Fox
I've still got those patches...
I got a 1975 Honda CL360 on Thursday of this week. My older brother has been converting a CB650C into a cafe and he inherently got me interested in bikes. Before I knew it I'm forking over $900 for a non-running, rusted, honda CL! My brother says I paid too much for the bike I got and I tend to agree, but I wasn't going to walk away from the bike. I loved it from when I first saw it.
I don't have any motorcycle experience outside of some small work I did on dirt bikes I've had, but I've been working on cars for a few years now, so I know how to handle myself in a garage. I'm wanting to do a frame up restoration of the bike. Tear every piece down and start from the ground up. This includes an entire engine rebuild. I'm doing this in part because I want to learn my bike, but also because I want to learn about bikes in general. I's hoping that with the shop manual on the way and DTT as a resource, it won't prove to terrible a job.
I'm still on the fence about whether I should convert this bike to a cafe racer. Everything on it right now is original, so I could do more of a restoration project on it rather than a conversion. A original CL360 could be worth a good bit more than a Cafe'd CL. There weren't too many made, so you can't find original ones very often. Thoughts, opinions?
Secondly, where to start? I've got a pretty good idea of what all needs to be done, but I'm wondering where the common start point is. My thoughts were to be to get the bike running ok before I rip it down to the guts. Can anyone weigh in on this? Where did you start when you tore stuff down?
UPDATE-1/17/12
To Do List
1. Install new Carbs
2. Build engine back up
3. Fix squishy brakes
6. Derust Wheels
8. Rewire all electrics
-Fix electric starter
10. Get seat and tank painted!!!
Finished projects
Clean rust out of tank
Replace oil and clean filters
Clean petcock
Diagnose and Fix bad clutch lever
Derust and paint/powdercoat frame
Buy Parts
-Make or Buy a new seat
-Pods
-Blinkers
-Mikuni Carbs
-Reatsets
-Bar end Mirrors
-Clip ons
-New battery
-New headlight bracket
-Fuel line
-New grips
-New Gaskets
-Plenty of random little things
Of course, here are some current (Before) pics.
I don't have any motorcycle experience outside of some small work I did on dirt bikes I've had, but I've been working on cars for a few years now, so I know how to handle myself in a garage. I'm wanting to do a frame up restoration of the bike. Tear every piece down and start from the ground up. This includes an entire engine rebuild. I'm doing this in part because I want to learn my bike, but also because I want to learn about bikes in general. I's hoping that with the shop manual on the way and DTT as a resource, it won't prove to terrible a job.
I'm still on the fence about whether I should convert this bike to a cafe racer. Everything on it right now is original, so I could do more of a restoration project on it rather than a conversion. A original CL360 could be worth a good bit more than a Cafe'd CL. There weren't too many made, so you can't find original ones very often. Thoughts, opinions?
Secondly, where to start? I've got a pretty good idea of what all needs to be done, but I'm wondering where the common start point is. My thoughts were to be to get the bike running ok before I rip it down to the guts. Can anyone weigh in on this? Where did you start when you tore stuff down?
UPDATE-1/17/12
To Do List
1. Install new Carbs
2. Build engine back up
3. Fix squishy brakes
6. Derust Wheels
8. Rewire all electrics
-Fix electric starter
10. Get seat and tank painted!!!
Finished projects
Clean rust out of tank
Replace oil and clean filters
Clean petcock
Diagnose and Fix bad clutch lever
Derust and paint/powdercoat frame
Buy Parts
-Make or Buy a new seat
-Pods
-Blinkers
-Mikuni Carbs
-Reatsets
-Bar end Mirrors
-Clip ons
-New battery
-New headlight bracket
-Fuel line
-New grips
-New Gaskets
-Plenty of random little things
Of course, here are some current (Before) pics.