If you like to invest 8 hours of wrenching for an hour of riding, then its a great bike. And be prepared to say "no, I need to .... on my bike" a lot when your friends ask you if you want to go on a ride for the weekend.
They're not that bad, I have a 1979 model and minus making sure the timing chain is tight every 10k miles there's not much maintenance. Just empty all the fluids and spray out the carbs with carb cleaner so nothing is there to gum them up during winter storage and you'll be fine.
Honestly don't know, never tried it. It's too easy to just pop off the rubber air box connector and spray them out since the carbs are side mounted 🤷🏻♀️
What air box connector? My bike (94 Yamaha fzr) has two hoses from the airbox one is a hose that goes into the engine block, the other exits near the footpegs.
I have a Honda 500cx from 1981 as my first bike and the only thing you have to be wary about is to brake early, other than that, great bike, i love it, just make sure to know what you're doing on the mechanical side
That’s what I’m worried about! I have never owned a bike so will this be too much mechanical maintenance for me? Will I be able to take it somewhere to fix anything that goes wrong?
Can you turn a wrench and read manuals and forums? If you’re willing to do try to work on your bike yourself you can do it! All the information you need will be at your fingertips.
I’ve owned several bikes from the 80s. That one looks super clean. They may need a little work along the way but if you can change brakes on a car you can easily work on an old Honda. The carb is probably the hardest part and they really aren’t that hard to work on.
I have the 1979 model 🤷🏻♀️ they don't need as much work as people think. As long as it's running right from the start you just need minimal maintenance to keep it going correctly. Main issues are making sure the timing chain is adjusted and tight every certain amount of miles, like every 10k to 20k miles.
But other than that they're easy to work on.
I don't know if I'd pay $1,500 for one though unless it has low miles and fairly new battery and tires and runs right, cause I paid $800 for mine.
If you're willing to search and learn for hours during your week end and have a second way of getting to your job in the meantime if anything had to go Bad then yeah by all means go get one
The only common issue with the cx500 is the stator. Not sure if it's all years but to replace it you do have to drop the motor. Other than that they are solid.
The cx500 is a very well documented bike for their cafe popularity. It was my first bike 8 years ago, and I still have it now! One thing I would check before buying is get a cheap multimeter and test the stator. If it's bad, haggle or walk away.
As far as reliability goes, the first two years I owned it, I used it as my main transportation year-round in Iowa, save for snow days. In that time, it was dead reliable. I put 16,000 miles on it with nothing else other than tires, fluids, and valve adjustments(which are also super easy btw). I guess there is a reason mail carriers in europe used them forever!
The engine is also super easy to take out of this bike, being that it doesn't have a lower cradle. I can have it out in 20 minutes, and just leave it low enough on the jack to get to whatever I need. One big piece of advice would be if any of these 3 things go out, just do all 3, because you are in the same area for each one. Mechanical seal, cam chain tensioner, stator. Year 2 my mechanical seal started to weep, so engine out, year 3 it was the cam tensioner and chain, engine out, year 5 it was the stator. The first 2 jobs were $100-150 to do myself, so not too bad. The stater took $300 to have rewound, and while I was in it the third time, I did the rae-san ignition($200) for additional piece of mind.
Nope!! I had an 86 CB 500 as my second bike. It looked beautiful and didn’t start half the time. I spent so much fixing random stuff that was impossible for me to diagnose on my own. Get a newer Honda.
If the bike runs now it's an excellent starter bike. It's a dependable, low maintenance engine, and a perfect learning bike at that price.
I got my silver wing (same engine, slightly different bike) for $1700 7 years ago and have only had to replace the tires, battery, and throttle cables. I replaced a turn signal after dropping it. Relatively low seat height, not too much power, but enough for interstate riding comfortably.
It also makes an excellent project bike if you decide to go that route.
Started on a 89 vs1400 you’ll spend 5 hours fixing it for every hour riding it. If that’s cool with you then do it! I love my first bike and still have it, but it’s not exactly “turn key” if I could do it over again I would have got a bike that starts goes and stops consistently then got the project later. As a new rider at the time I did not know what the controls SHOULD be feeling like and it took my a while to realize all kinds of things needed bleeding/adjusting etc… have fun and wear your gear!! Getting stranded in the side of the road is part of the game.
Only if it is good running bike. More miles it has the better because that mean it ran good all its life. If it’s a low miles bike then that’s a red flag for me. Might need maintenance 👨🔧
I would be very tempted myself, because I'm a fan of that particular weird bike. But it would probably frustrate me because I'd spend more time wrenching than riding. The first time I saw one, I was tooling through a neighborhood and had to pop a U-y because I was "daphuck'd I just see?" Since then, every time I see one, it's like "Wow, so they did that."
Someone where I live was selling one last year, and I wanted it so very bad. But he'd turned it into a "cafe racer" by doing all sorts of extremely weird, terrible, and aesthetically displeasing things to it. It was like a freeze-frame from The Human Centipede. Poor little bike.
