Don't mess with it - it's a classic! Back in the 80's when I worked as a motorcycle courier based in London (England), the "plastic maggot" - as the CX500 was disparagingly nicknamed by the press - was the ONLY machine to have. It's early faults (alternator, crankshaft, balancer shaft, prop shaft) plagued it from the showrooms, but Honda burnt the midnight oil to fix things. Eventually, as a reliable, solid, supremely comfortable workhorse it proved second to none. You want to know how good a bike is - not just to show off, or commute, or have a weekend burn-up? Make it work for a living. Put it on the dispatch circuit 10-12 hours a day and ride it through thick and thin, stop-start, rain or shine. It's only contenders were the VT500 and the Kawasaki GT550. But Honda's galumping transverse V-twin was the main man. Top heavy, unpredictable handling on corners, dubious brakes in the wet, rather greedy at speed, all offset by set-and-forget maintenance, ride-all-day cloud-nine-comfort at 85mph, diesel engine reliability, the best lighting set of any bike, and solid enough to write off a car in a collision. A maggot looks after you, like a retired prize-fighter turned butler...

I've ridden so many motorcycles. The clapped out 500 I rode was such a joy. Just like a motorcycle should be. No surprises just so functional and smooth. Much lighter than my goldwing. So much character.

Had two of these. A good windscreen and a sissy backrest made this the best little sport tourer one could wish for. Water cooled and shaft drive made it smooth and reliable. I would happily ride this again.

Thank you for not butchering such a well looked after and beautiful bike

That was fun to watch. I live just south east of Portland and the One Moto is so much fun I go all three days.

My Dad has the same bike which he bought new. He has put over 300,000km on it. He doesn't ride it anymore, but still has a spot in the garage for it.

I had one back in 1999 and absolutely loved mine. Eventually sold it to someone to restore so was happy it went to a good home! Not a massive engine but that twin just chugs along happily!

I love the CX500. It was my dad's first bike many years ago. Very nice! 👍🏽

Happy you kept it original, I have the same year/model. Had it on the road today for the first tine in years. Love the sound of the engine, cheers.

The GL650 is the final variant (1983). So nice that you left the CX500 DeLuxe as is. I cringe when I see GL Interstate light tourers cut up to make cafe racers, when the touring stuff (fairing, seats, baggage) is so hard to come by on modern smaller bikes.

Such an enjoyable video. I enjoyed your story and that CX from my era. One of the most unloved motorcycles of all time. Yet as you found. Full of enjoyment 40 years later.

When you have a classic motorcycle in exceptional and original condition, I don't see the point in destroying it, it hurts my heart. I agree with any transformation project, but on motorcycles that need rebuilding!

I bought CX500 when they first came out in 78 and loved it. The only thing strange to me was the instrument cluster. I installed a cruse control and rode it all over on the interstate. The original model was tall which I loved since I have long legs and found it to be the most stable bike I have drive. I found at speed I could take my hand off the bars and just had to stick a knee out to change lanes. I ended up selling it while in the Navy and it was snowing so much I could ride it, In the mid 80s I bought a CX500 Custom and used it every day as long as the temperature was above 30 degrees, anything lower than that was just to cold. I ended up selling that one when I had to car pool with a coworker and have regretted it ever since.

I had a 1983 CX500 and a 1983CX650, I had these back in the late 80s-early 90s. The 500 was the touring model with bags, failing and a trunk. I traded them for other motorcycles and have regretted it ever since. I would love to have another CX. It was the best "around town" motorcycle I ever owned as far as being fun to ride. They were both good for long trips as long as you respected their limitations.

I was so relieved when you decided to leave it stock!

I bought one in the eighties with the same problem yours had so engine out, used alternator in, rebuild. I dispatch rode this and other CX 500s the length and breadth of Britain, doing many thousands of miles and in doing so discovered everything that went wrong with them. I became very familiar with getting the engine out and dismantled, fixed and back up and running very quickly. I realised how short service intervals are on motorcycles when compared to cars but I still rated the Hondas comfy seat. Good video by a motorbike enthusiast.

Mine was a turbo. The fuel injection worked flawlessly. It also had disc brakes front and back, with the front forks being anti-dive. Yes, the stator went on it, but thankfully not until after I'd sold it. A mechanic friend of mine said the flat rate for changing it was 16 hours.

