Black and Gold Cafe - 71 CB350

[Korsch_RS]

Re: First Cafe - 71 CB350

Haha Thanks Fix, Hmmm, Lake Orion, I think that was where I bought this bike. Small world huh.

Hey blkgsx90, I'm hoping to install them this week sometime. I'll post pics when I do. I haven't test fitted them yet, so not sure If I'll need to do the freezing trick or not.

I got a lot done this weekend! Still hoping to have the engine installed and suspension back on by this Friday. Too much got done to really talk a lot about it, so here's a list:

- I ditched the plastic electric tray idea and welded in a piece of steel instead.
- welded on a new steering stop (it got trimmed down)
- trimmed the rear fender and fabbed a new bracket for it.
- removed the chain guard and cut off all the mounting tabs
- trimmed the stock shift lever mount off the passenger peg brackets
- cut the mid controls mount and moved the kick stand further forward on the frame. I welded it directly to the frame, and braced it to the engine mount, so it will have plenty of support.
- "brushed" and clear coated the top triple tree and rear fender
- painted the frame, swingarm, lower triple tree, kick stand, and passenger peg brackets

Sorry, I don't have very good pictures. I kinda got some momentum going in the garage and forgot to take pics, so most of the pics I do have are all post work. But anyway, here they are, in no particular order. Enjoy!

More soon!

 

[Korsch_RS]

Re: First Cafe - 71 CB350

I decided I should elaborate a bit on my build plan (added to first post too).

Phase 1 - hoping to finish this up end of April. Get the bike resotred and mildly cafe-ed (is that how you spell that?). I'm trying to do a good job on all the components that are difficult to get too (like the frame, wiring harness, etc...). Easier components will be reinstalled as-is to get the bike running and riding quickly.

Phase 1.5 - will be happening this summer. This will be doing the weekend projects to finish out the resto-mod. Things like new tires, cleaned up and painted wheels, new rear shocks, etc...

Phase 2 - winter 2012/13. Take everything back apart, get the frame sandblasted and powdercoated (assuming I'm happy with it and won't be adding anymore brackets), full engine rebuild with more power! and possibly a more modern front end. Not sure If i want to go full out with inverted forks or maybe just something still vintage looking but better than the stock early 350 forks, like 550 forks or similar.

Anyway, those are my plans!

 

[blkgsx90]

Re: First Cafe - 71 CB350

Pretty good schedule you have, very similar to what I'm trying to do. I like what you did with the fuse pan. Are you going to re-wire the harness?

 

[Korsch_RS]

Re: First Cafe - 71 CB350

Thanks! Yup all new wiring harness. Simplifying a few things and also just for peace of mind. When I took it apart, it looks like the harness had been spliced/repaired before, which i guess fits the bike, as the PO said he bought several bikes (3 I think) as a lot, with one good condition assembled and running, one mostly assembled but non-runner, and enough other parts to make a runner. He said he put this one together with the extra clean titled frame and parts, so makes sense that one or two things might not match up exactly. But from what I can tell everything was there, only thing I've found missing was the steering stop, but that was easy to fix.

Changes to the wiring harness will include small battery, no starter, new modern Reg/Rect, Stator wired to be full power all the time, modern weatherproof connectors, modern flasher (for LED's), new fuse block, and probably put relays in the headlight circuit so I can put a brighter bulb in there in the future if I want/the charging system can handle it.

Few things done last night, scuffed and cleared my forks. One is sticky at the bottom, and it looks like it's got a little dent in the side, so I'm guessing the inside wall is pushed in where it sticks. Because I'm still learning to ride and I'll be replacing the forks next winter I'm just gonna run it for now. Drained the old oil and putting new stuff in, and painted the springs black. Only one picture today, hopefully more exciting ones tomorrow!

Also, I think I need to start thinking of a good name, any ideas?

Old on the right, lightly scuffed on the left. I did just enough to clean it up and even things out. The chrome was actually in pretty good shape!

More soon!

 

[Korsch_RS]

Re: First Cafe - 71 CB350

Spent most of my time last night getting new tires mounted for my Subaru, but did manage to get this done

Reassembly is starting now!!

More soon!

 

[Fix]

Re: First Cafe - 71 CB350

I know that's just tape, but I really dig that blue with the golden yellow of the tank.

 

[Korsch_RS]

Re: First Cafe - 71 CB350

Hmmm, I might have to see if I can get World Rally Blue powdercoat for the frame....

Got a bunch of big pieces back on last night. Steering Stem bearings, triple trees, forks, swingarm, rear fender, shocks, etc... all back on. Pics:

blkgsx90, the bushings were easy to install. I put them in the freezer and then they pushed right in in the vice. Went smooth. The last one got tough as it warmed up, so if I did it again I would grab two out of the freezer at a time rather than getting all four at once.

