Here's my '72 CB350F. Got it very late last fall, attached to a Velorex 562 sidecar (see signature for link to photos). I've just finished the final touches on the "preservation" (as opposed to "restoration"). Just got the timing dialed in with the timing light and vacuum synched the carbs, and she's ready to go!
I was really interested in the sidecar more than the bike, at the time, but when I got home with everything I realized that the bike was really in pretty darn good condition, and it was all there. No missing/cracked sidecovers, chrome was decent, etc. It needed plenty of TLC, but I could see that it was definitely a lovely little vintage bike just waiting for somebody to clean it up and take it out on the town!
I disassembled everything stem to stern, with the exception of pulling the engine out of the frame. There was no reason for that as the guts of the engine were in good condition. But everything else got pulled, completely disassembled, cleaned up, and refurbished as needed. The only thing I painted was the battery box, because I had to. It had gotten some acid on it at some point and was rusting, so sandblasted it and repainted it. Of course some other parts were out-and-out replaced as well. The exhaust that came on the bike was a clapped out 4 into 2 Jardine that was just stupid loud. And it looked awful as well, all beat up, rusty, etc. 350F's are pretty rare and about the only thing available is repro OEM 4 into 4s at about $1200! So I found some 350F header pipes on eBay and built some 2 into 1 collectors to go to some Emgo Dunstall lookalike mufflers. Turns out they sound very nice, reasonably quiet the way I like it. (I tried to package 4 of these mufflers for a correct 4 into 4 but it just wasn't possible with the space available, so I decided 4 into 2 would have to do for now).
Tires and tubes of course are new, also rear shocks, they were completely shot, new seatcover (but the foam was surprisingly in good condition), and a new taillamp lense because the old one was cracked. But that's about all that's new from a "looks" perspective. My whole intention on the bike was not to erase the "character" of this 40-year-old survivor. She was a nice bike in good shape, and a bike can only be original once. Sure there are some scrapes and small dents, but stuff happens to bikes over the years. Cosmetically, I left everything alone other than cleaning it up. Nothing was painted, nothing was buffed out (like carbs or whatever) to a chromelike shine, I just cleaned up everything and replaced any and every part that needed fixing to get her back to a 99% CB350F the way Honda made it. (And PS: I also have restored the sidecar, and have left the mounts on the CB so I can put the sidecar on once in a while).
Gonna be fun fun fun when spring gets here!!!!!!!!!!