That’s a good decision leaving it alone. Too many nice bikes have been ruined by the cafe-racer cult and it’s a unique and interesting machine. That bike isn’t ugly and it’s in exceptional condition.

Thanks for keeping the bike as perfect as it was made

Good call leaving a survivor intact. I had a coworker who had one in the mid eighties- it worked just fine. Love Guzzis too, have an 07 Sport1200 - a solid machine

You’re right to leave it alone. It’s like the Bulldog that’s so ugly it’s adorable. Now it’s a piece of history.

This was never an ugly machine by 1970s standards. It was just a poor man's Moto Guzzi designed for a niche market. Please give Honda the credit they deserve. This was a very comfortable and utilitarian machine.

I've always liked the looks of these. I just lack the shed space.

I have a 79 model Delux, although it has a 80 tank identical to yours. Had the stator fail too, but replaced it myself, with lots of help from the cx owners forum. The front disc is horrendous as you say, lol. Glad you didn’t butcher it.

The only things I would change is the bar handle & bench ...

2 Thumbs Up ! Totally agree with your sentiments on keeping this CLASSIC MC "stock." Glad you didn`t butcher it.... Maybe in 30 (more) years it will be worth $50k to a private collector or museum ?? So: KEEP IT ! Ride On !

Nice CX. I ride a ‘82 GL500i daily. I started ( on the street anyway) on a CB400 Hawk Hondamatic, taking my riding test at 16yrs old on it, which was so perfect for that.

Aussie here Great video and nice story. You definitley made the right decision not chopping that bike for a cafe racer/scrambler. Nice original CX500's are becoming rare I have two CX650 Cafe racers but the original bikes had been laying in sheds for 15 years and were in very poor shape Enjoy your Moto Guzzi when she arrives

I appreciate your decision to keep the bike in tact - it's in too good a shape to 'molest' it. Save the customizing for a bike that needs a lot of work. I've always liked the 650 version of this bike, but it was only sold abroad. It looks enormously better and I'm pretty sure it functions much better too. I recently saw the turbo version for sale online at what I thought was a decent price ... I'm now thinking that maybe it has stator issues. Thanks for the video!

I bought a 1980 new, identical to yours. I still have it.

Really glad you kept it original, I love my 1978 cx500 . I also love my Moto Guzzi, but as you said the Honda was revolutionary, water cooled, tubeless tires etc etc. To many have been turned into cafe racers just because they are cheap and have good looking V twin engines. I think the only thing your bike needs is slightly lower bars, I don't think we got your version of the CX500 in the UK, so maybe just look for original bars fitted to the early European bikes or A series. Obviously this will put more weight on your wrists as you lean more forward but not like clip-ons. Depends if you prefer your more upright bars. You may of been able to work around your stator problem by fitting an Ignitech system instead of your CDI unit, but anyway you got it sorted now.

i loved this video and also love the name of your channel....sotaque de brasileiro hein i am a new subscriber to this channel

I had 2 CX. Reliable and stable Bikes.

Bought a used one cheap back in the 80's as the cam chain was broken. It was something to do with the cams pointing more or less in the same direction. It then ran quite well but unfortunately I ran it into the back of a coach soon after and that was the end of it.

I have the police version. A trike with the fiberglass box. They used a Jeep rear end, removed first gear and added a reverse gear. Reportedly they build 250 mostly for police work and a few sold to the public. :)

That bike is awesome

i like your style

Kudos 🚴

I had one of these EXACTLY like yours in the 1990s. It got stolen. I WOULD LOVE TO BUY THIS BIKE FROM YOU!!! SERIOUSLY!!!

There was a cx 500 Custom which i actually used to think was quite a cool looking bike.

I had a CX500 in the early 80’s.

I bought a new CX 650. Really enjoyed the bike, but the tank was too small and at the time living in northern Arizona sometimes I would have to sweat making it to a gas station on fumes. Always carried a half gallon of gas in my saddle bag. Sold it and bought a Yamaha 850 special.

My ‘82 pulls really well in the high revs, shift it at 9,500-10,000 ( my tach bounces like your speedometer ), it really grabs that next gear well this way too.

Glad you kept it standard

The only thing I would do with it if anything is change The comstar wheel to spoke wheel - have seen it on same model and color as yours it looked very cool

Hi, I had a 1980 cx500 eurosport back in the day. As you say a quirky bike but lots of fun to ride, my daily now is a 1983 honda vt500c shadow with large aluminium panniers and I ride all year round here in the uk no matter what the weather and the honda never misses a beat.

