Deacon's CB350

Been quite some time since my last update but I've been slowly picking away at it and now striving to have it ready to hit the road this coming spring. Here are a few updates on what I've managed to get done since my last post.

First up are the wheels. When I bought the bike the rims were in pretty bad shape with pitted chrome and rust in a lot of places. Spokes were certainly showing their age as well. So I stripped them down, polished the hubs, replaced the spokes and painted the rims. Pleased with how they came out.

Pre-clean-up
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Polished Hub
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Painted rims and new spokes
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To true and balance the rims I made a wheel stand and spoke wrench, worked great.

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Next up was the engine. I tested it prior to tearing it down and it had good compression and ran fine however where I never knew the history of the bike I decided to open it up so I could replace all the seals and gaskets. Figured it would be much easier and cleaner to paint it disassembled too. Just hope I never introduced any problems with my handy work :)

Before shot showing the crusty engine and flaky side covers.
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and a nice rounded screw that I'm sure we've all had to deal with.
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After these stripped screws the rest came apart pretty easily
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I decided to go with gloss black and throw in a few polished bits like parts of the side covers and head fins.
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Was a bit of a bear getting in the frame but managed to get it done with the help of my wife. We laid it on its side and placed the frame over top. Couple of small scratches but nothing that can't be touched up in the frame.
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There are numerous milestones during a build and getting the engine done and in the frame is always a major one.
 
Nice Job Perry, welcome back and looking forward to seeing more. I'll be cracking into my GL again this winter, not sure it will be to this level but it needs a carb overhaul and timing belts and a general clean up etc.
 
Thanks guys, its nice to be back on this site and also back working on the bike. My modern bikes have been taking my time the past couple of years so the project bikes got a bit neglected. I did manage to get my MB5 back on the road this summer and that was great, got the vintage juices flowing again and now I can't wait to get this one done.

Have a lot of catching up to do with the builds on this site too which should keep me busy :) Will be interesting.
 
Thanks guys, its nice to be back on this site and also back working on the bike. My modern bikes have been taking my time the past couple of years so the project bikes got a bit neglected. I did manage to get my MB5 back on the road this summer and that was great, got the vintage juices flowing again and now I can't wait to get this one done.

Have a lot of catching up to do with the builds on this site too which should keep me busy :) Will be interesting.
Looking really good there Perry
 
For the seat cushion I decided to go with the same material and method I used on my MB5 since I find it comfortable and within my skill set :D I used three layers of 6 mm thick closed cell foam for the cushion which I then attached to a fiberglass pan. This will then be attached to the actual seat using Velcro. Few pics of the process I went through.

I used a piece of cardboard to get the shape of the cushion I wanted.
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To create the pan, I covered the seat with tinfoil and just laid the glass over it, then cut it to size. Made one for the MB5 while I was at it.
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Then after gluing together three layers of the foam using 3M Super 77, I used sandpaper to create a recess in the foam so the fiberglass pan could sit flush. I didn't take a picture of the 350 version but here is one of the recessed section on the MB5 version.

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After gluing the fiberglass into this recess I finished it off by cutting the foam to fit and then used sandpaper again to do the final shaping and smoothing. Pleased with how it turned out.

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I was able to get a bit more done today, managed to get the stripe put down on the seat pan. I finished the tank last week and have that clear coated. I'll wait to clear coat the seat until I have another part or two ready so I don't waste a can of SprayMax 2k, its too pricey to only use half of it.

I find stripes look easy enough to do until you actually do them and realize how it can be a bit difficult getting everything straight and symmetrical. Took my time with it and mapped it out with some painters tape and such. Seems to look straight enough. Next up will be the fairing but I first need to finalize its mounting hardware.

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Threw the seat cushion and brake light lens on to see how it all looked.

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Just seen this build of yours HerrD.....lots of work and the outcome is quality, I predict a future BOTM
...nice one :)
 
Pretty slick that the stripes line up with the outer edge of the tail light and look to be dead center on the filler hole. It's the little details :)
 
Looks awesome Perry and the fender just disappears from view being blacked out but it will keep crap off you for sure.
 
Thanks guys. The rear fender just has a rough coat of black on it so far. I'm waiting until I finish making the plate holder before I finish painting and clearing it. I was initially planning on not using it but after trimming a couple of inches off of it to remove some damage I liked the look of it so decided to keep it.
 
Still here and still making slow progress with the bike. I clear coated the tank, seat and rear fender a couple of weeks ago using SprayMax 2K. Shine was really nice and deep looking but wasn't the smoothest. Was initially just going to just leave it but thought I'd I may as well try and smooth it out a bit. Glad I did, made a huge difference. Have the seat done so far and just finished sanding the tank. Will polish it up tomorrow and then get the fender done.

Couple of before and after pictures to show the difference.

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Thanks guys. Jimbonaut, I first wet-sanded with 1000 grit paper to knock down the bumps and smooth out the clear. Then sanded with 2000 to minimize those scratches before polishing with two grades of pads on a dual action polisher. I normally use three different compounds on three pads but since its been so long since I've last done this the compounds were dried up. Couldn't find them in town and didn't want to wait to order any so I just used a single compound on two different pads.
 
Thanks for the info mate, I must say the results look absolutely brilliant. Great job sir
 
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