1992 CR500R restoration

Those "markings" are Decompression 'ports'. Been that way for decades.

I've just done the first re-bore on mine, after 15 years of riding it , over 27,000 ks(it's registered / plated, but it's 98% dirt) and somewhere over 1400 hrs. Off course, I've run through it , I think, 5 std pistons - as I had stds left over from previous 500s, and friends donated their left overs. I could have put in an .25mm OEM piston, but one wasn't currently available. So, I had to "waste" a bore and go to a .5mm over bore.

Out of guilt, prior to the top end pull down, I also purchased a Wossner rod kit (std cranks here are something like $1300 A.U.D - Honda really doesn't intend to sell them, I think) , OEM main bearings ($26.00 each A.U.D! Why would you ever go non genuine?) and seals. It doesn't need it, and I'll probably hold off on doing it until I get some wide ratio gears.

A simple ( indeed, utterly primitive) engine, that lasts damned near forever. And, with the right set up, it can do everything.

Absolutely stunning representation of that year.
Great job.

Not a 'guru' by any means, but, if you are going to keep the bike, and you've got the original carb, I'd Highly recommend buying a Brand New Airstriker carb.

That PJ, will be worn. It's a 92, so even if it sat for years, there's been a lot of up and down action of the slide in the carb. Wear, as in slide to body. Leaking / bleeding of air through that wear. Plus the PJs combination choke knob / idle adjustment is 'iffy'.

An Airstriker, be it a 38mm, or I think they are to be had in up to 40.5 / 41mm. A good, honest carb. Me, I just use a 38 but oval bored it , though, that's a bit of a wank, as in my riding, I'm rarely out of the midrange. Get a new one. Don't eff around with a second hand carb that will likely be worn, too. I wasted money on a bloody SMARTCARB that I could never get the bike even started with reliably. Must chase them up on that....

Did you 'treat' the bike to a new throttle ( and Clutch) cable? New cables can rid you of some weirdness that you could be forever chasing. Also, a healthy throttle unit can alleviate problems. Cable catching in the body, cable routing wheel worn and wobbly, throttle tube worn etc.

Reed Chip(s) definitely will create problems like you described. And, they stand to become bigger problems as they further deteriorate.

A cantankerous 500 is a pain in the arse.

A set of Boyesen Reeds (just the reeds will do) probably cost bugger all in the states. Their eons old #636 dual stage reeds work perfectly, for all around performance, for probably between $40 / $50 USD. They do std type ('Super Stock') single petal reeds for the mid $30s, std style single Carbon reeds low $50, and also the Pro Series Carbon reeds for around the $70 mark . I preferred and used #636s for years.

Looks awesome

Amazing!!

Something to be proud of man! I wish I had the confidence and know-how to build a bike like that

Great looking bike currently rebuilding the same model year 500 as yours. Now that Evo Mx can't sell replica graphics and seat covers, where did you get your seat cover at? I see the oem replacements on eBay, and I have seen the Italian company who has them, is there somewhere else to look? I want the stock look on this bike like yours.

David Bailey said, you have to be smooth and precise with the 500, no squaring off corners per say.
But Lechien and Magoo never heard what DB said

Fun to read through your build! I’m 1/2 inch shorter than you and so cool to see another tall guy riding. I’m mid way through my ‘85 CR500 build. I’ll post up in my own thread later. Thanks again for sharing your build!

Nice job! The bike looks awesome!
Now you made me wanna go get a CR500... ;-)

Amazing work on this build dude, the “home fixes” on the bike were impressive! Well done

Why does it tickover?

I built an RM500AF, CR500 powered. The PWK 39mm carb from a KX500, or even better, the AirStriker, will make your low end crisp without detonation. I added a medium weight flywheel, PC exhaust. The PC helps smooth out the hit a bit so you don't light up the rear tire. The dimples in the cylinder are to ease the starting. It reduces the compression during the run past the port. Those go away when you overbore, giving you a bit more low end grunt. For off roading, the Gnarly FMF pipe is stronger, with a power band lowered a bit for tight riding and in the rocks. The PC works and the FMF works both are power pipes. Just some info.

Great job restoring your bike, what colour red and make are the plastics and where did you get them.

Just sit running on its own.. 2 strokes shouldn't idle. It should rev, drop , run for maybe one or two seconds and stop.

It's always the way - you take a pretty bike out, and you 'Ugly it Up'.

That's why I keep plastics on my 500 (that's it in my avatar) that range from 28 years to 17 years old, while having 4 (well, 8 including the '07 250/125 sets I have for my alloy tank and different subframe I run sometimes ) sets of new plastics sitting happily in an Otto bin....

A 500 - with a good , well jetted carb - shouldn't be that hard to start, a few slow priming kicks to give a 'charge' in the cases, and then a quick, full kick. Warm, generally, just a quick, full kick.

It's a 92, so there could be a fair few kicks that lever went through. And, many of them, with blokes flailing off the lever. You are lucky in your bad luck that you only broke the lever - tearing the KS area out of the cases is a pretty common thing, given the bikes age, and the accumulation of people , as I said, flailing at the lever. And that flailing, with a hard stop on the foot peg, provides a hell of a fulcrum, that the lever acts on. So, broken Levers and Cases.

Quite a variety of CR / CRF levers will fit the 500, if you can't find a new 500 item at a decent price. They are also lighter, but, with later , better metallurgy, just as strong, or perhaps stronger, than the std one. You've just got to determine clearance, mainly regarding the pipe you have. I used a CRF450 / CRF450X one for a while, as the foot section sits lower than standard - my legs don't bend (even close to) to 90 degrees, so lower / short levers help me immensely. I run an old Gas Gas 300 lever - that has, I think, only a 12/13mm pivot post as against, I think, the 19/20mm of the std lever knuckle - that I welded to the top of a Honda knuckle I had, with a long foot piece I machined up for it - I have an auto decomp I made for it, that enables use of a short kick lever, with such a small diameter pivot post, and want to Emphasize that the much smaller pivot post on the Gas Gas lever, would probably last only a few kicks, Without a Decompressor. As it is, the Gas Gas lever has been in use for , I think, 15 years now : It all makes starting easier for me. Another advantage of my short lever, is that it gives you more speed to your kick. The standard CR ignition doesn't produce a particularly strong 'spark' in a kick through, so more speed to the lever, helps. A decomp set up is a very wise thing to have, it makes it easier on the starting components, and you. The atrocious Quebecois E start I wasted a few K on, well, it's crap that is an engine destroyer.

Have you checked the timing and pick up clearance on it? They can be (part of) a recipe for cantankerous starting, and broken levers and cases on the CR500.

To ad - there are people, that say a 2 stroke shouldn't idle. Well, they don't seem to know how to tune a good quality, healthy carb, that has a proper choke and idle circuit. I can leave my 500, idling away (because of my utterly f**ked legs), while I clear trail falls, and it stays idling, often for a long, long time, and runs cleanly after it. And, I've Never, Ever fouled a plug on it, in the now 17 (or 18?) years I've had this particular 500. Perhaps it's because I've thermal fans on it, but even before I put fans on, I never fouled a single plug on it, or, since the fans were fitted . It would just boil in an instant, without the fans ........ I largely, ride in tight, what people now would call 'extreme' terrain ( hence the Michelin X1 in the picture) on the old Teddy Bear / Torque Monster of a bike, so if a bike is going fritz a plug, that should be happening, all the bloody time. But, it doesn't, yet it also works perfectly well when I do run it up into high(er) revs.