'71 Honda CB350t cafe-inspired build

Re: '71 Honda CB350t cafe build

Brief update - got the bike back on the road Sunday after dealing with a couple of issues. The aftermarket covers over the points and tach cable are larger than the stock tin ones and interfere with spark plug sockets. The former owner apparently didn't notice this and the result was a severely cross-threaded right-hand plug. I ended up putting in a helicoil which helped tremendously.

Once that was fixed we had a spark issue due to a craptacular Chinese point/condenser set. We ended up temporarily hooking up a pair of Lucas MGB condensers (hey, use what ya have lying around!) and now the bike runs well. It might still need a tweak in mixture settings once the weather gets warm, but it is happy for now.

I took it to the local blessing of the bikes on Sunday. Out of 1500+ motorcycles there mine ended up being the oldest (!) so I won some cash. The previous year there had been some 40's and 50's era Harleys and a really nice old Simplex, so I was sure I would come anywhere near the oldest bike, but most were 80ish and newer. The really satisfying part was having tons of people around the bike for almost the whole time I was there. It certainly isn't special compared to what a lot of you all are doing here at DDT, but it made me feel pretty good to have a bunch of knuckleheads telling me I have a nice bike. :)

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Re: '71 Honda CB350t cafe build

Pull the two levers apart and rotate the short one back a hole, it'll get that brake lever on a flatter plane, pointing a little down.

The brake pivot is pretty nifty, if I do say so myself.


And, lastly, beautiful bike.
 
Re: '71 Honda CB350t cafe build

J-Rod10 said:
Pull the two levers apart and rotate the short one back a hole, it'll get that brake lever on a flatter plane, pointing a little down.

The brake pivot is pretty nifty, if I do say so myself.


And, lastly, beautiful bike.

Thanks. If you're looking at any of the above pictures other than the one outside, things have changed. Went to the scrambler exhaust which gave me the angles on the rearsets I was looking for. They're much more comfortable and sit at a great angle for my feet/ankles. Shifter may come down just a fuzz more, but brake is damn close. If I have my foot on the peg the brake naturally sits just below the bottom of my boot. Any movement forward actuates it.
 
Re: '71 Honda CB350t cafe build

Glad you like them.

That exhaust looks killer.
 
Re: '71 Honda CB350t cafe build

Hey krafty, nice bike! Question on the brake pivot from Slipstream: using the stock bolt and washer to attach the brake pivot, how tight did you tighten the bolt?...I went to install mine last night and it seems to bind/lock the pivot if the bolt is tightened too much. Thanks!
 
Re: '71 Honda CB350t cafe build

lev16gt said:
Hey krafty, nice bike! Question on the brake pivot from Slipstream: using the stock bolt and washer to attach the brake pivot, how tight did you tighten the bolt?...I went to install mine last night and it seems to bind/lock the pivot if the bolt is tightened too much. Thanks!

Mine is tight and still pivots just fine. I just took a look at it to verify - haven't had any binding issues. (Sorry it took me so long, the bike is still at the shop and not at home... too many vehicles to bring home, not enough people to give me rides!).
 
Okay, thank you. Per J-Rod10, my problem seems to be due to my stock bolt being slightly too short and not bottoming out into the frame before it tightens too much on the brake pivot.
 
A little artistic aircooled porn in front of the shop today. My CB350, co-worker's 58 VW Beetle.
 

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There was a local car show going on downtown so I took the bike and looked at all the pretty cars. There was 1 bike in the show, a pretty bitchin' 74 Husqvarna which I think I have a picture of somewhere.

My bike drew others to it while parked on the street. Even a HD guy stopped and told me how cool it was. That felt kinda good.
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Hey, I recognize that bike! What's up? Met you at Vintage Rice Burners a few thursday's back I had the "other" cafe bike there. I think I recognize that shop too, say hi to Brent for me!!
Maybe see you tomorrow at BK in Hudsonville? (if i get away from a dinner thing in time that is)
 
In what turned out to be the last ride of the season around here I joined several friends on an impromptu "garage tour" Saturday before last. I was the only motorcycle, although we saw a few in garages during the afternoon. It was chilly, especially when wearing mesh gear (because I don't have anything warmer), but a fun way to wrap up the year. I had just finished repairing my ignition circuit and installed a nice voltage monitor, so it was cool to be able to put some miles on the bike and test everything out. Now it is safely tucked away behind my Beetle project.

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