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Honda Silverwing Gl500 or CX500 Service or Parts Manual Download
By Thom | February 10, 2009
I’ve always been a fan of wrenching on my own bike… that is to say… I’ve always NEEDED to wrench on my bike. I guess it’s part of the fun of owning a vintage bike. I’ve saved literally thousands of dollars working on my bike – for instance, a stator replacement on my Silverwing would have been $850 from the local Honda dealership. Most of time with an older bike, you have to do most of your work by yourself or with a friend that has some mechanical experience. The number of dealers willing to work on the Cx / Gl / Silverwing motorcycles are getting fewer and fewer. Luckily for you, here are some places that you can download the service manuals for free:
Note: These sites go up/down all the time, so please download and save the manuals right away.
First, here are several links that will help you with nearly anything cx or gl related:
- choppercharles.com – A forum dedicated to Honda Cx and Gl’s exclusively – the #1 spot for information!
- Genebitsystems - A very informative website (from a great friend of mine) with several helpful write-ups and ride reports about trips taken on a G500.
- Rob Davis’s CX resorces site – Extremely informative with many different helpful write-ups with great pictures.
Listed below are WORKING LINKS
CX Service Manual Site:
Another resource for a parts manual or a service manual is from (NOTE:They have only the service manual for the GL500 and GL650 Silverwing)
Another resource for CX and GL manuals
Here are some of the technical write ups that I did for working with the Honda CX or GL
Below is a list of the trips that I took on my Siverwing over the years, I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed taking the trips
- Westward Distraction (MN to CA and back)
- Eastward Distraction (MN to VT and back)
- Eastward Distraction Part 2 (MN to FL and back)
- Trip to Bayfield, WI
- IronButt Saddlesore 1000 – 1000 miles in 24 hours
Listed Below Are NONWORKING Links
CX Service Manual (Warning: very large files) (Also, I don’t know how long these are going to stay up, I’ll attempted to keep them updated)
The biggest and arguably the best site for motorcycle manuals is: (Edit 4/7/09 – This site appears to be down, but will be up again in the future, I’ll repost when that happens)
Most of these places have parts, owners, and/or service manuals for:
The CX line: cx500C, CX500, CX500 Turbo, CX500TC, CX650, CX650C, CX650T
And the GL line from: GL500, GL500I, GL650, GL650I
They also have manuals for a lot of other makes and models for your ‘habit’
Tip: Save these files to you home computer and also to a USB keychain or CD that you can carry with you while you are on you bike, that way if you need to access your manual, you can stop at a public computer and access what you need.
Places that I reguarly order my CX and GL Parts from
- Bikebandit.com They have great parts fiches and decent shipping costs
- ServiceHonda.com They have better prices on parts, but it’s hard to know whether or not shipping is going to be expensive -Generally the cheapest of all the places I shop
- Oldbikebarn.com Many people I know have had good luck with them
- My Local Dealer – I’ve had very good luck working with Iowa City’s Don’s Honda, they are great, and a worker happens to own a yellow GL500I, When I lived in Duluth, I DID NOT LIKE working with Duluth’s RJ’s Sport and Cycle – they have horrible customer service
Good luck wrenchin’!
Similar Posts:
- Why Go??? How My Distraction Started
- Eastward Distraction – Day Nine
- Retirement Sucks
- Replacing the Master Cylinder and Brakelines on the Honda Silverwing
- Riding a Honda Silverwing GL500 1000 Miles in 24 Hours – IronButt Saddlesore 1000
Topics: Motorcycle | 12 Comments »
February 20th, 2009 at 1:51 am
[...] All Things Motorcycle – Stator [...]
April 5th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
looking to get parts for a gl 500 silver wing 82 any good sites
April 8th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Hi James,
I updated my website with new links and several places that I’ve had good luck with for ordering parts. Are you on choppercharles.com?
Thom
August 2nd, 2009 at 8:15 am
Hi, great to see a site dedicatde to these bikes! I have a Silverwing GL650 Interstate and do as much riding as I can. Just finished a 2700km trip through Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and a little bit of Mass. An excellent ride, especially route 5 south. Towards the end of the trip, I noticed a slight squeak from my suspension. It is very hard to pinpoint and seems to be from the center shock of the pro-link. I have greased everything (externally) but it has not made a difference. Any suggestions? Also, I was hoping to find a shop manual that I could down load. Thanks!
August 5th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Hi Roland,
Welcome – thanks for stopping by. I have yet to get out to Maine, but NH and Vermont were beautiful on a bike.
About the squeak – they generally get squeaky after a couple of years as the grease starts to move and shift. The best remedy is to remove the monoshock, shine everything up, and regrease it all.
Here’s a great discussion about it: http://choppercharles.com/cs/forums/30041/ShowPost.aspx
Basically, you remove the prolink shock, drive out the collars (I used a long punch with a nylon nut on it that was the same size as the collar to drive them out), then shine them up using a brass shotgun cleaning kit that you can use in an electric drill, finally grease them all up using “high pressure cv joint grease”
Button it all back up and you should be good to go! Good luck and let me know how it goes!
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:15 am
Any way to have part 2 of the service manual uploaded again? It appears to have expired and can’t be downloaded. I just bought an ‘81 CX500 yesterday after 20 years without a bike and could really use it. Thanks for your material!
September 4th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Hi Cheese-
The drop.io site should have what you’re looking for – along with a lot of other stuff.
Here’s a direct link – it’s about half way down the page:
http://drop.io/CX500_GL500?page=3
February 28th, 2010 at 1:02 am
Can anyone tell me if a parts list is available for the ‘81 CX500? Thanks for the great resources.
February 28th, 2010 at 10:56 am
Hi Zeugitai, is it just a CX500, not a custom or a deluxe?
~Thom
February 28th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Hi, Thom. I blanked it out! It’s an ‘81 CX500D. I would like to have the whole thing for future use; but I currently just need a part number for the seal around the gearshift shaft.
March 2nd, 2010 at 8:18 am
Hey Zeugitai,
The oil seal should be 91251-ZW5-003 (replaces 91203-023-020) it’s a 14X26X6 oil seal
Bike bandit has it listed as part #3891349-001
I’ll have to ask around for the actual manual.
Just in case you don’t know how to change it out (and for others browsing the site)
1. Drain the motor oil
2. Remove the shifter – 1 bolt and it should slide out (I mark where it was using a sharpie)
3. Using a dental hook or a cheap bent screwdriver, simply pull out the old seal – you may have to heat the tip of the tool
4. Lube the new seal with motor oil and press the new seal in gently using a socket to tap it in
5. Shifter goes back on and fill with fresh oil
6. Remove and recycle cardboard that has been sitting under the bike to catch the oil drips
Give me a couple of days to see if I can find it
Thanks!
~Thom
March 5th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Many thanks, Thom! I can’t understand why I can’t find an old-fashioned parts manual for this bike with exploded diagrams and parts lists of all the assemblies. . .