I couldn't resist the temptation, i had to throw the seat, tank, bars, and rear sets on and sit on it to make some Vroom Vroom noises good news is the riding position feels pretty comfy, we'll see how it is once I get a cafe seat on there.

I'm trying to use Allen head socket cap screws wherever possible. I ordered a whole bunch of those this morning and they'll be here friday. Once those are in I can replace some of the grungy old fasteners with the fancy fresh new ones, then torque it down and put the weight on the wheels. Getting close to a roller! After that it's handlebars, levers, switches, and headlight on the front end. Taillight and blinkers in the rear, and rearset controls in the middle.

More soon!

 

[Fix]

Re: First Cafe - 71 CB350

The crap weather we've got coming should hopefully give you time to get finished up before the actual riding season arrives. I know I've been putting off stuff just to ride in this freak 80 degree bliss.

 

[japple650]

Re: First Cafe - 71 CB350

Sweet build!
Looking forward to more.
Lansing Area here.

 

[blkgsx90]

Re: First Cafe - 71 CB350

Those bushings look great! This build is really coming together!

Yeah this weekend is going to be shit.

 

[Korsch_RS]

Re: First Cafe - 71 CB350

Thanks for all the compliments!

Unfortunately not much will be getting done this weekend, I've got family visiting so that will take up most, if not all, of my time. I'll be back at it next week though!

 

[Korsch_RS]

Re: First Cafe - 71 CB350

Well, turns out I had almost all afternoon today to work, so got more done than I expected this weekend. I spent a fair bit of time swapping old nasty suspension and engine bolts out for shiny new items. Most of the fasteners on this bike are going to be black allen heads with brass washers, I really like the look of that

I had to get slightly longer bolts for the rear engine mounts, just because they didn't have the exact size I needed. After I saw the bolt sticking about 5mm farther out near the sprocket, I realized it might be getting too close to the chain. I put the rear suspension at full compression (actually stuffing the rear tire into the fender, about 1" farther than the shocks will ever let it go) and laid some aluminum channel over the sprockets to see what kind of clearance I had. No contact, but it was definitely too close for comfort. A few minutes with the grinder later and I had a 5mm shorter bolt. Much better.

After that was all taken care of I spent some time working on the shifter. The linkage kit from DCC came with 6mm rodends, but the rearsets and my shifter arm both had ~8mm holes. Luckily, I found some sweet little bronze flanged spacers at the local mom and pop hardware shop, that have 3/8" OD and 1/4" ID. The 1/4" ID is actually almost perfect for a 6mm bolt (6.35mm). I drilled out the stock shift lever and rear set holes to 3/8" pressed in the spacers in the vice and sanded the back flush. Easy, and now they fit really nice. Also, the bronze spacer fits in with my color scheme. I was originally wanting the linkage on the front side of the lever so you could see the rod-end, but after mocking it up there, I didn't like the angle and also it looked like it was going to interfere with my foot, so I swapped it to the backside of the lever. Having it on the back makes for plenty of foot room, and a real straight shot from the rearset lever to the shifter arm. I'll probably need to play with the angle of the lever a little bit, but that will have to wait for the seat to be put back on.

More soon! Biggest project this week is going to be modifying the stock brake lever.

 

[Korsch_RS]

Re: First Cafe - 71 CB350

Just a little more done last night. Worked on the new regulator/rectifier mounting onto the old tool box bracket. First step was to remove the toolbox from the bracket, which took a little grinding, and then a good old screwdriver and hammer.

After some more grinding to remove the remnants of the sport welds and a hammer to get it back flat again, I drilled a couple holes in it, welded on some nuts and Voila! Reg/Rect mount.

Still needs to be painted, but I might fiddle with it a little to try and lower the mounting a little bit.

I also reinstalled my headlight bucket after a fresh coat of paint and mocked up the new turnsignals to get an idea of the front end look. You can also kinda see the new handlebar switches, grips, and levers in this pic. More on those later once I get them all mocked up.

And replaced the rubber grommet on the headlight indicator light with a brass washer

More soon!

 

[SeekingZero]

Re: First Cafe - 71 CB350

Looking real good man! I really like the brass and black hardware, its sharp.

 

[safisher]

Re: First Cafe - 71 CB350

I'm pretty new to cafes, but I've been lurking here at DTT for a little while and I have to say this project has been really inspiring! Can't wait to see how everything turns out!

 

[Korsch_RS]

Thanks for all the kind words! Helps motivate me to get this thing done as well! I decided to rename the bike/thread "black and gold cafe" as that's kinda the direction this is going. Incidentally, those were both my high school and college school colors!

