[oldschoolorange]

Hey hows it going guys, I am building a cb500 cafe racer for a friend of mine this winter.

He does not have a tonne of coin so I am doing things on a budget, What I would like to know is Can I find any cams from another stock engine to fit this engine. ( I have found one aftermarket online but it is expensive)

Also I will be making rear sets for him as well

Any advice or links to technical info would be great

Hey someone pas me the wrench........ Ahh screw it where is the torch

 

[Wally Anderson]

I used RC51 Rearsets purchased on Ebay.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c359/wally1909/3508-1.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c359/wally1909/35013.jpg

Wally Anderson
State College, Pa.
72 CB350K4 Race Bike
97 Ducati 916 mono
03 Kawasaki 500R Ninja

 

[texmawby]

yo wally,

are those rims and spokes gold?

if so, that is really fly!

el tex

"bitches!"

 

[nf343vr]

I assume you are talking about a CB500 twin. If so, any CL CB 450 cams should work also. If you intend to keep the torsion bar valve springs stay with stock cams. It is the opinion of many 450 buffs that the porfile of the stock cams were pretty good and that aftermarket cam makers such as megacycle did not really understand the science of the torsion bars and simply used profiles that worked on other applications.
The stock cams are fine but watch out for the exhaust cam. They tended to wear faster. Most likely due to less lubrication (synthetics should do the trick). The real trick is to get the most out of the cams you have, that is tough with the 450 and worse with the 500. The intake cams were not adjustable on the 450 and niether intake or exhaust are on the 500 as the sprockets and cam are one solid casting. You can find all kinds of information on machining the cam, using sprockets off some older suzukis and CB350 bolts but I came up with a simpler less expensive way albeit more difficult to adjust. You need atleast two older 450 exhaust cams (the sprocket is press fit onto the cam) one good one to put in the engine and one to steal a sprocket from. Press the sprocket off the cam and then turn the intake cam on a lathe to accept the exhaust sprocket. Any good machine shop can do this and it is faily simple for them (my shop charged me $40.00). Now all you need is a press, a degree wheel, a dial indicator and some patience and you can dial in both cams right where they should be. I did this on my race bike (71 CB450) and I am telling you for short money and alittle time it can make a huge difference, the bike rips! (the dual-plugging the cylinders did not hurt either, that's the real power!). Good luck, hope this helps.
KCampbellNH

KCampbellNH

 

[Wally Anderson]

The rims are polished,the spokes are stainless. They appear to be gold but I guess it was the light in my shop.
Wally

 

[oldschoolorange]

thanks nf343vr but this is a CB500 4 cylinder

Hey someone pas me the wrench........ Ahh screw it where is the torch