Viability of a putting a modern sportbike front end on a CL350

@Tremelune- just make sure to measure your stems before pressing anything out to get your new pressed in lengths correct. I've been a little iffy about my lower bearing race for a while now because it doesn't seem to seat all the way up into the headstock if I want full contact with the lower bearing. ::) I'm going to rectify this tomorrow at work with a spacer made from one of the old races. It's nice to get a day of "Just come in and make sure nobody gets into the shop that isn't supposed to as they go thru the motor pool. Don't work on any vehicles because Eddie will be here with you and he had elbow surgery Tuesday and can't really help you if you get hurt." ;D I love my job sometimes, now lets see 50 ton manual press... check, grinders, torches and other metal working tools... check, radio... check. Only thing missing is free food.... oh wait Eddie is going to bring everything to have a BBQ 8)

@Greg, your bike is the one that inspired me ;D I still refer the pics of your builds every time I go to cut or weld something on. By the way how have the rear set clamps held up as far as staying put? I keep debating whether to still that idea or weld on a couple plates with multiple holes for mounting.
 
1969Honda said:
@Greg, your bike is the one that inspired me ;D I still refer the pics of your builds every time I go to cut or weld something on. By the way how have the rear set clamps held up as far as staying put? I keep debating whether to still that idea or weld on a couple plates with multiple holes for mounting.

I've had those rear set clamps on my one bike for over 10 years and they have never moved. Thats even after standing up and going over alot of rr tracks. They work great!
 
Erskine said:
Go for it.
Big tits are overkill but everyone still likes to look at them ;)
lol, ;D
i agree. if you like it, build it. eveyones gonna have an opinion
 
I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH! for this thread. I've been slowly tearing down and building back up my CL350 with the mad idea of using SV650 components. This totaled sv has been "donated" more like dumped on me by a friend so a frankenbike has been my goal for a while and thanks to this allot of my questions have been answered. Also, don't let the haters get you down. DO IT!
 
I personally think modern front ends and wheels just totally take away everything that's cool about these old bikes. It just looks way out of place to see anodized inverted tubes and a wide front mag wheel on such a small frame. Everything about the large narrow wire wheel and the sand cast aluminum tubes and triples just looks right.
 
I recently purchased a 350 SS gas tank off this guy, and he put a modern GSXR front end on his 350.
Said it took tons of work. Machined the disc to fit a harley hub etc....
adapter bearings for the stem etc.

Looks re-donk-u-lous though.
 

Attachments

  • IMAG1133.jpg
    IMAG1133.jpg
    1.3 MB · Views: 351
FGKouki said:
I personally think modern front ends and wheels just totally take away everything that's cool about these old bikes. It just looks way out of place to see anodized inverted tubes and a wide front mag wheel on such a small frame. Everything about the large narrow wire wheel and the sand cast aluminum tubes and triples just looks right.

Agreed, but it seems not many do.
 
FGKouki said:
I personally think modern front ends and wheels just totally take away everything that's cool about these old bikes. It just looks way out of place to see anodized inverted tubes and a wide front mag wheel on such a small frame. Everything about the large narrow wire wheel and the sand cast aluminum tubes and triples just looks right.

I agree to an extent. If you have yourself a bike worth restoring or that's the way you want to go then by all means use period parts. But I know a few old guys who were building up cafe racers in the 60's and a few of them are still at it. For them it was normal to take the best bits you could find and make them work. That's how thinks like Norvins and Tritons came into existence. Hell! Look at the Rickman brothers they made it a profession. But back in the day the biggest twin leading shoe breaks you could find was preferable and sought after. So why shouldn't we keep the precedent and swap stock for bigger and better on our bikes?
 
gnarshread said:
I agree to an extent. If you have yourself a bike worth restoring or that's the way you want to go then by all means use period parts. But I know a few old guys who were building up cafe racers in the 60's and a few of them are still at it. For them it was normal to take the best bits you could find and make them work. That's how thinks like Norvins and Tritons came into existence. Hell! Look at the Rickman brothers they made it a profession. But back in the day the biggest twin leading shoe breaks you could find was preferable and sought after. So why shouldn't we keep the precedent and swap stock for bigger and better on our bikes?

