LateralSage
New Member
Hello guys, had to get another Bond reference in, but aside from that here is my build thread. I have to be honest I am really behind on the thread. I told myself I wanted to make one, yet whenever I had the time to, I couldn’t justify writing as opposed to spending more time on the bike. Also, when working I kinda forgot to take lots of pictures. Regardless, here we go.
So here is the catch up story. I first got the bike around December. When I first bought it, my plan was to do the sensible thing and ride it first to get a baseline, then tear it apart and begin the build. Sadly, winter in Michigan is not the ideal weather for riding so after I got it running, the bike sat alone in the garage. Looking at it made me feel bad, it was rusted and pitted in every spot imaginable and looked like it would really benefit from a restoration. Knowing that I would regret leaving it in its current state once summer began I bit the bullet and started to take stuff apart.
The inner purist in me wanted to leave the bike as stock as possible, yet still be decently original. So my plan for the build was to do no frame cutting, and no modifications that could not let the bike revert to stock. My goal was that I could at anytime bring the bike to factory condition.
Here is the picture from the Craigslist ad when I purchased the motorcycle
Next I took some more back in the garage.
Next, using a link to the CB350 manual that a DTT user uploaded (Thanks arsey) I pulled the engine.
Finally, I pulled it down to nothing but the frame, and sent the parts to get sandblasted and powder coated.
I truly loved the outcome of the powdercoating job! It turned out amazing. At the same time, I was dealing with issues regarding the rims. They weren’t in pristine condition to say the least, but re-spoking seeming out of my budget after checking in with Buchanan’s. So I was told I could powdercoat those too. So with that out of the way I put some more parts together and attempted to get it rolling once again.
My next dilemma was the triple tree. When I purchased the bike, it was in this condition
After searching for a while on eBay (spending more time than I should have) I gave up and purchased an aftermarket one from DimeCity Cycles. It fit nicely and looks good too. If I ever wanted to purchase a stock one, I figured next time I would check junkyards. (Dime City’s picture). While I was buying stuff, I bought a pair of 33mm clip-ons from Dime City as well
Afterwards I threw the rims back on the bike and it is finally rolling again!
My next step was to put the engine back in. My original plan was to polish the bottom and paint the jug black. I really loved Rocan’s engine (pic below), but ran into my own problems.
My engine is completely pitted with scrapes everywhere. After polishing the same spot for 15 minutes I decided that I will just paint it all black. If it doesn’t look as good as I hope, or if I ever get more time down the road I can always use some lacquer thinner and polish it all off.
I also had trouble removing the sprocket cover. The cover itself was frozen on the shifter and I couldn’t get it off to save my life. I ended up breaking it into a million pieces and cutting the rest off. Alas, another thing added to my “shopping cart”.
I know that this is a heck of a catch-up, but thanks for viewing and I promise to be more diligent with keeping up for the rest of the build haha.
So here is the catch up story. I first got the bike around December. When I first bought it, my plan was to do the sensible thing and ride it first to get a baseline, then tear it apart and begin the build. Sadly, winter in Michigan is not the ideal weather for riding so after I got it running, the bike sat alone in the garage. Looking at it made me feel bad, it was rusted and pitted in every spot imaginable and looked like it would really benefit from a restoration. Knowing that I would regret leaving it in its current state once summer began I bit the bullet and started to take stuff apart.
The inner purist in me wanted to leave the bike as stock as possible, yet still be decently original. So my plan for the build was to do no frame cutting, and no modifications that could not let the bike revert to stock. My goal was that I could at anytime bring the bike to factory condition.
Here is the picture from the Craigslist ad when I purchased the motorcycle
Next I took some more back in the garage.
Next, using a link to the CB350 manual that a DTT user uploaded (Thanks arsey) I pulled the engine.
Finally, I pulled it down to nothing but the frame, and sent the parts to get sandblasted and powder coated.
I truly loved the outcome of the powdercoating job! It turned out amazing. At the same time, I was dealing with issues regarding the rims. They weren’t in pristine condition to say the least, but re-spoking seeming out of my budget after checking in with Buchanan’s. So I was told I could powdercoat those too. So with that out of the way I put some more parts together and attempted to get it rolling once again.
My next dilemma was the triple tree. When I purchased the bike, it was in this condition
After searching for a while on eBay (spending more time than I should have) I gave up and purchased an aftermarket one from DimeCity Cycles. It fit nicely and looks good too. If I ever wanted to purchase a stock one, I figured next time I would check junkyards. (Dime City’s picture). While I was buying stuff, I bought a pair of 33mm clip-ons from Dime City as well
Afterwards I threw the rims back on the bike and it is finally rolling again!
My next step was to put the engine back in. My original plan was to polish the bottom and paint the jug black. I really loved Rocan’s engine (pic below), but ran into my own problems.
My engine is completely pitted with scrapes everywhere. After polishing the same spot for 15 minutes I decided that I will just paint it all black. If it doesn’t look as good as I hope, or if I ever get more time down the road I can always use some lacquer thinner and polish it all off.
I also had trouble removing the sprocket cover. The cover itself was frozen on the shifter and I couldn’t get it off to save my life. I ended up breaking it into a million pieces and cutting the rest off. Alas, another thing added to my “shopping cart”.
I know that this is a heck of a catch-up, but thanks for viewing and I promise to be more diligent with keeping up for the rest of the build haha.
