How Cagiva WMX 500 was like

11/25/2011 6:10pm
My serial number is 21 0000 9 am in touch with people from Italy and horn got me an OKM original cylinder for 300 euros with its piston, 1 / 32 is well
11/25/2011 6:12pm
you know you have this bike on a social networking site not?
JHG67
Posts
4
Joined
6/24/2011
Location
New Philadelphia, OH US
11/26/2011 5:54am
Chase nice project I am in envy.....
Your bike looks like either the 1985 model with the desert tank or the 1986 model. They where pretty much the same bike.
the 1986 got the giant tank and a floating front disc versus the 1985 which had the solid mount disc and the smaller mx tank.
Keep posting the pics, I can't wait to see her finished!!
BRAAAAAPPPP...PING..PING...PING............. Smile
chase
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5
Joined
11/25/2011
Location
Camino, CA US
11/26/2011 5:52pm
Thanks for in the info gents,i got called into work so the project has not progressed much, besides me putting on the new throttle cable that the mad at the store cut to short... but i tool some more pictures to remember how this bike started off and ill throw them up here if anyone is interested ( and change my signature from 85 to 85 haha thanks buddy



The Shop

chase
Posts
5
Joined
11/25/2011
Location
Camino, CA US
11/26/2011 5:57pm Edited Date/Time 11/26/2011 8:24pm
Thanks for the info gents i was called into work so the project has not progressed besides me putting on the new throttle cable that the man at the store cut to short





here are two more pics with the plastics off so i can remember how it was when i started. now i just have to change the year from 85 to 86 in my signature haha thanks buddy

also, does anyone know if the intake manifold can be swap from any other 500? Mine had a few cracks that i have repaired but when im finished with the restore its going to be replaced
chase
Posts
5
Joined
11/25/2011
Location
Camino, CA US
11/27/2011 5:04pm
Got a video up on youtube, the idle on the bike is too low but she runs Smile ( first WMX500 video on youtube BTW )

http://youtu.be/0x5GNJz1QFQ
mosslander
Posts
736
Joined
2/1/2009
Location
Travad SE
11/28/2011 1:25pm
chase wrote:
Got a video up on youtube, the idle on the bike is too low but she runs :) ( first WMX500 video on youtube BTW )...
Got a video up on youtube, the idle on the bike is too low but she runs Smile ( first WMX500 video on youtube BTW )

http://youtu.be/0x5GNJz1QFQ
I saw a video from 84-85 someting with Pekka Vehkonen leading a moto in MXDN held i Finland
1/8/2012 11:58am Edited Date/Time 1/8/2012 5:53pm
You know, some of guys know there is a Cagiva WMX-500 Group on Yahoo. We pool our pictures there for reference, and let each other know about parts sources to keep our bikes running.

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/CagivaWMXR500/

It probably doesn't show up in all search engines, since it is a Yahoo site. It is an old-style bulletin board, but it is still useful, free, and has space for our parts & info. The owner's manual is on there, haven't got the parts manual on yet.

If any of you have any MXR-500 images, we are looking for those (air-cooled).

Mark, administrator
1/8/2012 2:47pm
Cool. A friend rode one in NESC vet class in '85. Remember you could see through the tank. Broken leg shortened the season iirc.
3/16/2012 10:02pm
mosslander wrote:
I saw Cagiva has made a 500 mx bike and wondering if someone had tried this and how it was like and that must be a...
I saw Cagiva has made a 500 mx bike and wondering if someone had tried this and how it was like and that must be a rare bike and hard to find I think?
Friend has one. Big ass bike, tall. Back tire looks like it could be on a tractor. He was riding in a sand pits and a friend on a 125 was behind him. He opened up that torque to that tire and shot a rooster tail into his chest that knocked him off his bike! You have to be brave to ride that beast!
RotiniMX
Posts
2
Joined
9/26/2012
Location
Stratham, NH US
9/26/2012 10:13am
Well, Im getting. Cagiva 500wmx this weekend and very excited to go out and break my neck Italian style! If anyone has a copy of a shop manual that would Awsome!
Good to know 32:1 is the right mix. Is that synthetic or petroleum based . Got lots and lots of Lawn-boy oil.
BigAl
Posts
266
Joined
7/7/2012
Location
Prichard, WV US
9/26/2012 3:58pm
Wmx500 motor on ebay
10/1/2012 8:37am
chase wrote:
Thanks for the info gents i was called into work so the project has not progressed besides me putting on the new throttle cable that the...
Thanks for the info gents i was called into work so the project has not progressed besides me putting on the new throttle cable that the man at the store cut to short





here are two more pics with the plastics off so i can remember how it was when i started. now i just have to change the year from 85 to 86 in my signature haha thanks buddy

also, does anyone know if the intake manifold can be swap from any other 500? Mine had a few cracks that i have repaired but when im finished with the restore its going to be replaced
Just to clear something out, i just bought a 500wmx (mx version) myself and started to control the year models and these bikes were only made in 1984 and 1985 so if you have what you think is a 86, 87, 88 or newer you are way off. They might have been sold in the US as -86 or newer but they were only made adn sold as -84 and -85 model i Europe/Italy. There is some forums on Facebook you can ask if you don`t belive in me.

