service honda 500

[2strokeforever]

I graduated then worked at a sawmill for 7 months saving all my money...to get a 500
I got my service honda 500af today and I am very happy with it,
I live in bc canada the total cost was around $12 500 after tax, and it took a month and a half for it to arrive. the jetting it comes with is way off it wouldnt rev out, it has a pc pipe and spark aresstor 1200ft elevation. Main - 175 Pilot - 55 Needle - CCJ middle clip (thats the only writing on it), got a 42 pilot and 170 main and works way better but its still running rich, the plug is WET i can rub black goo on my hand from the ground arm... I am 140 lbs and it will wheelie in all gears without the clutch(I need to lean back a bit in 5th tho). I am suprised how easy it starts most of the time i can start it without my butt leaving the seat (140 LBS), but if it dosent start half the time it will "cough" is that normal or could my jetting causing this???. I was expecting it to be a uncontrolable monster but is is very predictable and easy to ride, i found that i can pay more atention to what the bike is doing ,instead of what the motor is doing, compared to a 125. My friend compared the power delivery to a diesel truck very easy to use. the welds on the frame look good, but not as good as hondas welds, very close tho. I know how to jet my bike but I am broke and the dealer wants $9 a jet so I would apreciate any advice that will get me close. the only thing that I didnt like is I burnt 5 liters in 2 hours of trail riding, and the tank holds around 8.5-9 liters, but I think the jetting is partly to blame. handles AMAZIMG better than my former 02 cr 125, but I didnt like the flywheel effect, anyone have a 00-01 250 ignition they are willing to trade for basicaly brand new stock system?:D or sell
I am good at / like tight nasty rutty trails with roots and logs to deal with, and for the year I had my cr125 I have never been outclimbed by anyone (ive met riding) its priceless outclimbing a group of 450 riders on a 125 even in a gravel pit proof that fourstroke riders are

anyone near me to go riding with? it d be cool to try out another 500 to compare



the eline carbon fiber kevlar skidplate looks and feels really strong and stiff

i love the airbox door and yes thats a pair of channel locks for checking my plug


for some reason its not quiet? my 125 with a shorty is quieter

if anyone is considering buying one you can try mine out I live in between kamloops and kelowna

[100hp honda]

sweet . jets are $4.50 each from the dealer here, thats where i go if i only need one or two. if you want a handfull maybe try sudco or check ebay and see if they have any good deals.

[AlisoBob]

If I spent $12,500 on a fukin' DIRTBIKE , and S/H didnt give me TWO of every jet I asked for, Id tell them to stick that AF right up their ass!!!!

I hear stories like this, and just shake my head......


For $12.5k, you must have got some upgrades... what were they?

[100hp honda]

we should be bagging on danny more for being a turn coat than this guy for spending 12k . not everyone has patience, time or tools to do their own. most guys around here are do it yourselfers but its cool if someone wants to buy a turn key bike.

[2strokeforever]

I wanted to build my own, but I wanted everything new (Im sick of riding junk) and bike prices in canada are through the roof.It would cost me more just for the parts to build one than to buy a complete one from service honda.

just before I bought the 500 I looked at last years KTM300 and after everything was said and done they wanted $11 000

I got a carbon fiber skid plate and the spark arrestor thats it, but the $12.5k is after exchange, bad weather shipping fee, tax and shipping so it worked out to $1.5k more than the KTM , and i didnt ask for any jets I assumed it would be close
for you asmericans you could get it for $10 500 and it seems easier to get around taxes there, but then a crf 250 is probably only worth $6000 down there



I got the jetting better, tan plug after wot plug check, the pipe turned blue till halfway thru the second bend , still a little rich at low throttle...

