71 cb350. Warm Beer.

[andrew]

pick up this babe 3 weeks ago from a craigslist add. shes a 71 cb350. bike was mostly OG besides some shitty slip on mufflers and uni filters. (ran rough) i drove across the state to pick it up because the fellow selling it was pretty much giving it away. Blew the transmission in my truck on the way over, dealt with all the towing it to a shop bs, only to be told the guy at the shop "cant do anything." so i said fuck it and drove the rest of the hour drive north going 45-50 on a 75mph highway. ;D got the bike loaded up, did the deal and limped the truck all the way back to the east coast of florida doing 50mph.

got the bike home and tinkered with it a little and thought "maybe ill keep this one stock since its so comfortable." yeah.. that lasted less than a week. i just couldnt do it. so i cleaned some things up, painted the faded side covers and started ordering parts like clip ons, grips, jets, headlight ears etc. a buddy and i made a dual up swept exhaust for it.

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after that i robbed the seat and shocks off my 175 since the motor seized on me on new years eve.

this is the 175 vvvvv

by that time my clip ons, grips and headlight ears showed up so i threw them all on the bike as well as trimmed down the front fender.

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and that leads up to recently. my seat from hotwingglass showed up. im hoping to narrow that and cut it down to size as soon as my little battery shows up.

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ordered this tail light, which will be cut into the bump of the seat.

also picked up some CBR929rr rearsets on ebay and painted them up. also got some drag specialties frame clamps to attach them.

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also put on some new tires yesterday at work. photos arent the best, but a tires a tire.

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and that brings it up to present time. hope to throw the rearsets on soon and get the linkage bits sorted. ill update this as parts go on and come off.

 

[andrew]

Re: 71 cb350. big sister.

quick question. are the early 350's narrower up front? (forks/triples) i got a later upper triple clamp (one with pinch bolts on the sides) so i could lower the front end a bit and it seemed to be about a half inch too wide to line up with the forks. if this is true and i were to get the same lower triple clamp, am i going to run into issues with spacing of the front wheel?

 

[NvgtrWiggles]

Re: 71 cb350. big sister.

That bike looks great. At first I thought the white grips looked funky on the bike, but I'm digging it. Though, I think it would look a little better if your dropped the cluster and headlight down a little.

 

[andrew]

Re: 71 cb350. big sister.

i totally agree. small gauges are on order as well as a new headlight bucket. when they come in it will all get pushed down and tucked in tight. i cant stand the stock cb gauges.... way too chunky.

 

[actionabe]

Re: 71 cb350. big sister.

Really nice looking bike ! Yes the later model forks are a little wider, I am in the process of doing the same thing and had to get a 360 lower triple tree as well. Not sure on the wheel spacing thing, been thinking about that. Maybe doing some kind of spacer or something. Seems like the bottom clamps on the forks should still grab the axle enough. I have seen 350's with the drum brake and later model forks but have not been able to figure out what they did as far as the front axle spacing, maybe someone else on here has solved this problem..

 

[nftyper]

Re: 71 cb350. big sister.

Did you put on the rear sets yet? would like to see pics if you have'em.

 

[DrJ]

Re: 71 cb350. big sister.

quick question. are the early 350's narrower up front? (forks/triples) i got a later upper triple clamp (one with pinch bolts on the sides) so i could lower the front end a bit and it seemed to be about a half inch too wide to line up with the forks. if this is true and i were to get the same lower triple clamp, am i going to run into issues with spacing of the front wheel?

Yes, 68-70 bikes have the narrow front end without pinch bolts on top clamp. Fork legs cannot be pushed past top to lower front. The internals are also different. The early fork legs used an internal piston with external spring and the later legs used a plunger rod with internal spring. The later plunger forks are better but the early forks look kinda cool if the springs are exposed.

 

[andrew]

Re: 71 cb350. big sister.

yeah thats what i figured. thank you for the info! so i get a later lower triple clamp i can still use the early forks i have now yeas as they are all 33mm? and am i going to have to just make a spacer for the front wheel axel so it doesnt want to walk side to side on the new wider spacing? shit, im probably gonna have to source a longer axle then too huh? :-\

 

[DrJ]

Re: 71 cb350. big sister.

