1976 Honda CB360T - The first step is admitting I have a problem build

620dark

You can always get it running with time or money.
Hello again folks!

Apparently I have a bike problem, as I just bought another fine Honda. The '79 CB650 is done and waiting for my brother to decide if he wants it, and the '93 CBR900RR is on hold until I get the upper fairing from Airtech. Hey, that's a good enough reason to get another bike, right?

I followed up on am old Craigslist post for a CB360 "Tupperware case" bike on Thursday, and the guy told me "I want it gone, I'll be here Saturday." So, we loaded up the pickup truck and headed out to investigate another bad idea. The bike was mostly complete except the headlight, but a lot of it was in a couple of boxes.

The guy I got it from got it from another guy who got it from the proverbial little old lady who only rode it on Sundays to church. Uh huh, yea, I've used that line myself. He said it kicked over and had good compression, but he didn't have the time/motivation/money to keep working on it. When I arrived to check it out, I couldn't get it to kick over, so the price dropped $50 more down to a place I was very happy with. We loaded it up in the truck and hauled it back to the autopsy room garage to check it out.

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I pulled all the engine covers off, and emptied about three pounds of leaves, dirt, and acorns out of the chain cover. The bike had about half a quart of stinky oil in it, but it appeared that someone had emptied the oil and that it hadn't run out of oil on its own. I poked at it a bit, sprayed PB Blaster in the spark plug holes, loosened the clutch spring bolts, and ta da, it kicked over. Well, that's step one.

Step two was trying to figure out why I couldn't shift it out of neutral, even when spinning the rear wheel with the clutch hooked back up. I suspect I might have to crack the case, but I was pretty much expecting that. I'm hoping it's not a buggered shift fork.

I turned my attention to the carbs...something looked funny when I examined them...

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Hmm, I suspect the last person to mess with the carbs didn't quite know what they were doing. I wonder if it would have even run in this state?

I disassembled the carbs and have them soaking in Pine Sol and hot water. I had some trouble with one of the slow jets, but some careful filling made a new screwdriver slot, as the last person there had busted out the original slot. I'll order up rebuild kits and get them back into tip top shape.

More updates as things progress!
 
I would be interested to know how you filed a slot in the slow jet, it lives in a hole under blanking plug.
If you mean primary main jet, that's so common it isn't worth mentioning
 
PJ, I'm interested in what the hell I filed a slot in myself! The rebuild kits for these carbs don't seem to have the same parts I pulled out of these carbs. Guess I should have taken pictures :p

I looked at the parts fiche, and its apparently the "primary main jet" as opposed to the "main jet." How many main jets does this thing have?

Do you have a good recommendation for a brand/source of a complete rebuild kit? The K&L and Keyster kits seem to be short some important parts, and the bowl gaskets in them seem to just be a large O-ring and not pre-formed.

The Pine Sol seems to be the color of bad diner coffee now, so I guess the carbs are almost done soaking...
 
None of the carb kits come with primary main jets.
They all come with secondary main jets.
It's a 3 jet carb, pilot/slow jet, primary main, secondary main. It's what makes them so difficult to get running right with 'pods'.
The transition from primary to secondary causes a real rich running area around ~4,500rpm
It took a lot of experimenting and several dyno runs to see what was going on, that's why I do mid range mod for people (although it frequently turns into a carb resurrection)
The bowl gasket is a large 'o' ring, new ones are something of a PITA to fit, most are slightly off on diameter and need to be 'glued' in place
 
Whelp, that clears things up, thanks! The good news is that I have the stock air boxes / filters, and plan on running those.

Do you sell overhaul kits that would include the primary main jet? I'd much rather give money to a fellow DTTer than a random company. Also, what does your mid range mod encompass / cost?

The carbs look a lot better now that they've been soaking, but I'm going to have to clean up the float bowls with some polish I think. The chrome on the caps is in horrible condition, so I think it's going to get cleaned and painted.

What a pain about the bowl gasket. Those things are enough of a PITA even when they are pre-formed. Sheesh.

Thanks again for your advice!
 
I don't do overhaul kits, it's just a hobby (no way I can do them quick enough to make it pay and I don't keep anything 'in stock', would need too much outlay ;D )
PM me for cost of conversion if you decide to go with K&N 1820's (I don't recommend cheap pods)
 
I think I'm going to stick with stock air filters and stock carb settings for now. I'd like to hear the thing run before I go much further lol!

If I could bother you with two more questions, where would I get primary main jets? I ordered a pair of rebuild kits, and as you mentioned, they do not come with those kits. Also, do I need to remove the slow jet? They seem to be stuck pretty good, and I don't want to break the heads off of them.

Thanks!
 
