safety first-making an old cb safe/roadworthy

[raptormeat]

Hey DTTers,
just picked up an 76 cb360 and wondering what things I should be looking for to make sure this thing is roadworthy. Runs fine, has good brakes rebuilt master cylinder. Havent touched the swingarm bushings or steering stem bearings and also dont have a front fender. I have read a front fender helps a lot with handling? Could anyone explain this? Are the bushings and bearings an immediate concern?Anything else? Has stock shocks on it.

 

[surffly]

yes the fender acts as a fork brace.
removing it lets the forks flex
also tosses crap from the road all over.

 

[Tim]

First and foremost get whatever manuals you can for the bike (should be some for download in our Manuals section - use the search to check)

Check your steering bearings/stem for smooth movement with no sloppiness or snags. This is a service thing - you adjust the stem using the lock nuts under the top triple tree. No real need to replace the bearings for safety if they move smoothly - fresh grease would be a good idea.

Tires - unless they're less than 6 years old or so, buy new ones. If they're modern tires you should be able to date them using the codes on the tires.

Brakes - fresh brake pads, fresh brake fluid, drained properly. Properly adjusted and operating rear brakes. Hydraulic hoses deserve to be replaced every 40 years I figure

Lighting - make sure your brake light activates properly and immediately when you begin to apply the brakes, not when you're already slowing down.

Wheel bearings - if sealed then you're likely just fine so long as there's no side-to-side play in the wheels. Make sure the wheels spin smoothly.

Spokes - check for tension

Chain / sprockets - you don't want a chain to break and wrap itself around anything important like your ankle or your rear wheel. When you replace your chain, you replace both sprockets.

Cables - you don't want a throttle cable to break while accelerating out of the way of a truck. You don't want a clutch cable to break rendering you 'stuck'.

Fresh suspension components (internal springs up front, new shocks at the back) will help you dart around the old lady who sprints out into traffic.

99.9% of this is common sense - move from one end of the bike to the other, check bolts (especially those that hold important things on like the front wheel and your handlebars), replace consumables.