I had a CX500 Deluxe in 1980 before I join the airforce after I got out of the Air Force I wrote it all over the country when it was 10 years old and had 250,000 miles on it the cam chain broke and destroyed the engine. What I didn't like was I paid $2,500 for the bike in 1980 and in 1982 they were selling it for 1500. Everybody who pay full price for one of them should have gotten one for free.

Nice bike . It seems so similar to my Moto Guzzi V7

what happens , if I remember, the stator wires , the connector where the stator wires join the main frame is too small and add a bit of corrosion, high resistance, burns out the stator. Keep the connector clean and dry and you are fine! I rode one for years in london ! ... keep the honda standard !

I bought a 1978 CX500A as my first full-size motorcycle back in 1982. Handling was dangerous, and trying to go around corners with pegs on the ground above 60mph would make it uncertain, above 75-80mph had the bike buck and weave like a boat in rough sea. I tried it at 95 once and was lucky there was a big parking lot I could use as run-off area. The 33mm fork stanchions are way too thin for optimal stability, the springs in it way too soft, as is the stock damping oil. The shocks suffer the same malady of not enough spring and definitely not enough damping. New shocks with proper spring rates and damping along with significantly stiffer fork springs and thicker fork oil will go a long way to give the bike safe and predictable handling, and should also tame the drastic shaft drive torque reactions. It should also add some much needed cornering clearance, reducing the amount of metal left in bends. Brakes probably needs new pistons on seals in caliper and master cylinder in addition to a new brake hose, plus new pads made more for performance than long life. I still have fond memories of the CX, though, and I have loved the looks of it since it first came out. The looks and the ease of maintenance are probably the main reason that I still smile when I think about it, because for the way I like to ride, it really is not ideal.

Great video i had a cx500b for ten years fantastic bike now have a FJR1300A and a HAYABUSA

These are some of the most reliable machines that Honda built in that era. They were used for Courier purposes in the UK, where it became the Go To for business services that employed any document movement. Glad you didn't cut it to pieces, or put a rash of grey market garbage on it.

Well in some country The CX is born with two front disk brake ? And some of The CX500 has The same headlight as The CX500C other has a small cockpit

8:35 it’s running from the battery. - nice bike. Does Honda’s other tanks and seats fit that bike frame? I would think so.

Thank you for not destroying a classic, that would be a crime lol.

Hi, can you tell me please what the colour code for the paint on your bike is.

I thought you Americans had a 55mph speed limit, or was that when we were in LA back in 1981? At least it looked like you were riding well over that limit. And the engine was running smooth as silk. The Deluxe version was not available here in the UK, just the Ugly standard version, and the 500C Custom version. I much preferred this Deluxe version in that Candy Apple red colour.

I must be the only person that hated my CX 500. I came to it from an RD350b. Fat lump with a soft wobbly feel.....then the main bearings failed...yup I know they are 'bulletproof'.....well mine wasnt. Couldnt wait to get rid of it after it emptied my bnk account

The Mighty Garage just did a video and that coffee shop is closed up.

My clapped out CX500 Was the bike that took up more hours to repair than ride!!

Great video should teach motorbike videos

Chop up the CX500 Customs, there's a shitload of them out there. Please leave the Deluxes alone, I have a 1981 and it's beautiful as is.

If you can't find the colour code for the bike, the name of the paint will do.

regarding front brake, upgrade to a braided brake line and the sponginess will go away!!!!

IVE NEVER BEEN A HONDA GUY......IT COMES FROM HAVING TO FIX EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. OVER AND OVER...THATS ABOUT 20 OF THEM... MY YAMAHAS JUST KEPT RUNNING....IVE OWNED HARLEYS..TRIUMPH...KAWASAKI...ETC.

Urgly depends on The eyes

Has anybody told you it's an engine not a motor.

good decision to leave it, known as a plastic slug in UK

We used to call it a CX knock knock what an ugly camel

As I recall, the main problem with the CXwas the valve seats. Back in the 80's I was a despatch rider and xome of my colleagues had these. High mileage examples would literally eat their valve seats and after a certain mileage you couldn't adjust the valve clearances any more as the valve stems would protrude so far up that there was no room to adjust further. New valve seats were NOT available so the only cure was new cylinder heads, ho ho. Many cx's were broken up for parts due to this I understand......shame really.