'74 CB360 cafe/fighter-ish project

Tank Color


  • Total voters
    14
Thanks, it was my buddy's idea though. He's done wiring everything up, so he says. Apparently all that needs to be done is taping up the wires under the seat and adjusting the position of the levers. Project = essentially done. !!!!!!!!!!!!!


its been a long 5 years since i started it. feels f*ckin good.
 
Soooooo here's where I say 'I was wrong'. projects are never done, i guess. at least ive never finished one.


dealt with some electrical gremlins, changed the headlights from LED to 35w H3 bulbs (i told my friend the LED ones would burn out, and they did), then I changed the rear shocks out for some showa's off a project bike a friend of mine bought. they look badass and really even things out from front to rear with the new front end and all. I'll have pics up tomorrow of that. I also bought some air jets from crazypj, and the bike runs really well now compared to what it used to do. Took it for a spin and it would start backfiring after a while. I think it was after a couple times engine braking through the gears. then it would backfire at idle and be sluggish off the line. Its livable though. I also learned that my license plat is either at too steep of an angle or to close to the rear tire because this happened.


IMG_20110411_212215.jpg



I spilled some gas on the tank so I have to repaint that and rebuild the petcock while the tanks off. Little things.
 
Ok, I know nobody asked, or cares for that matter, but I promised to upload pics of the rear shocks so you're getting them whether you want 'em or not.


IMG_20110415_190851.jpg

IMG_20110415_191023.jpg

IMG_20110415_190950.jpg

IMG_20110415_190914.jpg
IMG_20110415_190929.jpg
 
Thanks man. I never intended for it to be matching front to back. I just happened to like the look of each set of lights. worked out though, i guess.
 
What main jets are you running?
Pipes are a bit short, some 8"~10" extensions would improve things a lot
 
115 main jets with the air jets whose size you wont share ;) . before the new air jets, it ran great off idle and at the very top end (just before the power band topped out). with the new jet it runs only slightly rich through the mid range. much better than before. I havent done plug chops yet, so I dont know the exact combustion environment for sure yet.


The pipes point straight at my toes and theyre pretty close. I dont have the skills to weld so I cant make a custom exhaust, so I think Im stuck with this setup.


I have to construct a manometer and sync the carbs still. they're close, done by ear, but obviously not perfect.


setup is large k&n filters, no mufflers and 4" baffles.


Ive got a decent amount of rust coming out of my tank that might be going through my carbs, so I'm sealing the tank (ordered the por-15 tank sealer today), replacing the filters and cleaning the carbs this week. if that doesnt resolve my problem, i'm going to be shooting you a pm, PJ.
 
Get some VW Beetle exhaust tips and clamp them on, the total pipe length makes a difference.
You can get various adapters from Pep-Boys, Autozone or whatever your local autoparts store is called (some are better than others)
You may need 112 secondary mains, I got mine from Jets-R-Us.
If your points are good it should run to around 11,500rpm
 
wow, I dont have a tach but it definitely doesnt get up that high. I'm pretty sure im not hitting the 9500 redline even.


I'll look into some pipe extensions. not sure how its going to work because my rear sets are in the way.
 
Re: '74 CB360 cafe/fighter-ish bike, Project: Little Boy. Phase 3.

Ok, so the bike is entering a new phase of modification I guess. I cannibalized the seat/tail, lights and all for another project (kz750 bobber yet to be named) and got a tail section off of a 78 kz650 that I'm going to put on to fill that void. the tail light im going with is off of an 86-88 yamaha FZ600 (flipped upside down), nice and square to fit in with the tail.
IMG_20110429_184056.jpg



I was bored and tried the kz750 tank on my bike and finally figured out what part of the look of my bike i didnt like. I couldnt put my finger on it previously, but the stock cb360 tank is just horrific looking. its small, very tapered and just overall misshapen for a cafe bike. after i swapped the front end and rear shocks out for beefier pieces it just looked even worse. Sooo.... I ordered a tank Ive wanted for a long time, off of a cb500t. I was thinking about a mojave tank, too, but pulled the trigger on the 500t tank first. i guess i wanted that one more.


