CB360 - restore, maintain, ride

pkoster

Proud member of the blue CB360 club
I'm going to use this as my main thread/bike log for my 1974 CB360.

Brief background:
- Owned it for 1 year now. Bike looked clean and original when I got it (picture attached)
- Rode for 1 year without any major changes. Just oil changes and plugs.

Things I found so far to do:
- forks leaking
- missing/power loss at 3500-4500 RPM when cruising
- regulator not attached
- top triple cracked
- gauges wrapped in inner tube (literally)
- clutch may be slipping - neutral hard to find when hot

Near future:
- rear brakes (drum)
- front brakes (disk)

Things I have in mind:
- electronic ignition (Pamco or DIY)
- timing chain tensioner
- improve compression (rings/top end/??)
- OEM seat
- new tires
 

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I will fill in more pics/details as I go. Just getting the thread started.

Doing some "spring cleaning":
- replacing for seals:
- clean, refinish forks & smooth stanchions
- clean carbs - new seals & boots
- replace top triple
- deglaze disk brake
- replace rectifier with new R&R
 
Spring cleaning #2:

OK... so a little time to catch up on the posting before work builds up steam...

Currently I have the carbs rebuilt and installed with new boots along with the new R&R on a freshly cleaned & painted battery box. Put in the gas, no leaks or overflow - good sign. Kicked it over to get some oil spread about. Then first touch of starter with the key on and it runs. Big smile on my face, I was expected to do a little adjustments on the idle screws. Ahhh validation that I am not slowly butchering this thing into the grave.

So, back up a week or so and here are the pics of bits and pieces before any work was done.

Images attached:
(I still can't figure out how to embed images inline.)
  • Float bowls: look like shit with old yellow and patchy clear coat from PO. The gasket was too small and they used some sort of rubber sealant to hold it in and seal leaks.
  • Forks apart: removed all the bits and pieces. Took a while to get the seals out. I uses some heat and a big screw driver to slowly pry them out. Thanks to all on this forum who posted advice on doing this. For me heat was the key.
  • Fork bodies(?) - patchy clear coat and beat up.
  • For Stanchion - small pitting.

I stripped both float bowls and fork bodies. Sanded and lightly polished the float bowls, not shiny, I like the patina on them, then clear coated them. I also rubbed and sanded and polished the shit out of the vacuum caps. They were badly pitted/rusted. They look better but not great. This will be my next swap meet find. I left the carb bodies as is. Next time I remove them I may strip and soak them to remove shitty clear coat on them too.

For the forks I spent a lot of time wet sanding (200, 400, 600) and rubbing with 0 and 000 steel wool then clear coating. I think the final product looks good (will post pics soon). They have that brushed aluminum look and maintained some character as well.

Next steps are to repaint the replacement top triple, assemble the forks, de-glaze the disk brake, put the whole lot back together and finally go for a ride! Smile and take an afternoon nap.

Cheers
Pete
 

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Check manual for torque on trpiple clamps. It's not as much as one may assume. That's how they get broke. If you don't have a real 3/8 drive torque wrench nows the time to add one to the tool box.
I got a harbor freight one. It's cheap and not great at lower values like that. My snap on I have at work is a much better tool. But a lot more money.
 
But please don't take that the wrong way. I don't want to be a know it all. Just some friendly advice. And maybe useful info for less experienced guys reading your thread.
 
trek97 said:
But please don't take that the wrong way. I don't want to be a know it all. Just some friendly advice. And maybe useful info for less experienced guys reading your thread.

No offense taken. Any and all feedback is always very much appreciated. How else will I learn?

I do have a torque wrench which is in the lower ranges. I'll definitely use that. I've already printed my cross ref. chart to cover kg*m, n*m, ft*lbs, and ft*in (Canadian here so I speak metric). My wrench shows n*m and ft.*in. And manual is in kg*m and ft.*lbs. The cracked upper triple was from the PO. I drove it all last season on a cracked upper, the fork bolt was holding the triple together. I wish I knew better and looked for that when I bought the thing.
 
trek97 said:
Have you downloaded the official Honda workshop manual ?

Yes indeed, thanks. Printed it ;D, and lost it :eek:, now using it on tablet and printing pages as needed.
 
Oh, get heavy duty clutch springs, it cures the slip you get with even a stock motor (plus, you can use thinner Shell Rotella full synthetic and keep the cam bearings in good condition)
 
crazypj said:
Oh, get heavy duty clutch springs, it cures the slip you get with even a stock motor (plus, you can use thinner Shell Rotella full synthetic and keep the cam bearings in good condition)

Excellent, thanks for the tip!
 
Spring Cleaning #3

A few more pics"

1)Top triple. I stripped it and repainted with gloss black engine enamel. I think it looks great... now I'll need to strip the whole bike and repaint it too ???

2) Redone forks, all cleaned, sanded and clear coated.

3) De-glazed disk. I just 80-grit on an orbital sander. Not sure how much I should do? This was only a few minutes for both sides.

Cheers
Peter
 

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crazypj said:
Oh, get heavy duty clutch springs, it cures the slip you get with even a stock motor (plus, you can use thinner Shell Rotella full synthetic and keep the cam bearings in good condition)

I was looking around for a source. Is there a specific or recommended brand/part# for the heavy duty vs. normal springs?

I see S.C.I. has Barnett, EBC CSK3 and EBC CSK4 (picture says heavy duty, but cost less thant ESK3??).

Thanks,
Peter
 
I use Bore Tech CB350 'race' springs.
They are a great price and work well (clutch springs are same Honda part number for 350 and 360)
I've had over 100,000 miles on CB550 with same plates, clutch is designed to slip slightly when changing gear, mine would slip a lot more than I liked, particularly after 591 conversion and Piper Cam.
I fitted 'race' springs around 15,000miles.
360 was designed around the same time with the same thinking, keep new riders from destroying bike until it gets out of guarantee period ;)
Oh, modified 360 (378cc, slight porting, stock cam, modified carbs) will just spin stock clutch as soon as it hits 7~8,500 rpm 8)
 
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