New Guy, Old Honda Cl350, Please Help

Jared

Jared

...Try the morphine, it's excellent today!
Well lets just cut to the chase.... I want to turn my 1969 Honda CL350 into a Freakin' sweet cafe racer. I got it for super cheap, the only deal with it is that it didnt come with the exhaust but the engine has good compression and im pretty sure that it has spark. The main problem is that my budget is super tight and I want rear sets and a sweet seat pan and tail, but ill have to wait on the seat pan. So what I currently need to do with it is, Un- bow the tank ( Its bowed out wards), get some CB350 Headers, and finally refoam and re-upohlster my seat. So if anynone could help me out on that stuff that would be sweet. Even though I am 15, this is the 4th bike that ive had and all the others i did engine work on them myself. So yeah again plese help me.
 
Welcome to the madness man! Where are you from?

Getting CB350 headers shouldn't be too hard, most people are after the CL exhausts so there should be some laying around.

Take a look through the $50 mod thread, there's all kinds of ways to do stuff on the cheap. And also check out the "Tanks and Seats" section for a lot of home-made seats.
 
Big R said:
Welcome to the madness man! Where are you from?

Getting CB350 headers shouldn't be too hard, most people are after the CL exhausts so there should be some laying around.

Take a look through the $50 mod thread, there's all kinds of ways to do stuff on the cheap. And also check out the "Tanks and Seats" section for a lot of home-made seats.
Click to expand...
Thanks man, and I'm from the colorado springs area. and I have one more question, anything you would recomend me doing right away, besides getting the wires and the headers? The reason why i want the cb headers is that i liked the look of it going down and turning inot a two into one. the cl just looks funny to me
 
Right away? Nope. If you're looking for an exhaust, the bike isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

If you want to bolt up the exhaust when you get it and give the bike a shakedown run, start checking everything else now. Like cables, brake pads, cotter pins, lights and switches, etc. And you can give the carbs and tank a good cleaning (trust me - they need it). Speaking of the tank, what's up with the "bow"? Either way, make sure that the tank and petcock don't leak, and set the float bowels back to spec.
 
Big R said:
Right away? Nope. If you're looking for an exhaust, the bike isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

If you want to bolt up the exhaust when you get it and give the bike a shakedown run, start checking everything else now. Like cables, brake pads, cotter pins, lights and switches, etc. And you can give the carbs and tank a good cleaning (trust me - they need it). Speaking of the tank, what's up with the "bow"? Either way, make sure that the tank and petcock don't leak, and set the float bowels back to spec.
Click to expand...
like the tank was bent outwards but i fixed it, it was a lot more simple than i thought. i cleaned the carbs, but amazingly to me they were spotless. oh and would you possible know how to set the points like are the points open or closed at tdc?
 
Yeah, the points should be closed at tdc. That connects the circuit to the coils which tells them to spark the plugs.

Do you have the repair manual? If not, don't bother with the Clymers manual. Scroll down on DTT's home page til you see the link for a manual in pdf format. It will be the factory service manual - and it has EVERYTHING in there
 
Big R said:
Yeah, the points should be closed at tdc. That connects the circuit to the coils which tells them to spark the plugs.

Do you have the repair manual? If not, don't bother with the Clymers manual. Scroll down on DTT's home page til you see the link for a manual in pdf format. It will be the factory service manual - and it has EVERYTHING in there
Click to expand...
okay, and open at all other times? like should i set one cylinder at tdc, and close the point gap, also i have a youtube account if you want to see the bike, its iexploderacoons, and theres like 7 or 8 vids up of it
 
Wait a minute.... you have 2 sets of points, right? I was thinking of my bike (only 1 set). Check the manual for the details on that!
 
Let me start by saying I'm online on a Blackberry so it's a real PITA to check vids - but I did watch one of them.

The stems of the signals are actually bolts that hold the bucket on. And the compression test you did in the video just shows that there are pistons moving in the motor. But you can "rent" a tester at Autozone. Finally, it's perfectly normal for the clutch to disconnect the kickstarter from the motor.

You should start a build thread! It will bring a lot more attention to your bike.
 
Big R said:
Let me start by saying I'm online on a Blackberry so it's a real PITA to check vids - but I did watch one of them.

The stems of the signals are actually bolts that hold the bucket on. And the compression test you did in the video just shows that there are pistons moving in the motor. But you can "rent" a tester at Autozone. Finally, it's perfectly normal for the clutch to disconnect the kickstarter from the motor.

