I had a CX 500, earlier version of the GL, great bike, fun to ride and near bullet proof.
Anybody Ever Own a Honda PC800?
- Thread starter LeeInMpls
- Start date
OP
OP
The Interstate fell through. But it got me something more along what I want from a guy on the CX500 forum I met after the spring ride this year. It is in Wisconsin and the mechanic will keep it until spring for me. Has been totally gone over including new stator, rebuilt carbs, gaskets and seals. Will have some Michellins put on it so I can ride it home from Wisconsin in the Spring:
New Parts
Other Work
Value of parts & Labor $789
One year warranty --- excluding abuse.
Mileage Approximately 28,900
Honda 1983 650 Silverwing Standard
New Parts
- Stator $150
- Mechanical Seal $050
- Cam Chain $060
- O-rings $005
- Shifter seal $007
- Battery $050
- Brake Pads $068
- Coolant $010
- Oil Filter $009
- Fork parts $040
- Gaskets $045
Other Work
- Starter cleaned $020
- Carbs rebuilt $050
- Labor 15 hours @15/hr $225
Value of parts & Labor $789
One year warranty --- excluding abuse.
Mileage Approximately 28,900
Does he have the panniers?
It's another good-looking bike.
It's another good-looking bike.
OP
OP
Thanks Phil! He does have fittings and panniers that don't match color. He recommends painting with Harbor Freight Black undercoat. I've thought about getting roll top dry bags. The Honda panniers are pretty small. I might be interested in a Goldwing Trunk on an extender. Those will hold two Full faced helmets. I am thinking I might ride my GL500 out to pick the GL650 up in the spring and have him recondition my GL500.
The mechanic has had experience with the old Royal Enfields (I was considering a new one) and says the Honda is more durable and easier to work on. This one has a Spitfire windscreen. My GL500 has a Slipstream Turbo windscreen which is larger. I think I will switch them.
I'd think the roll-top dry bags would work well. I also just realized that the bike doesn't have the fairing. Any chance of sourcing that? It would make a big difference, IMO.
The first long trip I ever took on my Silverwing was a ride to Grand Junction from Ft Morgan, CO (about 330 miles) with my associate pastor. He had a GL1200 and we rode over after church on May 7. We were going to re-ride a loop for a church-sponsored bicycle camp. It was a beautiful day on Sunday as we rode over to GJ and it was 65F when we left there at 8AM. We rode to Montrose (and spent a half hour there visiting with my daughter-in-law who works at the library. It was my son's birthday and we planned on being back in Montrose by 6PM for his birthday party). We then rode to Gunnison and down to Lake City, checking out campgrounds as we went. When we got to the campground in Lake City, Jim's Goldwing died. It turned out that his clutch fluid was gone. He headed back to Lake City to try to find some fluid he could use while I made arrangements with the campground. By the time we got the only brake fluid in Lake City into his bike and bled the clutch, it was snowing pretty hard. We rode south over Slumgullion Pass to Creede and South Fork and by the time we got to Creede the show had turned to rain. At the time I didn't really have riding gear, but the GL650's fairing and JC Whitney's biggest windscreen kept me dry from the knees up. Not warm, but dry. We stopped at South Fork so I could put on my long johns. We headed west over Wolf Creek Pass (more snow) where I had my first experience in riding on a (thankfully) small patch of ice. By the time we got Durango, it was 6PM and back up to 65F and we were 105 miles from Montrose. We figured we'd make it to the party by 8:30. WRONG!!
We had to go over Coal Bank and Molas Passes down into Silverton and then over Red Mountain Pass, down the Million Dollar Highway into Ouray and we ran into more snow...in the dark.. and temps back down to 30F. I knew I was going to die! We finally got to Montrose at 10:30, 30 minutes after my folks had left to go back to their house in Grand Junction. The temperature was back up 65F. We had a piece of cake and headed to my folks. When we got there at 12:15, it was a balmy 72F. On our way back to Ft Morgan the next day it got up to 90F once we got east of Denver. I sure was happy that I had had that fairing during the cold stuff, but was almost ready to take it off by the time we got home!
The first long trip I ever took on my Silverwing was a ride to Grand Junction from Ft Morgan, CO (about 330 miles) with my associate pastor. He had a GL1200 and we rode over after church on May 7. We were going to re-ride a loop for a church-sponsored bicycle camp. It was a beautiful day on Sunday as we rode over to GJ and it was 65F when we left there at 8AM. We rode to Montrose (and spent a half hour there visiting with my daughter-in-law who works at the library. It was my son's birthday and we planned on being back in Montrose by 6PM for his birthday party). We then rode to Gunnison and down to Lake City, checking out campgrounds as we went. When we got to the campground in Lake City, Jim's Goldwing died. It turned out that his clutch fluid was gone. He headed back to Lake City to try to find some fluid he could use while I made arrangements with the campground. By the time we got the only brake fluid in Lake City into his bike and bled the clutch, it was snowing pretty hard. We rode south over Slumgullion Pass to Creede and South Fork and by the time we got to Creede the show had turned to rain. At the time I didn't really have riding gear, but the GL650's fairing and JC Whitney's biggest windscreen kept me dry from the knees up. Not warm, but dry. We stopped at South Fork so I could put on my long johns. We headed west over Wolf Creek Pass (more snow) where I had my first experience in riding on a (thankfully) small patch of ice. By the time we got Durango, it was 6PM and back up to 65F and we were 105 miles from Montrose. We figured we'd make it to the party by 8:30. WRONG!!
