Yet another CL350 rebuild...HELP!!!

chirpy998 said:
12000 miles , that's only just run in and one owner looks like a great find! Take your time and do it right. 8)

If the bike has been sitting for years without being run it doesn't really matter if it's one owner or low miles because that's one of the worst things you can do to a bike as far as deterioration of parts goes.

Get the motor running and assess the state of it from there - don't assume it will be good because of the odometer reading.
 
Yeah, it's been sitting for 4 years. So at the very least the carbs need doing. But prior to that it ran great.

cruising around, conversing with the world, dreaming about riding!
 
So I have just about finished reinstalling the wiring harness. Once I get finished with that, I'm gonna take down the carbs and begin cleaning those up. I have seen methods of PineSol, boiling Lemon Juice, diesel, naval jelly, and good old fashioned Carburetor cleaner. The carbs don't look to be super cruddy, so what would you gents suggest?
 
strip everything, replace all rubber and everything that comes in a rebuild kit, ultrasonic the case,reassemble, then put your clothes back on before replacing the carbs.
 
Haha. Are you telling me to strip down? ;) na just kidding.

Ultrasonic, eh? I'll look into that, I haven't ever heard of this before. Learning s#!? all the time!
 
I really haven't made any progress over the last week or so. Mostly just waiting on parts. But I did get the inside of my gas tank SPICK AND SPAN! The vinegar/baking soda process did WORK! I honestly did not ever think it would work as good as it did. I'll put up some pictures tomorrow or the following day.

I went out and got an ultrasonic cleaner from HF. Best 60 bucks I think I've ever spent, well maybe. I'm experimenting with some old rusty tools to see what combination of what works the best, but so far, I'm thoroughly pleased.

New clutch cable and throttle twist should be in tomorrow. And the new fuel petcock and carb rebuild kits should be in on Saturday. It should all be coming together real soon.
 
Finally, my last night of work before a couple days off. Tomorrow I will begin breaking down and cleaning the carburetors.
After that I'll do the clutch. I know I was told how to adjust the clutch, but any pointers on how to make the whole process a bit more efficient?
 
I started in on the carbs yesterday, and so far it has been a total nightmare. The carbs were caked up with sand, the jets and nozzles won't budge. One of the needle valve screw heads has even busted and I have no idea what to do from here.
 
The same thing happened to the other one now. I don't know what to do. I took one to the Honda dealer/shop in my area to see what they can do, but I won't find out until Tuesday if what they're doing will work.
 
I would think twice about having the dealership work on your 40 year old carbs. They might be able to help you but even if they can't they probably will still try and either way charge an hourly rate to do so. With that and the cost of any replacement parts you may actually need it could end up costing a decent chunk of change. I'd just go on eBay or look around here for replacements (either stock Keihins or aftermarket like the Mikuni VM28 or VM30). I don't mind buying small parts from the dealership but personal labor is how you make these bikes timeconsuming feasible investments. This site and its members have all the information you may need to teach you to do whatever it is you need to do.
 
Well, give me your opinion. They told me between 20 and 50 bucks if it works. Cause all they're gonna do is soak it in an ultrasonic for about 3 days. If it doesn't work, they aren't gonna charge me anything, and I'll most likely end up buying some mikunis since they're still being made and parts are likely to be about the same, if not less than, the stock keihins.

Is it worth it? Or not? Cause I really don't know what to do about that...
 
That actually sounds pretty reasonable. $50 for a soak in an ultrasonic is a little pricey considering you could buy your own for that much. If it works, though, thats a lot better than dropping $200 on Mikunis. And if it doesn't work you're no worse off than before.
 
That's what I thought as well, but my little ultrasonic from HF wasn't getting the job done. If this works for them, I might put the other carburetor in a pot of boiling water for a while and see if that will let the aluminum expand enough to get the other needle valve out. And maybe hit it with another Ultrasonic session just for shits and giggles.
 
So, um, I found out that I am an overzealous fool last night when I was working on one of the carburetors. (This one I have named "Sticky Throttle" due to its nature prior to being cleaned up.) You remember how I said that the valve was stuck in the one I took to the shop? Well it wasn't a valve that needed replacing. Nope. I ruined a jet that was supposed to stay where it was. Yup. I'm a stupid, over-eager ruh-tard. So now, I'm gonna get stuck with the shop fees for something that an get heated up, oiled down, and popped out, when it shouldn't have even been messed with in the first place. It was the one right next to it that needed to be replaced. -Facepalm-

Also, Sticky Throttle was missing a flange or prong or whatever you wanna call it that keeps the jet under the float, in place.

So, I'm gonna end up buying this packet on eBay with the broken jet for the shop carb as well as the flange thing for Sticky Throttle.

I guess the most positive thing I can say about this whole endeavor thus far is; at least I learned some stuff! I think maybe come Friday or maybe Monday next week I'll have the chance to try and fire her up.

You know how sailors name their ships? Well I think, even though I'm not a sailor, I'm gonna name my vessel The Russian Tumbleweed. Just because the PO was an older Russian guy that treated this poor bike just like a Trucker treats a tumbleweed - - like shit.
 
So, I got the carburetors rebuilt and hooked everything up. But now I have another problem. Seeing as how I don't have a battery at this time, I tried kickstarting the bike and the mufflers are positioned just perfectly to the point that the kicker runs right into it. So, I'm curious as to whether I can cut the mufflers off and the bike will still run correctly? I understand that exhaust is necessary, but does the muffler fall into that as well?
 
You will definitely need a good, fully charged battery in order to start this bike (with either electric or kick). Also, the kick lever on your bike was designed to work with the stock CL exhaust. Since you have what appears to be CB headers and some aftermarket mufflers, it makes sense there's an interference. You can remove/cut the mufflers off but I'd replace them. Straight pipes are not the best for performance without major jetting changes and they're stupid loud. I'd consider either (a) getting a cheap new set of mufflers like EMGO roadhawks or shorties, or (b) looking for another kick lever that will clear the pipes. I did not have to do it on my bike but I've heard of people using one from a CB360, which has a bit of a kink in it, or bending their stock kick lever to add such a kink.
 
Back
Top Bottom