Thanks mate, I bought it for 200 bucks at a swap meet from Jim Parker (Australia's top Indian repairer/restorer) back in 1995, Jim had taken it as part payment for a job he did, but didn't want a jap bike lowering his real estate value, ha ha!
To be fair, it was in horrible condition with rust everywhere that wasn't covered in oil, so all the chrome except a strip on the front fender (where the fork oil had bypassed the seals and settled) was rusted, the engine was furry with corrosion, the tyres were rotted, the seat base was rusted through, the wiring was clagged, blah blah blah. The pic below is how it looked when I got it home from the swap meet.
I was working part time at a gas station (I couldn't afford to restore bikes on my army salary) so every Monday I'd walk into the local Honda dealer (no internet in 1995) where I'd take my $200 and I'd walk out with a tiny bag of parts, back then I'd have to pay $100 for a points cover, $100 for a pair of tank badges etc, so it was a slow process. I found a new genuine seat and the dealer wanted $800 for it, which almost lead to blows, but I eventually got it for $400, which was still stupid money, hell, I only paid $500 for my car!
Anyway, one of the guys who worked at the Honda dealer felt sorry for me and got me a complete new original exhaust for $400, the panel shop where I'd had my car repaired after a crash painted the tank and sidecovers etc (three times on the tank, the first time there were runs everywhere, and the second time they dropped it) all the old chrome was re-done, I rebuilt the engine's top end and painted the engine, had the frame powdercoated by a local guy for cheap, put new chain and sprockets, Koni rear shocks, new tyres, new wiring loom, you name it, I replaced it. Luckily I found another tank at a bike wreckers as the tank that was on it was beyond repair.
Magna's are horrible cars, and killed Mitsubishi production in Oz, but are fast enough to beat 350F's, so I mentioned to a mate that I was thinking of selling it to buy a new lathe. He immediately offered me a new $5K lathe, plus another thousand bucks worth of tooling. He later sold it to the owner of the local Mercedes dealership, he'd owned one back in the 1970's when he was an apprentice in Germany, and he loved it so much he parked it in his games room and occasionally rode it on sunny days.
While I enjoyed the restoration process, I couldn't have kept it. I'm 6'4" and even when I was fit I was over 200 pounds and that's probably a "cruel and unusual punishment" for a little bike like a 350F. I've only ever played with CB750's since, which are much more suitable for someone my size. Cheers, Terry.
