Topic: 1972 CB350F in Alaska -

[Crankwalk]

Hi folks,

I'm Jay from Anchorage, AK and I just added a dirt cheap '72 CB350F to my stable that is in need of some love . The plan is to clean it up a little cosmetically, get it running, and give it to the wife (or just steal it back from her). I'm sure I'll have lots of questions and be looking for some random odds and ends shortly.  Looking forward to getting deep in this one and if anybody is passing through Alaska on a ride send me a message and I'll buy you a beer.


I'm going to try and keep a running log  of the progress and be asking for advice along the way. Since the goal for this is a wife learner bike, I want it to look presentable from 10 ft away and get the rest of it running and stopping with only a reasonable amount invested in it. I have a small wish list on 4int1 right now and I'm looking for some other sites that have decent prices and also ship to Alaska. We of course get killed in shipping here IF a place will ship here at all.

Here are some shots from first pulling it out in the yard, degreasing, rust removing, polishing and touching up all the black paint.






Getting her undressed a little bit.


Gonna need some new wires:


Always love the previous owner add ons:


This was all that was left of the petcock so rather than rebuilding this one, I'll be looking for a replacement.




Another amber lens on the front and at least no more are broken. I love this bike was that dark green and the fork are still looking green and the tank has faded to that undercoating of blue. It shifts with the light now depending on the angle. I don't really plan on repainting it.


Missing the controls/clutch lever:


End of the first weekend:


Thanks,


Jay

[Stev-o]

Hey Crank...welcome from Texas.   The bike looks good, the scenery up there awesome!

Why do you need wires?  If they are long enough, clip about 1/4" off the ends and get new caps.

I've had bad luck with the cheap China petcocks, spend the extra money and get the Honda replacement.

Is that a Kawasaki I see in the background?

[Crankwalk]

Hey Crank...welcome from Texas.   The bike looks good, the scenery up there awesome!

Why do you need wires?  If they are long enough, clip about 1/4" off the ends and get new caps.

I've had bad luck with the cheap China petcocks, spend the extra money and get the Honda replacement.

Is that a Kawasaki I see in the background?

Hey Stev-o

The wires are rock hard and I think would be too brittle for a trim up with new caps. Good call on the Honda petcocks but it looks like there are a ton of different styles so that will be fun finding the right one.

No Kawasaki in the garage. The current lineup is the CB350F, an 82 Yamaha Seca Turbo XJ650, 73 Triumph Bonneville 750, and a 67 BSA 441 Victor Special (which may be what you are seeing in the back corner with the polished alloy tank).

[cjespersen]

Your f350 looks much cleaner then my f350 looked. I also had a lot off issues with my bike. When I got the bike it had bent valves so I fixed the valves and installed all new gaskets and valve stem seals. It fired up but smoked really bad. I tore it back down and found out it didn't have oil rings on the pistons and one of the cylinders was scored. After replacing the cylinder jugs, honing the cylinders and replacing all pistons and piston rings, it finally started running good but had gas leaking out of the carbs. After rebuilding the carbs and replacing a cracked overflow tube it was running better but was also running lean. After replacing the intake boots, it finally runs like a champ. Keep all your OEM parts. Youtube has a couple of full builds on the 350f.