Bad news is yes, you'll need a longer axle from a later wheel. Good news is the early wheel is the same as the later wheel so you don't need to replace it.

 

[andrew]

Re: 71 cb350. big sister.

awesome. thank you for all the help, i really appreciate it.

 

[andrew]

Re: 71 cb350. big sister.

not the biggest update, but got somethin done.
used these..

to make this happen.

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the rubber grommet follows the contour of the seat very well and is a nice tight fit all the way around.
heres the back side of the grommet and light.

and a few pictures of the brake light lit. i guess i forgot to take a photo of the running light brightness. oh well. this little sucker is pretty bright on both levels.

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in the dark.

thats all. gonna shorten and narrow the seat tomorrow. updates soon.

 

[kookie31]

Re: 71 cb350. big sister.

very cool bike, man. i want to get one of these one day

 

[andrew]

Re: 71 cb350. big sister.

thank you. you should get one! they're fun little bikes.

 

[andrew]

Re: 71 cb350. big sister.


got some more parts ordered.


late model triple tree pre-polished!

late model front axle.

and some cone filters to replace the grossly long uni filters the P.O. installed.

another little update.


got my seat shortened and narrowed today. the seat's OG dimensions were 8.75x32. now it is cut down to a perfect 7" front and 26" long. here a few photos of the process.
shortened.

mocking up the lines to be cut in order to narrow the front. one side cut.

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both sides cut.

sides touching middle.

duct taped the front to hold the sides together and attached it to my work bench via my hi-tech jig. ;D

resin and mat laied down and drying.

resin dried and sanding started. man this sucker is strong.

little bit of body filler...

and final sanding. ready for primer.

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and primed.

gonna get some paint tomorrow so i can throw it on when my battery shows up. updates soon!

 

[andrew]

Re: 71 cb350. big sister.

seats done!


got it painted and the tail light in.

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attached 2 tabs on the underside of the seat to attach 2 "licence plate bolt lights" to illuminate the tag, as the seat will extend out over the tag an inch or 2. they will light it up nice and be hidden from view. i didnt want any sort of lighting or fixtures visible.

also made a fiberglass seat pan and upholstered it, but i dont know how i feel about it currently. i may redo it with just a flat pad. havnt decided yet.

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still waiting on this fuckin battery to show up! its holding up the seat being mounted and a bunch of other stuff is being held up because of its absence. updates soon. hopefully...

 

[andrew]

Re: 71 cb350. big sister.

slapped the seat on the bike to test it out and didnt really like the upholstery i did so i tore it off tonight and made a basic flat, ribbed pad. oh and replaced the crusty header wrap with new black wrap.

today at work with the old seat pad.


flat pad. sorry the photos are so poor.

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also got the late model triple tree on and lowered the front end a bit.

my mini gauges are back ordered 2 weeks, so the new dash and gauge set up is put on hold. :'(
gonna hopefully get the bike rewired with the new battery up under the hump as soon as the filters show up. updates to come.

 

[andrew]

Re: 71 cb350. round two.

somewhat better picture of the seat/pad.

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[andrew]

Re: 71 cb350. round two.

and a quick question to those of you who know the differences between early/late model 350's. on the later fork legs, there is a triangle bracket for what i assume is a disc brake. can i use these with my drum front wheel? and i assume im going to have to source a late model front fender as the mounting holes look different than the early fork legs i have now. anyone?


pictures for reference. these are forks off of a cb350 four.

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[andrew]

Re: 71 cb350. round two.

got alot done tonight. made a shelf for the battery, mounted it up under the hump, extended some wires and took off all the unnecessary bits from the motor back. pretty happy with how it all turned out.

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still waiting on my back ordered mini gauges and headlight. also ordered some late model forks that should be here soon. gonna pull those apart, replace the seals and polish up the legs. updates soon.

 

[Danish_Cafe]

Re: 71 cb350. round two.

Bike looks really good, I like how you keep it in running condition while doing all the work. Makes me wonder if i should have done the same ;D


Only suggestion i would make is to lower your headlight and and gauges to make them more in line whit the rest of the bike, just my 2 cent.

Great work so far, what are your plans from here?