CB350 from the ground up

Hey all,

Starting a CB350 project from scratch. Have a donor bike (that actually ran pretty well) along with boxes of spares. I've been doing a LOT of reading over the last few weeks and have a strategy of sorts. Right now the plan is two-part:

Phase one: the "student budget" bike- fairly stock yet stripped down. CB550 front end (possible dual disc), cheaper aftermarket rear shocks, cafe seat, aftermarket signals/tail light, cut off scrambler exhaust, UNI pods, chopped fenders, and trials tires. As for the last item, I am quite well versed- I ride an enduro all over the place with full knobs so I'm used to the feel of knobs on the street. Probably going to go with a flat black paint scheme w/ powdercoated hubs/rims. Also would like to use a HO stator/rec/reg kit I saw online for $150, and a sprocket cam chain roller w/Tsubaki cam chain. I'm not planning on tricking out the motor, but going more for reliability with new parts and internal work, as I'm doing a complete tear down.

Financing of phase one will come mostly from sales of the extra bits I have from the donor bike, off which a few juicy items were gleaned.

Phase two: the "I've graduated" bike- Late model sport bike front end w/ modern braking technology (rotors, discs, etc) custom paint scheme on tank/seat, sticky street tires, whatever else I can muster up the cash for.

I have access to parts through work (bike shop) so getting most of the parts won't be a problem other than coming up with the cash for them (student, remember?) I'm just in the dark on a few points here and there that I'm absolutely sure I will bring up in this thread. I'm not on any kind of schedule and don't anticipate a completed project for quite some time.

hey mike welcome to the site......you sound a lot like the hell bent for the woods rider I know at Rubbercityvintagecycles

Dang those bikes look familiar... I think you ripped them off from The Most Interesting Man In The World!

I'm gonna upload some photos but photo bucket is down ATM...

I'm interested and subscribed lets see som pictures!


Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Donor bike:



Hooker Header that came with donor bike:

extra parts so graciously donated to me:

You're going to paint that awesome tank aren't you

My end result of my CB3450 K4 Build. Won Best Asian Bike at the Canadian Vintage Sow.

Wow, that bike is SUPER nice!!! I love original bikes... I have a bone stock RD400 otherwise I would do this one factory too.

Richard, I would LOVE to use the stock tank... but it has a large ding in the top, like the size of your palm, and someone ruined it with gas that melted the paint from the filler neck to the bottom of the tank that became all rusty. I am going to take lots of photos though and possibly have it re-done in the future. It really is spectacular- the pictures don't show the detail and how well painted it really is. It has a matching set of sidecovers that have "350" airbrushed on them, I am considering selling it all as a set on ebay. It would look great on a rat bike. The chopper forks and bars, however...

Yeah, that donor bike is a sweet time capsule ! It belongs on the wall of my garage ! ;D

hey man i saw that bike for sale in garrettsville nice find. i would of bought it but no title?? can't run that race again. Why are you rebuilding the motor if it runs well? Friends of david??

and oh yeah that tank does look badass. I had a 74 750 that had an airbrush job of a viking riding a sleigh pulled by a team of polar bears it was crazy awesome but being young and foolish i painted it .. you guessed it flat black. Can't get that paint job back.

Yes

axeugene27 said:

hey man i saw that bike for sale in garrettsville nice find. i would of bought it but no title?? can't run that race again. Why are you rebuilding the motor if it runs well? Friends of david??

Click to expand...

Well, I started with a titled frame I bought from work... so I have the title part already covered. I had a ton of bits donated to me by Black Buddha but I've found from previous restos that buying a donor is the easiest way to get all the little odds and ends that add up quick in price if purchased separately. For the price I paid I can easily double or almost triple the investment by selling off the things I am not going to use- chopper forks, seat, Hooker pipes, electronics, etc. I'm a student for the next year and a few months, so I have to come up with creative ways to pay for a restoration.

The more I think about it that spider/girl has to go on my new tank.

I suppose the reason I need to rebuild the motor is peace of mind, and besides the fact that I'm going to have it half apart to paint, get at the cam chain tensioner, replace the stator with a HO unit, etc. I might as well just tear it down and go through it. I have the time, I'm not trying to be done by spring. I'm pretty sure there's some issues anyways- I had oil in the right exhaust pipe, both carbs had gas pooled inside the intake lip, just little things here and there. It won't hurt to be kind to her and just make it like new again so I don't have to worry down the road about anything going wrong.

I did have some regrets about tearing it down, it was a really cool machine. But... I can rebuild it... make it better, stronger, faster... lol I've done a couple Yamaha RDs and a Kaw Triple so this shouldn't be rocket surgery or brain science...

EDIT: BTW I creeped your build thread, holy fuck is that bike nice!! Damn. Since we're apparently somewhere close by we'll have to cruise when I get mine done (in about 2 years haha!) I'm in Stow.

it's def a good start. I think that 2-1 pipe is pretty awesome I'd have it ceramic coated black or something to that nature.

You know, if I was running low pipes I would definitely keep it, it is sweet and sounds great- loud but not ridiculous, deep and throaty. I'm gonna run some chopped high pipes though, I dunno, always liked the scrambler look.

don't know if you saw the edit I just added to the above post- your build is amazing!

Thanks man it was a learning experience and honestly quite a profitable one in the end sold it on ebay about 2 months ago. For some reason people are paying through the nose for old cbs with modest refinements so you prob can't lose on this one. i also sold your buddy Black buddha his R60 loved that bike as well. I have a bit of bike ADD and just keep learning. Yeah man if you want' to get out and ride hit me up. You gonna do the gentlemans ride next weekend?

wow... small world!

As for next weekend, we're supposed to run an enduro down near Athens, but if that doesn't pan out I'll get at you. Hope to have my RD petcock gasket in by then, I need to get that out in the last few weeks of fall.

well, here's where I'm at. Been stuck for the last few months due to the ridiculously low temps here in Ohio. Parts washer is frozen solid too But here's hoping for some warm weather soon so I can get this motor stripped down! On a positive note, I do have most of the CB500T front end parts... I'm converting to dual disc. Just have to pick up one more rotor, the calipers, and a top triple clamp.

Finally warmed up here in Ohio... ordered a seat, cam chain, and a couple other bits today. Gonna start taking the motor the rest of the way down this week. I have my gf's 14 y/o son helping, he's gonna learn how to take apart and build a bike Also got some feelers out with the powdercoater to get prices on doing bike parts.