"Carbonite" CB350 Cafe by first time builder

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First time builder learning all from youtube
I'm starting this thread to document my build. I bought a working 71 CB350 from a vintage bike shop in Los Angeles. It runs great but isn't street legal. She doesn't have a speedometer, turn signals, or mirrors. The tank was stripped of paint and has started rusting. I've already made a few mods and I'll make a post with some pictures showing what I've done so far and what I'm currently working on.
 
good luck with the build get the bike running well before you tear it apart
get new brake shoes,
the tailight wont last long where it is that is where the tire goes when you hit a bump
 
Thank's its_nuche. What are you building?

zb33bsa, thanks for the advice. The plan is to do a custom carbon fiber seat and tail. I saw some youtube videos where they carve foam to make a mold. Gonna try that out and integrate the tail light into the tail section. I'm hoping to have some money by then and want to get one of those blaster taillight that are brighter. Also looking to swap the front forks out and get disc brakes. Not sure with what forks yet.

Tonight I worked on my gauge bracket. First time trying any metal working. Pretty happy with how it came out. Here are some pics. I shot some video on how I did it and will put that up later. Let's just say, a lot of CAD - cardboard aided design.

akd0jiM.jpg
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ZJSJbHc.jpg
 
What's been done so far

So far, I've de-rusted the tank with vinegar and then muriatic acid. I then clear coated it with a 2K epoxy primer. I changed out the grips and added a small mirror. I also installed new handlebar switches. I changed out the old hard fuel lines with some nylon covered steel braided lines and added a tube for the carburetor drain. Finally, I installed a new led after market taillight with integrated signals as well as a new headlight with integrated led signals.

http://youtu.be/eWVtOMXguHc
 
Custom LED signal flasher relay came in the mail

3cV3j8y.jpg


Just got in my Signal Flasher Relay from CustomLED and some necessary connectors.
 
Re: "Carbonite" CB350 Cafe by first time builder

Good luck with your build. I think your headlight bucket might be upside down, or maybe I'm not just familiar with that bucket shape.
 
Re: "Carbonite" CB350 Cafe by first time builder

Being it's a 71 and you live in Cali you don't have to run blinkers or a speedo.


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Custom Gauge Bracket Fabrication

My first attempt at any metal fab and I'm pretty happy with the results. When I bought the bike, it didn't have any instruments or gauges. So in order to get my aftermarket gauge to fit, I had to design and fab up a mounting bracket. I went for an all-in-one tachometer, speedometer, signal indicator, gear position, etc. I fabbed it out of 1/8" sheet metal and a lot of trial and error.

http://youtu.be/0s_S9ihZLGE
 
Re: "Carbonite" CB350 Cafe by first time builder

Bobber_kai said:
Being it's a 71 and you live in Cali you don't have to run blinkers or a speedo.
I went through all the CHP and CVC stuff a couple years ago for a build I did, and you sir are correct. 1972 and older, I believe. Being that you only have to have a rear brake in CA, the front pull brake light isn't required either. Well, mine only had the rear light switch.
 
nice work on the bracket that is impressive doing that with a jigsaw
the way to do your finish work is with some course bastard files in round(rat tail) and half round
i see alot of people trying to use a dremel when a file is a much better tool for the job
you could have dressed up the first ruff cut one just fine and dandy using files, and in very quick time as well
 
Thanks xb33bsa. I'll keep that in mind in case I have to do any more fab work. I think I'm going to build my own seat pan and a carbon fiber tail section. I thought I was being brilliant with the dremel. Pulled it out of the closet after sitting there over a decade. I did use it to take some of the burrs off but sounds like a file is the way to go.

Thanks Bobber_kai and thehoggster. Didn't know that about the speedo, signals, or brake light. Probably safer for me if I have the front switch and signals. Do either of you know the law regarding a license plate light or if vertical mounting is legal in CA? I can always google search that if no one knows.
 
Looking forward to see how this turns out. I have to dig around on YouTube for that acid washing technique, the tank looks pretty rad! Anyway, I left some comments on your videos, I really think that mic will be beneficial as it's hard to hear you. Do you have the skeleton case on your GoPro? It sounds as it the mic on the camera is being blocked. Either way, cool build and I am posting mine shortly. Hopefully we can learn together.

