[-KL-]

Hi Everyone!

This is my first post here. I wanted to tell folks about my C5. A little over a month ago, I decided that I wanted to start riding again. So I started looking for bikes, and since I had always liked the way the Classic 500's looked, I wanted to get one of those.

Anyway, I ended up finding one on CL for what I thought was a fair (not great) price. It only had 1500 miles. At the time, I thought I was paying a little too much, since the bike was rusty, and had a bad exhaust leak, and the chain wasn't lubricated, and a bunch of other little things. It was basically a bike that was stored outside and never ridden.

Once I got the bike, I started digging into it. I changed the oil, lubricated all the cables, and adjusted/lubed the chain, topped off the battery. I also polished the chrome and aluminum and paint.

At first, the bike vibrated a lot - so I figured out a way to rubber mount the exhaust. I also started just riding it normally. Now it hardly vibrates at all.

I also put on a "Punjab silencer" (and head pipe) that the seller gave me. I also removed the o2 sensor. The engine isn't running lean (thank goodness), and sounds awesome. I actually get compliments from other motorcycle riders about how it sounds! Which I never thought I would get with a thumper.

I also converted the bike to a 7 inch headlight and got an "e-code" Cibie, and put in a yellow Hella H4. I even converted it back to "turn offable" headlight so I could start the bike with the headlight off.

So far, I have put over 1200 miles on the bike, and it runs great! Always starts up on second kick (after I kick it a few times with ignition off to get the oil where it needs to be). Here's some big pics.

https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/kl777/unnamed-3.jpg

https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/kl777/unnamed-2.jpg

That is at work. My boss is nice enough to let me keep it in the office, LOL.

[9fingers]

Great story and welcome to the forum! Is that the Punjab silencer in the picture? The bike is a beauty.
9fingers

[-KL-]

Thank you!!!

Yes - that's the Punjab. I put a "torque cone" in it to tune the sound slightly. If you google "harley exhaust torque cone" - you can see what they are. It cost me around $3 worth of parts to make one. Right now, it's got a nice sound - there's like a fundamental low tone (the put, put, put, put from the engine firing) and at the same time, a higher harmonic resonant sound. I kind of did some research into this, and I think the second sound is because the Punjab is literally just an empty tube, so I think it's working like a Helmholtz resonator.

ETA: I don't understand the math - but this is the general concept. I used to have an older Buell, and I remember that the intake used this principle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmholtz_resonance