gonna go for it, running perfect or not.