/Roger, Sweden.
RotiniMX
Posts
2
Joined
9/26/2012
Location
Stratham, NH US
10/1/2012 9:35am
Hey Nogutsnoglory,
Thanks for the info. It is good to see there are other folks out there that invest in out of production spagetti burning MX bikes. Great so it sounds like Italy could not sell all the bikes they made in 85 so they sent them to the US a year later and called them 1986.
Once I get mine running I'll give all you an update on its performance or lack there of.
Where can I get clutch plates for this beast?
Anyone here know who bought that WMX500 engine on EBay.

Rotini MX, New Hampshire USA
10/1/2012 10:16am
RotiniMX wrote:
Hey Nogutsnoglory, Thanks for the info. It is good to see there are other folks out there that invest in out of production spagetti burning MX...
Hey Nogutsnoglory,
Thanks for the info. It is good to see there are other folks out there that invest in out of production spagetti burning MX bikes. Great so it sounds like Italy could not sell all the bikes they made in 85 so they sent them to the US a year later and called them 1986.
Once I get mine running I'll give all you an update on its performance or lack there of.
Where can I get clutch plates for this beast?
Anyone here know who bought that WMX500 engine on EBay.

Rotini MX, New Hampshire USA
ok i figured that was why you called them -86 model, still a -84 or -85 tough...Wink

read something somewhere that the clutchplates from rm500 would fit or maybe that was the sprockets, maybe mixing that up but take a clutch plate and go to the local mx shop and compare them whit a couple of diffrent brands and cc bikes....i would atleast go that way before i order anything if i`m not sure.

/Roger
2/28/2013 5:56pm
Does anyone have a repair manual for a cagiva wmx 500?
BigAl
Posts
266
Joined
7/7/2012
Location
Prichard, WV US
3/3/2013 7:46am
I can get an owners manual
3/5/2013 5:19am
How can I get in touch with you to purchase the manual? Do you want me to call you?
BigAl
Posts
266
Joined
7/7/2012
Location
Prichard, WV US
3/5/2013 10:10am
How can I get in touch with you to purchase the manual? Do you want me to call you?
My buddy was a Cagiva dealer, he'll let me borrow and scan but he won't sell the manual.
3/11/2013 7:30am
I just emailed you nogutsnoglory. Thanks for the help.
3/14/2013 7:10pm
BigAl, how much would you charge me to copy the entire manual and send it to me? I will PAY for an original or manual copy. COMPLETE MANUAL ONLY.
3/25/2013 9:39pm
I will pay $100 for a copy of the cagiva wmx 500 manual. All you have to do is take it to office depot and have them copy and bind it. I will pay for this also. SOMEONE HELP ME ON THIS. I know someone has one.
3/31/2013 11:06am
I finally found 1.
BigAl
Posts
266
Joined
7/7/2012
Location
Prichard, WV US
4/1/2013 6:08am
I finally found 1.
Jake,

I apologize I just saw your posts. I'll check with my buddy and see if he has anything laying around that may help you. He just had back surgery last week, so it will be awhile before he can dig anything out.


I'd like to find a clean 1984 WMX125 or a WMX200. I raced a WMX200 in hare scrambles and cross country, they were awesome bikes
BigAl
Posts
266
Joined
7/7/2012
Location
Prichard, WV US
8/24/2014 6:36am
Found myself one on ebay. Looks rough but is complete.

I have a ton of NOS parts for restoration





barkhard696
Posts
1469
Joined
1/30/2010
Location
Houston, TX US
8/24/2014 12:00pm
What was the story with Cagiva? I remember they broke Suzuki's long run of world MX titles, and then were doing a big push here in the States-- primarily in the 125 class, which in the mid-late '80s was the biggest selling segment of the motocross market (albeit not the premier class that the 250/SX was).

About ten years ago, a "Best of Supercross" DVD boxset was released, and in a number of the qualifiers for the 125 SX (which I think was added as a kind of entry-level SX class in '86) IIRC Radical Ron Turner tears up a few tracks.

Back then I got the impression it was kind of like the Maico thing... Importing, infighting and distributor issues. The bikes certainly looked impressive, and didn't lack for technical sophistication (like say, what happened to CZ and Husky, which were archaic).

I was lucky enough to live in Rome in late '85-early '86 (my Dad was teaching at the American University and the whole family was able to go), and was blown away by the vitality of the European -- particularly Italian-- kind of cottage-industry MX bikes.They were EVERYWHERE. They even had a big class for adults racing 80s!

This was quite a change from Houston where I'd grown up, were it was Yamahas, Hondas and Suzukis... and maybe an occasional Husky, if West-Texas desert racing was your bag. (Kawie had a kung fu death-grip on the 80 class, but for the other classes were still a little bit of an acquired taste.)

I still have a bunch of the Italian MX mags from when I stayed there. Even a lot of the street bikes were MX bikes with lights!

As they say.. should've been a contender. Italian bikes back then were so interesting. What happened?

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