Ive been told by CrazyPJ, a couple times, that my exhaust is way too short, even though i have baffles in the ends of the pipes. I finally broke down and ordered the mac 2-1 system. And today was header day at my house! headers for my truck came in, as well.
IMG_20110427_183031-1.jpg



Now its decision time. I hate chrome/ss/anything shiny, so what do i do with the exhaust, because it cant stay this way. Do I blue the pipes? I'd be ok with that, but would want to paint the muffler, probably black. Also, I dont know exactly how to 'blue' them. Do I paint them black with bbq paint? Do I wrap them in black like my current pipes? what do you guys think?


on another note, should I leave the baffles in the mac system? I'll probably leave it initially until i hear what it sounds like. I'm thinking I might take the baffling out and put the little race baffles i have in my head pipes currently into the ends of the mac pipes, then run an open muffler. Probably going to be loud as fuck if i do that, which im ok with. i guess we'll see how they sound.


Edit: I decided to wrap the pipes in black wrap (i was thinking about going with the titanium color, but i dont have anything close to that on the bike) and paint the can black with the VHT header wrap spray.
 
I finally got the new tank! now I can... bitch about how its in worse shape than the ebay auction said it was. enh, oh well. its his feedback score, not mine. Its not that bad, but the cap is dented in a little and that was def not in the description. also, the inside has more rust than advertised, not terrible though and I'm set up to por-15 seal a tank, so no prob. anyway, here's how fitment went:


The front tank mounts on the cb500t tank are closer together than the ones on the cb360 tank are. I used my cutoff wheel and trimmed the stock tank pegs.
IMG_20110503_230853.jpg



Used a box cutter to trim down the rubbers.
IMG_20110503_230910.jpg



Had to lose the little metal hoop that holds the wires down and here's where it sits.
IMG_20110503_231410.jpg

IMG_20110503_231402.jpg



Now on to the rear tank mount. I dont have the 500t rear rubber mount, and couldnt get the 360 rubber to fit to my liking. I took a spare seat mount rubber from another project and used it to prop up and cushion the back of the tank. Puts the tank at the perfect height.Used some flox to keep it in place.
IMG_20110503_235958.jpg

IMG_20110504_000714.jpg



A little rummaging through my spare 360 parts boxes and I found the original seat strap that kinda separated the rider passenger portions of the stock seat. I'm working on a kz750 right now that has an thick-ass elastic band with a pull tab that holds the back of the tank down, so I figured I could do the same thing with a little more style. I bolted the two ends to the frame and threw the center over the stock mount on the tank. It fits pretty damn snug. If i have problems with it coming off while riding, I'll prob mod the tank mount bending it into more of an upward hook.
IMG_20110504_002949.jpg

IMG_20110504_003010.jpg



On my last seat I cut up the orig seat pan so that I could bolt the aftermarket one to it and still have it flip up on the stock hinge and use the key in the stock seat lock. The orig seat pan is now too long because the new tank is longer. This is where I cut it. yeah, doesnt look straight. Its going to be covered though, so it doesnt really matter. or at least thats how Im rationalizing it.
IMG_20110504_003545.jpg

IMG_20110504_004300.jpg



Cut up some glass that I made from a mold of my last seat and mocked up the seat and tail.
IMG_20110504_013253.jpg

IMG_20110504_013310.jpg

yes, i know its not straight. I was tired by this point and I can always fix it tomorrow.


so here's the current problem: the tail section isnt centered. It contacts the hinge for the stock seat pan. shit.
I dont want to cut the tail to clearance it. I do want to be able to use the stock hinge. cant have both. not sure what to do.
IMG_20110504_013341.jpg



Also not sure what to do about the transition on the sides of the seat from the tail to the glass seat pan. might cut them back and glass over the transition. I think I may end up cutting it back all the way at the kickup transition from seat to tail. I really dont want to do that. I'm not sure I can make anything else work well enough though. I'll sleep on it. You'll see more tomorrow.
 
