Well, here it is, my first build thread!
Background:
About a decade ago I inherited a '66 Harley-Aermacchi Sprint 250H from my uncle. My intent was to get it running then cherry it up. While I was online looking for parts I came across a few websites that showed these bad boys turned into cafe bikes. This is where it all began. The stretched out look of a CR style tank, clip ons and all the other cafe accoutrements made this bike look ridiculously uncomfortable yet ridiculously awesome. This bike had no downtube either so it was all just exposed engine, a real testament of two-wheeleed beauty. Though, sadly, after I entered college I neither had the time nor the money to build it up to what I wanted it to be, so I ended up getting rid of it.
Now a few years later, I'm still in college (grad school) and still don't really have the time or the money to build a bike to what I want it to be, but whats life without some sleepless nights and ramen noodle dinners? In fact, I've come to realize that with the right DIY attitude it doesn't take a lot of cash to build the bike I want. Thats right, not the bike that has the best marketing, not the bike that can run circles around the competition, but the bike that I want. I wanted to build a spirited small cafe bike. After some researching I found the CB350 to be the perfect candidate. There's a ton of them, they're a solid platform to start on and there is a ton of aftermarket options for them. Also, some researching led me to to some forums (DTT in particular!) where a ton of people congregate that are willing to help others in the building process.
The bike:
I picked up a semi-running '73 CB350G, the one with the front disc brake. The front brake rotor was shot, the PO only had one break pad in... It would start after a lot of coaxing and starting fluid but would choke out after a while and wouldn't rev very high at all. The turn signals weren't working apparently and there were a few other problems, but that's to be expected with a bike that's older than me...
Proof that a CB350 can in fact fit in the back of a Dodge Caravan:
It can also fit into an '01 Cavalier after a lot of dismantling:
The van picture was taken back in February '10 when I first bought the bike for $550. The Cavalier picture was right after the tear-down in late fall.
After I got the bike I proceeded to source some parts; clip-ons, rearsets, linkages etc and put the bike on a severe weight loss program. I put the necessary parts back on but Fall was closing in and I realized I was doing things in a rushed fashion so I decided to take the winter to slow things down and do it safely.
Here is the bike as it stood before the teardown:
So the bike is in pieces, and I've made some good progress overall but that will be included in later posts.
Thanks for looking,
-jordan
Background:
About a decade ago I inherited a '66 Harley-Aermacchi Sprint 250H from my uncle. My intent was to get it running then cherry it up. While I was online looking for parts I came across a few websites that showed these bad boys turned into cafe bikes. This is where it all began. The stretched out look of a CR style tank, clip ons and all the other cafe accoutrements made this bike look ridiculously uncomfortable yet ridiculously awesome. This bike had no downtube either so it was all just exposed engine, a real testament of two-wheeleed beauty. Though, sadly, after I entered college I neither had the time nor the money to build it up to what I wanted it to be, so I ended up getting rid of it.
Now a few years later, I'm still in college (grad school) and still don't really have the time or the money to build a bike to what I want it to be, but whats life without some sleepless nights and ramen noodle dinners? In fact, I've come to realize that with the right DIY attitude it doesn't take a lot of cash to build the bike I want. Thats right, not the bike that has the best marketing, not the bike that can run circles around the competition, but the bike that I want. I wanted to build a spirited small cafe bike. After some researching I found the CB350 to be the perfect candidate. There's a ton of them, they're a solid platform to start on and there is a ton of aftermarket options for them. Also, some researching led me to to some forums (DTT in particular!) where a ton of people congregate that are willing to help others in the building process.
The bike:
I picked up a semi-running '73 CB350G, the one with the front disc brake. The front brake rotor was shot, the PO only had one break pad in... It would start after a lot of coaxing and starting fluid but would choke out after a while and wouldn't rev very high at all. The turn signals weren't working apparently and there were a few other problems, but that's to be expected with a bike that's older than me...
Proof that a CB350 can in fact fit in the back of a Dodge Caravan:
It can also fit into an '01 Cavalier after a lot of dismantling:
The van picture was taken back in February '10 when I first bought the bike for $550. The Cavalier picture was right after the tear-down in late fall.
After I got the bike I proceeded to source some parts; clip-ons, rearsets, linkages etc and put the bike on a severe weight loss program. I put the necessary parts back on but Fall was closing in and I realized I was doing things in a rushed fashion so I decided to take the winter to slow things down and do it safely.
Here is the bike as it stood before the teardown:
So the bike is in pieces, and I've made some good progress overall but that will be included in later posts.
Thanks for looking,
-jordan