New bike, first build. 1968 CB350

Frame cleaning up nicely, time to start cleaning the new motor.

Mostly cleaned up, well at least as much as I care to scrub with a toothbrush. I still need to get a different points cover, but way better then when I started.

Got the new motor back in the frame. Went mostly without incident, but I did have a little trouble with the top motor mount.

Finally figured it out, I loosened all the bolts and jacked up the motor until I was able to work in the final bolt.

Got the new tires mounted on the rims and balanced, they're a little bigger than stock, but I like them.

Started working on the rear suspension, they definitely needed some cleaning.

1. Got one done, one to go.

2. Close up of the finished one...

Started cleaning up the rear rim, a couple of before and after photos.

Keep plugging away - beginning to look like a bike again!

Got a new rear sprocket installed and mounted the rear wheel.

Ripped apart the fork since one of the tubes was seized up. The fork "oil" was more solid than liquid. New seals ordered, cleaned up the inside more than the outside (drying in a bucket in the background of the picture). Figured I better get going on the front wheel while I wait for the seals.

A couple before and afters of the front rim. The chrome really shined up nice on this one.

Cleaned up the chrome on the right header and muffler and got it put back on the bike. Got the the forks all rebuilt. In case anyone wants to save a bunch of time and effort, K0 fork seals can be easily punched into place with a 1 1/4" ID 2' PVC pipe. It's wider and much stronger than some of the other plumbing pieces that fell apart when I was punching the seals into place and can be had for like $3 at the local hardware store..

I still need to order a few bits and pieces, luckily I have a good source for a lot of the odds and ends locally. I'm waiting on a replacement float (68's have the weird rectangular floats), my old one had gas in them. I think the only things I have left to order are:

- Air filters, found stock air boxes, need the filters
- Battery (what is a good AGM replacement for original?)
- Gators
- Grips
- New levers/perches/switches or drill the new drag bars and use the old levers/switches?

And that pretty much brings us up to where I am currently. Just got my title in the mail today which I was pumped about since I had to get the title switched from the motor to the frame. Plates should be here in the next few days and hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll be able to get it running.

Is it missing the front fork springs? Or there is a problem w the front end. It should have the external springs. under gators. they are missing, cut, broke, something there may not be right. In the first pics they look very short.

trek97 said:

Is it missing the front fork springs? Or there is a problem w the front end. It should have the external springs. under gators. they are missing, cut, broke, something there may not be right. In the first pics they look very short.

Click to expand...

K0 Springs are shorter than later models. They also changed the design several times over the run. According to the shop manual, they are the correct length for that year.

I'm just about finished up, but I'm trying to troubleshoot an electrical problem I'm having where the starter motor kicks on seemingly randomly when the battery is hooked up, even if the key is not in the on/run position. I have done quite a bit of troubleshooting and this is summary of what I worked on last night.

I took a better look at the switches and they had definitely been into before, cut and re-soldered. Luckily a friend has 2 bins full of old Honda controls/perches, so last night I swapped for a different set. This set has an OFF/ON/OFF switch that mine didn't, I was able to find a home for each wire except a 2nd black and a black/white stripe from the control. However, it seems that everything works on that side with the extra wires capped off. Also this one has the addition of the front brake light switch, so I'll have to figure out a way to work that into the existing wiring.

So after all this messing around, I'm still having the starter kicking on all of a sudden, I think it might be the solenoid. I was thinking solenoid since I was also only getting intermittent success with the blinkers. I tested and then replaced the blinker relay with a working one and when I connect directly to the battery, the switch and all the blinkers work fine. However, the blinker relay on my bike gets power from a cable connected to the solenoid that doesn't seem to be getting steady power which seems to support my idea of the solenoid. Today I'm going to double check all the wiring to/from the solenoid for shorts, otherwise I'm not sure what direction to go. All of the wiring in the switches seems good now and I figured out the headlight, it was in the bulb itself, just a loose connection.

So, I'm looking for ideas about what might cause the starter to have a mind of its own, and how to wire in a front brake light switch that wasn't originally part of the k0 wiring.

Those old school odometers.

Love em