Well, I'm still not sure how I'm going to glass everything up but i figured out which thing i was going to clearance (btwn the seat or the frame).
IMG_20110504_170906.jpg

IMG_20110504_170918.jpg
 
Back to the tank, briefly. The petcock has to be moved because it hits the frame and top of the carb. no biggie. Friend came over to do the welding yesterday. cut the bung off with a hacksaw, welded on a bolt head to seal up the old hole, and ran out of wire about 3/4 of the way through that exercise.
IMG_20110505_163153.jpg



my friend said it looks like shit because its copper or alum or something around the base of the bung so it wasnt welding right. I have no idea, but i know he's done better before, so I'll take his word that there was an outside factor affecting this work.


Side note: I need a strainer or screen or whatever for a cb500t. anybody want to sell me one?


Ok, back to the tail. I pulled the front horns of the seat closer together so that they are just about as wide as the tank. only had to bring them in about an inch. Cut up a piece of 1/4" aluminum and made a mounting bar. threw some rubber seat spacing blocks in there somewhere, and viola. front mount.
IMG_20110505_193859.jpg

IMG_20110505_193910.jpg

IMG_20110505_193938.jpg



Back mount is proving more difficult. once I figure something out, I'll post it. Open to suggestions in the mean time.
 
my buddy got some more wire and welded the tank up today. his plug idea for the orig hole looks like shit. oh well, no one's going to see it.
IMG_20110507_175403.jpg

IMG_20110507_181137.jpg
 
fabbed up the rear mount of the seat/tail tonight. an aluminum plate attached to the frame with self tapping screws, some rubber seat mounts from the original seat pan and some more rubber pieces for spacers. I think they from old swaybar links from the vette. The aluminum plate was cut for a different position than it ended up in.

IMG_20110507_153141.jpg

IMG_20110507_215122.jpg

IMG_20110507_215142.jpg

IMG_20110507_215153.jpg



Started attaching the seat pan to the tail. I drilled some holes in the top rails of the tail and floxed the glass to it from the bottom. After the flox is cured I'm going to put a layer of carbon fiber on top and bottom of the glass/seat to stiffen it up. its only 3 layers of glass right now, so its pretty flexy. you can see the flox on the sides through the glass.
IMG_20110507_234955.jpg



I also made the layup for the mounting piece for the taillight. no pic though. its just a rectangle of glass.


After that, I put on the new exhaust to see where it landed and where it needed to be modified. I love, LOVE the head pipes. they are really thin gauge, but the way theyre routed is fucking awesome. i couldnt have made a set that I liked more.
IMG_20110508_004254.jpg

IMG_20110508_004314.jpg



The can isnt working out so well though. It contacts my foot control. Its close to the shock, but i think i can work around that.
IMG_20110508_004218.jpg

IMG_20110508_004229.jpg

IMG_20110508_004242.jpg



Old head pipes, wrapped with baffles, are for sale now.
 
I fixed the exhaust problem! the can is for sale for $50+ the ride. I'm just going to run without it. crazypj kept telling me i needed longer pipes, so i tried. and failed. and now im not going to try again, because its expensive. I got an extra 3"-4" of length from the new head pipes (he said i needed 6"-8" more so I'm half way there), and im going to throw some baffles in the ends like i did with the stock head pipes. it'll have to do, because im not changing it again. didnt really want to change it the first time. lesson learned.


Worked on the seat/tail too. a friend gave me some beat up pieces of carbon fiber. they dont look too good, but theyre structurally functional, so i stiffened up the seat with some on top and some on bottom and some loose strands for filler inbtwn, and made a mounting plate for the tail light.
IMG_20110508_181338.jpg

IMG_20110508_201645.jpg

IMG_20110508_201654.jpg
 
I hot-batched the resin for the cf, so it dried in like an hour and a half. mounted up the tail light. its pretty solid. if i find it moves around at all, ill throw some flox around the mounting points and then it'll never move again.
IMG_20110509_001307.jpg

IMG_20110509_001315.jpg
 
Pretty sure the original fuel tap mount was brazed into tank, would have been easier to heat it up and slide out.
If you can work C.F., pipes should be no problem
 
CF is cake. I'd have better luck making new pipes out of it than trying to fit pre-made bends.


hmm... it would work, too, if they didnt get over 600 degrees. might be able to make that work. hmm...




laugh.
 
Back
Top Bottom