it handles great, killer low to mid, the HPSD seems to work it dosent stop headshake but it makes it really weak, the bar ends only move a inch or 2 if you get it


the things I think could be better:

the clutch dosent fully disengage if you use 2 fingers, adjusted with minimal possible lever free play, makes it really hard to go thru tight trails because when i use 2 fingers for the clutch the bike will stall unless i give it gas and it still tries to creep forward, so i have to use 4 fingers but then i cant pop the clutch to get over a 2ft log because the clutch hand isnt holding on well enough
is that normal for a new bike, or 500 or do you think it was assembled wrong????

the gyro effect I can really feel it, especially after coming off a 125, does 250 flywheel + ignition help this?

when I draged my friends on 250 they would stay right beside me until 4th gear (im a better rider than them), is that normal, or could it be that being on a gravel road made me spin so much that traction was the limit on how fast i could acelerate and more power would just mean I roosted more? I will try on asphalt as soon as i can

it would be nice to have better top end I got 1 days riding worth and I already want more. tan plug after wot plug check, the pipe turned blue till halfway thru the second bend so i know its not rich at wot
is there any way to get more top end power without losing much low end torque or mileage via porting


WHAT IS WITH THE BIKE COUGHING WHEN I DONT KICK IT HARD ENOUGH?????? if it dosent start a quarter of the time it will cough, its not backfiring because my foot dosent feel it when it coughs its just a pop/ phut sound coming out the exaust


heres what i am thinking of getting when i get $$$ anyone do this and what did you notice:
clean up casting flaws,polish exaust port, jet it as close as possible and a 250 ignition... 00 or newer
anyone have a 04 or newer ignition I rode a 04 cr250 and i could feel the traction control compared to a 05 kx and yz 250, i think honda was on to something it worked great(note the TC does not mean you dont spin but it somehow puts power to the ground better than anything else ive rode even with a bald tire )
what is required to make the 04 + ignitions work?

[Nodge]

The cough is normal.
I prefer to call it a sneeze.
That is how you know your bike is about to start in the next few kicks.

PS, your chain looks a little loose.

[caseyracing222]

With your clutch, you want some free play in your lever, and the reason its not disengaging is because your adjustment is wrong on your clutch cable

[AlisoBob]

The cough is normal.
I prefer to call it a sneeze.

I think the correct term is.....

CHOOOF!!!!!!!

[AlisoBob]

...when I draged my friends on 250 they would stay right beside me until 4th gear (im a better rider than them), is that normal,

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......................... no.

[100hp honda]

I wanted to build my own, but I wanted everything new (Im sick of riding junk)

i dont think anyone can argue with that. nothing will piss you off more than buying a used machine only to find stripped bolts, worn out bearings and cracked piston.

[2strokeforever]

I went riding on some big hills and got the jeting better, wow the 500 can shift up on big hills where a 250 needs to shift down, and my bike is geared way higher right now im happy with the power and i know the 250s i draged were only close because there was no traction ( HARD gravel road )

and the reason its not disengaging is because your adjustment is wrong on your clutch cable

please explain, the only way i can adjust from where i am without the clutch slipping is looser which would make my problem even worse

the only thing that bugs me is the stupid clutch can anyone tell me if this is a 500 thing or new bike thing...
I just figured out that I acidently put energy conserving oil in the tranny
thats why you shouldnt work on a bike after a 22 hour day. aparently it can cause the clutch to slip ( it wasnt slipping) im changing it before i ride it again , but i still dont think that is causing my problem, i want to have it fixed before i ride next weekend

THE CLUTCH DOES NOT FULLY DISENGAGE even with the lever pushed to the bars i need to have it adjusted with less (5mm) than the recomended minimum free play (10-20mm) otherwise i cant even shift properly, normaly i use 20mm but i need all the travel i can get


how far should the blue be able to get it geting prety far how long do i have to hold my bike wide open up a steep hill to get a acurate main jet plug test 10, 20, 30 sec? could it be my rich pilot is making a lean main read tan because it takes a bit to burn the black junk off

im a 1200 ish feet 170 main 42 pilot airscrew 2 turns out CCJ needle 2nd from the top
is this way off or does it sound about right