Yep, you have to remove pilot/slow jets, pretty much guarantee they are blocked.
Last set I did I had soaking in bucket of diesel for about 10 days
You get replacements in kit, don't chew the heads up, it's a nightmare getting broken ones out
Your carbs look pretty oxidised/corroded
Probably have to go to Honda for primary main jets, aftermarket ones don't fit (too long)
Trek97 may have some? (he had some modified, local)
I can make them in 0.05mm steps but prefer not to (more trouble than it's worth)
 
I was afraid you were going to say I had to remove them :) I've had them soaking in penetrating oil, and I imagine I might even have to apply some very very very gentle heat to see if I can get bits to expand.

I found this:
http://www.jetsrus.com/a_jets_by_carburetor_type/jets_keihin_99101-124_and_99101-ZF5_air.html

Are those the correct primary main jets? I'm very much wishing the previous owner did not mess with them and chew the head off of one of them. But hey, if every bike went back together with no problems there wouldn't be any sense of accomplishment at the end of the project.

Thanks again for all your help and taking the time to answer my questions. I didn't realize that the 360s were somewhat rare, and now I understand why so many people go to aftermarket carbs for them.
 
Oh, and the Pinesol soak took a lot of the crap off the carb bodies, so they don't look quite as bad as before. They're a nice uniform dull grey color now. I still have to clean up the float bowls - they've got that nasty white corrosion on them.
 
I had very good luck cleaning my carbs in boiling lemon juice for a 15 minute dip. The smell is one of the funkiest damn things you will ever have the pleasure of experiencing, but the results are undeniable.

Bodies and jets come out spotless, though the brass with tarnish a little and the aluminum ends up with a powdery kind of finish.

Keep the rubber out of the pot, though.
 
+1 on the lemon juice boil.

I've done both Pinesol and Lemon juice Boil. Both work great. I've even done Lemon Pinesol... but couldn't tell the difference, but the workshop smelled amazing!

I feel the pinesol loosens it all up, but you still have to scrub a bit/blow everything out while it's still wet to really get the best results. The lemon juice boil worked very well and requires less scrubbing/soak time.
 
Hmm, good to know about the lemon juice method. The Pinesol soak has worked so well for me I haven't been looking elsewhere. The stink of the Pinesol is about enough to kill me, so lemon juice does sound like a better alternative. I wonder if GFS or Costco carries gallon jugs of lemon juice?

Here's how one of my spare carb bodies came out in Pinesol:

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Worst cb650 ever said:
I was afraid you were going to say I had to remove them :) I've had them soaking in penetrating oil, and I imagine I might even have to apply some very very very gentle heat to see if I can get bits to expand.

I found this:
http://www.jetsrus.com/a_jets_by_carburetor_type/jets_keihin_99101-124_and_99101-ZF5_air.html

Are those the correct primary main jets? I'm very much wishing the previous owner did not mess with them and chew the head off of one of them. But hey, if every bike went back together with no problems there wouldn't be any sense of accomplishment at the end of the project.

Thanks again for all your help and taking the time to answer my questions. I didn't realize that the 360s were somewhat rare, and now I understand why so many people go to aftermarket carbs for them.

I will have to check my old jetsrus orders when I get home tonight, but yes I believe those jets will work with some modifications, maybe 1.5 mm shorter and re-drill a divet in the freshly cut end. I have 58s installed in mine right now. but may go back up to 60s. Or keep 58s and go richer w needles.
 
Thanks for checking. I'm fine with modifying them - they're brass, so that's pretty easy to work with (ha ha, famous last words).

Your "before" pictures of your CB360 look awful familiar :)

I've also got to get the caliper piston out of the caliper body to be rebuilt. I think my best bet is going to be hooking a grease gun up to the caliper and using hydraulic pressure on the SOB. It laughed at 120 PSI from the compressor. I've got a master cylinder rebuild kit on the way, so I guess worst case scenario I could try to use that to generate enough pressure to pop the piston.

Oh, and there's the whole "not shifting out of neutral" issue too. Just a little problem, right? :p

I've got the engine gasket kit on the way, but I understand it does not include the oil seals. I've seen a few oil seal kits in the $35-$40 range. Do any of you folks who have been there before have a recommendation of a favorite kit? Dime City has a kit for the CB350, but I suspect that it will not work on a CB360.
 
I made a couple of hydraulic adapters to fit grease gun onto caliper, (well, made one about 30 yrs ago, couldn't find it so made a new one, then, you know it was in front of me ::) )
Piston comes out so easy you wouldn't believe it
It's easier to just get the 360 kit, can't remember the difference with 350 kit?
 
I hear you about the missing tools - when I was working on the 360, where the heck was my oil filter housing lock nut special Honda tool? About 60 miles away :p

Did you have much trouble making the adapter? I know 1.00 metric thread pitch to grease fitting adapters are easy to find, but 1.25 to grease fitting less so. I suspect I'll be spending some time on McMaster Carr's website...
 
I got a 10x1.00 bolt and drilled a 1/8" hole through it then drilled and tapped the head for a 6x1.00 grease nipple (5.00mm drill for 6.00mm thread)
I was thinking of making a few for sale but it probably isn't worth it (would have to cost about $10.00 to be worthwhile)
 
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