1972 CB350 Cafe build

[CAFEMAD]

Something different : lol
Yep another Honda CB350 cafe racer build, will be going for a classic style of cafe racer. The bike was baught as a rolling frame with XS250 mags and forks but came with the original wheels and forks aswell, a couple of boxes of extras two fuel tanks and the engine was still out of the bike after an apparent 25 thou over rebuild, will be checking for myself just to be sure Pretty well a basket case but for $500 dollars I couldn't complain.

started by polishing the engine covers, mainly cos I baught some new buff wheels while in town picking up the bike.

Then after getting rid of the xs forks and mags I started work on the fuel tank, first I removed the trim mounts around the bottom of the tank,

then stripped the black paint to find what was hiding?

turns out it's not too bad.

then I added a couple of knee dents,

action shot,

so here it sits in the early mock up stage, petina and all,

It has the xs250 handlebars that were in the boxes fitted spun and flipped for a clubman mock up, but are really growing on me, will prolly try some clip ons aswell eventually.

Stay tuned got plenty more to come,

 

[mattfeet]

Very cool! Nice start. What are the best hammers to use for knee dents?

-Matt

 

[trek97]

Id clear that tank and use it exactly as is! engine looks great!

 

[CAFEMAD]

Cheers guys, the hammer I baught from a cheap auto store over here, it's a nylon mallet that I reshaped one end of.

 

[CAFEMAD]

next up was to clean all this crap off that wasn't needed,

thats better,

now to make a mould for a fibreglass seat pan,

started shaping,

and ended up with this,

 

[CAFEMAD]

mould taped and waxed ready for the glass,

one layer of matt down,

as we had a heat wave (52 degrees celsius thats around 125 fahrenheit) I decided to start polishing some parts in the comfort of the sheds airconditioner ;D

vinegar works a treat on old chrome, still a bit pitted but a lot better than it was,

I just leave the part to soak in the vinegar on the outside of my aircon for the shed and it vibrates and heats the vinegar, does alot of the work for you, sort of like a poor mans ultrasonic bath ;D

before,

after sitting on the aircon for half a day,

from this,

to this,

 

[mattfeet]

Holy crap. Nice work!

 

[CAFEMAD]

Cheers have been stuck into the hubs and brake plates aswell,

looks a bit better than this.

 

[mattfeet]

And all you used for that was vinegar? Wow.

 

[CAFEMAD]

Yep cheapest white vinegar I could find for the chrome, and wet and dry 320 grit first then 400, 600 finish with 1200 and then on the 6 inch buff wheel for the alloy parts.

 

[CAFEMAD]

got a bit done on the rear hub aswell, all ready for a polish,

 

[CAFEMAD]

A bit over polishing at the moment so back to the seat for now, I had intensions of adding an aluminium brace to the inside when the glass was done, but after another three layers of matt and a heap of resin it has come up real strong, supports my 78 kilo's no worries.

And the best thing is doing the glass straight over the foam mould like this has only cost me $85 total.

now for a trim and a sand, just a pitty sanding is so similar to polishing,

 

[CAFEMAD]

Done some repairs yesterday, as the bottom triple clamp had the steering stop broken off as per pics,

so cleaned up the area,

added some weld,

and after a bit of shaping,

 

[CAFEMAD]

also removed the steering lock mech aswell,

 

[CAFEMAD]

had a quick look in the carbs aswell, not as bad as I was expecting, ;D

pretty good actually.

 

[Tifun]

Looks great so far. I wish the carbs sitting on my bench were half as clean as that. 20 years of sitting outside full of gas doesn't make it any better haha.

 

[CAFEMAD]

Cheers for that, it's nice to hear as I have subscribed to your 350 build thread. That engine is looking great.

 

[Green199]

Cool start man!

Love the routered holes in the hubs and the seat shape!

May have missed it, what are you planning as a paint scheme?

 

[CAFEMAD]

Thanks for the encouraging comments, not too sure on the colour yet, keep tossing around a few colours in my head. I really want something classic looking, maybe cream, or metallic brown, metallic brown with cream pin striping :-\ dunno black and maroon look good together, and I really like tan/ brown leather on the seats aswell. Very open to suggestions in this area.
By the way I'm really into the rustic racer you have built, top job

 

[Green199]

Thanks man!

Yeah, maroon and black and maroon and cream go well together! Thinking of respraying mine a nice maroon/cream design with tan and brown highlights! Im sure you'll find a decent design just pop into your head soon!

I may not know much, but im in this for the longhaul so always happy to help if you need it! Keep it up man!