Noob from Saskatchewan!!

[duggyb]

Hey All,

Not sure if there is many Saskatchewanians(sp? hah.) on here or not but if you are let me know!

I am heading to pickup my first bike ever, a 1977 Honda 360T, in great shape!, has 2 brand new tires,new battery,carbs were rebuilt and everything has a once over, according to the guy i am getting it from(someone i do business with for work)

Last i seen it was in pretty good shape from what i could tell in the dusty shed and he started it first kick!

My original plans were to do a cafe racer build but after more looking around i really like the bratstyle so am going to go that route.

I am thinking lots of black/flat black but original honda tank colors,etc.

I know NOTHING about bikes and have barley ridden them, but am mechanically incline, on 2 strokes that is. I have a 2007 Ski Doo 440x that i transplanted a 800Ptek engine into as well as lots of other goodies, i can also be found wrenching on my 1987 Kawasaki 550 Jet ski which is also a blast for a standup!

So i know 2 strokes in and out i figured it was time to venture off.

Keep your eyes on this thread for pictures of the bike tomorrow!

 

[Big R]

Welcome to the site!

Even though it's a 4 stroke, older motors are simple to work on once you get the service manual. Be sure to post pics when you get the bike!

 

[duggyb]

So it turns out the bike is actually a 77' CJ360T

according to wikipedia this is the inferior bike, only has 5 spd gear box and kick start(not that i need electric)

are parts as easy to find for this bike? maybe i should sell it to get a CB instead? pics will be up shortly.

thoughts?

Thanks.
Dustin

 

[Big R]

I don't know squat about the CJ's - CrazyPJ, Holiday, and one other guy would.......

But I do know 6 gears can be a real pita to shift through sometimes.

 

[duggyb]

Here are the pics, has a dent in the tank and crack around headlight, the mufflers kinda shotty some weld on job off a tractor...its filthy right now but looks like it will clean up well.

Bonus it came with original manual in very good shape and a complete toolkit, all of the tools are stamped HM for Honda Motors i assume. kind of neat!

even the original wiring diagram paper in the manual is intact!

PS i paid $200 Canadian for it, and it runs and drives, took it for a rip to walmart when i got home tonight, but it does have some problems, bike wont idle on its own unless i keep it running, where is the idle screw? and also the throttle seems like it was sticking bad - to the point that I needed to turn the throttle grip manually everytime I wanted less gas.(how do i fix this?)

i also threw in a picture of my 2007 440/800 for good measure

soo keep or sell?

 

[Basement rat]

Saskatchewans big, any specific part?. I drive across it all the time.

 

[Big R]

For $200, i would keep it.

As far as the throttle goes, you need to find out if it's in the carbs, the cable, or the throttle grip. When i first got my Honda, somebody dumped it on the right side and bent the plastic sleeve under the grip.

 

[duggyb]

Saskatchewans big, any specific part?. I drive across it all the time.

I am in Regina, but i also travel the eastern part of Saskatchewan and all of Manitoba for my job, i grabbed this bike from Swan River ,MB

 

[VonYinzer]

that tool kits worth 1/4 of what ya paid for the bike if ya cleaned it up. The CJ is a cool bike. Kind of a styling exercise. They arent the fastest, and parts are kinda hard to come by. Theres very little aftermarket for the 360. Some folks really love em though. And hell for $200, a running bike is def worth it.

 

[Basement rat]

My truck broke down there once, thank god for that Napa on the eastern part of the city on the main highway!

Saskatchewan... The only province where I have hit tumble weeds bouncing across the highway on more then one occasion!

I live in Cold Lake. I drive from Lloyd' to Saskatoon- Regina, Brandon and back usually three or so times a year.

 

[duggyb]

New pics, all cleaned up with the redneck exhaust painted to look a little better than before for now.

got over 300 miles on her now, runs great aside from some fluctuation in rpms at the 4k range when i hold it steady, but i have not dove into the carbs yet to see.

**VIDEO**
[flash=200,200]http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/471/file21089.mp4[/flash]

Cant complain for $200, look forward to a build thread soon!

 

[belch_brother]

Looks good! I am in the process of doing up a CJ250T, from what I'm lead to believe there isn't much between the CJ and CB models. Tank, seat, a few extra tabs on the frame and no starter. Not much else... just don't get it confused with the 350 and 250 non T models, they are fairly different.

