Topic: Pics of Jay's 350f project

[Jay B]

I'm done with my 350f, at least till next winter. Don't have any before pics, but it was a rough salvage yard bike. It's not really a full-on cafe bike, I remember the term "Gentleman's Express" from back in the day, I guess that fits as well as any.

[Jay B]

Here's another.

[Jay B]

And another...

[SteveD CB500F]

You need to make that into an avatar Jay.

"Gentleman's Express" was the tag given to the 500/4 when it was launched (I guess as opposed to the "hooligan" CB750...  )

Harry Teicher used it as his tag here until he sold his 550 to lassenc.  Looked similar actually.

[bill440cars]

                  Jay B,  That's a very nice looking bike you've got. You know, the bikes from this site
     are varied in looks, modifications efforts and all but, they are all special in their own way. To me,
     your bike has a good amount of appeal and you've done a nice job on it. Of course it helps
     that's the CB350F is a good looking bike to start with. Well Done there,. you've really brought
     that one back to life in a fine way. Most of mine are salvage yard types that I'm hoping to put   
     life back into so, I can identify with your efforts. You and others like you are having an influence
     on me to do the same thing with my "project" bikesThe bottom line is,"If it suits you, then
     there's nothing more to say." It sure suits me and you don't have to impress me.
                                                          Later on, Bill

[Jay B]

I've got a minute, I'll explain the bike a bit. I think I'll bob the fenders a little (not much) but I want to keep some fender on there to mount that cast aluminum Lucas taillight bracket I found at a HD swapmeet. I need to get a different front fender first though, the one that's on there is absolutely pristine, not a dent or scratch on it. I don't want to cut that one up. I cut down the stock seat and built the hump cover out of fiberglass. First time I've done anything like that. Anyway, it's really been a fun project and it's a blast to ride.

Thanks Bill for the kind words!

[ProTeal55]

Bike looks great.
I def. like the term "Gentleman's Express" .
You should have that painted on the tank 

[dusterdude]

jay,are you interested in going into the seat building business?

[Ceej]

I really like your seat, and the whole bike.  Did you make an entire seatpan out of fiberglass or put fiberglass onto the original?  Id love a closer up pic of the seat if you could take one.

[bill440cars]

    Jay B,

                I've seen another CB350F done in black but, he went one step further. The fenders were
     painted black also but, the front fender braces were left chrome plated. I thought it sure gave it a
     nice touch. His had a stock seat though, not a tough looking seat like yours. I think I saw it on ace
     cafe london. I'm not good at putting links on here yet so, you'll have to check it out. Later on, Bill

[heffay]

great work!  i like it almost as much as mine 

[Jay B]

Thanks guys. You build something like this for yourself, but it's sure nice to have the approval of your peers. I'll try to get a pic of the seat up in a day or two. That was a proccess in itself. The cover was shot but the foam was good. The base was kind of rusty. I took off the old cover and used an electric carving knife to get the shape I wanted. I left about 1-1/2" on the seating area. Then I covered it with the idea of running a soft solo seat. I didn't care for the look so I thought I'd build a removable glass cover like on some Ducati Monsters. I just covered it with aluminum foil and used the seat itself for the mold. It took a long time to get it smooth and right though. It's held on there with velcro so I guess it could be removed if someone wanted to sit on it. I almost bought a fiberglass seat from eBay a couple of times but most of those are pretty narrow. Also keeping the rear fender limited my options somewhat. Even with only 1-1/2" of foam it's pretty comfy, which is a big reason I wanted to keep the stock 11" seat width.

The tank that came on the bike is clean and usable, but it's got some bad dents. I'm thinking next winter I might cut it in half and strech it about 4-6". If I can get it to look right I'll either build a shorter seat or cut this one down

[Jay B]

Oh yeah- one more detail I was going to mention. It's hard to tell from the pics but the lower fork covers are sort of a semi-faded flat black. That's the color the whole thing was after some moron sprayed an awful paint job on it and left it to rot. My wife and buddy tell me I should get 'em off there and paint them to match, but somehow I don't want to do it. I guess I kind of like seeing a little of where it's been.