I don't really think that argument is valid for our purposes. Let's step back and be honest with ourselves here. We're chasing a style. All of us. Anybody on this site who says they aren't, is a liar. If we were chasing performance, we'd be modifying more modern sport bikes. The average age of a motorcycle on this site is 35-40 years old. "Back in the day" they weren't taking 40-year-old bikes and fitting them with the newest, best parts they could find.

A modern front end is all fine and dandy, but let's not BS ourselves and play it off like we're sticking true to our "roots". If that was the case, the most cost-effective route for performance would be a newer bike with newer mods. You're going to get a lot more for your money going that route, than reviving these old machines...
 
Here is a pic of my 68CB350 , I put a 2008 GSXR750 front end on it without too much trouble.. figure 1000-1200 to do the swap including the cost of the front end and front wheel , brakes ect.. feel free to contact me if you want a full run down of the process.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4473.jpg
    IMG_4473.jpg
    1.2 MB · Views: 2,198
Ringo said:
I don't really think that argument is valid for our purposes. Let's step back and be honest with ourselves here. We're chasing a style. All of us. Anybody on this site who says they aren't, is a liar. If we were chasing performance, we'd be modifying more modern sport bikes. The average age of a motorcycle on this site is 35-40 years old. "Back in the day" they weren't taking 40-year-old bikes and fitting them with the newest, best parts they could find.

A modern front end is all fine and dandy, but let's not BS ourselves and play it off like we're sticking true to our "roots". If that was the case, the most cost-effective route for performance would be a newer bike with newer mods. You're going to get a lot more for your money going that route, than reviving these old machines...

Fair enough. I'm getting into this because I love the aesthetic. Its a fashion accessory. I cant afford a manx norton so I've got to make do with a 350 Honda. But still, I have in my mind exactly what I want to do with it. Its not because the bike is going to get me laid more. Its a tinkerers desire to just see if I can do it for the hell of it and the satisfaction of a project. Its more hey look what I did! and it looks cool! and allot less, Hey guys! my old piece of junk is soooo much cooler than your Duc because its custom!
 
you know what.. for all the people who are saying this is an absurd idea - screw em. if you have a particular look or style u want to do then by all means go for it. i think people who build and ride bobbers/choppers are silly but i would also fiercely defend their right to do so and would never tell them what to NOT do. its a free world man.

as for your question - it can be done. and u dont even need to press stems or whatever. All-Balls now sells exactly the bearings you need, so you can retain the stock stem. You just need a fork from a GSXR 600/750. But you'll need to do a bit of machining mix-n-match for the hub if you want to retain your spoked wheels (or just go with the mag off a GSXR to keep costs down) I did a bit of a write up on the fork conversion here: http://wiki.getsetbean.com/display/HONDACB/GSX-R+600%2C750+Forks+on+CB350

IMG_8168.jpg
 
Has anyone had any experience with the front end from an SV650? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
i know people upgrade SV650 with GSXR600/750 front ends. its supposed to be a straight up swap. so your approach would likely be similar to the GSXR fork swap process outlined in this thread.


gnarshread said:
Has anyone had any experience with the front end from an SV650? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
darksidephoto said:
Here is a pic of my 68CB350 , I put a 2008 GSXR750 front end on it without too much trouble.. figure 1000-1200 to do the swap including the cost of the front end and front wheel , brakes ect.. feel free to contact me if you want a full run down of the process.

That's a great looking bike you've got there.

Can't see how you come up with $1000-$1200 to do the swap though. I've done it on my T500 using Kawi 636 front end for less than $500.
 
I've done three forks conversions thus far. XS650 with an R6 front end. Honda CX500 with a GSXR750 front (kept the Comstar wheels) and my current project a cafe/track bike an RT360/250 single with a GSXR600 fork set with old school GS mags. All the bikes have matching wheels and rear disc brakes. Not for everyone but that's the point of custom bike building, build to your own vision. It can be done for a little or a lot depending on your resources? Love the Honda 350 btw good job.
Cheers, 50gary
 
Back
Top Bottom