We had to go over Coal Bank and Molas Passes down into Silverton and then over Red Mountain Pass, down the Million Dollar Highway into Ouray and we ran into more snow...in the dark.. and temps back down to 30F. I knew I was going to die! We finally got to Montrose at 10:30, 30 minutes after my folks had left to go back to their house in Grand Junction. The temperature was back up 65F. We had a piece of cake and headed to my folks. When we got there at 12:15, it was a balmy 72F. On our way back to Ft Morgan the next day it got up to 90F once we got east of Denver. I sure was happy that I had had that fairing during the cold stuff, but was almost ready to take it off by the time we got home!
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Woodaddict
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Phil, you have more stories , "than carter has little liver pills" ( a saying my dad would say). not in a bad way, but a fun and adventurous way!!! your almost ready for the soft cover book!!!!!!! really, between your epic ride, and other mc stories you should be ready
OP
OP
Phil, I have a Slipstreamer Turbo windscreen on my GL500 I will swap with the smaller screen on the GL650. I know where there is fairing to go on it, but I like the sleaker naked look. It is part of the reason for the drybag panniers. The seller in Wisconsin will also have a CX650C for sale sometime next year. He will go over it the same way. I need a bigger garage!
————///—————-////——-/——————-//////The Interstate fell through. But it got me something more along what I want from a guy on the CX500 forum I met after the spring ride this year. It is in Wisconsin and the mechanic will keep it until spring for me. Has been totally gone over including new stator, rebuilt carbs, gaskets and seals. Will have some Michellins put on it so I can ride it home from Wisconsin in the Spring:
Honda 1983 650 Silverwing Standard
New Parts
Sub-total $494
- Stator $150
- Mechanical Seal $050
- Cam Chain $060
- O-rings $005
- Shifter seal $007
- Battery $050
- Brake Pads $068
- Coolant $010
- Oil Filter $009
- Fork parts $040
- Gaskets $045
Other Work
sub-total $295
- Starter cleaned $020
- Carbs rebuilt $050
- Labor 15 hours @15/hr $225
Value of parts & Labor $789
One year warranty --- excluding abuse.
Mileage Approximately 28,900
Labor only $15/ hr. Where is this?
DirtFlier
Site Supporter
In that era, all the Honda motorcycles used the same side bags ("Hondaline"), just painted different colors to match the bike: GL500/650, late-CBX, GL, the V4 models, etc.
JustPassingThru - the loss of power through the bevel drive is great for coffee shop discussions but in the real world, amounts to nothing one can feel while riding.
JustPassingThru - the loss of power through the bevel drive is great for coffee shop discussions but in the real world, amounts to nothing one can feel while riding.
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Had both of those bikes. Liked them. PC not that hard to work on, smooth, Reliable. No adjusability in handle bars though. Comfortable quiet. Very car like. Got a great deal on a BMW and sold it. Before PC I had GL650 Interstate. Stator went bad. Then, water pump seal. Not so easy to work on. Comfortable easy ride for shorter person.
DirtFlier
Site Supporter
The plastic handlebar cover made it difficult to change the bars or add risers. I did the latter and just lived with the 1" gap at the steering head.
It is said within the company that they got auto engineers to help design the trunk mechanism and when closing the trunk on my PC800, it sounded exactly like my Accord trunk being closed!
I never carried a passenger so I made a custom rack to mount my Givi box closer to me. It worked well and never broke which was a problem with the Givi mounts for the PC800. They had too much weight cantilevered way over the back making it flex while my mount put all the weight straight down as if a 25 pound person was riding pillion. Amazingly, I still have that Givi top box and now it's used on my NT700V...yup, with another custom mount.
It is said within the company that they got auto engineers to help design the trunk mechanism and when closing the trunk on my PC800, it sounded exactly like my Accord trunk being closed!
I never carried a passenger so I made a custom rack to mount my Givi box closer to me. It worked well and never broke which was a problem with the Givi mounts for the PC800. They had too much weight cantilevered way over the back making it flex while my mount put all the weight straight down as if a 25 pound person was riding pillion. Amazingly, I still have that Givi top box and now it's used on my NT700V...yup, with another custom mount.
