Hi,
I've been lurking for awhile now and I finally have a reason to join. I bought a 73 CB350F for $300 without a title but the engine had good compression and could kick over so I was content. I just want to give a little back story since this is important with how I will work on the bike. I am in the US Army active duty but I have extremely rare bone cancer and I am recovering from the first 7 surgeries (All physical removal of bones and tissue but no Chemo) so I do not work, I am at home recovering and will be for a long time. I do have some physical limitations also, for example I can't lift more than 5 pounds with my left arm so that may get in the way. I have one more surgery to go but my recovery will take much much longer than anything else so I've been bored sitting at home all day not having something to do (Since November 2013). I've wanted to get a bike for over 3 years now but I've never had the chance. I know my family hates the idea, and my doctors tell me I can't but there's no point in living if I can't have fun. I figured with all my free time and a little extra money I might as well try to complete a dream of mine. I think I can get a lot of the actual work done fast since I can work 6 hours a day about 4 days a week, but money will probably be the limiting factor since a lot of components need to be replaced.
I got this bike about a week ago and it hadn't been ridden since 1985. It was stored in a barn and in good condition until a tree fell on the barn and landed on the headlight! Of course the owner never repaired the roof so it got a little wet sometimes. I will stop just talking and add some pictures.
Here's the first picture of the bike, sorry for the darkness I'm just using my phone.
As you can see she has a lot of rust and is in pretty rough condition.
Since the picture I've taken the carbs off and got them function again. They were completely frozen/clogged and full of 29 year old gas. I had to soak them for a long time in heavy de-greaser and they look better and work pretty well. I guess the real test will be when I reassemble.
I've also stripped it down to just the frame, engine, wheels/brakes, forks, and controls. The tank that I have is pretty dented and had a fair amount of rust so I'm working on sanding that a bit. Like I said I can't lift anything so the engine is loose right now but I can't get it out until I get some help. The engine has cleaned up pretty well but not nearly as nice as sandblasting would have done. I think I will try to find someone to do that or a different media blast as well as the whole frame then also. I also bought some electrical components like the points/ignition/plugs and a few other odds and ends. The clutch handle broke off the assembly because I was trying to free it up using PB Blaster . So I've decided I will put all new controls when I get the $. I'm selling some parts on ebay right now to finance buying new replacement parts since my original pot of money is already gone. I originally was trying to get it running before stripping it down but after breaking a few bolts and components I figured I would just break it all the way down. I'll keep posting updates and my plans on what I want to do and probably a lot of questions eventually.
If someone is parting out a 350F please let me know, I will need more parts and if they are nice I'd like to try to get them.
And finally as she sits tonight.
I've been lurking for awhile now and I finally have a reason to join. I bought a 73 CB350F for $300 without a title but the engine had good compression and could kick over so I was content. I just want to give a little back story since this is important with how I will work on the bike. I am in the US Army active duty but I have extremely rare bone cancer and I am recovering from the first 7 surgeries (All physical removal of bones and tissue but no Chemo) so I do not work, I am at home recovering and will be for a long time. I do have some physical limitations also, for example I can't lift more than 5 pounds with my left arm so that may get in the way. I have one more surgery to go but my recovery will take much much longer than anything else so I've been bored sitting at home all day not having something to do (Since November 2013). I've wanted to get a bike for over 3 years now but I've never had the chance. I know my family hates the idea, and my doctors tell me I can't but there's no point in living if I can't have fun. I figured with all my free time and a little extra money I might as well try to complete a dream of mine. I think I can get a lot of the actual work done fast since I can work 6 hours a day about 4 days a week, but money will probably be the limiting factor since a lot of components need to be replaced.
I got this bike about a week ago and it hadn't been ridden since 1985. It was stored in a barn and in good condition until a tree fell on the barn and landed on the headlight! Of course the owner never repaired the roof so it got a little wet sometimes. I will stop just talking and add some pictures.
Here's the first picture of the bike, sorry for the darkness I'm just using my phone.
As you can see she has a lot of rust and is in pretty rough condition.
Since the picture I've taken the carbs off and got them function again. They were completely frozen/clogged and full of 29 year old gas. I had to soak them for a long time in heavy de-greaser and they look better and work pretty well. I guess the real test will be when I reassemble.
I've also stripped it down to just the frame, engine, wheels/brakes, forks, and controls. The tank that I have is pretty dented and had a fair amount of rust so I'm working on sanding that a bit. Like I said I can't lift anything so the engine is loose right now but I can't get it out until I get some help. The engine has cleaned up pretty well but not nearly as nice as sandblasting would have done. I think I will try to find someone to do that or a different media blast as well as the whole frame then also. I also bought some electrical components like the points/ignition/plugs and a few other odds and ends. The clutch handle broke off the assembly because I was trying to free it up using PB Blaster . So I've decided I will put all new controls when I get the $. I'm selling some parts on ebay right now to finance buying new replacement parts since my original pot of money is already gone. I originally was trying to get it running before stripping it down but after breaking a few bolts and components I figured I would just break it all the way down. I'll keep posting updates and my plans on what I want to do and probably a lot of questions eventually.
If someone is parting out a 350F please let me know, I will need more parts and if they are nice I'd like to try to get them.
And finally as she sits tonight.