1972/73 Honda CB 350 Build

[meatwadfairy]

Hey everyone! Im new here, but not to the motorcycling world.

Thought I would put my build thread here, since I found so much information on this site.

I decided I wanted to build another old bike. The last BMW I did was a lot of fun but this time I opted for a Honda.

I purchased a 1972 and a 1973 Honda CB350. Ultimately I can build two bikes, but one will be a donor for the other in case any parts are needed and I'll build out the second one later.

I'm having the bikes shipped from GA, and they will be here on Thursday night.

Here are a few pictures that I have, I will take more when they arrive.
1972:

1973:

I believe I'm going to start with the 1973. Personally I'm not a fan of the single bulky rotor so I'm going to do a fork conversion with a 2007 GSXR 600. Thanks to the information I found on this site I already got the bearings for the fork swap from allballsracing.com

I know that a lot of you work with the HD Narrow Glide hub and Hayabusa rotors, but I went ahead and ordered an aluminum hub from cognitomoto. That will bolt right up to the rotors I already have and will save me money in the long run.

I love the tank/seat combo that BCR has to offer... But I dont love the price, even for the fiberglass set. Considering doing my own tank/seat (which I have never done before).

Would love input from anyone that has anything to offer, such as good rearsets, etc.

 

[booooost]

Great looking bikes! I'm doing the same conversion to my CB350 with the front end from a GSXR + a Cognito hub. I would recommend purchasing the Motobits rear sets. They're perfect! Another thing I'd recommend is a updated charging system, upgraded battery and, a Probe Engineering electronic ignition system.

 

[meatwadfairy]

Great looking bikes! I'm doing the same conversion to my CB350 with the front end from a GSXR + a Cognito hub. I would recommend purchasing the Motobits rear sets. They're perfect! Another thing I'd recommend is a updated charging system, upgraded battery and, a Probe Engineering electronic ignition system.

Its not cheap. But I figured the headache from searching for a single hub and making spacers, not to mention machining rotors, would save time and money in the long run. So I ended up picking one up. I also got their headlight bucket, top triple clamp, and new chain.

Thanks Cognitomoto.

I have been scouring the internet for a place to order tanks. I dont want to chance making my own (on this build). So I talked to Benji at BCR and ended up ordering a tank/seat combo from him. Maybe ill be adventurous on the next one and experiment with making my own. The tanks are custom made so it will take about 4 weeks for me to get. Should look like this:

The bikes made it in. I got a little eager and went ahead and started the tear down. I can already say that I hate the exhaust on the Copper bike that Im building first, so they will be coming off at somepoint.

Here are the bikes as they arrived:
1973

1972:

The '72 is in better condition. Which is a perfect reason to start on the other one first.

Got busy with dis-assembly:

[/QUOTE]

 

[meatwadfairy]

Considering selling the '72 if anyone is interested.

I took about an hour on Friday to work on the bike some more. Im waiting on parts to start funneling in, so I took the exhaust and old carbs off the bike.

While doing this I got tired of starring at that dirty ass motor... So I started cleaning it.

Making a noticeable difference.

I need to get a small wire wheel for my dremel tool to get in the tight places. But its cleaning up nicely.

I ened up locating my angle grinder... So I made sure the wheel was still good by grinding two frame tabs off. Worked well, and the rest will be cleaned up soon!

 

[meatwadfairy]

Worked on the bike some more on Superbowl Sunday.

Using bold cutters I removed the old chain. I also ground off the old foot peg points. I want to retain the kick stand, so for now that was the easiest way. But I have a new kick stand on the way, along with rear sets.

And begain tackling the motor:

motor is out! After muscling around with it.

That's all for today, But finishing the rest of the frame is next. Then off to powder coat.

 

[meatwadfairy]

Picked up my gsxr forks last night. Complete set up with triples. Bought a set of rotors and Mc off evilbay. Some people are just crazy about what they want for parts....

Ordered woodcraft clipons. Yoshi triple nut.

As soon as my new hub makes it in I will have the front wheel done. Not sure if I can do it personally?

I also need to research tires. Old firestones would be cool. But I hear the handling is terrible. Any suggestions?



Got an email from UPS which confirms my fork bearings came in today. Might remove the original forks and start the mockup of the new ones tonight. Pretty exciting stuff. Finally putting something new on instead of ripping things apart!

 

[meatwadfairy]

I have seen a few wiring diagrams for this bike. Does anyone have a simplified one? I will not be running the starter, signals, etc.

That should remove alot of the needed wiring on the bike. Just need the headlight, brake light, horn, and ignition system. Wondering if anyone has done this or if there is a tutorial I haven't been able to find.

 

[meatwadfairy]

This status update may be a little long. Since I don't get any replys, I'm less and less inclined to post.

I found many wiring harness diagrams online. But none with what I needed. So I took one, and edited it to match what I will be doing.

My woodcraft clipons arrived yesterday! Goodie. So Last night I test fitted the forks. The new bearings are perfect fits:

I started prepping the frame for powder coat by grinding off tabs, and things that I would not be using. I decided to use the original frame, and not replace parts with tubing, because I'm not that great at welding.
My goal is to have the frame complete by next weekend.

I think it cleaned up nicley.

