1981 Honda XL500S Part 4: preparing for the first road and trail ride
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- Опубліковано 10 вер 2024
- Installing new tube and rear tire, testing the fuel tank patch, new cables and adjusting the cam chain in preparation for its first real ride after 15+ years of sitting in a barn exposed to the elements.
- Авто та транспорт
love to see an old bike get a new leash on life
Nice work man that bike is coming along nicely 👍🏻
Thank you! I appreciate the support!
Worlds End Motorcycles strikes again (wemoto) have bits for many bikes even Kawasaki and Aprilia!
You need to do a frame up full resto on that bike. They have always been a beautiful bike and look amazing restored. I have the 81 250s that is mint factory new still with 3000 miles. Also have an 82 xl500r that is all original and mint. I had the 81 500 that I sold back in 1999 that to this day I still regret. Looking for another one to go with the 250.
If I had the time and resources I would love to but part of me knows I wouldn’t want to ride it if it was too nice lol. My goal was to get it to be a reliable runner again and enjoy it for a bit before selling.
Got ya!! If you sell it let me know please!🤙
Will do! Are you near PA? That’s where I’m located. I also have the title in my name.
I am in south Florida. I will have to make the drive!
Great work on the tank repair. I don't want to seem over critical, but you made a meal of removing the rear wheel. I usually disconnect the brake cable and the torque arm before removing the spindle, then the wheel just falls out. I was also wincing a bit watching you tackling the tyre. I felt for the rim, do you ever use rim protectors? I make my own from tough plastic bottles such as oil/coolant containers. I have an XL/XR250 mash up and have a 500 on the way (ebay) being delivered this Sunday, I can't wait! Cables can be difficult to source. I'm currently looking for a rear brake cable, don't need it yet, but I will some day and dirtbikes aren't fun without a rear brake, as you know 🤣
Thanks! I will agree with you that I made that a lot harder than it needed to be lol. Can’t say I’ve used rim protectors but will have to look into them. I’m still learning the best method of tire removal/replacement. Not a lot of fun for me with that part lol. Is the 500 you are getting a restored example or a fixer upper? I’ve had good luck with wemoto.com for cables by the way on this bike.
@@Garage2Trail The XL500 is basically a shed built XR/XL mash-up like my 250. I've bought it off a guy called Steve Hill who's a bit of a wizard when it comes to home mechanics. He's also built a road going Honda 500 single by shoe-horning a bigger motor into a CB250RS frame. I'm not sure if that bike ever made it to the US? If you're interested you can find him on UA-cam, you can also see him doing various jobs on my XL/XR500.
@@Garage2Trail I don't think anybody enjoys tire fitting. Last time I did I had to do it twice due to pinching the tube. There was some cussing. 🤣
Lol oh believe me, I had to edit out most of it because the profanity was bad lol
Very cool. I’ll have to check him out! Thanks!
your supposed to pull that brake rod thing from the hub that pushes the brake pads apart that lock up the brakes it slides out of the rear hub so you can grease it you dont want grease inside the hyb because it gets hit enough that it will melt the grease ,and the grease will get on your pads
I hear ya there but I’ve always put a small dab on that pivot point on my other bikes and never had problems. I can see if you go overboard you’d def be asking for trouble! Small dab of anti seize and it’s good to go.
Getting there now , great to see it together and now you know it runs good at least, always a bonus , you plan to just part restore as required and use ?? Thats what I would recommend 👍. As you say if you do it up too much you end up with a garage queen bike afraid to enjoy it . Looking good so far 👍👍
Planning on just getting it to be a nice reliable rider that’s solid and road legal then sell it. Need room for more projects and content for the channel! This bike wouldn’t make sense for me to keep since I have the street legal 400R and 650R already. I do plan on enjoying it for a little while at least! I have the title in my name which will help it sell.
As you say that’s the way to do it 👍 no point if you already have two not so dissimilar bikes already , I would consider a 650 r if it had a electric start swinging towards getting a 701 sm but really would love the xr 650 but kickstart a bit of a pain even on 400 if your in the wrong position off-road 🤣🤣 you should sell the 500 no problems I would imagine easily enough . How do you think it compares power wise etc with the xr400 ?? I had one about 30 odd years ago but can’t recall it’s power etc ? Keep posting the rebuild great to watch 👍
@@wattie1050 kicking the 650R isn’t that bad. Just need to get it at TDC and it fires up almost every time. It’s hard to say about the power of the 500 vs 400 as I’ve only had a little bit of seat time so far but the gearing is so different too it’s hard to compare. Def gets up to speed faster than the 400 because of that. The 400 revs up faster I’d say, power felt close from the short time being on it. Slower to build that power, but it’s there
Nice job getting her back together but I gotta ask. What's that beep we always hear in the background?
Thank you! Lol that’s the battery backup in my garage for my fiber internet that needs replaced.
I'd forget that automatic decompressor - you've got a manual lever and know how to use it - all the other one will do is be a pain in the ass. I've ridden these thumpers for 40 years and all the automatic ones have done for me is make it harder to know when you are at tdc. Using the manual decompressors, these things are just pussycats - try and do it with the manual and you will just work up more of a sweat.
Good idea, thank you for the heads up!
them old Hondas run forever ,but has loud valve noise
Yeah the video and acoustics in my basement make it sound much louder than it is in person. It’s no louder than my XR400 which has always had a little bit of “ticking” for the 23 years I’ve owned it.
What was the name of the website you got the cables from? I need one for my xr500
wemoto.com
My Xl 500 is so hard to Kickstart it's so annoying
Compression is tough or do you mean it’s just hard to start in general? With a clean carb, adjusted valves and decompression cables hooked up, this 81 is extremely easy to start. Easier than I was expecting for a 40 year old big bore thumper.