You could pick up a Suzuki Savage for close to that price that’s at least 20 years newer if price point is your driver. Still wouldn’t be a “new” bike but it would be much more current since they just stopped making them in 2019.
Would make a good ride, looks clean. If it runs good and isn’t leaking everywhere, probably fine. Working on it shouldn’t be hard, maybe there is a dedicated Honda forum.
Very cool antique bike. Would make a great second bike to show off at weekend meetups. I wouldn't buy it for a daily driver, though. If you buy it, get the AAA motorcycle towing option.
My first was a 74 cb450. Loved that bike. That was 2014
Had to rebuild it.
Less than 1k on the motor when I bought it.
But I constantly was throwing wrenches on it.
Plenty of new bikes with the classic look.
I think it's a great idea I personally would bring it to a mechanic before you take it out and give it the works though. All new fluids, replace whatever isint in the best condition, and have a thorough look over and you should be good
Terrible idea. You want to learn how to ride a bike, not fix one. Motorcycles aren’t like cars. They’re far more finicky. Also, first bikes should always have ABS. Really, all bikes should have ABS, but first bikes especially.
it could totally be fine, you would have to take a look at it of course
i bought an '82 XJ750 for 1k but it had some popping issues. overall repairs cost me around 7k cause the pistons were all shot and while i was deep in there on a 40 year old bike, i decided to replace many other parts
so up to u!
I made this mistake -- over 20 years and insurance got complicated, and I had to deal with learning about carbs and how to find 20+ year old parts, when what I really wanted to do was learn to ride. Can't say I recommend it.
Unless you're really, really into doing wrenching, I'd set "fuel injected" and "less than 15 years old" as the bar.
Raise your hand if you remember this bike as the Silverwing!!
If you are mechanicly inclined it's great! But alot of these bikes are going to need alot of maintenance to stay going
If you like to invest 8 hours of wrenching for an hour of riding, then its a great bike. And be prepared to say "no, I need to .... on my bike" a lot when your friends ask you if you want to go on a ride for the weekend.
They're not that bad, I have a 1979 model and minus making sure the timing chain is tight every 10k miles there's not much maintenance. Just empty all the fluids and spray out the carbs with carb cleaner so nothing is there to gum them up during winter storage and you'll be fine.
and replace all the rubber
You have to do that on any old bike though 🤷🏻♀️ it's common maintenance 🙄
How does stabil and running it thru the system for 5 minutes before storage work?
Honestly don't know, never tried it. It's too easy to just pop off the rubber air box connector and spray them out since the carbs are side mounted 🤷🏻♀️
What air box connector? My bike (94 Yamaha fzr) has two hoses from the airbox one is a hose that goes into the engine block, the other exits near the footpegs.
Was talking about the CX 500 on this post. The air box is under the seat and the carbs are side mounted and connect to the box under the seat
Good dependable ride!
I have a Honda 500cx from 1981 as my first bike and the only thing you have to be wary about is to brake early, other than that, great bike, i love it, just make sure to know what you're doing on the mechanical side
That’s what I’m worried about! I have never owned a bike so will this be too much mechanical maintenance for me? Will I be able to take it somewhere to fix anything that goes wrong?
Can you turn a wrench and read manuals and forums? If you’re willing to do try to work on your bike yourself you can do it! All the information you need will be at your fingertips.
I’ve worked on cars before…I’m totally willing. I’ve just never worked on a bike!
Bikes are much easier for the most part than cars
I’ve owned several bikes from the 80s. That one looks super clean. They may need a little work along the way but if you can change brakes on a car you can easily work on an old Honda. The carb is probably the hardest part and they really aren’t that hard to work on.
I have the 1979 model 🤷🏻♀️ they don't need as much work as people think. As long as it's running right from the start you just need minimal maintenance to keep it going correctly. Main issues are making sure the timing chain is adjusted and tight every certain amount of miles, like every 10k to 20k miles. But other than that they're easy to work on. I don't know if I'd pay $1,500 for one though unless it has low miles and fairly new battery and tires and runs right, cause I paid $800 for mine.
If you're willing to search and learn for hours during your week end and have a second way of getting to your job in the meantime if anything had to go Bad then yeah by all means go get one
The only common issue with the cx500 is the stator. Not sure if it's all years but to replace it you do have to drop the motor. Other than that they are solid.
