Cl350 fork question.

[Cbone]

Hey guys, I am trying to swap my forks on my 70 CL350 over to some newer CB forks. The forks I had were in rough shape and also didn't fit the new triple tree I bought. I have picked up a new set that are in decent shape, but there are some subtle differences and now I am wondering if there are other things that I need to change to be able to use them. The first two things I noticed was the way the fender mounts and the axle mount has a four bolt pattern rather then two,

Any insight would be much appreciated


Here are a few pics of the new forks.








Here is a pic of the mount on the fender I have

 

[Cbone]

Here are some close ups of the bottom axle
mount.

 

[Cbone]

The more research I do I am realizing that I think these are xl250 forks.

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=9574.75

 

[crazypj]

I would have said XL, CB250/350 never had 4 bolt axle clamps

 

[cjdisaffected]

Those are definitely XL legs. You can use them (and there are some rigidity advantages to doing so) they will requite a lot additional work and a 35mm triple to fit them. Unless you are putting together an AHRMA bike or something it's probably not worth the time.

Also you should be aware that the early model CLs have external springs and a triple that has 33mm holes in the bottom and smaller ones in the top. This means that late model 350/360 legs will NOT work with that triple. If you want to use late model legs, you can upgrade your triple (or possibly just the top part) for a pretty reasonable price, but if you wanna stick with what you have, you will need early model legs.

 

[crazypj]

Those are definitely XL legs. You can use them (and there are some rigidity advantages to doing so) they will requite a lot additional work and a 35mm triple to fit them. Unless you are putting together an AHRMA bike or something it's probably not worth the time.

Also you should be aware that the early model CLs have external springs and a triple that has 33mm holes in the bottom and smaller ones in the top. This means that late model 350/360 legs will NOT work with that triple. If you want to use late model legs, you can upgrade your triple (or possibly just the top part) for a pretty reasonable price, but if you wanna stick with what you have, you will need early model legs.

can't swap just the yoke as the width is also different.
I would use the 4 bolt legs if I had them. You'll need a longer axle but CB500f/t or 550 should be more or less direct swap into 350 frame. It's just more time and money ;D

 

[Cbone]

@CJDisaffected, thank for the post. I ended up finding another setup of forks on ebay for a decent price so I grab those. I did knot that the tops of the 70 shocks mount differently then the new models, figured that out when i bought a new top triple. This part of the build has been a bit of process but I think i have it sorted out now.

@crazpj, I might be misunderstand your post but I was able to get the new forks to mount correctly with the addition of a new top triple. I didn't need to make any changes to the lower everything aligned fine.