Honda GB500 info please

[Bender]

I'm looking at buying a Honda GB500 and wondered if anyone has experience with these bikes that they would be happy to share with me. What to watch out for - inherent problems that could cause me trouble - that sort of thing. PM if you prefer.

Thanks

[BuzzardNZ]

I've owned 3 400's.

Reliable as, but things that go wrong on them are:

Starter motor failure. No big deal,as the 400's had a kick start, not sure if the 500 does.

Cam chain's seem to go on them.

[spanner spinner]

owned one of these and have worked on many, three main issues starter motor clutches and cam chains as mentioned and Hondas favourite thing reg/rec units burn out so the battery stops charging other than that they are pretty solid. Main issue with them now is lack of parts as they where a jap domestic model, they where imported by blue wing so not your usual jap import but they japs have long since stopped supporting them. Some engine parts supply is ok as they are just a xr engine but anything that was only used on this model is pretty much no longer available.

[Sable]

As others have said the starter motors fail, which is not as much of a problem as it sounds - they're very easy to kickstart. They eat camchains like most 80's Hondas. Parts can be difficult to source and there's no such thing as an undented tank - Econohonda in Christchurch is the best place to look. The front brake is rather weak and they're not particularly fast but sound good, look cool and lots of fun. Get some harder fork springs and Koni/Ikon shocks to transform the handling, I think I used some old CB750 ones which got cut down. Also XR/XL600 and NX650 motors go just about straight in for a relatively easy performance upgrade.

[tri boy]

Econo Honda in Te Aroha can help with parts.
Malcholm is a good bastid, and has good contacts in Oz and further afield.

[avgas]

Good bikes - but not worth spending truckloads on unless its mint or had decent upgrades (Shocks, cam-chains).
When you get it - preload the forks with washers........front suspension is made for a 2 month old baby. Springs in forks are ok - they just need to be put under pressure.
Ironically Yamaha had the same problem with the SR's - SRX's come with an adjustment on the top.

[avgas]

Also post a pics up of the bike your looking to buy - chances are we can spot the crap that is going to fail.

[Yamahardman]

amazeballs! love them. easy to do sly cc upgrades on them too, haha mines becoming a 600 this weekend, haha you wouldnt be looking at getting that maroon one thats on tardme atm, are you?

[Bender]

No specific bike in mind yet until I've sold my old one - no point looking until I have some money to spend. There are a couple of GBs on tardme at present - the maroon 500 and a 400 with bigger motor fitted.

Any comments on the 500?

Not keen on the one with the transplanted motor as its a kick start and I have an injury to my right leg that makes kick starting difficult. The GB400s seem to suffer from dying starter motors worse than the 500s.

[Sable]

No specific bike in mind yet until I've sold my old one - no point looking until I have some money to spend. There are a couple of GBs on tardme at present - the maroon 500 and a 400 with bigger motor fitted.

Any comments on the 500?

Not keen on the one with the transplanted motor as its a kick start and I have an injury to my right leg that makes kick starting difficult. The GB400s seem to suffer from dying starter motors worse than the 500s.

Aside from the longer stroke etc they're exactly the same bike.

[Yamahardman]

Aside from the longer stroke etc they're exactly the same bike.

I thought the 500 and 400 share the same stroke, and the stroke gets longer with the xr650r engine?

[Nausea]

Any comments on the 500?

.

Interesting mileage on that bike, it has done less than 1,000km in the past 7 years although apparently the previous owner left the country & did not put the rego on hold which is why it had to be re-registered. Somebody asked the trader why he bought it in September & then re-advertised so quickly for $500 more & he wouldn't answer the question, which always makes me wonder.

I bought mine in November & have found a few Easter eggs so I'm going to restore it pretty much straight away. My advice would be to make sure the bike is as complete as possible as parts such as factory indicators, headlight ears etc are as rare as rocking horse poo.

[ICE180]

try here

http://www.amy.hi-ho.ne.jp/tachi/eng.../spec_eng.html