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DirtFlier
Site Supporter
The only photo of it in action is posted above and I rarely make drawings of an entire thing. If I do it at all, I make rough sketches of individual pieces just to work out problems before I get there. The PC800 was a challenge because it has NO exposed bolts/nuts so I had to make plates for each side that are sandwiched between the passenger handholds (two 8 mm bolts) and the pillion. The handholds are also the lifting points for the trunk so those bolts threaded into a steel subframe.
That plate had ears on either end with mounting holes for stainless bolts which you can see in the photos. It also has a triangulated support in the middle of the plate but for the life of me, I can't remember how I did that?
Making it entirely one piece via welding would have been a nightmare so I made the plates, then added the "rack" for the Givi mounting shoe on top and it took many days of fitting, filing, grinding to get it done. By comparison the Givi mount for the NT was easy to make and done in one afternoon since it already has the mounting locations for the Honda top box. That one is also pushed forward but not as much as on my PC800.
That plate had ears on either end with mounting holes for stainless bolts which you can see in the photos. It also has a triangulated support in the middle of the plate but for the life of me, I can't remember how I did that?
Making it entirely one piece via welding would have been a nightmare so I made the plates, then added the "rack" for the Givi mounting shoe on top and it took many days of fitting, filing, grinding to get it done. By comparison the Givi mount for the NT was easy to make and done in one afternoon since it already has the mounting locations for the Honda top box. That one is also pushed forward but not as much as on my PC800.
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OP
OP
Another CX500 forum member got the Interstate above before I could get to it. He was going to sell it for parts (he just needed the wheels but another forum member swapped wheels for it. I found a Standard GL650 which is actually more what I like. It is in Appleton, Wisconsin and I should get it this month somethime. This is the work the mechanic put into it:
New Parts
Stator
Mechanical Seal
Cam Chain
O-rings
Shifter seal
Battery
Brake Pads
Coolant
Oil Filter
Fork parts
Gaskets
Other Work
Starter cleaned
Carbs rebuilt
Labor 15 hours
Here it is with new Michillens on her. The mechanic's first tires from his supplier weren't as new as he would like so he made them order new ones. Should get it sometime this month. It has a Spitfire windshield on it. I might swap it with my GL500's Slipstreamer Turbo.
I got these bags for it. I am not into the samsonite luggage look and the GL saddle bags are so small
This is my GL500 I am hoping to put a sidecar on it for my akita dog. It has 7,800 miles on it. I need to replace more rubber and gaskets on her. Leaks a little oil.
Thanks for the advice here. I hope to put an NT in the garage someday.
OP
OP
The CX500 Forum is a great resource. I'm not sure what it is, but folks seem to spend a lot more time wrenching their CX500 bikes than at other forums. Partly because they are so easy to work on, folks are always taking them apart, repainting frames & engines or Cafing their bikes (Older owners seem to like to restore and younger like to make cafe bikes.)
There may be more third party parts sources than back in your day. And there are many "parts bikes" available. And they seem bullet proof.
The better MPG on the 650 is due to the gearing along with the electric fan.
DirtFlier
Site Supporter
JustPassinThru - I think you're being unfair about Honda not having parts for a motorcycle from 35-37 years ago! I can't imagine any company would have parts available for anything close to that time.
mikesim
Site Supporter
When I got my sons 79 Honda CB400T and my 78 Yamaha XS650, I was absolutely amazed at what parts were still available from the manufacturer. There of course were tons of those bikes sold back in the day. It will be interesting to see how well Honda supports the NT.
Mike
Mike
OP
OP
The Nighthawks are nice looking bikes.
My GL500 was off the street for 14 years before it came to me. It will be two years ago in June that I got it out of the neighbor's garage. It started right up this spring and seems to be running better than last year. I put real gas in, Sea Foam and Stabil, but didn't take the AGM battery out or put it in a trickle charger.
I am getting the GL650
OP
OP
The GL650 I am getting last had plates on it in 2012. As far as parts goes, my seller in Wisconsin has a garage full of CX/GL 500/650 parts. Last year, I helped a local guy move his garage. I counted 8 engines in his collection. The forums are amazing in helping you get the parts you need.
I think the non-transverse "V's came out with, including the V-Fours relpaced the GL650. The 650s, unlike Honda's usual practice of rounding displacement up, was actually 673cc.
I think the non-transverse "V's came out with, including the V-Fours relpaced the GL650. The 650s, unlike Honda's usual practice of rounding displacement up, was actually 673cc.
I've had three GL500 Interstates over the years. I loved them. easy to work on and I never had a problem finding parts, especially with the CX/GL forum. They are great. The only thing I didn't like about them was the carburetors and I didn't realize I didn't like carburetors until I had a fuel injected bike. I had my last GL500I for the first year that I had my NT. I ended up selling it (well, pretty much giving it away) to a buddies son. He loves it!