Honda 360, found a great deal : Time sensitive

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dada606

New Member
Long time reader of the forums, basically educating myself, preparing to buy my first bike. This is the winter that I intended to build my first project, for better or worse. After prowling craigslist and Ebay, it seems I've found it around the corner from my house. As I was walking to dinner with my girlfriend to celebrate our one year anniversary; we walked past a house with a beautiful '74 360 sitting in the front yard. I should say that if she hadn't forgotten her jacket in the car we probably never would have seen it. Anyway, I called the number on the For Sale sign and I'm meeting him tomorrow afternoon to take an "official look" at the bike and to chat about its history, even though I already jumped his fence and did a quick inspection by streetlamp.

My question is that aside from hearing the engine which may not even run, what should I look for to gauge the viability for a build. If he can't get it to turn over, what can I look at to asses the bike? From our quick conversation on the phone; the mileage is low, and from what I saw the body is in good shape, minimal rust, a few dents etc. I've been reading the forums for a while and admire the knowledge of this community. Look forward to joining the discussion soon. Thanks for your time.
 
First of all, get the girlfriend to buy the bike for your 1 year anniversary. Then marry her! ;D

Assuming it doesn't run - open the tank and see if it smells like gasoline, not varnish. Then try to shift through all the gears (the front sprocket needs to be moved for this btw). Make sure that no moving parts are locked up (brakes, clutch, forks, etc). If the battery is in working shape, test the lights. As long as the electrical system makes an attempt to do what it's supposed to, you have a jump on most of us. Have a compression tester? That would be ideal. Even if the motor is semi-screwed, it's still possible on bringing it back to life. It's just gonna take a little more time and money.
 
I have a complete manual if you decide to buy. Nice step by step on how to do everything.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Big Rich, I don't have compression tester, I understand the basics of engines but have never worked on one. The suggestions were helpful and I'll be sure to check all of that this afternoon.

Thanks for the offer Dirtbag, if this goes through I'll definitely need one.
 
Big Rich said:
...Then try to shift through all the gears (the front sprocket needs to be moved for this btw)...
Click to expand...

By the way I forgot to ask, I think I know what the front sprocket you're talking about is, but when you say I need to "move it" what do you mean exactly? How do I move it? Can I just engage the clutch and click through the gears (assuming the clutch works)

Thanks for reading.
 
To get it through all the gears, you should have to sit on the bike, squeeze the clutch, and shift. Once it's in gear, you need to rock the bike a little to get in another gear.
 
Thanks for the fast input, I am now the proud owner of a '74 CB360. Some surface rust and general wear. The tank is clean, oil was clean, it shifted through the gears after some work, the clutch cable was loose. The guy I bought it from was the second owner and put some money into it a few years back, rode it up until three years ago and its been sitting since then. Now I'm chomping at the bit to get started. See you soon.
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Great bike. I picked up a 360T earlier this year in about the same condition. I pretty much went through all the stuff you're going to go through. Let me know if I can help at all.
 
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