Topic: CL350 Street Tracker / Cafe build

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

i think I could hide that 8 cell fine. I am going to roll through the electrics and fix / replace most of the wires. I'll likely be fashioning up a new harness altogether as mines somewhat roached out. It's getting a recticfier / regulator from oregon electrical. Lighting will be LED.

I think the new harness, reg/rectifier and LED lighting is a good call.  I have been the victim twice now of "roached out" wiring.  You will want to add an electronic LED flasher unit to that list, too.   

If you go with a LED headlight, like the Truck Lite, you will likely need a metal headlight bucket, as the stock will crack under the strain of the metal light housing.  No fun when you are on a ride, and the headlight bucket breaks after hitting a bump in the road.

What does that LED headlight assm. look like CB750 CRF ?

Truck Lite Headlight Assembly (heavy!)



New Chrome Emgo Headlight Bucket (the original plastic bucket cracked)



Headlight Off



Headlight On

[grcamna2]

Yeah OK;is it a 'blue' type of light ? Will it blind oncoming cars ? 

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Yeah OK;is it a 'blue' type of light ? Will it blind oncoming cars ? 

Clean, white light and not ultra bright/obnoxious.  And a little different to get you noticed.

[grcamna2]

CB750 CRF, it prob. burns a lot less watts I imagine,less than a stock one ?

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

CB750 CRF, it prob. burns a lot less watts I imagine,less than a stock one ?

Yes, there's quite a reduced load compared to the stock or halogen. 

[madScientist]

Thanks for the suggestions. I may stick with the stock headlight (for now) and put a kill switch on it for starting. Just to see how it behaves. I almost went with a truck light on my 750 but elected to use a halogen with relays to retain the stock bucket.

The bushings for the swingarm aren't going to be shipped until Friday which means I wont have a roller this weekend as i previously hoped. So now i'm going into "bounce between systems" mode to keep it moving forward.

Last night I put the trans in. I had a dumb moment and had a couple gears flipped in the clutch bank. After fixing that it went right in.

Aside from the shift drum, trans parts, kick starter, and crank...is there anything else i need to put in prior to putting the case halves together?  After that's done I'll pull the clutch pack off to put in the oil pump and gear shift parts.

I'll probably turn my attention to finishing the electrical box and mounting it in. Then start working on the wiring. I'm going to Vintage Bike Night on Monday and will try to get a bead on a CB350 tank to use. I'd like to refrain from starting to fashion up a cowl until I have the proper tank to keep the lines tight.

[grcamna2]

Mad S,
Did you make sure to re-install that rubber ball thingy that goes into a hole in the cases near the crankshaft ? it helps maintain oil pressure.

[calj737]

You might ping Tyler, (2StrokeTrush) to see if the Baltimore Salvage yard has a decent, inexpensive one on the shelf. I know that place, it's filled with all kinds of goodies-

[madScientist]

GR -- the little rubber dealiebob that is in the journal on the right side of the picture (covered by the crank)? If so then yes, it's still in there.

Calj -- Thanks! I'll send him a message and see what he's got.

[grcamna2]

Good 

[madScientist]

Made a little more progress (sorry no pictures for now). The lower half of the engine is largely back together. The clutch cover is on and I have the stator side assembled however I'm waiting on more stainless bolts to stick it together. My wife came over and looked at the engine and said "You know what would look rad...satin black accents to break up the aluminum color..." So I painted the oil filter cover, stator cover, starter, and dipstick satin black...I agree with her. The jugs and head will also be satin.

I'm still waiting on the machine shop to finish working on the cylinder and head. I'm going to be ordering a KA cam chain slider from Bore-Tech. I will also be purchasing a new guide since the old one's real chewed up. Those orders will wait until I get in to the head so I can purchase everything in one order. I'm probably going to put new valves, springs, etc in the head for a complete rebuild. I'm debating doing a little intake and exhaust porting while I'm at it.

I'm trying to seek out a manual cam chain tensioner (piece outside the jugs) like what I have on my F but am having no luck. Therefore I'll likely have to use the old one.

I am in a holding pattern on the frame. I haven't received the bushings for the swingarm yet. I also tried getting the forks apart and am being met with strong resistance. I've got the gator, springs, and misc seals out. I pulled the snap ring but I cannot get the tube to come clear of the leg. If anyone has insight on what I'm doing wrong that would be super. I have new seals coming but if I cant get it apart in the first place that'll really put a damper on things...no pun intended.

[calj737]

Did you remove the bolt from the bottom end of the fork lower that holds the damper in? It's an Allen head, and usually found between the axle studs. Look up in there...

They are generally a pita to remove if you've disassembled the rest of the forks. You may need to resort to wedging a broom handle in from above to prevent the damper rod from spinning as you undo the bolt.

Disclaimer: this is the process for 500/500/750 forks, so if yours differ, disregard.

[grcamna2]

MadS,
Do you think you'll let your wife keep this 350 ?

[madScientist]

Calj -- I removed a phillips screw from the bottom of the leg which I had assumed to be the damper bolt (the allen you referenced...it was an allen on the F anyway). I'll shine a flashlight up in there and see if there's another bolt that I might be missing on the inside of the leg.

GR -- I dont know...I might :-P However if we decide to keep it I'd consider camming it and put in the hi-comp pistons...just for some added fun factor :-P...well as much fun as a 350 can be.

[grcamna2]

Calj -- I removed a phillips screw from the bottom of the leg which I had assumed to be the damper bolt (the allen you referenced...it was an allen on the F anyway). I'll shine a flashlight up in there and see if there's another bolt that I might be missing on the inside of the leg.

