Honda CB's and their mileage

minidriver8 said:

jump in with both feet! the 350's are cheap....they're easy to work on even if at times they do the weirdest things. i got mine for free hadn't been run in 17 years tank full of old rust gas, carbs gummed with the same crap. i pulled the carbs tore them apart cleaned everything out put them back together put some gas in them, new battery and 5 kicks she fired up and idled! over the next 3 months i proceeded to beat the crap out of it and the rubber cam chain tensioner disintegrated wrecking the motor. so i tore it apart and found parts really cheap on craigslist from a guy on this forum.....and i fixed it.

my point is, who cares if you trash one, personally if people didn't trash these things, there'd be no parts. i am not saying you will trash one either. these cb/cl350's are not bulletproof but they are fun as heck to ride, there are plently of trashed ones out there where you can steal parts and learn more about what makes a bike tick without worrying about breaking the bank or ruining a one of a kind.

get two or three and cut and paste them all together and feel the pride of making something run and let it be your fault. trash one while your at it, jump curbs if you get a chance. they ride like a heavy pedal bike and will make you smile when you least expect it and give you the "holy crap these drum brakes suck" too!

if you're ready for a little work, they'll work with you and part of the time against you....go for it, old 350!

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THATS WHAT IM SAYING! i mean im bound to wreck it, and even if i dont someone in this city is going to plow through it with a street sweeper or something! so id much rather buy a bike that costs 2k that might* get me to school and work and back. and like you i want to learn how to work on these things because in a year a friend and i are going to europe, meeting up with another friend in spain, buying 3 crap bikes (theyre cheap as dirt in spain) and doing a tour. its stupid but im young and alive so i figure what the heck.

@axeugene27 thank you thats really what im looking for, something fun.

Get someone knowledgable to look over and ask some questions about your potential purchase, whatever it be. Just make sure it's not your friend who advised you about CB's. Then spend some time in your garage looking it over with a manual. That new purchase will become more costly if you haven't got the time to get your own hands dirty.

Try not to pigeon hole yourself into only a honda CB
Many much better bikes out there, but since everyone and their mother wants a honda CB the prices reflect that.

Surfly has a point there. Cm cl and other model hondas have a lot of potential too. There is even a whole thread of different "broke back" builds. More work if you stick with the standard flat top cafe look but depending on how much you want to invest there are quite a few options to be explored with some grinding and welding.

Then again, I plan on a cb550 for my next bike like the man says every one wants one 8)

Rat, I was talking more out side of the box then that.
CLs and Cbs are interchangeable in almost every way
I will never in a million years suggest a CM or honda hawk to anyone, even more so to someone that has dreams of a cafe down the road. Yes some have kinda almost made it work but why handicap yourself even more?
RD is nice but kinda powerful and to many myths out there about how easy they are and such. Yes a two stroke has less parts, but when tuned wrong you break those parts....a two stroke is not better or worse overall (might be better or worse at some things) then a four stroke, they are just different
Why not look at things that suzuki or kawi made?

I feel a need to chime in here an I may be stirring up shit but reading this post thread just pissed me off. First off Brendami you are not a lady, you are a kid if your profile age is correct. Show some respect. I am a lady and that being said surffly was not being rude or disrespectful he was offering advice that you asked for by posting the question. If you don't know what a compression tester is then fucking google it rather then getting pissed off when someone assumes you are a noob for not knowing what it is and a noob is what you are if you have only been riding for a few year and have never owned an older bike. Accept that you are a noob and learn from what the people here have to offer. I am noob and if I ask a noob question I expect to get some shit. I will have to earn my stripes just as everyone here has.

Get off your high horse and you might learn something.

Girls like you give true ladies a bad name.

reboopie said:

I feel a need to chime in here an I may be stirring up shit but reading this post thread just pissed me off. First off Brendami you are not a lady, you are a kid if your profile age is correct. Show some respect. I am a lady and that being said surffly was not being rude or disrespectful he was offering advice that you asked for by posting the question. If you don't know what a compression tester is then fucking google it rather then getting pissed off when someone assumes you are a noob for not knowing what it is and a noob is what you are if you have only been riding for a few year and have never owned an older bike. Accept that you are a noob and learn from what the people here have to offer. I am noob and if I ask a noob question I expect to get some shit. I will have to earn my stripes just as everyone here has.

