Author Topic: 1975 CL360 project thread  (Read 5169 times)

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Offline parm

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1975 CL360 project thread
« on: June 09, 2008, 06:34:25 PM »


so this is my project ive had a little less then a year. ive messed with it here and there but not really gotten any progress. my goal is to have the bike be road ready by the end of june. i had it running a couple of weeks ago. but the float boal gaskets were leaking so i took off the carbs and rebuilt them. we had this carb dip stuff at work that works really good. so i put them back on the bike and i started it up and the revs spiked and wouldnt come down. so heres what i want to get figured out...

1) the throttle cable doesnt seem to snapping back like it was when i took it off. maybe some sort of binding, or maybe my adjustment at the carb is not correct. i got it a bit better but not the same as it waas.

2) theres a small lever in the middle of the carb that controls the throttle plate on the right hand side carb. the lever has a small spring with an adjuster screw going through it. and when i open the throttle its another lever and open the throttle plate but when i release it, it stays open. are those two levers suppose to be attached? i dont remember unnattachign them. heres a picture of them... those arent the ones off the actuall bike, thats a spare set i have for parts. its missing the spring and adjuster.



3) Vacuum syncing, but thats the last thing i need to worry about. i think anyways.

HELP ME IM DESPERATE! anyhelp would be awesome.


Offline mattcb350f

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #1 on: June 09, 2008, 08:04:43 PM »
Cool lookin' ride  8)

It's been a long time (8 years or so) since I worked on a 360... and I was pretty young so I can't help much with the mechanics of the carb setups.

As for the throttle not returning:

Check to see that the actuation at the carb end works well and free without the cable on.

Then check the cable itself not connected to anything, but routed through the bike. You might find here that it's taking a sharp corner somewhere and binding.

Finnaly, check the throttle grip. If the tube is on too far it can bind at the end of the handlebar or against the switch housing.

Also want to make sure that when the cables are installed that they are not too tight and fighting each other (If it has the two cable system).

 Cheers, Matt.
1974 CB350F,  1980 CB125S,  1981 XL80S
Non Honda's: 86 & 87 Husqvarna 400wr's

My CB350F resto: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=30467.0
Gallery at:
http://gallery.sohc4.net/main.php?g2_itemId=298318

Offline BlindJoe

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #2 on: June 10, 2008, 08:35:02 PM »
Hey Parm, looking good. Would you happen to have the stock seat and mirrors that you'd be willing to sell? Thanks

Offline Hush

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #3 on: June 11, 2008, 03:32:01 PM »
Such cool little twins these, I rebuilt 2 a few years ago.
Check at the handle bar throttle grip to make sure cable has not jumped out of the guide.
Same at carbs, they sometimes look right but are sitting on teh lip of the outer cable.
If you have the air filter off, put your finger in back of carbs and make sure the slides are free and moving up and down and not jamming (you will need some one else to work the throttle for you).
If the cable is not returning quickly then you have left a spring off.
I think the thing I most like about motorcycling is the speed at which my brain must process information at to avoid the numb skulls who are eating pies, playing the ukulele, applying make-up etc in the comfort of their airconditioned armchairs as they make random attempts to kill me!!!!!!!

Offline parm

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #4 on: June 11, 2008, 05:46:45 PM »
so i figured out my throttle return problem. my cable routing was causing a kink, ive got it better, but maybe i need to shorten the cables to make a more direct route to the carbs. and kottkehead i do have the stock seat and i may have the mirrors. im gonna hang onto them for now just because i want to get this thing on the road, and i dont have a solo seat yet. but i will keep you in mind.

onto my next problem, after the rpms spiked i shut it off. and left it. i came back the next day now i cant get it to start up. i have spark, and fuel inthe float bowls, but it just spins, doestn even sputter and die. anyone know what might be the problem? when the revs spiked could it have caused too much gas to go in the cylinder and wash the oil of the cylinders, causing the rings not to be seating?

thanks guys

Offline parm

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #5 on: June 11, 2008, 07:34:41 PM »
i just went out and tryed to spray gas right into the carb still nothing. i dont know what to check to next. oh ya is the vacuum piston suppose to go up and down when starting? i looked through the carb and couldnt see it moving.
« Last Edit: June 11, 2008, 07:39:49 PM by parm »

Offline Hush

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #6 on: June 11, 2008, 10:41:08 PM »
Easy way to check for flow from carbs is whip the plugs out, if they are dry, inject a teaspoon full of petrol straight into cylinder, refit plugs and try starting.
If it coughs and threatens to fire then fuel delivery is the problem, I have had bikes actually start up doing this but it's not a guarantee.
« Last Edit: June 11, 2008, 10:44:17 PM by hUSH »
I think the thing I most like about motorcycling is the speed at which my brain must process information at to avoid the numb skulls who are eating pies, playing the ukulele, applying make-up etc in the comfort of their airconditioned armchairs as they make random attempts to kill me!!!!!!!

