Back to the Future Build - Honda CJ360

Bullet

New Member
Hey guys, I must admit this build thread is long overdue. I have been lurking all over these forums and slowly working on my bike for the last 8 months. This is definitly a budget build, I bought my 1977 Honda CJ360T for $700 CDN and only have $800 or so to put towards it. The bike was running when I first bought it but overall was rough.

Mission: Take my 77' honda 360 and make a cafe racer that LOOKS like it was built in 1967 but PERFORMS like it was built in 1987

Day 1 - Doesn't Look that bad from this angle
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Since the CJ was only made for 2 years I didn't feel like cutting into it. I want all my mods to utilize the stock frame and spare the stock parts. I will probably be at this for a while. This is my first motorcycle build so I look forward to learning as much as possible and learning from all the awsome people on this forum. Thanks. Stay tuned.
 
Cut it up. They made a million of 'em.

Seriously though, Im interested to see what you do with it. Theres been so many Honda twins built here on DTT, itll be interesting to see what you come up with.
 
looks like a blast. im stoked to see what becomes of this. I have some parts left over from my build. excited to see another cj on here...
 
Thanks guys.

Jakub , really like the route you took on that CJ.

There may have been a million of them but theres certainly not a million in my town (its been a struggle finding some replacement parts). I don't know if its just my town, but in the era of this bike there seems to be way more yamaha's floating around then Honda's. I actually got my bike out of province, which means it needs a safety inspection before I can insure it here. Thats a big part of the reason why am keeping a lot stock.
 
When I bought the bike I knew there was some work to be done, but the list would probably grow. To start:

Replace brakes and tires
Replace chain and sprockets
Replace/Change Air filters
Clean carbs (bike was running rich)
Fix/Replace petcock (leaking some fuel)
Track down/repair some electrical issues (lights wouldn't flash)
Replace front fork seals and dust caps (oil residue left on fork tubes)
Clean and paint gas tank and body panels
Make a bum-stop seat
Replace handlebars, grips, levers, throttle sleeve, and mirrors
Spec bike for a safety inspection

Tear down begins...
 
before you spend another dime...call your insurance man and make doubly sure you can afford insurance in Canada.
This kid kept gettin quotes of $3000-$3600 for his 72 CB350. Im not sure what he did in the end ? Might want to PM him and ask ?
http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=36223.msg392044#msg392044
 
what province are you in Bullet? I know when I bought my bike in Manitoba, then took it to Saskatchewan i ended up going to get it saftied, and they told me if its under 464cc it does not need a safety, just the VIN ran to make sure its not stolen, they checked the VIN on the case and on the frame. boom done, not even a charge to me.

my bike is a 77' CJ360T as well.

Also is Sask, I am 22, have an outrageously bad driving record, i plate mine as Antique and its $10.23 per month with full coverage, but they value my bike at $800 if its a total loss(not bad since i paid $250)

if my bike were restored or worth more i can add an additional package policy to cover the value through a third party broker.

Hope this helps.
 
Yeah I would hate to see that guys driving record. Thanks for the heads up Trek. I will call my broker and get a quote but I don't forsee too many problems. I have an 82 twinstar and that only costs $115 a year. They told me if I jumped to a 500cc it would be around $450 a year. I imagine a 360 would cost somewhere in between.

Duggyb I am just over in Calgary. The bike was from B.C. When I checked the leans on the bike they told me in order to register it, I need insurance, to get insurance I need an out of province safety inspection. I never heard of any displacement rule. I will look into it though. Thanks guys.
 
Bullet, I am Also in Calgary now, just moved here 2 months ago, with my CJ but I keep it sask plated as I keep my primary residence in Sask still, as long as I have proof I have been home once every 30 days I still get to enjoy the cheap insurance on my bike and car! haha

we will have to go for a ride sometime this year! i just have all the plastics off my bike as I am wrapping them in vinyl http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=36733.0

see that thread, also next next weekend i will be tearing into the engine to change the head gasket and valve guide seals. Then time to put some miles on!
 
Duggyb I am 23 and don't have many people to ride with. I will pm you so we can go for a ride sometime soon here.

Sorry for not updating sooner. I started a new job on Monday so I spent most of last week preparing for that. My new job is inspecting bridges and reminded me of a technique I'd like to share. I got into motorcycles through old bicycles. For every bolt I pull off I have a ziploc, a label with figure reference, and picture. Call it overkill for motorycles with bike manuals but it's saved me a lot of headaches working on vintage bicycles.

TeardownMay9046.jpg
 
I have been busy pulling the bike apart...

Body panels, Air boxes, fuel system, exhaust, electronics and controls all pulled off
fun022.jpg


penetrating oil was a miracle worker
 
Before the teardown I changed the signal flasher and did some voltage drop testing but found my lighting circuit wasn't getting proper grounding. I had to pull apart the wiring harness and found this...

Fried ground wire from harness to frame (Connects to frame behind left condensor)
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I rewired that grounding wire with a thicker gauge so hopefully I shouldn't have to worry about this again. I continued with the teardown so I haven't had a chance to retest the circuit yet. I might change my signals so I will test after that.
 
Before I took anything else off the bike I thought this would be a good time to start designing my seat and rear cowl. I don't have any metal fabrication experience but I have access to some light gauge sheet metal for free! .That's why I am going with metal rather than fibreglass but I might design a fibreglass seat down the road.

I like the original rear cowl on the CJ so I modelled both my designs on that.

1st concept. All compound curves.
teardownApril27005.jpg

I really like the shape and feel but I think this concept might be a bit to hard for me to build at the moment.

2nd concept. Angles.
teardownApril27009.jpg

Easier to build (in theory) and I do like the simplicity of the design.

Any opinions?
 
After I had some cardboard patterns I was happy with I got the bike on a stand and continued pulling it apart.

Chain, wheels, forks, rear shocks, swingarm, alternator, left/right engine covers, and front sprocket all removed.
teardownMay2063.jpg


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youre gonna blow your $800 budget on ziplocs.
I like your seat design better than the original.
 
Haha, I don't think so, what mom doesn't know wont hurt her! ...she just thinks I really REALLY like sandwiches for lunch... It sucks still living at my parents place ( I am 23) but it has some perks.

Thanks for the input trek, and getting on my case last week for not updating my thread. In fact I think I will head out to the garage right now...
 
dude Im 45 w wife and kid...if I could move into my parents basement I would be packing right now...lol
 
I suppose the grass is always greener on the other side. Realistically I am happy wherever I have enough room to park my bike. I have been working away but need to get some more pictures up here. I actually got a little trigger happy on a site the other day and ordered a whole bunch of parts I didn't necessarily need. Namely bearings. I also decided to sell a bicycle I restored recently to inject a little more cash flow. Tires are not looking like they are going to come cheap.

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