Topic: New Guy Saying Hi!

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Hi everybody, I just signed up and wanted to introduce myself and look forward to learning a lot more about these Honda 4's. I just picked up a '72 CB350F and another '72 CB350F basket case/parts bike, I have a 1973 Honda CB500F on the way, and I'm currently working on a 1979 Honda VTR250...(I'm trying to post pics but can't seem to be able to...but being new here I haven't yet gotten the hang of it. Is there an FAQ on this??). I've been riding and wrenching for over 20 years and am very familiar with motorcycles, but I look forward to seeing what I can learn about these machines on this website as I bring them back to life.

[newday777]

Welcome aboard the forum Dr. F

As to putting the F on your model rather than four is a bad practice as there is an actual F model(Supersport)and you will probably get wrong information because of it.

For the pictures taken on phones, the file size is most likely too big and will need to be reduced to fit the forum requirements.
I just take a screenshot of my pictures and crop them. That reduces the file size for me.

[Deltarider]

I believe you must first have done a number of posts here before you can add the pics. I don't know how many posts are needed though.

[Flyin900]

Hi everybody, I just signed up and wanted to introduce myself and look forward to learning a lot more about these Honda 4's. I just picked up a '72 CB350F and another '72 CB350F basket case/parts bike, I have a 1973 Honda CB500F on the way, and I'm currently working on a 1979 Honda VTR250...(I'm trying to post pics but can't seem to be able to...but being new here I haven't yet gotten the hang of it. Is there an FAQ on this??). I've been riding and wrenching for over 20 years and am very familiar with motorcycles, but I look forward to seeing what I can learn about these machines on this website as I bring them back to life.

Welcome to this site and a great source for the fours. I restored a number of the Honda baby fours and have a 1972 in my fleet presently. Are you also on the Naked Goldwings site under the same moniker?

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Hey, Flyin'!  Yes, that's me; I've pretty much completed the two Wings I have so was looking around for another project and came across the CB350Four near me; picked that up and a parts bike came up so I snatched that up too, and then while searching for a CB550 a CB500 appeared, and I had to have that one too! And no, I'm not rich, just insane! I got them all for under $1000. They need work of course, but that's fine with me, I don't go anywhere these days. Sadly, after I pack these three guys into the garage, I will officially have No More Room.     But that's okay - I guess...

So I signed up here to glean as much advice and learn as much as I can when I go to take these things apart and put them back together. Should be fun!

[willbird]

Hi everybody, I just signed up and wanted to introduce myself and look forward to learning a lot more about these Honda 4's. I just picked up a '72 CB350F and another '72 CB350F basket case/parts bike, I have a 1973 Honda CB500F on the way, and I'm currently working on a 1979 Honda VTR250...(I'm trying to post pics but can't seem to be able to...but being new here I haven't yet gotten the hang of it. Is there an FAQ on this??). I've been riding and wrenching for over 20 years and am very familiar with motorcycles, but I look forward to seeing what I can learn about these machines on this website as I bring them back to life.

Welcome.
I use IMGUR to post pics on all kinds of forums. Crop for composition then scale them 800  wide and they fit well. I use a desktop computer to do that though. Then you can grab a link that is formatted in BB code.

[carnivorous chicken]

As to putting the F on your model rather than four is a bad practice as there is an actual F model(Supersport)and you will probably get wrong information because of it.

Welcome.

With 350s, you need the F because without the F it's a CB350 twin. This is also true for the 500s (the CB500T is the twin). There weren't four cylinder 350 supersports or 500 supersports. It's the 550s and 750s that came in K or F models. Feel free to write 350F or 500F, it's fewer letters to type and most people do.

[craz1]

On the CB500 take a good look at the rocker cover as the 8 shafts have a tendency to rotate and egg out the shaft holes causing problems with valve adjustments. Its best to use a later CB550 (77-78)cover that only has 4 shafts and are pinned preventing rotation. I believe they will bolt on to the CB500 head with no issues.

Someone will likely confirm this.

[Gurp]

I've found that to upload pics I used the taptalk forum. No annoying resizing but for just reading the forum I use the website on my phone.

5 posts I believe before you can post a image to the board.

Great to have you!

Sent from my LE2127 using Tapatalk

[Lucien Harpress]

Welcome to the party from another NGW transplant!  I can't speak for the smaller CBs, other than it'd be nice to have one one day. 

As far as images, Imgur.com is my go-to, although I do need to resize them in-forum so they don't display stupidly huge.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Hey, Lucien! Man, I'm finding a bunch of people from the NGW Forum over here! New projects, I guess...

[willbird]

Welcome to the party from another NGW transplant!  I can't speak for the smaller CBs, other than it'd be nice to have one one day. 

As far as images, Imgur.com is my go-to, although I do need to resize them in-forum so they don't display stupidly huge.

I use Gimp to crop them for composition, and to take my feet out of the picture, then scale to 800 wide.

[grcamna2]

Welcome to the forum Dr. Frankenstein, make sure to take care working in your laboratory during the lightning storms;might give those Honda Fours a bit too much after-life.    lol
I'll be following your projects. 

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Well, it's what I live for - the chance to jolt them with electricity and say "Alive...! It's Alive....IT"S ALIVE...!"   

