Goodbye old friend...

[Tristan.]

By the time I'm finished writing this, her majestys government will of deemed my CB500 unroadworthy (probably rightly so) the MOT is out and I wont be sorting her and getting a new ticket for a good few months.

So, in honour of the years fine motoring she's given me, a tribute to the legend that is my CB.

purchased today, but last year, for the princely sum of 511 English pounds she came in a glourious green colour scheme, that wasn't gonna last long, cant find the actual picture, but here's what it would look like in an N64 game, sans the dents
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/tristanthe/bikecolour.jpg

Needed new C&S, and from the amount of dents it looked like it'd been used by a training school or something, so a bit of a cheap spruce up was performed, 20 quid of matt black, fake renthals and a garden and this happened:
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/tristanthe/PIC_0037-1.jpg
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/tristanthe/PIC_0046.jpg
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/tristanthe/PIC_0045-1.jpg

mmmm look how smooth and unrusted that tank is

Anyway, 9 months of abuse and being ridden like CBs arent meant to be ridden followed. Here she is at a SW rideout, winning torpoint twisties
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/tristanthe/hat3.jpg
Between last summer and now the shocks have completely given up the ghost, so riding her fast involves keeping the throttle to the stop and hanging off very far with the bike pretty much upright. Looks ridiculous but works

Anyway, Final ride for a while tonight and I got some pictures, behold the unkillable bike;
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/tristanthe/PIC_0002.jpg
The dirt is from playing on davidstow, and spending three months working on a farm, riding several dirt roads a day, as well as occasionally having to ride through fields.
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/tristanthe/PIC_0001.jpg
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/tristanthe/PIC_0006.jpg
^Thats where the loud comes out
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/tristanthe/PIC_0005.jpg
^ sprocket doing several thousand RPM inches away keeps your toes on their toes
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/tristanthe/PIC_0004.jpg
^arse end battlescars from an altercation with a van who wanted to be in the same bit of road as me. He won, also note the size of the rear sprocket
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/tristanthe/PIC_0007.jpg
^gets even dirtier as you get closer, try and find a non crash scuffed componant :p
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/tristanthe/PIC_0008-1.jpg
^pfft, prazzo levers eat your heart out, I've got a homemade one, to replicate simply stand on a runway and let go of your bike and see how far it goes before falling over
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/tristanthe/PIC_0009.jpg
^I've forgotten what it feels like to glance down at my speedo


Finally, heres what 10 months of daily abuse does to a hack:
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/tristanthe/PIC_0040.jpg
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/tristanthe/PIC_0003.jpg

God bless you CB, in three or four months you'll live again, I promise.

If any of the SW lot would like to say a few tearfull words, at the passing of this steadfast monument of our roads, I'm sure it would mean a lot to her.

(And just wait till you see what she's reborn as)

[Steve-D]

Just one crash bar?? Wonder how that happened
What you got planned for it then?

[Tristan.]

Not entirely sure on plans, four options really.

Could carry on the rat thing, and try to take her through the MOT as cheaply as possible and carry on riding her till she dies.

Or a full ground up rebuild, strip and paint/coat everything possible, redo all bearings, replace every scratched component, full service of the engine, brand new shocks, springs and rubber.

Or something inbetween, do the important mechanical bits of option two, but leave her cosmetically shocking.

Or, most sensibly, break/sell her and get a tatty supermoto to do the same job as her.

[Thom]

A cb500 can be bought for about £500 , it wouldnt be economical to rebuild her so i say stick a set of knobblies on her and do what you need to to get an mot.
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Current Bike: 1996 Yamaha TRX850 (The Japanese-Ducati One).
Previous Bikes: 1990 Honda NSR125 'Rothmans' (The smoking one), 1990 Suzuki GS500e 'Caf? fighter' (The loud one), 1987 Kawasaki GPX400r (The quick one), 1997 XJ600s Diversion (The reliable one), 2000 Kawasaki ER-5 (The spontaneously combustive one)

[Steve-D]

[mattsprattuk]

this is a shit goodbye thread... all thats happened is that its run out of MOT and tax.

at least blow it up or something.
i vote track bike it
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[.Chris.]

When I get some monies at the beginning of next term I might be in a position to make you an offer...

The Mercedes crash was pretty funny though, had me crapping myself when we thought you'd been pulled by an undercover cop car.
____________________
Chris
1985 Kawasaki Z550F

[mattsprattuk]

[Steve-D]

I seem to remember quacker boy telling me to hide my bike in the bush
Can't remember why though.
____________________
www.southwestbikers.com
Tristan The said 'Dunno what my pace will be like, fastish slow puncture on the rear and if I go too fast I risk my 'keys' falling out'

[Tristan.]

