CliffD
Grasshopper
Hello!
Recently, I picked up a 1980 CX500 Custom that from 10 feet, looked like new. From 3 feet, you could see that pretty much everything on the exterior of the bike needed replaced. I believe many, many new riders have learned to ride on this old bike lol.
I've started the restoration and am taking advantage of the still warm weather to get most of the cosmetics done and will take care of the mechanical and internal restoration this Winter. The bike came with a Quicksilver fairing and it's the first fairing bike I've ever owned or ridden. It didn't take me long to fall in love with it
Mine had a lot of issues though. There were many cracks, one turn signal was busted, the trim work was scuffed in half in two places, the windshield had extra mounting holes drilled into it and even the aftermarket clock had the wires cut in two places.
I did quite a bit of research, including many posts on this forum and decided to tear into it. I got lucky and found a "donor" fairing that had been in a wreck, but the trim pieces were still good. I got a replacement windshield off Ebay. Using information from this forum, I repaired all the cracks with ABS glue and used Bondo Bumper Repair to smooth over the cracks. I then repainted both the interior and exterior. I also replaced the turn signals with an Ebay find!
I'm thrilled with it now! Before, it had some minor shaking at highway speeds. Even at idle, the old "twisted twin" would shake the crap out it lol. Now, she rides without any shake or vibration. I cleaned up the wiring, repaired all the extra windshield holes, etc. Oh, and I had to add some striping to match what the bike will be when I get to that part Oh, and I got the clock working too!
Just wanted to say thank you all for providing a forum like this and for the information I read before before taking on the project!
Good luck and be safe!
Cliff
Recently, I picked up a 1980 CX500 Custom that from 10 feet, looked like new. From 3 feet, you could see that pretty much everything on the exterior of the bike needed replaced. I believe many, many new riders have learned to ride on this old bike lol.
I've started the restoration and am taking advantage of the still warm weather to get most of the cosmetics done and will take care of the mechanical and internal restoration this Winter. The bike came with a Quicksilver fairing and it's the first fairing bike I've ever owned or ridden. It didn't take me long to fall in love with it
Mine had a lot of issues though. There were many cracks, one turn signal was busted, the trim work was scuffed in half in two places, the windshield had extra mounting holes drilled into it and even the aftermarket clock had the wires cut in two places.
I did quite a bit of research, including many posts on this forum and decided to tear into it. I got lucky and found a "donor" fairing that had been in a wreck, but the trim pieces were still good. I got a replacement windshield off Ebay. Using information from this forum, I repaired all the cracks with ABS glue and used Bondo Bumper Repair to smooth over the cracks. I then repainted both the interior and exterior. I also replaced the turn signals with an Ebay find!
I'm thrilled with it now! Before, it had some minor shaking at highway speeds. Even at idle, the old "twisted twin" would shake the crap out it lol. Now, she rides without any shake or vibration. I cleaned up the wiring, repaired all the extra windshield holes, etc. Oh, and I had to add some striping to match what the bike will be when I get to that part
Oh, and I got the clock working too!Just wanted to say thank you all for providing a forum like this and for the information I read before before taking on the project!
Good luck and be safe!
Cliff
