CL350 fork tube swap

Hi all,

I have a 1972 CL350K5 im rebuilding. Ive done a heap of googling trying to find the answer, but nothing concrete. Hoping DTT can help.

I was tempted to do a whole front end swap, but its a bit costly at the moment. Instead I just want to clean up the front end. My current fork tubes are heavily pitted under the fork ears, and ive decided to take them off.

My question is. The wrecker here has plenty of 33mm Honda forks, but does anyone know if other models will fit into my 73' CL350 forks? Ive tried running the part number through CMSNL, but it only shows my model. Lots of other parts are used on other models, so I think these would be the same. The issue is that the forks are complete at the wreckers and I cant seem them apart unless I buy them...and he doesnt do returns.

Thanks,
Matt

Any same diameter fork should fit but watch the length (to not mess with handling) and get one that matches your top triple tree mounting style. Some 350 triple trees have pinchbolts to secure your forks while some have the fork sit in a pocket in the triple with the top filler bolt and a washer securing it? If you decide to do the whole front end swap you could search around here for a stem length chart to see what else might fit.

Thanks BarnBurner, appreciate the response. I did consider the whole front end swap, but cant find a good donor locally and I would prefer to be able to look up close first (rather than buying sight unseen).

Will I have any issue with the design of the fork tube? I notice my current tubes have a whole in the bottom half of the leg.

Matt

Not sure what you mean by hole in the tube. If you mean the lower half of the fork (not the tube itself), there is usually a drain bolt in the bottom (Part #18 below) although I've always drained mine through the top.

Sorry, in re-reading, my post was confusing.

What I meant was the hole in the actual fork tube (directly left of the fork seal - #22 on the diagram).

What im trying to ascertain is whether by changing the tubes to that of a different model (CL350 lower with CB400N tubes), am I going to run into engineering issues. IE the CL350 fork tubes have a hole for what I assume is fluid movement...if the CB400N tubes (or any other 33mm) tubes dont, will they still work. In the same vein, will the internal dampers/springs, also work?

Im just trying to avoid buying new tubes (very expensive to buy then ship to Aus). Rather see if I can use a donor from wreckers. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Hopefully this makes sense. Thanks again, really appreciate it.