Honda CB 350 1972 CafeRacer Project

[CBTim]

Hi,

I shall introduce myself. Tim 25 years old and I live in the Netherlands. I ride motorcycle for +/- 4,5 years. I had started to build a Yamaha XS 850 project, but it didn't came out as expected. The bike was too big and I didn't liked the lines of the bike. So I sold it to someone else who wanted to complete the project. Almost 2 years later it started to itch again and came across a Honda CB 350 1972. It was small, cool looking engine, nice sound and a twin. So I rode from the south of the Netherlands to the North to pickup the bike. It was in a pretty good condition. It started with 1 try and it pulled good trough the revs. Shifting was smooth. So I bought the bike and traveled back home to remove everything and check the state of the bike.

Wiring loom was a mess. I'm going to make a new one.
Carbs where still OK, but I will replace those for Mikuni VM30's
Clutch was good, no damage to the basket

While removing the cylinder head I stumbled upon a broken piston ring and bend exhaust valve. Going to install new pistons anyway so that doesn't really matter.
I want to get some more power out of the bike but I wan't it to be reliable. Because it will be a street bike and no race bike. Anyone got opinions about "tuning" a cb350?

Electricstarter will be removed. Kick only 8) Can I remove the sprocket behind the generator? and fill the space up with a spacer?

 

[CBTim]

The stock rims are not in a good shape.
Lost of rust on the inside.
And it has pitting on the outside. Already tried to remove it but the pitting is too deep.
Is it possible to get the rims blasted and polish them? Or is the chrome layer too hard?

 

[darksidephoto]

Tim
yes you can remove the starter clutch, you dont need to put any spacer after removing. You will need to buy a starter block plug though. Capellini moto in Italy sells them for about 20 euro. Removing the starter, starter chain and starter clutch removes about 10 lbs. of weight, and makes the bike aesthetically look cleaner in my opinion.

 

[CBTim]

Thanks for the info

It's always nice when parts arrive 8)

 

[Cursh]

Also the rubber pipe end caps at the hardware store can do the trick. / its an easy enough part to lathe.

-Ben

 

[CBTim]

Received the slide type cam chain tensioner

And some new rims *bling*

I'm now removing all of the unnecessary brackets

 

[flatyre]

welcome Tim! looks like a great project you got there.

 

[CBTim]

Hmm....didn't go as planned
disassembled the engine and when I removed the bolts...one bolt broke in two pieces.
I tried to drill the bolt out, but I failed.
Any idea how I can repair this?
There is not enough flesh to install a helicoil or something

 

[TheCoffeeGuy]

Can you get a bolt extractor in that hole you drilled?

once the bolt is out, you might go deeper with the same size bolt providing casting allows for that and the part is not a stressed bolt like a cam or crank bolt.

you can also go one size up in a lot of cases, you may go from metric to imperial to minimize the size up you go. again these are all things you might do it it was merely a cover retaining bolt.

 

[TheCoffeeGuy]

Can you get a bolt extractor in that hole you drilled?

once the bolt is out, you might go deeper with the same size bolt providing casting allows for that and the part is not a stressed bolt like a cam or crank bolt.

you can also go one size up in a lot of cases, you may go from metric to imperial to minimize the size up you go. again these are all things you might do it it was merely a cover retaining bolt.

 

[xb33bsa]

once you have half a piece like that it is difficult :-\
if you have a good job shop machine shop nearby they can set it in a vertical mill and precisely carve it out,but that will cost as much as good used cases
you could try putting the cases together, insert a thin tube thru the hole to the threaded half and use a long drill bit that fits the tube as it acts as a drill guide
doing this you must halve good fits so the bit don't waller around and gower too much
i have a couple extra sets of good cases if you go that route

 

[xb33bsa]

and removing the starter electric is just plain dumb if you are going to "tune" the motor the kick start mechanism is not all that robust and you will get goddam sick of kicking...
and you don't gain any performance removing the starter, besides the weight
i am in the process of building a cl/sl hybrid ,electric start, no kicker