Got some more parts in today. But not the parts I need to continue my work. I got the measurements for my frame hoop from Benjie over at BCR this past weekend. But I'm still waiting on the hoop that Im having made, so I can weld it up.
The measurements I need for the installation of my rear frame hoop.

Other than that I need to remove the swing arm so I can cut and grind two tabs that used to hold the chain guard in place. And lastly remove the old kickstand mounting points. Then it will be off to powdercoat!

Over the weekend I tried cleaning up the stock Rims. However I just couldn't get them cleaned up enough, enough for me at least. I need all the rust removed so I could have them to powder too. The time I spent with Steel wool trying to polish them up a little wasn't paying off.

So I talked to a guy that builds these types of bikes. About replacement spokes, and I said to hell with it, and ordered new black anodized rims with new stainless spokes.

The wheels that I got are from a company called SunRims. Here is a photo of what they look like:

Anodized black.
They are 3.5 inch wide front and rear. Ill probably run a 120 on the front and 130/140 on the rear.


I picked out the Color that Im going to be using for the frame. Its called Kingsport Grey.

Lastly I bought a set of Mikuni 30mm Carbs for the bike with pod filters.

Cant wait to start bringing her back together.

 

[lbaker]

Great stuff man. Just bought a 72 350 and you've got me exited to tear into it. Keep posting updates.

 

[patrickshofner]

Great stuff man. Just bought a 72 350 and you've got me exited to tear into it. Keep posting updates.

same here! sub'd.

 

[whynot]

I wish I could find one of those around here.

Good luck with the build.

Looking good...

 

[SpottheDogg]

Good start

 

[meatwadfairy]

Updates coming soon. I need to sort through all the pictures.

 

[meatwadfairy]

Update time!

Lots of progress made since I last posted. Have been pretty busy with work and school. Not to mention the races over the weekend, hehe.

A buddy of mine helped me out with some welding and taught me a thing or two. Ended up buying my own little welder to learn more and be able to fab my own small parts.

last Friday I made some progress on the motor. It was a real pain in the ass to get the bolts out of the motor... I ended up spending a lot of time with a hammer... haha

When I got the cases off and inspected the motor, I was really impressed with how clean it was. All the rockers were tight and the valves were not too dirty. I think that this motor had been rebuilt at some point. Which explains why some of the bolts for the casings were stripped to begin with.
I decided not to crack the case or remove the head. I have new gaskets for the motor but am waiting on a stainless bolt kit to reassemble it.

Here's a shot of the work space... with parts and boxes piling up on my jet skis... haha

The next round of photos is after using a tiger wheel to smooth out the frame, hoop, and welds.

Center stand points removed, welded up, and smoothed out.

So I wanted to do something to the motor. But I couldn't decide what. Finally ended up deciding on painting it. I used a black wrinkle, and I think it turned out very nicely. I cant decide whether or not I want to grind down the edges of the cooling fins to get a little more silver in the motor. For the photos I set the covers on the motor to get a good idea of what it will look like.

Got an update from Benjie at BCR. My tank and tail are finished, and shipped out yesterday:

Its a good thing that I haven't finished the frame and sent it to powder. Apparently there is an extra bracket that I have to weld to the frame for mounting the gas tank. Good thing I waited!

New jetted carbs made it in. Ready to bolt up. Came with throttle cables and a motion pro throttle tube!

That's all for now.
Some other parts have made their way too me, but until I get my wheels/tires or my tank/seat there isnt much else to do!

I plan on making my own battery box out of steel and welding it in the hoop. Will buy a 4 cell ballistic battery.

 

[lassenc]

How come you are not rebuilding the engine when spending so much money on the cosmetics?

 

[meatwadfairy]

How come you are not rebuilding the engine when spending so much money on the cosmetics?

I think the motor has been gone though by the PO. I was planning on rebuilding, but I dont think its needed. I can see the condition of the valves, everything up top looks good. I could check the pistons just to be safe, but everything looked very clean.

 

[meatwadfairy]

I took some pictures today. I did end up filing the edges of the colling fins for some contrast in the motor.

I have the tank and tail test mounted. I ended up cutting the hoop off and trimming it before replacing it on the frame. Also had to add a bracket to attach the tank. Pan was made for blocking off the tail. Ordered an anti gravity battery and will create a small battery box for it once I'm able to measure it up.

After talking with my buddy Mike I have decided to cut up the frame some more and create a mono shock setup. I'll be using a shock from an 09 R6 that I was able to get for a low price. To do this I have to wait for my wheels to make it in (which shipped last night). I'm going to attempt to lace them myself and then take them to have them trued and balanced with tires installed. But them on the bike and drop the motor back in to be able to get the ride height and sag correct.

should be a lot of fun!

And my dogs reaction to the camera

 

[yorkie350]

sweet build mate 8) diggin the tank & seat hump gonna look so cool when she's done motor looks neat ime hooked can't wait to see the end result keep up the great work mate

 

[alzcbz]

Do you know the condition of the cam chain tensioner rollers? It's not hard to pull the head off and check since the motor is already out.

 

[meatwadfairy]

Do you know the condition of the cam chain tensioner rollers? It's not hard to pull the head off and check since the motor is already out.

No I do not. I have a full gasket kit. How do I go about doing this?