Haven't really done anything on the bike the last two days, except finally pick it up off my picnic table/workbench with my engine hoist and put it on the floor. I was too excited and forgot to take pictures though

Once I put it back on the ground, it was a good reminder of just how small these bikes are! I had to sit on it and the rearsets still feel pretty good, but I'm going to have to fiddle with the angle a bit as I felt like I had to lift my left foot up pretty far to get it on top of the shifter. Easy fix though.

New pictures tonight or tomorrow, I promise!

 

[ducatiboy]

Great work Korsch, looking really nice

I notice you have relocated the side stand lug on the frame rail forward of it's original position. Have you had a chance yet to test the side stand on the rolling chassis to see if the stand rotates forward enough in the down position and to see if the bike leans over enough to be stable but not too far? I need to do the same thing with my build before I can get my frame painted but can't check the mount position until I get a rolling chassis. Can't get a rolling chassis until I get the wheels finished. Can't get the wheels finished until I get the spoke length sorted so I can re-lace them etc etc etc One thing always leads to another...

 

[Korsch_RS]

Thanks Ducatiboy! I set the bike on it's wheels earlier this week, and it seems pretty stable side-to-side. I can take some pics of how it stands next time I'm out working on it, which will probably be tonight I'm thinking about grinding the mounting tab a little to make it over-center a bit farther to help lock it in place, as right not it feels like a half-decent bump forward would make the kick stand retract automatically. I also need to get a stiffer spring, the stock one was mangled so I got a similar one at the hardware store, but it's not stiff enough. This would probably help it lock in place as well.

Progress from last night!

Put the exhaust on:

Not going to be able to run it like this for very long. Exhaust is gonna be first on my list once this thing is riding again!

I fiddled with the shift lever and shortened the linkage to lower the rearset and make it a bit more comfortable, but no pictures as it looks basically the same.

Then got working on my modified brake lever contraption. I'm taking lots of pictures of this part as when I was looking at rearsets I couldn't find anybody who had done what I wanted on a CB350. My specific goals were: clean install with as many stock features as possible (brake light switch, return spring, and lever stop), and minimize bump-brake effect (just like bumpsteer on a car but with the brake lever). To achieve these goals, I decided the best way was to use the stock brake lever mounting as it incorporated all the correct mounts, and just rework the way I was activating it. IE cutoff the stock brake lever and make a linkage to make the rear set do the same thing. A bonus of this method is that I think it will match the shift side aesthetically very well, as they will both have linkages running forward.

I started by cutting off the stock lever stop tab

Then ground it semi-smooth

Then I cut my piece of tubing to extend the rotating part out past the frame rail so that i will be able to run a linkage to it (handy measurements written on the tube as I knew I would forget otherwise). The key with this tube is to make sure that the bolt/washer can easily slide in through the center of the tube, and also to make sure that the socket needed to tighten them will fit as well. I was in luck and had a scrap piece of 1.25" OD tube that was just about perfect. The wall thickness is probably about ~0.065" (guestimating based on tubes I've welded before). This gives us an ID of ~1 1/8". IIRC, I measured the bolts washer to be 26mm OD, or about 1".

After this I wrapped some tape around my 19mm socket until it was a snug fit into the tube, and then set it all up like this:

I did this because this way the socket/tape keeps the new tube centered and vertical around the bolt, insuring that I will be able to assemble it later.

And checking fit after tack welding. I had to cut half of the stock lever off to get the new larger snaked in around the engine. Don't cut the whole lever off! I was using the lever contacting the frame as my reference point to make sure that later when I weld the stop tab back on it goes in the correct spot.

Another view of it installed. I probably should have made the tube a little bit longer, maybe 2.25" long, as after cutting the stop tab off it was able to slip farther on to the stock part. You can see how it still extends far enough out for a linkage to hit it, I just have no extra space now.

Next step was to weld the new modified old stop stab back on. I set it up by taping the brake lever up in contact with the frame:

Then little by little grinding down the stock tab until it fit correctly and hit the stock pad, then tacked it in place!

Then before I cut the rest of the stock lever off, I notices that the brake light switch tab was welded to part of what I wanted to cut off, so I blobbed some weld on the backside to connect to a part I was going to keep.

And now with the stock lever cut off.

That's how far I got last night. More to come on this part of the project soon!

 

[ducatiboy]

THIS is OUTSTANDING!!

Great work and documentation! I have yet to figure out what I'll do for my rear brake lever and I might have a go at this solution. If you can document the rest of your rear brake as you you finish it off that would be awesome 8)

 

[SeekingZero]

Great! Thanks for coming up with this brake idea, now I have to go buy a welder.

Can't wait to see the finished product!