Topic: Just finished my '74 CB350F cafe project!!

[Tristan]

I hope I posted this in the right section, it seemed like the most appropriate place...if not, MODS!!!

Let me know what you guys think!

Before:



After:

[harisuluv]

Awesome!  That thing looks like it would be FUN to ride!

[Tristan]

Oh man, it is. After finishing a project like this, there is truly nothing more rewarding than rolling on that throttle, laying on the tank and just whaling past a group of cars...I'm in love.

[veloracermike]

Nicely done! Welcome to the mini-4 club!


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[Tristan]

Nicely done! Welcome to the mini-4 club!


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Mini??? Who you callin' mini? lol thanks man

[Killer Canary]

Did you get the pods to work with the carbs? How's the performance?

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I love this bike.  It must weigh next to nothing and easily flick through the twisties.  Great looking bike, too!

[cprice9]

great job

[Tristan]

Did you get the pods to work with the carbs? How's the performance?

Actually it's running pretty decent right now.....and I didnt rejet it 

I followed the advice of another member and actually cut some soda can up and rolled it into each of the pods to restrict airflow. Strangely enough it worked really well. According to my plugs, it's not running lean, so I'll probably just rejet this winter when I get bored. My only gripe is a slight flat spot when I hit around 65, but I'm just happy to be on the road for the season. I've put 800 miles on it since the rebuild and it's been going great every step of the way.

I love this bike.  It must weigh next to nothing and easily flick through the twisties.  Great looking bike, too!

Thanks mate. It's light, very light. I sometimes feel like I'm riding a bicycle when I pull up to a red light. The thing does not feel like a legit motor vehicle when it needs to be manhandled at low speeds. Around the turns....oh man! I seriously can't believe everything laid out so well. The riding position feels so natural when laying on the tank and rolling around the turns.

great job

Thanks dude!!

[HonderCB]

that thing looks awesome, i'd love to have a 350 or 400f, but i fear at 6'3" i would be very uncomfortable on one.  regardless, you did a fantastic job on yours!

[Mugen_Stumpo]

looks great

what rearset have you used?

[Itwillbefun]

I love the colors you went with. This is a very sexy bike.

[Tristan]

that thing looks awesome, i'd love to have a 350 or 400f, but i fear at 6'3" i would be very uncomfortable on one.  regardless, you did a fantastic job on yours!

Thanks dude! Yeah, I'm 5'10 and really pushing the size limits for this bike. I'm starting to wish I flipped a 550 or 750...next time.

looks great

what rearset have you used?

Thanks, I used rearsets from a 1993 CBR600. I set up all the holes I drilled out with some graph paper. Drilled them, counter sunk, and then painted with rustoleum bed liner followed by another round with the countersink to make it pop!!

I love the colors you went with. This is a very sexy bike.

That means alot...There were a couple times when I wondered if it really worked.

[Mugen_Stumpo]

so you have to weld plate to the frame to use the cbr rearset right?

i missed your epic build up thread or what?!

[Tristan]

so you have to weld plate to the frame to use the cbr rearset right?

i missed your epic build up thread or what?!

Yeah I had to have a plate welded





And yeah, no build thread. This was a long winded project. Took me 3 years to finish everything, so you can imagine the pace I was working at..

I'll scoop up some pictures so you can have a decent idea of the process.















I guess that's all I have 
Next time I'll be a little better at documenting the whole process.

[Robbnc]

Interesting, I have a junk CBR600 sitting in the basement, may have to take a look at those rearsets !

[HonderCB]

WOW, in the bathroom even... thats dedication!  BOTM!

[HondanutRider]

Looks very nice Tristan! 

Where did you source that tank and seat from, if you don't mind revealing?

BTW from your "before" picture, the bike didn't have the correct badge on the sidecover for a '74.  Looks more like the '72 or '73 model year.

[mono]

beautiful bike!  congrats on a good end to a long project

[RickB]

Looks great, well done. Did you have any issues with the clip-ons hitting the Mojave tank?

On the height thing, I'm 6'3"/80kgs and I feel my CB400F with rear sets is really comfortable. Yes, a bigger bike would probably 'fit' better, but I love my CB400F.

[Tristan]

Looks very nice Tristan! 

