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Motor swap nightmare

13K views 25 replies 14 participants last post by  jdubv1 
#1 ·
Hello everyone, after searching google, calling honda dealers, etc this is my last resort. I recently picked up a 2013 honda cbr500r. I bought it as a hit bike, thought it was an easy fix giving my husband a high five (I'm a female) while we were leaving the guys house with it in the back of my truck. Got home to notice that when the flywheel got struck it bent the crank, broke every single motor mount on the engine, and cracks threw out the cases including the cylinder jug.

SO LONG STORY SHORT!

I can only find a 2013 cb500x which bolts right into my cbr500r frame and according to all the honda dealers it is the same engine BUT the cbr500r and the cb500x are showing different part numbers for the wiring harness. I will only have the cbr500r harness to work with. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS? I've called honda dealers and they have no clue, told me it should be easy to make it work.....but then said who knows it might not. :pissedoff

So will it work? I just don't want to buy the engine and then have another useless engine sitting in my frame. Someone please help me. I'm stressing out
 
#2 ·
The wiring for the motor is probably the same.
The wiring for the handlebar switches are probably the same, although it might be longer because of the taller handlebars.
The R has two headlights, the X only has one. So headlight wiring maybe somewhat different.
I am not sure whether or not there is a difference in the rear lighting, but I doubt it.
 
#4 ·
As somebody said, there will be different wiring harnesses due to different lengths required to reach the controls and a different headlight layout.

As for the differences in the PGM-FI units, I have no idea. Can't imagine there's much difference. The only difference between all the other parts of the engine is that the X engine is grey while the F and R engines are black. The internals are all identical as are the induction and exhaust pieces. I wonder if it's something as simple as making it a different color or adjusting the shape/mounting a bit because of differences in the seat shape. I can't imagine there is much of a functional difference between them.
 
#5 ·
Thank you. It's just so frustrating when you call honda and they shrug there shoulders and say I don't know. In my mind I'm thinking if it's different I can just swap it over from my cbr motor. But then in the back of my head there is my subconscious saying but what if it doesn't work out that easy. Now I spent $1700 on a motor I cannot use. My budget is $1800 to fix this bike, so there is not much room for error
 
#9 ·
Hope it works out for you. For myself I wld never be comfortable with any vehicle, let alone a bike that's pretty much pooched from a crash. I just wld never feel safe. Riding is risk related as it is. Please keep us informed on you and your husbands project. I agree, the 500 series are nice bikes.
 
#11 ·
The problem is, as I have learned from several restoration projects, it is never as simple or as cheap as you think it is. If you're a pro and have seen hundreds of them, you eventually figure out how to estimate things well. The rest of us need to put a lot of extra padding into the budget because most of the time we'll miss something and we'll need it.

With a budget as tight as yours, I'd advise against. Because there will be something else. There always is. Just my experience.
 
#14 ·
This is true. I do expect to spend more but fingers crossed. But my husband which is an excellent mechanic which builds from the ground up hot rods, diesel trucks, plus he use to build the honda civics with engine swaps, and built several dirt bikes and motorcycles which were train wrecks. He also does a lot of his own wiring when it's needed. So he told not to worry about it and go ahead and just buy the motor. Plus he always favored the Hondas :grin. With the skills everyone has in my family, I'm confident this bike will be up and running soon. I'll keep everyone posted, since this vital information will help someone else one day.
 
#13 ·
If it's off, it's not by much and with the frame being steel it will be simply fixed. Most of my family are master mechanics and skilled metal workers. Which have fixed truck frames that look like pretzels, not looking like it was never hit. But I've got the bike rolling about 10 mph down the road it rolled smooth and felt straight. So we'll see how feels it with the new engine.
 
#18 ·
Honda doesn't publish detailed specs and nobody's compared the two on a dyno, so impossible to tell. All the other components are the same and they're both made to meet the same emissions rules, so there isn't a whole lot of latitude to change much. If the gearing were different that would explain it, but as far as I know it isn't.
 
#20 ·
The answer to this is simple. Yes the engines are exactly the same. This is a low priced, mass produced motorcycle. The only differences in the harness are as stated previously about headlights and possibly the harness lengths to account for different wire routing. Your cbr ecu will run the cbx engine.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Don't know how it works where you live, but I can't buy a new complete engine here, only all the the parts.

I've fixed an turned around a few bikes and I agree with Michael, there's always more to it than you see at first sight.

Hopefully things will go smooth and the bike will hold up at higher speeds than 10mph! :)
 
#23 ·
**************UPDATE************UPDATE********************UPDATE********

CB500x engine is a plug and play motor. Nothing was different as in the plugs, and even had a 15t counter sprocket which is also what the cbr500r has. Removing and installing engines only took a few hours. Bike is up and running just waiting for my radiator and left middle cowl to come in at my local honda dealer. Then bike will be ready for the road!
 
#26 ·
The differences in wire harness part numbers and ecu numbers should be specific to the bikes not the engines per say. The cbr and cbx have different tunes and make power in different ways, this would be the big difference in the ecu’s. That said the cbr ecu with the cbr harness on the cbx engine should be just fine. has this been completed? Curious to confirm my thoughts.
 
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