The cx500 is a very well documented bike for their cafe popularity. It was my first bike 8 years ago, and I still have it now! One thing I would check before buying is get a cheap multimeter and test the stator. If it's bad, haggle or walk away. As far as reliability goes, the first two years I owned it, I used it as my main transportation year-round in Iowa, save for snow days. In that time, it was dead reliable. I put 16,000 miles on it with nothing else other than tires, fluids, and valve adjustments(which are also super easy btw). I guess there is a reason mail carriers in europe used them forever! The engine is also super easy to take out of this bike, being that it doesn't have a lower cradle. I can have it out in 20 minutes, and just leave it low enough on the jack to get to whatever I need. One big piece of advice would be if any of these 3 things go out, just do all 3, because you are in the same area for each one. Mechanical seal, cam chain tensioner, stator. Year 2 my mechanical seal started to weep, so engine out, year 3 it was the cam tensioner and chain, engine out, year 5 it was the stator. The first 2 jobs were $100-150 to do myself, so not too bad. The stater took $300 to have rewound, and while I was in it the third time, I did the rae-san ignition($200) for additional piece of mind.
Prince would approve!
Get ready to get a lot of old guys wanting to chat you up about your bike. They're great though.
Can't really go wrong for $1500
Would make a dahm cool bobber
I think this is a great first bike. 👍🏻
Nope!! I had an 86 CB 500 as my second bike. It looked beautiful and didn’t start half the time. I spent so much fixing random stuff that was impossible for me to diagnose on my own. Get a newer Honda.
Purrfect!
If the bike runs now it's an excellent starter bike. It's a dependable, low maintenance engine, and a perfect learning bike at that price. I got my silver wing (same engine, slightly different bike) for $1700 7 years ago and have only had to replace the tires, battery, and throttle cables. I replaced a turn signal after dropping it. Relatively low seat height, not too much power, but enough for interstate riding comfortably. It also makes an excellent project bike if you decide to go that route.
Started on a 89 vs1400 you’ll spend 5 hours fixing it for every hour riding it. If that’s cool with you then do it! I love my first bike and still have it, but it’s not exactly “turn key” if I could do it over again I would have got a bike that starts goes and stops consistently then got the project later. As a new rider at the time I did not know what the controls SHOULD be feeling like and it took my a while to realize all kinds of things needed bleeding/adjusting etc… have fun and wear your gear!! Getting stranded in the side of the road is part of the game.
Only if it is good running bike. More miles it has the better because that mean it ran good all its life. If it’s a low miles bike then that’s a red flag for me. Might need maintenance 👨🔧
I would be very tempted myself, because I'm a fan of that particular weird bike. But it would probably frustrate me because I'd spend more time wrenching than riding. The first time I saw one, I was tooling through a neighborhood and had to pop a U-y because I was "daphuck'd I just see?" Since then, every time I see one, it's like "Wow, so they did that." Someone where I live was selling one last year, and I wanted it so very bad. But he'd turned it into a "cafe racer" by doing all sorts of extremely weird, terrible, and aesthetically displeasing things to it. It was like a freeze-frame from The Human Centipede. Poor little bike.
You could pick up a Suzuki Savage for close to that price that’s at least 20 years newer if price point is your driver. Still wouldn’t be a “new” bike but it would be much more current since they just stopped making them in 2019.
Would make a good ride, looks clean. If it runs good and isn’t leaking everywhere, probably fine. Working on it shouldn’t be hard, maybe there is a dedicated Honda forum.
Nah I think not
Very cool antique bike. Would make a great second bike to show off at weekend meetups. I wouldn't buy it for a daily driver, though. If you buy it, get the AAA motorcycle towing option.
My first was a 74 cb450. Loved that bike. That was 2014 Had to rebuild it. Less than 1k on the motor when I bought it. But I constantly was throwing wrenches on it. Plenty of new bikes with the classic look.
Great choice 👍🏼
If you like working on it you'll probably fall in love like you've loved nothing else or there's a good chance you might absolutely hate it 😂
I think it's a great idea I personally would bring it to a mechanic before you take it out and give it the works though. All new fluids, replace whatever isint in the best condition, and have a thorough look over and you should be good
Great bike but would haggle with the price.
It's pretty shiny but it is from the '80s and it's only a 500. Id offer 1000 and see what he says
No 👎 Get a newer bike.
Great bike be careful use gear every time you ride
Not a great first bike. Find a mid 90's or newer Japanese bike that has been maintained.
Terrible idea. You want to learn how to ride a bike, not fix one. Motorcycles aren’t like cars. They’re far more finicky. Also, first bikes should always have ABS. Really, all bikes should have ABS, but first bikes especially.
it could totally be fine, you would have to take a look at it of course i bought an '82 XJ750 for 1k but it had some popping issues. overall repairs cost me around 7k cause the pistons were all shot and while i was deep in there on a 40 year old bike, i decided to replace many other parts so up to u!
Like potatoes and Wonder bread, avoid carbs.
Carbs are easier to work on by yourself.I personally love them
I made this mistake -- over 20 years and insurance got complicated, and I had to deal with learning about carbs and how to find 20+ year old parts, when what I really wanted to do was learn to ride. Can't say I recommend it. Unless you're really, really into doing wrenching, I'd set "fuel injected" and "less than 15 years old" as the bar.
You must be willing to wrench on it yourself. I had a older bike and the dealers around me wouldn’t touch it. It is too old I was told. (440 LTD)