1972 Honda CB 500-4

Stock sucks! Performance rocks! Or at least that was what I learned from reading and re-reading many motorcycle magazines during a long year without having one. Yamaha had made a huge splash with its RD350/400 two-strokes, and they quickly became known as the giant killers. Bikes of twice their displacement were being humbled on the tracks by these impressive machines. The RD's were faster, lighter, and handled better.

Despite my disappointing experience with a previous Yamaha two-stroke, I fell in love with the RDs. I visited the Yamaha dealer many times to contemplate about making one my own, but I would have had to purchase one new and that was something my wallet was not yet prepared to do. Another bike that was getting decent reviews at the same time was the middle weight Honda 500/550-4. Although the Yamaha would have eaten it for breakfast according to the periodicals, it nevertheless had great potential.

I came across a used '72 Honda 500/4 at Cycle World in Toronto's west end with a price that was well within my means. I vaguely remember the shop letting me to test the bike in their parking lot, and that was all it took to close the deal. Although I had gone down in engine displacement from my previous bike, a 650 vertical twin, I gained two more cylinders, better brakes, and a bike with a much more sporting attitude. It was a good starting point for building a street racer.

Racer Wannabe

As soon as I got the bike home, I immediately tore into it. I repainted it in classic black to give it a more aggressive business-like look. I then swapped out the handlebars with the clubman bars leftover from my previous bike completely forgetting how much I hadn't liked them. And just because it was easy, the stock chrome front fender was replaced with a sexier fiberglass unit. With the cosmetics taken care of, it was on to the next stage.

Stage two concentrated on gaining a few more ponies. A mean set of four into one pipes finished in flat black from Alphabet Headers and a performance air filter helped the engine breathe and sound better. Then I made a decision to install a hotter cam. And it is here that it really helps if you know what you are doing. Cause if you don't, and I didn't, you will end up with motor that will not be very happy in the real world of day to day riding.

Being much wiser now, I can easily say that I should have taken the time to educate myself on cam design and the different applications. Even better, I should have talked to a reputable mechanic experienced with this engine and heeded his advice. What I actually did was to go straight to the parts counter and purchase the first cam I saw behind the display glass advertising more power. Nobody took the time to warn me about my choic

It's a racer!

e, not even the guy who installed the cam while I had the bike in for general service. But I certainly knew I had made a major error when I rode the bike home.

According to an enthusiast's web site, the Honda 500/4 produced 50 hp, weighed 410 lbs., and had a top speed of 112 mph. The new bump stick, exhaust and filter had definitely improved those stats, but it had also killed what little bottom end there was to begin with. I had to spin the motor to ridiculously high rpm's before there was sufficient grunt to get the bike moving without bogging. The power band was so narrow and peaky that even a two-stroke racer could not have done worse. However, I must admit that it did have a nice kick in the pants when it did hit that narrow power band.