And it was MY cigar smoldering in the ashtray!   ('Young Frankenstein'...anybody...? anybody..? Beuller..?...?)

[grcamna2]

Well, it's what I live for - the chance to jolt them with electricity and say "Alive...! It's Alive....IT"S ALIVE...!"   

And it was MY cigar smoldering in the ashtray!   ('Young Frankenstein'...anybody...? anybody..? Beuller..?...?)

 

[Ozzybud]

Welcome to the forum!

[newday777]

Well, it's what I live for - the chance to jolt them with electricity and say "Alive...! It's Alive....IT"S ALIVE...!"   

And it was MY cigar smoldering in the ashtray!   ('Young Frankenstein'...anybody...? anybody..? Beuller..?...?)

😆

[HondaMan]

Welcome, Dr. F!
You're working on my favorite of the SOHC4 bikes: the Baby Four. Did you know Honda also made a CB250F just like it, but for only in Japan?

Here's my main word of advice if you decided to go in and bore them for new pistons: TIGHT. Post up or PM me for advice: if you don't make them TIGHT they will burn oil and won;t run for beans. And, 0.0004" is NOT 'too tight' in this engine...

[drodg33]

Welcome Dr F.  I too purchased a 72 500F almost two years ago now and I love it.  The bike I wanted when I was a teen but couldn't buy it.  This fall/winter I bought a 350F that is a very nice bike needing some riding and a bit of  TLC.   I have to say I kind of  like riding it as much as the the 500F.  I actually feel guilty saying that but.... again welcome aboard. 

[Dr. Frankenstein]

drodg33 - good to know! Along those lines, I have my first legit question here about the '73 CB500 Four I'm picking up (maybe I should start a new thread...? )...

I've been reading a lot about false neutrals and problems with the clutch on these bikes; the '73 500 I'm getting only has 21K on the clock - how reliable are these bikes, and do you have to dial anything in to make them 'more so'...? I love the bike and it's looks and I'm not scared about digging into it and opening it up if I have to, I've done engines before, but how big of a problem is it? Or is it (like all bikes) merely a matter of learning 'how' to ride it?  Is there anything to look for or be aware of...?  I'm open to opinions from everybody...

I don't have pics of the CB500 yet, but here's the CB350Four...I don't have the original exhaust, but those are hard to come by anyway...
1972 CB350F by Dr. Frankenstein1, on Flickr


A couple of close-ups...
1972 CB350F Right Side by Dr. Frankenstein1, on Flickr

1972 CB350F Left Side by Dr. Frankenstein1, on Flickr

As you can see it's pretty much all there - I do have the side covers too, although I've already broken off the #4 spark plug in the hole(!) because it's so crusty and the engine is locked up. More of a PITA than anything else, I've dealt with that before on my '79 KZ400...This one though is going to need a complete tear-down and go-thru, paint, seat cover, etc. etc. Should be fun! As soon as I get the 500 here I'll post some pics of that one too.

[willbird]

I remember back in the day a friend of my dads had a CB350 twin, one of his co workers had a 350F and wanted to race the guy with the twin, my dad was encouraging him to take the bet because he said the twin was faster :-). The blue collar theory was that the 350F was a retail item in order to qualify it as a factory engine in some racing class ??

I never really looked at one up close back then.

Bill

[wolf550]

hi dr F Ill be watching your progess on the 350's as I am in the same boat with mine.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

I'm not quite sure which way I'm going yet - the 350 is just as cool as the 500, but I've always wanted to do a 500 - I got the 350 first, but then stumbled across the 500 and couldn't say No. What do you mean 'same boat'?

[newday777]

I remember back in the day a friend of my dads had a CB350 twin, one of his co workers had a 350F and wanted to race the guy with the twin, my dad was encouraging him to take the bet because he said the twin was faster :-). The blue collar theory was that the 350F was a retail item in order to qualify it as a factory engine in some racing class ??

I never really looked at one up close back then.

Bill

Did they race Bill?

[willbird]

I remember back in the day a friend of my dads had a CB350 twin, one of his co workers had a 350F and wanted to race the guy with the twin, my dad was encouraging him to take the bet because he said the twin was faster :-). The blue collar theory was that the 350F was a retail item in order to qualify it as a factory engine in some racing class ??

I never really looked at one up close back then.

Bill

Did they race Bill?

I never heard the outcome, but I remember my telling him he was sure win LOL. Looking at some stats on line such as curb weight and HP I would not pick a clear winner bench racing. Honda claimed a 10mph higher top speed for the twin ?



Bill

[HondaMan]

Yep, the CB/CL350 could toast the CB350F in a street fight.
But it didn't draw the crowd at the local drive-in on Saturday nights...

[Stev-o]

Welcome from Texas.  Another FYI about the 500F - it had a subpar clutch assembly, it was upgraded when Honda put out the 550 in '74.

Consider starting a thread in "Project Shop", we can follow along and answer any questions you may have.

[jonda500]

There's nothing subpar about the 500 clutch assembly in my opinion, only the release mechanism can be criticised for:
a) the proximity of the push rod so close to the chain
b) the shiity weak pot metal used in the quick thread part in the sprocket cover
c) the parts in the sprocket cover needing servicing occasionally
John