[Has anyone re-routed the air intake?] ….. Some place in Thailand did it. A tube came out from the air intake, then through the frame and out the other side where the air filter was attached. It was way too much. I would keep the stock air filter. If you want to improve things, change it at 4,000 mile intervals. I think 12,000 miles is too long, even if you drive where it’s not too dusty.
[Broke a tooth off first gear on CB500F – so I have no first gear – what to do?] ….. Save your money, go down one tooth on the front sprocket, then always start in 2nd gear. I had a bike once where I had to push off to get started ….
[Need new shocks or seat for Rebel 500 – highway bumps knock me up out of seat.] ….. I have a Rebel 500 with the same problem. The rear shocks are bottoming out. You need to set them between 3 and 5. I have mine on 5. Also I have my tires on 26 PSI cold. That helps too. A seat cushion can help also.
[Widest tire to fit Rebel 500?] ….. I am sure a 160/80 would fit. I think the risk of not working is low. Might need to grind off a little of the chain guard. Then the chain is real close. If I had to, I would change the alignment just slightly to move the wheel away from the chain.
[Rebel 500 – Running lights in front, but not in rear?] ….. Yes – you have running lights only in the front. The running light goes off when the turn signal for that side is on. When you put on your left turn signal, for example, your left running light goes out – like upscale cars do. It makes the turn signal show up better.
[Low battery issues.] ….. It will charge faster if you can turn the headlight off. I added a headlight on-off switch to my bike – when it’s hard to start, not running good, or the battery is low, I can turn the headlight off so it will start easier. I have the toggle switch on the HIGH beam wire so I can turn the headlight on or off by just using the hi/lo switch.
If your air filter is in good shape, you could just clean it up real good and re-install it, then make a pre-cleaner out of fabric to put over it. Then going forward you have to just clean or replace the pre-cleaner.
After a ride, when the bike is hot, put on a leather glove and polish it while it’s hot. The burned on plastic will come off. Be careful and you (probably) won’t get burned. I use Mother’s Mag and Aluminum Wheel polish. .. Edit: (wife yelling) be very careful- you might get burned. I did.
[Lost key] ….. If you just want to get your bike going without spending much money, you could just bypass the ignition switch with a toggle switch. Then you could drive the bike now and get the key made later.
[Headlight condensation] ….. No the lens can’t be removed. What I would do is remove the bulb, then put a fan on back of the headlight to dry it out. A heatlamp might help, too, but be careful.
[Rebel 300 not revving it up enough] ….. My opinion is that you are probably not revving the bike high enough to get into its power range. If you are cruising at 45 mph in 6th gear, that is 4,100 rpm – the bike develops its most torque around 7,300 rpm. (Please see attached shift points.)
[Rebel 300 shift points] ….. Here is mph at 5,000 rpm in each gear: 1) 17 2) 25 3) 34 4) 42 5) 48 6) 54 If you tape this near your speedometer, you will know about when to shift – example: in 3rd at 34 mph your are hitting 5,000 rpm, so you can shift up to 4th. Then, in 4th at 42 mph your are hitting 5,000 rpm, so you can shift up to 5th.
Rebel500 