Cheers!
 
Saturdays Wrench said:
I really think that mic will be beneficial as it's hard to hear you. Do you have the skeleton case on your GoPro?

Hi Saturdays Wrench! Yeah, just started using the GoPro. Shot all the video and didn't realize the sound was so bad until I got it into the computer. But new videos will definitely be better. ...except the next one on wiring which is already in the can. I'll keep my eye out for your videos.

I did multiple acid washes. I watched a lot of youtube but followed mostly this guy.

First, you need some rust. The acid turns the rust black which to me added a grunge texture. The first wash was with vinegar water. Didn't remove all the rust. Just wasn't strong enough. And even after rinsing, the metal would turn pretty orange. Youtube says not to worry about the orange rust, it'll just wash off. But it didn't really wash off. Maybe I had the water:vinegar ratio wrong. I just eyeballed it.

Then I went with a phosphoric acid wash I got from Autozone. I know I said muriatic in the vid but now I think it was phosphoric. I'll have to check the bottle. I'm planning on making a vid just on the tank. That really got rid of the rust and didn't turn orange like the vinegar ...and didn't smell as bad. I let it sit for a few days and it started to petina. When it got to where I liked, I hit it with some spraycan 2K epoxy primer. I had read all the acrylic, urethane, etc stuff you get from homedepot would just wash off if you spilled any gas on it. While filling the tank with a gas can, I had a cap malfunction and spilled gas all over the tank. I washed it off and it still looks good to me.
 
CB350 Cafe by first time builder - wiring up the beast

My bike came with no signals and only 4 switches: ignition switch, starter button, horn, and headlight on ...no high beam. I went in hoping the wires were just cut and left hanging. If the wires were missing all together, I'd have to make a new harness. Luckily, everything was there but figuring it all out with a multimeter took a week. But everything is all wired up and working.

http://youtu.be/MZGg3ajgCzQ
 
Toxic Motorwerks said:
Probably safer for me if I have the front switch and signals. Do either of you know the law regarding a license plate light or if vertical mounting is legal in CA? I can always google search that if no one knows.

Dunno about the plate, but these bikes didn't have a switch for the brake light for the front brake. Doesn't mean you can't adapt something, but a rear brake switch should be fine.
 
Toxic Motorwerks said:
Hi Saturdays Wrench! Yeah, just started using the GoPro. Shot all the video and didn't realize the sound was so bad until I got it into the computer. But new videos will definitely be better. ...except the next one on wiring which is already in the can. I'll keep my eye out for your videos.

I did multiple acid washes. I watched a lot of youtube but followed mostly this guy.

First, you need some rust. The acid turns the rust black which to me added a grunge texture. The first wash was with vinegar water. Didn't remove all the rust. Just wasn't strong enough. And even after rinsing, the metal would turn pretty orange. Youtube says not to worry about the orange rust, it'll just wash off. But it didn't really wash off. Maybe I had the water:vinegar ratio wrong. I just eyeballed it.

Then I went with a phosphoric acid wash I got from Autozone. I know I said muriatic in the vid but now I think it was phosphoric. I'll have to check the bottle. I'm planning on making a vid just on the tank. That really got rid of the rust and didn't turn orange like the vinegar ...and didn't smell as bad. I let it sit for a few days and it started to petina. When it got to where I liked, I hit it with some spraycan 2K epoxy primer. I had read all the acrylic, urethane, etc stuff you get from homedepot would just wash off if you spilled any gas on it. While filling the tank with a gas can, I had a cap malfunction and spilled gas all over the tank. I washed it off and it still looks good to me.

Thanks for that!! I was having a hard time finding a good video for it. Cheers! And thanks for sharing your advice.
 
Toxic! SO smart doing that with the wiring diagram, I had written in my build notes to do the EXACT same thing in photoshop with the exact same picture when it came time for it! If you don't mind and have the files handy it would be a huge help. Nice work man!
 
DL link for wiring diagram broken up into separate systems

Saturday, not a problem. I'm more that happy to. Here's a link to a Google Drive folder I made public.

bit.ly/1971HondaCB350WiringDiagrams
 
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