Get off your high horse and you might learn something.

Girls like you give true ladies a bad name.

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I read through this thread with the intention of calling out the quoted post because I think giving new folks a hard time is generally bad form. Now, having read through all the previous pages, I think I can only agree with it at this point, though.

surffly may take a "tough love" kind of approach, but he knows what he's talking about and he's a well-respected member of this community.

You can learn a lot from a lot of different people if your first response isn't to get defensive about people's assumptions. For what it's worth, I'd peg you as a newbie as well. No one wants a CB350 as their first bike unless they're getting into it for the "culture" and damn near anyone with a couple of hours of wrenching experience on an old bike is going to know what a compression tester is, how it's used, and why it's so damn important.

If you have questions, ask for clarification and don't pull the righteous indignation bullshit around here. It don't fly.

reboopie said:

I feel a need to chime in here an I may be stirring up shit but reading this post thread just pissed me off. First off Brendami you are not a lady, you are a kid if your profile age is correct. Show some respect. I am a lady and that being said surffly was not being rude or disrespectful he was offering advice that you asked for by posting the question. If you don't know what a compression tester is then fucking google it rather then getting pissed off when someone assumes you are a noob for not knowing what it is and a noob is what you are if you have only been riding for a few year and have never owned an older bike. Accept that you are a noob and learn from what the people here have to offer. I am noob and if I ask a noob question I expect to get some shit. I will have to earn my stripes just as everyone here has.

Get off your high horse and you might learn something.

Girls like you give true ladies a bad name.

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ahhh the internet and everyone thinking they know exactly who the other person is...
a kid can be a lady. and if you aren't a kid like you say i am then you might be a middle aged LADY coming at a kid (probably trying to teach me a lesson huh. well you showed me). i dont mind being a "noob" and never said i wasn't one. i understand everyone has got to start somewhere. the reason i got bent out of shape with surffly was because i felt like just because i may be a "noob" that doesn't mean that i'm a piece of shit and you get to talk to me that way. other people offered advice just as good as him minus the attitude. it was a pretty simple question, could've even been yes or no, but everyone needs to put their two cents in (which i dont really mind). and you want to talk about respect? you're a stranger on the internet who considers me a kid but then goes and writes that^ to me. man i seriously just wanted to know if cb's are worth it over other brands. thats it just looking for the best option. didnt know i was getting myself into some territorial battle/ peeing contest.
honestly i just want to ride and have fun. but go ahead, teach me some more lessons. oh and real ladies don't stir shit up.



@surffly im not stuck on cb's. i know there are other bikes out there just as good. if the opportunity comes up i wont hesitate to get something else over a cb. ill choose the bike thats in the best condition. (im not worried too much about looks right now, just want it running as well as possible). my friend has a kz which i got to ride a few times. its a really cool bike and fun to ride.

I might suggest an early GS twin. They made some small ones (between 250 and 450cc's), and some even have kick starters. There is an entire forum dedicated to GS's (GSResources) and they are stone cold reliable once the electrical system is taken care of.

Big Rich said:

I might suggest an early GS twin. They made some small ones (between 250 and 450cc's), and some even have kick starters. There is an entire forum dedicated to GS's (GSResources) and they are stone cold reliable once the electrical system is taken care of.

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oh yeah, these are nice, i like these. haven't seen one for sale around here yet but at least now ill be on the look out for them. thank you! oh and the forum comes in handy.

Well check this site out then (top left of the page, models 1970-1989 or whatever it is):

http://www.suzukicycles.org/All-Suzuki/all_suzuki_models.html

And if you find a dirt cheap GR650 with a clean title, let me know..............

gosh i hope my head doesn't get ripped off for asking this as a newbie to vintage bikes... here goes:
everyone has suggested honda, suzuki, kawasaki but no one has said anything about yamaha. is there something that is (more) faulty about old yamahas when compared to the other big three? or has it just not come up in the conversation? just curious.