Offline parm

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #7 on: June 12, 2008, 08:11:14 PM »
the plugs seem pretty wet, almost too wet. i squirted some oil into the cylinders to check if compression was the problem, but it seem to make no difference. could the plugs simply be fouled? i checked for spark and im getting spark.

Offline Hush

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #8 on: June 13, 2008, 12:52:30 AM »
How is your timing? spark and fuel are bugga all use if they don't happen at right time.
Try retiming it.
I think the thing I most like about motorcycling is the speed at which my brain must process information at to avoid the numb skulls who are eating pies, playing the ukulele, applying make-up etc in the comfort of their airconditioned armchairs as they make random attempts to kill me!!!!!!!

Offline parm

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2008, 05:56:56 PM »
so i got it to fire up, i put new plugs in and it fired up first go. when i started the bike up the petcock was off i let it run for a couple seconds and i turned the petcock on, as soon as i did that, rpms shot right up again to 8000rpm or so. it must have been something i did wrong in my carb rebuild. but i cant figure out what.any ideas?

Offline Hush

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #10 on: June 16, 2008, 06:36:13 PM »
Sounds like your carbs are not working at all.
When you rebuilt the carbs (and I know this sounds funny but I did it myself) is there any chance you put the floats in upside down?
Honda floats don't look like any other bike make floats, they are correct when they appear upside down!
If that makes any sense to you, the fact that the bike started with no petrol turned on indicates that there was heaps in the carbs, enough to leak into the cylinders any way.
Once you turned the fuel tap on, petrol would have flooded past the float valves (which would be doing squat if indeed inverted) and the bike would have revved like crazy.
Hey I'm no expert but from what you tell me this seems to be the case.
I think the thing I most like about motorcycling is the speed at which my brain must process information at to avoid the numb skulls who are eating pies, playing the ukulele, applying make-up etc in the comfort of their airconditioned armchairs as they make random attempts to kill me!!!!!!!

Offline BlindJoe

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #11 on: June 16, 2008, 08:11:45 PM »
You may have an air leak somewhere, are you sure you have the carbs pushed into the manifolds all the way. Sometimes these carbs seem like they're in there but they are really not, are your clamps tight. Try spraying some water between the carbs and head at the boots to see if that changes the rpm's.

Offline parm

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #12 on: June 17, 2008, 08:42:37 PM »
i checked to make sure the carbs were pushed into the manifold all the way. they were. that would have been a nice and quick fix. ok so i took the carbs off the bike and i attached a picture of the how the floats were sitting. is that the right way or the wrong way? if those are right then what else could it be? when i press the my finger on the lever that actuates the throttle, both plates opens, but when i let go only one closes. is that normal. do i have something hooked up wrong?


Offline Hush

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #13 on: June 18, 2008, 12:55:48 AM »
Floats look correct, when you say "plates" what do you mean please?
Are we talking choke butterflies, or where throttle cables attach to the small wheel between the carbs?
Anyway, most things on these bikes operate in pairs and at same time, this "may be" what is causing problem for you.
I think the thing I most like about motorcycling is the speed at which my brain must process information at to avoid the numb skulls who are eating pies, playing the ukulele, applying make-up etc in the comfort of their airconditioned armchairs as they make random attempts to kill me!!!!!!!

Offline parm

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #14 on: June 18, 2008, 06:00:38 PM »
i must say thanks alot for your help hUSH. you've answered every question. thanks so much. and yes sorry i meant the choke butterflies. when i push on the throttle lever (thats what they call it in the manual). it opens both butterflies at the same time, but when i release only one closes. to close the other valve i have to press on another lever thats beside it. this lever has a a slottled adjuster screw with a spring on it. i tried to take a picture of it but its too small to get it to focus. anyways this slotted screw if you turn it controls how open the butterflie stays at close on that side. let me know if you need a better description. ok i just found out what its called. its a "stop screw". in the manual it says to "set the throttle to the stop screw".  what does that mean?

