South Jersey cb360 cafe build

J

jsedacca

Been Around the Block
After taking a break from bikes for a bit to get the race car ready for the season, I got back into it full steam ahead. I picked this up from a local member with a title for 400. It's a 76 cb360 and the motor is from a 73 CB350. After checking everything over in the motor, it is apparent it was rebuilt as the gaskets were all new and the pistons/cyl walls are like new with honing marks. I blasted the frame/swingarm and various engine covers myself before painting/powdercoating. I had the frame/swingarm done in wrinkle black locally for 125.

Here is the bike as it sits today. I decided on the cb500t tank as the look/size is perfect in my eyes for this build.


I decided on a flush mount pop up tank cap. I cut the stock cap off and fab'd a piece of steel to fill it in. Needs some bodywork after the bung is fully welded in.


I had a buddy drill the rotor since he has a nice size drill press. He tapped all the holes with a countersink bit to clean up all the burs. I need to clean it up and repaint the center part.


Also decided to run roccity clipons for this build. Awesome quality!


I chopped up the front fender and decided to use my dimple die on it since it was a touch thinner than 16gauge steel. Worked great and added some extra rigidity and racey look


More updates coming tomorrow afternoon with some bodywork on the tank filling in badge mounts and some dents. Also plan to mount up the forks/headlight brackets/clipons. Thanks and take care guys!

Jared
 
Looking good so far! What are you doing for a Petcock on the CB500T Tank? Im Using the same Tank on my 360 and the stock 500 Petcock hits the top of the Carberator.
 
blkcorvair said:
Looking good so far! What are you doing for a Petcock on the CB500T Tank? Im Using the same Tank on my 360 and the stock 500 Petcock hits the top of the Carberator.
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I haven't tackled that quite yet. I'm going to be running Mikunis which look like they have more clearance. If they don't work out, I'll cut and reposition the threaded bung for the petcock further towards the front.
 
baby elephant guy said:
hey where are you in south jersey i'm always looking for someone to ride with
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My brother and I are in Cherry Hill which is 15mins outside of Philly.
 
Finally had some time the past couple days to do some work. I'm at a standstill with getting the bike rolling until I get my wheels blasted/repainted which will happen tomorrow.

Blasted the underside of the tank so it's ready to go for paint once the flush mount cap comes in and i finish welding it in.


Decided to stick with the stock battery box and modify it slightly. I trimmed it a bit and will weld the two panels on the sides to cover most of the battery. The tray for the fuse panel/power distribution will be welded onto the battery box tucked up out of view.


Got the clutch cover on with a new gasket and polished allen fasteners. Also cleaned up the foot rests/painted and reconditioned the rubber bits. Still need a new kick start rubber


I decided to ditch the scrambler pipes as well. I'll be fabricating a 2-2 system with dual megaphones mounted low. Hope to have the supplies in by the weekend to get started.

That's it for now. Hope to have more tomorrow with the wheels painted and flush mount cap bung welded into the tank.
 
diesel450 said:
Looking good! How'd you do your rear hoop?
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I used the stock rear hoop. I just cut it off, sectioned the frame a touch and the hoop was able to slide in for a nice solid welding joint.

Not too much progress today. I got my wheels blasted and luckily found out how bad the spokes really were. They had heavy corrosion/pitting and just didn't feel safe in using them. I have 2 new spoke kits coming in and got the old ones removed today. I'll re-lace them, have them them trued up and paint them before mounting up the tires. Figure it'll be a solid piece of mind and an experience to re-lace the wheels. Take care guys!

 
More progress as more parts/ideas come in.

I decided the cb500t tank was a little bland and needed some flair. Bigger knee dents were needed. I used a nylon hammer and went around the edges with a rubber handle of a wire brush to avoid any creasing. Worked great and really gave me the shape I've been looking for. Here is the tank as of last night:


Next order of business was to weld in the bung for the flush mount gas cap. It welded pretty easily with the heat concentrated on the thicker flange.


Round 2 of bodywork to level out the top of the tank where the patch panel was welded in place.


Also relaced the wheels after getting the spoke kits in today. I learned a lot and will have them trued up at the local cycle shop on Tuesday. Then its new bearings/mask off and shoot with some paint before mounting on new bridgestone spitfire rubber.



Everybody enjoy your 4th of July weekend and be safe!