 

[duggyb]

I know on the 360s the CBs have a 6 speed where as the CJ has a 5 speed, not sure on the 250s though

 

[IndieSol]

The frame has a slight difference as well. One of the down tubes in the middle fishmouths at the top, instead of flattening and connecting on the inside. I believe it makes the frame just a bit more rigid.

I've got the same bike, though it's in pieces for restoration over the winter. I rode it all summer and had a blast. The engine is compatible with the CB360. The CJ came with 2 - 1 exhaust instead of the 2 - 2 that the CB had, the six speed, kick-start only, and in the US, drum front brake. The Aussie's got disc up front, I believe.

There are still parts to be had for it, but they're getting harder to come by as time goes on.

Keep bikebandit.com and cmsnl.com in your favorites.

Here she is a few weeks ago. I put 400F handlebars on her.

And this was this afternoon when I got the motor out.

 

[IndieSol]

I forgot to mention, your bike cleaned up real nice. I'd say you got a great score. Video sounds like it runs well, also. If you decide to replace those turn signals, you'll need the dual filament ones. I'd offer you mine, but they're single filament and aren't on all the time like yours. My NOS muffler will be for sale shortly also.

And on the right side of the front fender, those three little rubber grommets, I'm not sure what's up with them, but they're like that from the factory. It even shows them in the cheesy CJ360T brochures. At first I thought I was missing a piece of trim.

That exhaust collector will get ya in a hard right turn. Keep that in mind. I've heard horror stories of high siding. It's one of the main reasons I'm going with something different for exhaust.

 

[duggyb]

I forgot to mention, your bike cleaned up real nice. I'd say you got a great score. Video sounds like it runs well, also. If you decide to replace those turn signals, you'll need the dual filament ones. I'd offer you mine, but they're single filament and aren't on all the time like yours. My NOS muffler will be for sale shortly also.

And on the right side of the front fender, those three little rubber grommets, I'm not sure what's up with them, but they're like that from the factory. It even shows them in the cheesy CJ360T brochures. At first I thought I was missing a piece of trim.

That exhaust collector will get ya in a hard right turn. Keep that in mind. I've heard horror stories of high siding. It's one of the main reasons I'm going with something different for exhaust.

can you go into more detail on the turn signals? i just ordered one off ebay and put it on...its been a nightmare, ever since i tore my headlight apart i have been blowing fuses left and right...i finally got all my signals working(for turning) but they are not on all the time like they used to be...will one single filament throw the loop out?

also my headlight fuses keeps blowing now...like its grounding out...but i cant seem to figure out the issue, is there a common spot for them to ground?

on a last note i am aware of the exhaust, had her on the ground a couple times now.

also just picked up a 1972 RD250 tonight...damn im hooked now.

Thanks.
Duggy

 

[IndieSol]

The CJ's came in a few different varieties. One of the differences is a disc brake in front. My particular model is a drum. Some models came with dual filament bulbs, which are a three wire system. The lights are on all the time, and blink brighter when you hit the signals. My model is a two wire setup, and the blinkers only light up when the signals are on.

The grounding system is weird, or perhaps my bike is wired strange, but the single filament blinkers only have one wire that comes out of them (the positive). The ground comes from the wiring harness, and grounds to the frame. It's best illustrated on the back blinkers. I may have a picture somewhere that shows you what I'm talking about, but I'd have to dig around. There is a green wire that connects to the wiring harness, under the seat. It grounds to the frame on the rear blinker mounts. That acts as the ground for the blinkers. The blinkers appear to ground through the frame to the wiring harness...Not sure if that's the right way to put it, but that's how they work.

I believe this would mean the dual filament bulbs have two positive wires coming out of them, and would need to be wired as such. If it came with two wires, and you thought one was a ground, that would probably be your issue. Also, yes, one single filament bulb can throw things off. It's amazing all the things that can throw them off, actually.

I believe the different varieties of CJs had different color blinker wires. Compare the blinker wire colors under your seat to the wires in the wiring diagram to find out which model you have. For example, the grounds for my blinkers are green all the way around. The left positive, if I remember correctly, was orange with a white stripe and the right side was light blue with a white stripe. I have a digital copy of the Honda shop manual that I can get to you if you'd like. It has all the possible wiring diagrams in it, as well as any other spec you'd need on the bike.