Where did you source that tank and seat from, if you don't mind revealing?

BTW from your "before" picture, the bike didn't have the correct badge on the sidecover for a '74.  Looks more like the '72 or '73 model year.

Both the seat and tank came from "Vintage Cosmo". He was located in Pennsylvania and specialized in benelli and old ducati parts, plus fiberglass cafe seats. He closed up a couple of years ago, too bad too, because I paid like 150 for that tank and now I see them going for around 300 on ebay. The seat was apparently an exact replica of some kind of official honda racing seat from the 70's, I havent seen another one for sale since Cosmo closed up.

Wrong badge...interesting. Well, the bike's vin comes up as a '74. Is it the badge that's wrong, or the color? I do remember the badges had some paint flaking off that looked like a cob job by the PO.

Looks great, well done. Did you have any issues with the clip-ons hitting the Mojave tank?

On the height thing, I'm 6'3"/80kgs and I feel my CB400F with rear sets is really comfortable. Yes, a bigger bike would probably 'fit' better, but I love my CB400F.

The clipons clear it! The throttle housing does hit the tank if I have it cranked all the way to the right, but when does that ever happen?

WOW, in the bathroom even... thats dedication!  BOTM!

That's apartment living for you! It's the only place inside my girlfriend at the time would "allow" me to keep it.


And to everyone else, thank you so much for the positive words! It really means so much to get compliments on something that I poured so much time into.

[Itwillbefun]

I feel ya on the apartment living. I have mine stashed on my back patio, hoping the apartment wont do inspections and tell me I have to move it, ha! That would be my luck.

Any chance of an action shot? I'd like to see how the positioning of those rear sets look with a rider on!

[jackseattle]

Really nice how your build turned out.  I am sure you are having a blast on the VT hills.  Where did your front end come from, especially upper triple tree?

[HondanutRider]

Wrong badge...interesting. Well, the bike's vin comes up as a '74. Is it the badge that's wrong, or the color? I do remember the badges had some paint flaking off that looked like a cob job by the PO.

The sidepanel badges on the '74 models had a different color combination than the other two years.  On the '74 they were a white "350" with an orange "Four" lettering.  Those colors were reversed on the other two years.  In North America the only body color it came in for '74 was called Glory Blue Black Metallic, which has a distinctive black shade to it that can fade to a blue hue with aging.  The tank also had gold striping on it, which was unique for that year.

[Tristan]

I feel ya on the apartment living. I have mine stashed on my back patio, hoping the apartment wont do inspections and tell me I have to move it, ha! That would be my luck.

Any chance of an action shot? I'd like to see how the positioning of those rear sets look with a rider on!

I luckily had an awesome landlord that treated her tenants like family, so I was lucky in that case.

Here's a couple pics I got today, sorry the riding one is low quality, but it was taken on a phone.



The balls of my feet are on the pegs. It's how I typically ride, so just envision the foot forward 3 inches for shifting.

Really nice how your build turned out.  I am sure you are having a blast on the VT hills.  Where did your front end come from, especially upper triple tree?

Oh man, these roads are a dream to ride on. Only downside is the roads that could be the funnest are in bad shape with big cracks that could easily suck in my front tire. Need to be a little careful on those ones. The front end is entirely stock. Forks are painted with rustoleum bed liner and the gaiters are EMGO's from Dime city cycles...Theyre totally cracking by the way, total crap. The triple tree is off a cb350 twin. Fits perfectly and eliminates the clutter of the idiot lights that came on the original tree.

Wrong badge...interesting. Well, the bike's vin comes up as a '74. Is it the badge that's wrong, or the color? I do remember the badges had some paint flaking off that looked like a cob job by the PO.

The sidepanel badges on the '74 models had a different color combination than the other two years.  On the '74 they were a white "350" with an orange "Four" lettering.  Those colors were reversed on the other two years.  In North America the only body color it came in for '74 was called Glory Blue Black Metallic, which has a distinctive black shade to it that can fade to a blue hue with aging.  The tank also had gold striping on it, which was unique for that year.

Hmm interesting. Well, the tank definitely wasnt stock color then. From what I remember, the emblem on the side panel was red on one side and yellow on the other.