CX 500 RR

This is the bike of  Mike Meyers e this your story  

The bike started out as a 1980 CX500 Custom. The engine is what intrigued me, 

I love how it does not have a supporting frame, just hanging there, making it the center attraction of the build.

I am a graphic designer and have a love for clean typography, which shows up in the layout and design of my build with the tank and tachometer showing this best.

The bike looked very clean with only 10k on the odometer but once into the build I found a lot of surprises. The first of many was green slime oozing from the pulser cover. There were many imperial bolts that had been forced into the metric threads. Many of the parts were very clean though with no rust and I was able to sell off the extra parts to guys that were trying to restore similar models. I was able to make back the 1200 dollar initial purchases price and profit an additional 400 dollars on top of that to help fund my build.

After a full go through it was obvious that a full engine rebuild was in order. There were many things worn out in the engine. Once the power plant was back together and it was running, it was ready to convert to a proper café racer. I had many people tell me I was stupid to start with this platform but that only made me all the more persuaded I was going to prove them wrong.

The CBR600RR front end was the first major change; it was a perfect fit lowering the front end to give it that more aggressive stance. Achieving better handling and stopping power with dual front disc didn't hurt either. The wiring of the new controls into the stock harness was a bit of a challenge but only added to its appeal.

Next I moved on to tackle ugly mag wheels, they had to go. A fellow CX500 forum member told me that the 75-77 GL1000 wheels would fit the CX500 with a bit of modifying. The important thing was that the final drive splines had to match. The rest was milling, spacing and shimming to get it all to work. This was the hardest part of the build for me, well worth the effort in the end.

As the build progressed I found myself buying more and more parts from CBR600RR models. This led me to name my build the CX500RR.

One of my favorite parts is the CX500 Deluxe tank with the CBR600RR gas cap grafted into it. The rear sets are off a CBR600RR as well.

Being my first build, a few times i felt like I was in over my head. It was nice to have a great friend to turn to, Tyler Schwarzkopf of BleedMachine Industries. He encouraged me to buy my first welder and fabricate my own parts. After a big learning curve I was able to make many of the parts I wanted but when it came to the tank, tail and mufflers, I was more than happy to turn it over to Tyler and his mad skills. He was able to execute my designs perfectly.

The new carbs I installed really gave it the extra power I craved and I got them custom from Murray's Carbs. Murray's tips on getting them dialed in specific for my build were invaluable.

The only stock parts from the original bike are the frame, rear swing arm, final drive, tachometer and ignition switch. 

In the end, my favorite part of the build turned out to be the rear caliper holder. I designed it, then crafted it in 3 dimensions out of cardboard to make sure it would fit and work before finally having it milled out on a CNC machine. It's funny now, that it is installed and painted black you do not even notice it but I know its there.

Having people stop me and ask what year is my bike and when did Honda start making cafe racers just puts a smile on my face and the story of the build unfolds.