This also may or may not be your fuse blowing problem. I'd suggest removing the headlight bucket and checking all of the connections in there. It will be time consuming, but I have a feeling you've got some wires touching that shouldn't be. When I did my handlebars/grips/levers/mirrors, I numbered all the connections on small pieces of masking tape L1, L2, L3, L4 etc for the left side R1, R2, R3 for the right. Same number on both sides of the connection. That way, when I reassembled everything, I just connected the two L1s and the two L2s and so on. It worked well. Of course, by that point, I had already rewired the turn signals and knew that everything was wired correctly going into it.

Hope that helps somewhat.

Edit, there are a couple grounds in the headlight bucket. It's a strange little setup.

 

[duggyb]

IndieSol,

Thanks for the info, as i check mine is a 2 filament setup(or 2 wire as you stated) i now have it like this.

All turn signals function properly(left and right) but they do not stay on all the time anymore, they are acting like a 1 wire setup where they are off until i turn them on. Personally i don't really care, unless they legally need to be lit? i assume not though.

Also on my two wire signal light setup does it matter which wire goes where? i have one black wire and one black with white tracer, i have switched where they go(the connectors in the headlight are blue and blue with white tracer, judging by what you said i assume this is Positive#1 and Positive#2 but switching them does nothing, they still function.

I am still blowing out fuses on my headlight, i can not seem to find where it is grounding out? i have a multimeter hooked up properly and have played with all the wire connectors in the headlight and cant seem to find it. I am thinking i may just rewire every connector in there?could corrosion inside a connector cause my issue? if i do rewire whats the best setup for ease/plug play ability.(some new fancy spangled connector?)

What i have found is that if i disconnect the grounds on the bucket(those nuts that thread onto the bolts that hold the headlight bucket on the mounts. then my headlight will function properly and will not blow fuses, but my signals will not work at all, i assume it is grounding out somewhere else but finding its way to those bolts? or how does this work?

Any insight would be great and thanks for the help so far, i would really like to get this sorted out so i can go write my full Road Test for my Motorcycle Endorsement before the snow flies!

Thanks.
Duggy

 

[IndieSol]

It sounds like you bought a non-Honda replacement signal. I'd bet it's a single filament (black wire being negative and black with white stripe being positive). Test that by removing the signal and touching the black wire to the negative battery terminal and the black with white stripe to the positive. I bet it lights up.

In the headlight bucket, the blue wire, and the blue wire with a white stripe, are both positive wires. One of them is the positive for the running lights (stays on all the time) and one of them is the positive for the second filament, which lights up for the blinker. One of the green wires that connects at the harness and then grounds to the bucket is the ground for the turn signal, believe it or not. It carries the negative charge from the harness to the headlight bucket, and there is a little metal collar in there that establishes a connection between the frame, the negative wire, and the signal itself. The other one is the ground for the other signal.

That would make your CJ the "A" type. I think Dirtbag said he gave you a link to the Honda shop manual. The wiring diagram for your bike is on page 168.

I suspect this is what is causing all of your electrical headaches.

First, buy a test light if you don't already have one. It will help you determine ground and positive wires on the bike.

Second, just buy a similar looking turn signal (NOS if possible), and make sure it's a dual filament. If it's got three wires, the two positives will go into the blue and blue with white as I mentioned (you may have to play around to figure out which is which), and you'd have to splice the negative into the green wire for that side. If you find one with only two wires, as long as you're sure it's a dual filament, they should both be positive wires. That one would be the Honda NOS turn signal. Test the wires with the battery method to confirm that the light doesn't come on. That one you could connect solid to solid, solid with white stripe to solid with white stripe, and you should be good to go.

Before you rewire everything, get the correct signal installed.

 

[duggyb]

Wow Indie thanks for all of the help, i still have my old signal and it functions it is just all cracked to hell and such.

So technically if i put my old signal back on it should function properly? like everything? even my headlight fuse issue?

also on my old signal it was two black wires one with a white tracer as well so i imagine black with white tracer goes to blue with white tracer and solid black goes to solid blue?

thanks again for the help, i will retest tonight when i get home and keep you posted.

as for the manual yes i do have it, i have looked at the wiring diagram but those things confuse the shit outta me.

i do have a test light, and a multimeter so i should be good in that department if i know how to use them both properly.

Thanks.
Duggy