Jared
 
jsedacca said:
Then its new bearings/mask off and shoot with some paint before mounting on new bridgestone spitfire rubber.
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Happy 4th you guys. (well it is here at the moment anyway ;) )

Jared, why did you decide to put the wheel back together before you paint the rims? Seems like you've just created a whole lot of work for yourself, and no matter how careful you are at masking, they will never look as good as if you painted them first?? Are you painting the spokes as well? Good on you for lacing the wheels, but if that were me, I would have painted first. It's just the right way to do it ???

cheers
ian
 
bikeboy said:
Happy 4th you guys. (well it is here at the moment anyway ;) )

Jared, why did you decide to put the wheel back together before you paint the rims? Seems like you've just created a whole lot of work for yourself, and no matter how careful you are at masking, they will never look as good as if you painted them first?? Are you painting the spokes as well? Good on you for lacing the wheels, but if that were me, I would have painted first. It's just the right way to do it ???

cheers
ian
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Everything is being painted the same color so no need to mask. The proper way for me would have been to have the wheels pc'd but I'm trying to save some money so epoxy paint will do and is plenty durable. Plus, being the first time I ever laced a wheel, I know for a fact I would have scratched them up. Once they're trued, I'll mask off the bearings/bearing retainer and spray. I did this with my brothers wheels and they came out great. Just have to spray the inner spokes first and work all the nooks/crannies before doing the actual outer rim.

There's always next project to pc the wheels and do everything all out. This is still a somewhat budget minded cafe. The next build will be a more custom bobber more than likely. Be safe and hope you guys have some time to wrench on the bikes!

Jared
 
good work! keep it up... question? you mig welded the gas cap in correct? dosnt look like you had a burning through issue... weird because it dosn't look like you jumped as much as maybe stiched? looks good either way..... keep it up!
 
ADPete said:
good work! keep it up... question? you mig welded the gas cap in correct? dosnt look like you had a burning through issue... weird because it dosn't look like you jumped as much as maybe stiched? looks good either way..... keep it up!
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Yup, welded the bung in with a Miller 135. For thin metal, I use a pulse technique. It gives a nice flat weld/great penetration for non structural pieces and its less likely to burn through. The bung is quite thick steel so that helps concentrating most of the heat/puddle onto that sort of as a heat sink.
 
Wow man your welds look unbelievable, and did you paint the clip-ons, kick start etc? they look really good almost like they were anodized.
 
mdfergus said:
Wow man your welds look unbelievable, and did you paint the clip-ons, kick start etc? they look really good almost like they were anodized.
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Thanks for the praise. I was pretty happy with how good the welds came out. I was saying my prayers hoping I didn't blow through the tank metal. The gold is VHT metallic engine paint. Most of the pieces were blasted and then painted. After air drying, I tossed them in the oven at 200 for an hour to really cure them. So far the parts seem pretty durable. Happy with the color as it really pops against the black which breaks up the monotony
 
Little bit of an update. Finally got my wheels trued up and came to find the rear rim had a horrible flat spot and couldn't true it up. I decided to not run the risk of buying a used wheel and bought a rear xs650 alloy shouldered wheel from mikesxs.com I did get the front wheel prepped and painted it epoxy gloss black as seen below:


Got most of the bodywork done on the tank and got a coat of high build on it. Still needs some wet sanding before another coat or 2 and should be ready for paint.


Picked up the seat from the upholsterer and placed it on the bike to get an idea of the look. Very happy with the work for $100. It has 1.5" pleats and 2" foam was used and crowned on the sides for a low profile look. Wrenchmonkees bikes were an inspiration for this seat for the simplicity of it.


Another shot from the rear


The rear rim will be in on Wednesday so hope to have a rolling bike on the weekend. Exhaust fabrication can commence once the bike is on the ground for proper ground clearance. Hope to have little updates here and there though. Take care guys!

Jared
 
That seat and tank look great man!! What did you use for a seat pan and does it have a curve to it or is it a flat pan? I'm thinking of having a pro do the seat for my R5 I did one myself and for a first attempt it came out great and would hold up under light scrutiny but am considering having a pro re-do it for me. I actually just used a piece of plywood for the pan but am considering fabbing a fiberglass one with a bit of a curve to it to help with the wheel clearance problem I'm having.
 
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