Because it's a divvy

Three hours spannering and the CB is now down to it's componants, engine and frame are still together by one stubborn bolt.

Considering a ground up rebuild over a year or so, unfortunatly means I lose 4 months insurance or so, hmmm.

[Endless Nameless]

Ground up rebuild, you know it makes sense, and hells, she deserves it- can't be many bikes that'd still be going after the abuse you dish out!

Anyway, I've got a bit of a soft spot for it, 'tis an awesome bike (and was my first pillion ride on anything that wasn't a 50 too)
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A2 passed 22/07/08; restriction up 22/07/10 (just so I don't forget)
'79 Suzuki GS550E. Yes, that's a GS550, not a GS500.
Supersports "In a video editing competition I'd kick your sorry ass"

[chris-red]

Spend some money Hagon Shocks and springs you should be able to get the fork springs, oil and twin shocks new for under £200 more bad for a fully suspention refresh. Buy parts off ebay for it or visit a breakers you should be able to get everything for For under a £100. Give it a service and paint everything matte black and it will be sorted.
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Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
WANTED:- Fujinon (Fuji) M42 (Screw on) lenses, let me know if you have anything.

[Tristan.]

That was the plan, though it also needs a pair of new tyres and a new radiator+fan (old fan mount rusted through, and the constant vibes holed the radiator, which is currently held together with mud, glue and silicone sealent) so thats another 300.

I think I will give it a refresh. I'm not fussed about cosmetics and at least I'll know everything that needs doing is done, then the only decision is weather to just bust the rattle cans out again, or go for powder coating and shiney white bodywork, should only add about 60 quid on top of the 600 I'll need to spend.

[torpedo]

nice to see a commuta hoona but you havent done half the job yet.

Trackday, Drag race, offroading

plenty to do with it yet!

Reminds me of my old gs500 this thread, went from being stolen and dunked in a canal in the end but had such fun with it .... wasnt endlessly reliable but i like to beleive i abused mine as far as can be done

no maintence, trackdays, rideouts with 600's and 1000's at the at the edge of your seat - well more like far off it hanging off that bit more. 100-300 mile 100mph commutes, thing died so many times its untrue lol. not suprising when looked at that way. oh and beach rolling burnouts, that was class but cost me a brake lever when i tried to do it on a grassy slope and highsided

keep your cb going man, theres so much more abuse you can give it im certain, the only true goodbye you can give it is if some fucker steals it (which isnt nearly as good is it?) or if the thing is utterly competely demolished. dont give up!!!
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GS 500 E ...... and i like it

[Tristan.]

Aww see, I had my heart pretty much 100% set on making it clean and shiny and very very black. But you've reminded me how fun it is to ride a bike you're happy to crash and thrash, hmmm.

Half of her is in my bedroom now, including the wheels so the room stinks of rubber

[torpedo]

get a couple of oilly engine components or a can of petrol in there then

im living away from home and my piles of parts (can almost build a 2nd gs from all the spares ive collected) and while ive been away my rooms been filled with the barrels pistons and other assorted parts littering the house think pops got fed up of all the mess lol. still, how a mans room should look i guess!

when i get a chance might put my spare gs together into something roadable, though it'd have to be a mighty custom - half the parts i had that were any good are all destroyed, were on the stolen bike which got burnt out and canal'd so not a lot of good to me

I've always fancied doing up the gs big as well, but it always comes down to can i be bothered? it was always a junky hack to be abused - if i cleaned it up it always inevitably broke somewhere else, or for example when i stuck a new nosecone on it, i went over the handlebars doing stunts a few days later my dad werent too pleased, i'd only crashed a week ago! was trying to make me give up bikes but like that'd happen unless somebody went and stole it- ah

you could think about entering CB500 for a round or two if you have the expendable cash supply? or just bog standard trackdays. can use crap parts then and take off a lot of other uneccesary bits. also, who needs a speedo on a track?
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GS 500 E ...... and i like it

[chillpill]

turbo it

[Tristan.]

There just happens to be an XJ650 Turbo sat in our back garden... probably not, but it's a nice thought.

Know what you mean regarding one things fixed another breaks torpedo, mines due a pair of tyres, new suspension back and front and new clocks + the cosmetics.

To be honest the most expensive bits to swap are consumables, so it's not entirely fair to include them in the price of a rebuild, cos they'd need buying anyway.

Any tips for getting tyres off wheels, I dont care what happens to the tyres. Tried breaking the bead with another bike then levering with no results, then hacksaw and dremel, but it seems the bead didnt fully break.