2002 CB500S - Bit of a sort out and tidy up

[FlightRisk]

https://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah52/celt500/58dd7c7a-739e-4d58-a9ae-59d0182dc214_zpsf78eacc6.jpg

Here she is, my very first bike. Bought as a cheap learner to get me started and just last until I have a bit more cash, but already I've totally bonded with it! It was a great choice for me to do some learning on but also good in terms of maintenance & running costs and to learn a bit of spannering.

This isn't going to be a hugely impressive bare frame restoration but just a little diary of sorting it out to help keep me motivated. I've kept walking outside, poking it with my toe a bit and then walking away again!

Bikes don't have to pass an MOT in these parts, which is good because she wouldn't, for a whole list of reasons. Kind of explains why the 100 miles home was so scary! Blamed it on newbie nerves, but handling just doesn't feel confidence inspiring. Engine purrs like a kitten though.

Didn't much want to turn, loud clunk from the front end under hard braking (decided to maybe avoid braking, haven't braked since! ), blown fork seal, rear brake fading to nothing after a little slow traffic.

Tyre ordered, hopefully I can get away with just adjusting the head bearing, need to order fork seals, brakes are first job to tackle.
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Honda CB500S

[FlightRisk]

So my first bike DIY job (first proper motoring DIY job ever really) is brakes.

Hmm... I am properly insane amn't I?

The rear was first, wanted to give the caliper a clean but couldn't figure out how to get it off. Now I've learned you need to take off the back wheel so I'll leave it until my rear tyre is in.

Now for a confession: bleeding the old fluid out started well apart from it seeming to be one of those three handed jobs as you need to unbolt the fluid reservoir from under the bodywork to refill it. Then you have to hold onto it or keep bolting it back in every time you want your hands free. Anyway, fluid stopped coming through and I thought I had created a massive airlock by not keeping the reservoir level and letting it dangle on it's hose. Do you know what I'd done boys & girls?
I'd been pouring fluid into the folding rubber boot thing instead of into the body of the reservoir because that's all I'd seen when I took the cap off.
What a muppet!

Of course that actually had sucked air in as the reservoir had now emptied but it was easily sorted with fluid in the right place.

On to the front. Do put rags around the reservoir, you WILL spill some.
Nasty old brake fluid.

https://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah52/celt500/2c014742-bab4-409e-aef8-9d4359c6cbd1_zps69ae8083.jpg

After watching Delboy's Garage vid on YouTube and reading around a bit I knew to be careful getting the master cylinder screws out. So I hit it with a rock. Gave the screwdriver a few gentle taps into the crosshead screw head to seat it properly. One was reluctant but did not mash 'em. Did not mash 'em back in.

Standard plastic tube and a bottle setup.

https://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah52/celt500/5b4c502a-7828-4388-917d-98d003c278e1_zpsd70ea901.jpg

Front was still a bit spongey after bleeding new fluid through so tried the 'tie the lever overnight' trick to help any small bubbles out.

https://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah52/celt500/023f02eb-ff8d-4c3b-be77-149efddb7827_zps2ed66044.jpg

And tied a weight around the back pedal for good measure too.

https://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah52/celt500/07cf7535-aec6-4fe6-9f7a-7c13a4ba22d3_zps4c460a08.jpg

After leaving overnight the front is better but the back is like stepping on a rock.
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Honda CB500S

[FlightRisk]

F€$£ing gold plated Honda parts prices! Fork seals ordered instead from Wemoto.

In the mean time perhaps a bit of a clean up will help the front brake.

Halfway there.

https://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah52/celt500/e7b79234-c465-48b4-b9ce-a17e915de115_zpse6a5af4d.jpg

Gave everything a good scrub with an old toothbrush, some citrus degreaser I had for bicycles, and a bucket of hot water & washing up liquid. Not brake cleaner but it's what I had to hand. Gave everything a good rinse off with tap water after anyway.

I think the brake lever seems firmer afterwards, though I may be imagining that. The wheel spins more freely now after you let go of the brake so that was worth the job anyway as it was binding a little bit.

All nicely torqued up with my new torque wrench, which just arrived.

https://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah52/celt500/IMG_20140811_155653_zps985e6c87.jpg

It's a 7-112 Nm Sealey one I found online. An ideal range for working on the bike and a bit of a bargain for around £25 as it's a proper bit of kit. Nicely made, love it. Do not love my Argos socket set as I found some surface rust on it after a couple of weeks sitting in my living room! That and the small ratchet feels cheesy. Does have every size socket though so for now it's doing the job.

Next I tightened up the massive play in the head bearing but forgot to take photos. I'm going to take it apart when the forks come off to put the new oil seals in. Wasn't much point as I couldn't find my grease for the bearings. Play was shocking though, maybe as much as 2-3mm at the front axle. At least the bearings feel smooth.

Speaking of shock.

https://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah52/celt500/1dfffc84-40a6-40f6-a058-fdd2c67c4ddd_zps74b8a8f4.jpg

They look a bit shit. I think I'll take them off for a bit of a tidy up. Hopefully I won't find they've had it because new ones aren't really in the budget. Rust on the shaft though so they have to come out.
No one want's a rusty shaft.

If they're serviceable I'm going to paint them and the springs. Not sure what colour though, thinking gold with black springs?

Something needs doing about all that surface rust around the shock mounts too. There's nowhere too bad apart from where there's a cross brace under the radiator and the downpipes which I have some VHT paint bought for.

Hammerite?
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Honda CB500S

[FlightRisk]

Buy cheap, buy twice, first throwing initial purchase back at retailer.
The internals of the ratchets in the Argos socket set are actually made of parmesan.
The Halfords Advanced Professional set I got to replace it is in an entirely different league. Good honest quality kit for a decent price.
To be fair even the man from Honda recommended them.

Spent a rainy evening retrieving springs from the sticking filler cap from where they'd repeatedly ricocheted to far flung corners of the kitchen floor.
That big spring in the middle was pressing on unevenly on one latch more than the other stopping it retracting fully on both sides. Turned it so they're even, cleaned and lubed everything.
Still shit. But less shit.

https://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah52/celt500/3e326125-cb8f-4c35-9bad-4c587639f6e5_zps7b24ea20.jpg

Next up was fork seals. The left fork had a very new looking seal that was in upside down and the right fork had too much oil. Hmm...

https://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah52/celt500/685f9983-0d2e-42c6-88de-d67672d8fd4c_zpsd4b6f6b9.jpg

That was a fun job. I didn't have a seal driver, or anything handy around to make a seal driver. So I cut an old one in half to protect the new one from the screwdriver... and hit it with a hammer.
This is not a good idea. Don't do this.
The problem is not that you will mess up the seal or scratch up the fork, you can avoid that if you're careful. The problem is that the seal will go a bit sideways and it will jam and it will take a lot of careful bashing to get it the rest of the way down.

The job was well worth all the bashing and pounding and the slippery mess, she has a noticeably firmer front end now. Good thing as it was diving quite badly under braking.

Then there was this:

https://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah52/celt500/a87e3066-79f4-412d-b02b-006ad15495a5_zps06ef30ce.jpg

Hmm...
Little thing, but putting a new pin and spring in that footpeg made me disproportionately happy.
Oh and a new clutch cable, I hadn't realised how badly adjusted the old one was. Now so smooth!
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Honda CB500S

[Fladdem]