You should start a build thread! It will bring a lot more attention to your bike.
Click to expand...
Okay and i wasnt able to find any manual links anywhere, and yes i do have two sets of points. oh and for the compression test, there is a ton of air coming ou tof th exhaust ports and i can feel the compression pretty good whenever i kick it. my only deal with the build thread is that itll take me awhile to get parts because of my budget.
 
99 percent of the folks on here are on a budget, believe me. Nobody cares how long a project takes, so take your time. The only stipulation is it has to be updated every 4 months or else you get a little warning. No biggy.

I'm sure it's pumping air out of the exhaust, but that air ideally should have around 150 psi of force pushing it. At 110 psi, it feels like a lot on your hand, but the motor will run like crap. It costs like $50 to rent the tool but you'll only need it for like 10 minutes. Once you take it back, you'll get every penny.
 
Big R said:
99 percent of the folks on here are on a budget, believe me. Nobody cares how long a project takes, so take your time. The only stipulation is it has to be updated every 4 months or else you get a little warning. No biggy.

I'm sure it's pumping air out of the exhaust, but that air ideally should have around 150 psi of force pushing it. At 110 psi, it feels like a lot on your hand, but the motor will run like crap. It costs like $50 to rent the tool but you'll only need it for like 10 minutes. Once you take it back, you'll get every penny.
Click to expand...
alright man
 
Big R said:
Yeah, the points should be closed at tdc. That connects the circuit to the coils which tells them to spark the plugs.
Click to expand...
First off, Welcome to the forum Jared!
Now it's been a Loooooong time since I worked with a points ignition, but if I remember right, the points are closed for the majority of the crank rotation and this charges the condenser, then there is a lobe that opens them at TDC (or just before to set your timing advanced)
Because they are opened the circut is no longer complete and the condenser sends voltage to the coils primary side and causes the spark from the secondary circut.
Isn't that why they were called "Contact Breaker Points"? :-\
 
thanks and i dont know man i havent been able to find a link to any manuals
 
On the Home page there is a "Shop Manual section. There is probably more there but, close to the top I found a thread called Free Electronic Manuals by kodiak
kodiak said:
OK guys... Not sure if this is gonna get me in any trouble, but what the hell!
Use the following link. It brings you to a login screen
Username: indianhead
password: trial
this will give you access to hundreds of electronic copies of shop manuals all downloadable in pdf format motorcycles are listed under the small engine section
http://search.ebscohost.com/Login.aspx?lp=login.asp&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch%2Eyahoo%2Ecom%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Debscohost%2Blogin%26ygmasrchbtn%3Dweb%2Bsearch%26fr%3Dush1%2Dmail&authtype=ip,uid
Click to expand...

Went there, logged in as dircted in the post and then clicked on "Small Engine Manuals"
Found this on 360 twins.
http://web.ebscohost.com/serrc/pdf?vid=4&hid=17&sid=5263b635-93a5-4aa8-9282-ab3fa5668760%40sessionmgr13
 
Hoosier Daddy said:
First off, Welcome to the forum Jared!
Now it's been a Loooooong time since I worked with a points ignition, but if I remember right, the points are closed for the majority of the crank rotation and this charges the condenser, then there is a lobe that opens them at TDC (or just before to set your timing advanced)
Because they are opened the circut is no longer complete and the condenser sends voltage to the coils primary side and causes the spark from the secondary circut.
Isn't that why they were called "Contact Breaker Points"? :-\
Click to expand...

Thanks Hoosier - I would've screwed his bike up big time with that! Don't know what I was thinking.....
 
Welcome to the site! I think I read that you want some cb headers? If so lemme know. I have a complete exhaust. Ill hook ya up with the headers (the mufflers are a bit rusted out) on the SUPER CHEAP!
 
Hoosier Daddy said:
First off, Welcome to the forum Jared!
Now it's been a Loooooong time since I worked with a points ignition, but if I remember right, the points are closed for the majority of the crank rotation and this charges the condenser, then there is a lobe that opens them at TDC (or just before to set your timing advanced)
Because they are opened the circut is no longer complete and the condenser sends voltage to the coils primary side and causes the spark from the secondary circut.
Isn't that why they were called "Contact Breaker Points"? :-\
Click to expand...
Hmm that makes quite a bit of sense, i just figured that they were closed at tdc based off my knowledge of circuits. you know i just figured when the point closed it completed the circuit and caused electricity to flow from the coil to the plug? but more than likely im wrong so thanks for the tip ill try it out.
 
Sometimes it pays to be an Old Dog who worked on that stuff when it was new.
But then, I could be all wacked.... then I'll say it's because I'm old, I can't remember straight.
"He's an old Dog. An old, old dog...
Be he can still bury his bone!"
 
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