What CB350 do I have??

[Oranga]

Hello all! I recently picked up a 1969 CB350, at least that's what the title says. But the frame VIN and the engine serial number seem to tell a different, more confusing story.

The frame VIN is CB350-200xxxx and the engine number is CL350E-406xxxx.

From this website: http://www.honda350k.com/CB350.html it looks like I have a CB350K2 frame and a CL350K4 engine. Am I understanding that correctly?

The exhaust is the CB style, low mount pipes, not the CL scrambler style, high mount pipes.

Are frankenstein bikes like this common? Anything in particular I should look out for (i.e.: when purchasing engine parts i should look for K4 parts, and K2 parts for the frame)?

 

[Scruffy]

Frankenbikes are extremely common. My 250 CL has CB 250/305 pipes, CB 305 carb set, CB 305 rear wheel and brakes, CL 305 spec suspension front and rear (Ceriani replacements).

Match your chassis parts to your chassis, engine parts to your engine.

When these bikes were still relatively new, mixing parts that fit between the various models was not only common, but a whole lot cheaper than waiting on stuff to ship from Japan. My farmhand still remembers having to wait on bolts and screws to come from the factory for his Honda 65cc and various other 60's metric bikes.

 

[djelliott]

Yep. Totally common. Most parts between those years and models were interchangeable.

 

[Oranga]

Thanks for the answers guys! Looking forward to using the resources here and hope to contribute with a build thread of my own soon!