GR -- I dont know...I might :-P However if we decide to keep it I'd consider camming it and put in the hi-comp pistons...just for some added fun factor :-P...well as much fun as a 350 can be.

I'd like to hear what your plan is on porting the head 

[madScientist]

I'll keep the populous in the loop for sure. I was going to drop a line to Rieck and see if he has any input on porting this head. I'm assuming this head is like all the Honda heads where a little "massaging" can lead to fairly decent returns.

[grcamna2]

Chase,I've been asking him a bit about some performance work w/ my plan being to use the stock #HM344 CB350K4 exhaust mufflers as 'keepers' for my small,mild project.
I want to install some cast pistons around 66-67mm from another Japanese make/model w/ a 15mm wrist pin and having similar measurements so I can possibly(and that's a BIG "possibly") just overbore my cylinders and fit the pistons w/o much custom machine work.I'd like to keep it 'streetable'  w/ about 10-10.25:1 compression ratio max. I think my stock mufflers can handle that if I turn on the power 'progressively'  w/ a very mild camshaft and stock carbs. & filters.I just need to keep doing more research on that piston swap.I have a stock OE piston here to measure and match specs. I'm hoping they'll stop putting 'E' junk in the pump fuel... but I'm not going to hold my breath   

I'm not trying to achieve much added power..,but a little more sure won't hurt.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I'll keep the populous in the loop for sure. I was going to drop a line to Rieck and see if he has any input on porting this head. I'm assuming this head is like all the Honda heads where a little "massaging" can lead to fairly decent returns.

I've heard you can nearly double the HP with porting and boring, but I think taking it to that extreme might compromise durability.  AND, we are talking about small numbers overall.

[madScientist]

I dropped a line to 2StrokeTRush who's going to run down and check for me on Saturday. Real nice dude! I got a line on another locally but the guy wants $125 which I think is pushing it. I'll keep that on the back burner though.

Had a dumb moment with the forks this evening. I kept working on them trying to get the darn things apart. I was sure I had the bolts out and everything else removed. So in a fit of frustration I just started working them really hard...we're talking REAL hard...i was pissed. Wouldn't you know it *POP* they came apart! I guess I was just being too gentle.

I more or less have finished assembling the bottom end. I was going to hold off on the pictures to show the completed engine but what the hell, i'll share some. I'm not happy with the stator cover painting. I'm going to touch up the silver and paint the honda and ring satin black. All in all I think it turned out pretty good. I also need to put the neutral switch in. Still no word from the machine shop other than "it should be done this week".





In other news...i ordered some bronze swingarm bushings from ebay since the ones I ordered from the factory are taking an extra special long time to ship. I should be rockin' and rollin' in the chassis department this weekend. With any luck...and some beer...it might be a roller this weekend.

[grcamna2]

Looks nice !

[madScientist]

It's been awhile but I finally got some garage time in this weekend. I got the fork legs, swingarm, and other bits painted up. Bought new bushings for the swingarm as well as caps and seals. Forks have new seals and I threw some paint on the upper part of the tubes. I plan on using the stock ears so I didn't mind so much about how it looked. It's mostly to prevent rusting.

Question; how the heck do you install the fork gators onto the top part of the legs? That is, without chewing the crap out of the paint?

The rims cleaned up nicely however the front one has a ding on the edge of it. I'm going to try and straighten it out but I fear I might have to grab a new rim. The rear axle also looks to be missing a spacer :-/. I might just make one up although they look plentiful on ebay. There is a guy selling a parts bike locally but I dont want to have one sitting around once I finish this one. That and I have nowhere to put it...

I'm trying really hard to like the CL tank. TRush said the cheapest tank Baltimore had was $130 which is out of my range. There's one locally for $125 but I would prefer to save that money. So I think I'm going to see if I can get to liking the CL tank.

Staring at the frame I think I want to either relocate or remove the rear arch. I'm designing how I want the tail to go and I think that arch is going to get in the way of my vision. I guess that's the nice thing about paint is that I can touch it up :-D

The head is getting the new valves and guides installed this week. After that I should be good for top end assembly of the engine. I have a KA cam chain slipper and a new chain guide. With any luck the engine should be in it this next weekend. Here are some shots of the bike. It's "slapped" together for now. going to have to take down a lot of that as I go along but that's fine.

w/o tank
IMG]http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b545/chaser012001/CL350/20140526_170619_zpsu9uqxpfh.jpg[/IMG]
w/ tank

engine for now...no head but I set the cover on top to seal up the cylinders

[grcamna2]

Hi Chase,
The fork gaiters on the CL350 wrap around the bottom edge of the headlight mounts/ears,they kind of 'hook' onto them,it's easier w/ fresh rubber gaiters though

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Like the look of the motor.

[calj737]

What he said about the gaiters. A shot of some liquid lube helps get them on/over. That, and plenty of swearing and beer.

Re:tank- you might consider adjusting the mounting points in the front of the neck to lower the bottom line of the tank to more "parallel" with the ground. And/or adjust the rear mount , whichever is easiest.

[grcamna2]

What he said about the gaiters. A shot of some liquid lube helps get them on/over. That, and plenty of swearing and beer.

Re:tank- you might consider adjusting the mounting points in the front of the neck to lower the bottom line of the tank to more "parallel" with the ground. And/or adjust the rear mount , whichever is easiest.

The 'liquid lube' I prefer is Budweiser