Offline Hush

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #15 on: June 19, 2008, 04:33:57 AM »
A throttle stop screw is another name for an idle screw, this wee device sets the speed at which your bike will idle at (should you ever get it going ;D)
Sorry if my diagnosis is a bit fuzzy, I have rebuilt two CB360's which is same motor and a CL175 so I know the very slight differences in the machines, am just coming back to bikes after quite some time not playing with them so I'm trying to unclog memory.
Not sure why our resident panel of experts hasn't jumped in here but maybe most work on 4's and not twins, but theory is pretty much the same.
If I interpret your last notes you said that when you open the throttle (not the choke lever which you only use when the bike is cold starting) both throttle butterflies open?
Your CL360 has vaccuum carbs as opposed to mechanical carbs.
Basically under those shiney silver domes on your carbs are rubber diaphrams (hopefully intact and not split) which lift the carb slides and long needle valves up for acceleration.
When the needle valves lift, petrol/gas is able to get to the head area and with luck be ignited by the spark plugs.
The butterflies at the back of the carbs are the "chokes" used only when cold starting your bike.
Both "chokes" should close (thereby cutting off the amount of air and making the mixture richer for starting) when choke lever is activated and should be "opened"  (lay flat/ be horizontal) by you when the bike is actually running after the initial start.
Sorry if I sound a bit pandering here but I just need to know we are talking about the same parts of the carbs and what they do.
Different countries use different termanologies and I think maybe you and I are at cross purposes here.
So back to the bike, if one carb "choke" butterfly is staying closed shutting the end of the carb off (thereby making the mixture too rich) you have a problem which you need to solve first.
Is it staying closed because of some mechanical binding or detachment from it's mate which is opening as it should?
I seem to remember a silver metal bridge that connected these two in between the carbs!
This is something only you can diagnose with a bit of gentle poke and look.....happy fiddling. ;)
I think the thing I most like about motorcycling is the speed at which my brain must process information at to avoid the numb skulls who are eating pies, playing the ukulele, applying make-up etc in the comfort of their airconditioned armchairs as they make random attempts to kill me!!!!!!!

Offline parm

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #16 on: June 19, 2008, 06:36:15 PM »
YES GOT IT TO START AND IDLE. i even rode it around for about 10 minutes. but, after 10 min or so it wanted to die. and it did. could this be a carb synchronization problem? perhaps a bad battery? the problem was that i didnt have the butterflies hooked up properly so when i would release the throttle only the one would close and the other would stay open. causing the revs to soar i guess.

Offline Hush

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #17 on: June 22, 2008, 04:42:39 AM »
Carbs out of sync will make your bike run badly but shouldn't stop it altogether.
If the bike was running I doubt that it is the battery, once started most bikes run without needing the battery.
To test this you could use standard jumper leads from your car to the bike (both 12 volt) and try to start.
Sounds more like a petrol problem again, how clean is the tank?
How much gas is in it and is the fuel cock in the right position to supply gas to the carbs?
Could be a blockage from some crud that was in bottom of tank for so long, to check just open the drain screw in the bottom of the carbs a little, if gas flows then it aint supply.
For both cylinders to stop means something either electrical or fuel stopped being supplied to both.
Pull your plugs and check for spark, if not run a test light over your points to see if there is power there.
Does your bike have an air filter? is it new-old-dirty, one quick test for this is to remove it and attempt to start bike again.
My suspicion is fuel delivery, weather that is from the tank or from the carbs to the head.
Happy fiddling..........Hush. ;D
I think the thing I most like about motorcycling is the speed at which my brain must process information at to avoid the numb skulls who are eating pies, playing the ukulele, applying make-up etc in the comfort of their airconditioned armchairs as they make random attempts to kill me!!!!!!!

Offline parm

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #18 on: June 22, 2008, 06:32:57 PM »
i have spark, i have fuel in the float bowls. my gas tank is clean as whistle, and the petcock is new. i think i may have fouled the plugs again. thats why i was wondering if the carbs were way off if it was possible to foul the plugs.

Offline Hush

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #19 on: June 23, 2008, 01:33:01 AM »
Yeah seems like your mixtures (air/fuel) are way off now, time for a real tune up.
I think the thing I most like about motorcycling is the speed at which my brain must process information at to avoid the numb skulls who are eating pies, playing the ukulele, applying make-up etc in the comfort of their airconditioned armchairs as they make random attempts to kill me!!!!!!!

Offline parm

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread UPDATED AUGUST 10th
« Reply #20 on: August 10, 2008, 10:42:27 PM »
so ive got the bike running again, and its running pretty good. so i tried to adjust the cam chain because it was really loud, i followed the instructions in the manual, but it didnt seem to do anything. does anyone know a good way of doing it on the CL360?

Offline parm

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Re: 1975 CL360 project thread
« Reply #21 on: August 12, 2008, 04:37:23 PM »
anyone?