Hi Brendami,

I read the thread. The cb 350 is a pretty good choice I think. Don't go with the 360. There aren't many aftermarket parts for it and I see people scrounging for them on here frequently. Not enough experience to say about other bikes. There are things in the 350 that are just as unreliable as the 360 but at least there is a quick effective option for them (chain slipper/tensioner for example). The 350's are actually raced and there are lots of performance mods for them. I'm working on my first 350 build right now and I've been sinking thousands into it. If it wasn't for me being retarded like that then it would be even simpler. Bottom line is that I highly recommend "jumping in with both feet". Buy the clymers book and download the actual shop manual (around here for free). I printed mine all off and put it in a binder. Read it from cover to cover and take lots of pictures and then tear right into the bike to learn every single part and what it does. No need to be timid. If you screw shit up there's lots of used parts available for cheap and lots of people on stand by to help. If you hadn't already expressed the desire to get riding asap I wouldn't even neccessarily recommend buying a running bike. A lot of the worn out parts you'll probably want to replace anyway for more power and reliability. It might sound like a lot and intimidating but it's really not. I'm still a noob that's only been doing this for a few months and I could probably do it blindfolded now. I like doing up the first bike so much I bought 10 more of them. Whatever you decide please check that there are lots of upgraded aftermarket parts available and probably if they're being raced a lot it's a good sign.

idk xs are cool but i don't think they made the 400 till 77, are hard to find, and as a fan of small bikes i don't think you want a 650. The other 70s yams are 2 strokes and i def want an rd but they are expensive right now and i don't think lend themselves well to the daily rider i think you are after. A 76 z400 is up for sale by me that i want to go snatch up right now. But if you want cheap, vintage (early 70s) , small displacement, readily available (comparatively) for purchase and parts, motorcycle you are not going to do better than a cb350, It doesn't hurt that it's a honda and i don't care what anyone says Honda's are very reliable motorcycles

axeugene is correct. I do also want to add that Yamaha made the xs360 from 76-77. Great bike, but I am biased. the 360 and 400 parts are fairly interchangeable depending on the year and are fairly easy to find. There is also an excellent forum dedicated to both of those bikes, www.xs400.com

I dont know CA law so not sure if the title is and issue
Great bike for the city, way more useable
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/mcy/3156651785.html

Bomb proof for the price of some way less interesting honda, but it is actual money
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/mcy/3154712427.html

Here is your journey..
Read some place that they were better handling frames then the RD350s? and some stuff bolts on?
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/mcy/3161103478.html

eduros are the new cafe craze
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/mcy/3159116322.html

Not the as much of a traditional cafe racer as a honda but still...
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/mcy/3157908236.html

Dam there are a ton of enduros but no street bikes by you...
Small but fun
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/mcy/3126143925.html

DONE!
Not to big and not to small. Proper small bike, not a toy
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/mcy/3154230059.html

only because I want one
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/mcy/3154019892.html

What is the actual budget for this endeavor?
What do you think about these?

I would think that you should find the local VinMoto guys and meet them and hang out with them for a while. Look at the bikes they ride, often they can find stuff that is not just listed on CL

How is a Bezzer (BSA) not a traditional cafe racer? I think that 441 would be awsome as a cafe.

rays650cafe said:

How is a Bezzer (BSA) not a traditional cafe racer? I think that 441 would be awsome as a cafe.

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I was being sarcastic
Its funny but by me the deals are on brit bikes right now as the prices of hondas go nuts

surffly said:

I dont know CA law so not sure if the title is and issue
Great bike for the city, way more useable
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/mcy/3156651785.html

Bomb proof for the price of some way less interesting honda, but it is actual money
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/mcy/3154712427.html

Here is your journey..
Read some place that they were better handling frames then the RD350s? and some stuff bolts on?
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/mcy/3161103478.html

eduros are the new cafe craze
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/mcy/3159116322.html

Not the as much of a traditional cafe racer as a honda but still...
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/mcy/3157908236.html

Dam there are a ton of enduros but no street bikes by you...
Small but fun
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/mcy/3126143925.html

DONE!
Not to big and not to small. Proper small bike, not a toy
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/mcy/3154230059.html

only because I want one
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/mcy/3154019892.html

What is the actual budget for this endeavor?
What do you think about these?

I would think that you should find the local VinMoto guys and meet them and hang out with them for a while. Look at the bikes they ride, often they can find stuff that is not just listed on CL

Click to expand...

Im going to start calling up some of these people is what i think! THANK YOU really! budget is trying to keep it as close to $1300.

$1300, I would only look at running riding bikes then. Might sound like a project is a good idea but its almost a grand to get most non running barn finds to the point of being legally on the road. And even then its a risk