Andrew.Y
New Member
Little intro of myself, 22 years old and just finished Automotive Engineering. Just started working on a project this week and thought I'd share some the progress being made. Essentially, this build will start as a XL350, and eventually (Hopefully) turn into a street tracker inspired build.
A few years ago I purchased a 1978 Honda XL350 for $100 (with an off-road ownership) in really rough shape, with the bike very rusted, engine corroded, non-running, and fuel tank heavily dented and leaking. After a carb clean and cleaning the points I was able to get it to run, although oil was coming out to the exhaust. Determined the ring gaps were bad on the compression rings, oil rings were gummed up and had to be replaced. After the rings and gaskets were replaced compression was back to normal and was running as it should. Its been in the garage sitting, and I had acquired XL parts from scrap yards over the years, mainly a good condition XL175 tank, carb, etc.
16144922_811110395708294_45552675_o by Andrew Young, on Flickr
16145790_811110412374959_723315286_o by Andrew Young, on Flickr
Fast forward to this past month I have successfully switched the ownership to On-road after several visits to the Service Ontario. They were reluctant to switch it since they thought it was a dirt bike not meant to be legally on the road. I had contacted Honda Canada and requested an official document stating it was an on-road/off-road motorcycle in Canada meeting all safety and emission requirements at the date of manufacture. Along with a sworn statement, Service Ontario was able to switch the ownership.
Since the original tank that came with the bike was heavily dented and leaking, I decided I would modify the bike to fit the 1973 XL175 tank I had got at the scrap yard, which was pretty good condition after de-rusting the inside and pulling some of the dents out. This week I chopped the rear of the bike off and chopped the front end of the bike at the down tube. A spacer was machined on a lathe and welded at the down tube; this was done to raise the fuel tank higher to clear the top of the engine. The rear of the bike was chopped off to redo the tubing to allow the fuel tank to fit. All the tubing was bent using a tubing bender I made specifically for this project, including the dies which I machined manually on a lathe. Its essentially a JD2 tube bender copy using a ratcheting mechanism.
DSC07824 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07825 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
The bike with the rear frame chopped off.
DSC07831 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07829 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07834 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07837 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07839 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
Bends for the rear frame were completed on homemade tubing bender; JD2 copy.
16121584_809373695881964_2036812492_o by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07842 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07855 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
All the tubing is 7/8" and plugs were machined and welded wherever there is a butt joint. A hole saw mounted in my lathe chuck did a pretty good job of coping the tubing for fish mouth joints.
DSC07844 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
A mount was welded to secure the fuel tank.
DSC07846 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07854 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07857 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
All structural welds had been completed (suspension & rear frame), and the current state of the bike is a roller.
DSC07857 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07859 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
I ordered some parts for the engine and will get the engine running good with a Mikuni VM32 before moving on further in the project. Next steps while waiting for Ebay parts is to:
- Fabricate a seat pan and mounting points on the frame
- Gussets for structural support
- Engine wiring
A few years ago I purchased a 1978 Honda XL350 for $100 (with an off-road ownership) in really rough shape, with the bike very rusted, engine corroded, non-running, and fuel tank heavily dented and leaking. After a carb clean and cleaning the points I was able to get it to run, although oil was coming out to the exhaust. Determined the ring gaps were bad on the compression rings, oil rings were gummed up and had to be replaced. After the rings and gaskets were replaced compression was back to normal and was running as it should. Its been in the garage sitting, and I had acquired XL parts from scrap yards over the years, mainly a good condition XL175 tank, carb, etc.
16144922_811110395708294_45552675_o by Andrew Young, on Flickr
16145790_811110412374959_723315286_o by Andrew Young, on Flickr
Fast forward to this past month I have successfully switched the ownership to On-road after several visits to the Service Ontario. They were reluctant to switch it since they thought it was a dirt bike not meant to be legally on the road. I had contacted Honda Canada and requested an official document stating it was an on-road/off-road motorcycle in Canada meeting all safety and emission requirements at the date of manufacture. Along with a sworn statement, Service Ontario was able to switch the ownership.
Since the original tank that came with the bike was heavily dented and leaking, I decided I would modify the bike to fit the 1973 XL175 tank I had got at the scrap yard, which was pretty good condition after de-rusting the inside and pulling some of the dents out. This week I chopped the rear of the bike off and chopped the front end of the bike at the down tube. A spacer was machined on a lathe and welded at the down tube; this was done to raise the fuel tank higher to clear the top of the engine. The rear of the bike was chopped off to redo the tubing to allow the fuel tank to fit. All the tubing was bent using a tubing bender I made specifically for this project, including the dies which I machined manually on a lathe. Its essentially a JD2 tube bender copy using a ratcheting mechanism.
DSC07824 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07825 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
The bike with the rear frame chopped off.
DSC07831 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07829 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07834 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07837 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07839 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
Bends for the rear frame were completed on homemade tubing bender; JD2 copy.
16121584_809373695881964_2036812492_o by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07842 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07855 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
All the tubing is 7/8" and plugs were machined and welded wherever there is a butt joint. A hole saw mounted in my lathe chuck did a pretty good job of coping the tubing for fish mouth joints.
DSC07844 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
A mount was welded to secure the fuel tank.
DSC07846 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07854 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07857 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
All structural welds had been completed (suspension & rear frame), and the current state of the bike is a roller.
DSC07857 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
DSC07859 by Andrew Young, on Flickr
I ordered some parts for the engine and will get the engine running good with a Mikuni VM32 before moving on further in the project. Next steps while waiting for Ebay parts is to:
- Fabricate a seat pan and mounting points on the frame
- Gussets for structural support
- Engine wiring