[caseyracing222]

The long hex piece on the cable housing is what you need to adjust, heres a pic http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/ ... 9-2770366-

[100hp honda]

the long hex piece on the cable does nothing for adding more throw to the stroke, its an adjustment same as the adjuster on the perch. if you have the lever adjusted right and still have issues with it not going into gear theres a few things you could check. i know on the ktm a few guys were having this issue, first is they were using aftermarket levers which did not have the same design arch as oem ktm levers and there for not pulling the cable the necesarry amount, also they had extra large handgrips which also decreased the amount of cable travel. you may have other issues but those are a few things to check real quick.

[caseyracing222]

Clyde that adjuster on the cable adjusts when the clutch engages have you ever replaced your clutch cable before? there all funky like this guys describing and adjusting that piece will fix it

[kdizzle]

Every 500 should have come factory with this:

[MojoScojo]

[Xylicon]

Every 500 should have come factory with this:

Bah, those are for bitches.

[nmdesertrider]

Thats like riding a woman with no tits.

[MojoScojo]

THE CLUTCH DOES NOT FULLY DISENGAGE even with the lever pushed to the bars i need to have it adjusted with less (5mm) than the recomended minimum free play (10-20mm) otherwise i cant even shift properly, normaly i use 20mm but i need all the travel i can get

AFTER you get that energy conserving oil out of there, adjust the clutch as far out as you can, maximum DISengagement, and ride it around with the clutch pulled in for a little while. If it does not break free and start working properly, something is assembled wrong. Mine did this when I installed new plates without soaking them in oil before I installed them.

[hoofarted]

Thats like riding a woman with no tits.

[kdizzle]

Thats like riding a woman with no tits.

LMAO I even had to laught at that...

[dannygraves]

go buy yourself a DGN needle and step up to a 172 main before you seize that bitch the pilot sounds about right though. It is rich in the needle, not the main, get the right needle and you'll be set, then keep fatening the main until it blubbers and back it off 1 size, that is the secret to not seizing while WOT from a lean condition.
clyde... GFY I too wanted a new bike because I was sick of old junk, and I got my new bike for $6500 and couldn't be happier regardless of what color it is or how many strokes

good luck with the new SH!

[dannygraves]

for the clutch, get some shell rotella 15w40 (white bottle), drain it, then ride it around a little, then see how the clutch acts, the shell diesel oil always works perfectly with a wet clutch for me, and that is even the oil recluse recommends to use with their clutch. Kinda funny when a big name recommends walmart diesel truck oil for their bike clutch and not maxima or silkoline or moble1 or amsoil, just plain ol' shell rotella for $11/gal

[dannygraves]

sorry, I keep going back and reading more. haveing a 250 hang with you is not unusual at all and having a 450 beat you in a drag also is not abormal. These bikes accell in having tons of low end grunt, it makes it more fun to ride and climb stuff easier, but it is far from a cr250x2 because it is so detuned for controlability. To get more topend, a 250 ignition is a good start, but thats about as far as you can go without really destroying the thing. I built a bike to rev and once it could rev, it was only good for the drags, anywhere else and it kicked me the fuck off every chance it got. Do yourself a favor and either leave it stock, or only do boltons, once you start with the porting it becomes a tuning nightmare and eventually just unrideable.

[kdizzle]

I smell what you are stepping in Danny, I am eyeing a heavily discounted 09 kxf 450 at the dealer.. they are offering 5200 OTD. I will keep my massively tuned and nearly perfect AF for certain tracks (like 395 in adelento), but sometimes the tractability of the thumper is more advantageous than the massive midrange of the 500, especially on the blugroove most of these AZ tracks have. The only thing I am apprehensive about is that i am a big dude, 6 ft and 230LB, and i need a bike with some power. I know the Kawi is known for being a brute, but without riding one I am unsure it will have the power I am looking for.