A little over two years ago I picked up a rough but running 1972 CB350 destined to be a first bike for my girfriend who was taking the permit/license course at the the time.. Shortly there after the girl was out of the picture but I still had the ol' honda.. I was going through it and discovered the timing chain tensioner rollers were garbage.. Plastic rollers on a timing chain??? come on!!! That assembly needed to be replaced which meant pulling and splitting the engine.. I figured if I'm going to that extent I may as well redo the whole bike..
And so started my semi-cafe racer rebuild.. I stripped it down to nothing.. I blasted and repainted the frame. I used electrolysis to remove the minor rust in the tank.. I bought a fiberglass cafe style seat pan and painted the tank and seat pan (rear cowl) with a black metallic that has a slight hint of blue in direct light... two part clear urethane gloss coat on top of the metallic.. rebuilt the engine with a new teflon cam chain slider new gaskets and seals, and a silver high temp paint on most of it aside from some of the covers that I cleaned and polished.. Things were going well till I hit a few stumbling blocks that killed my momentum..
there's the bike when I went to look at it, still in the hands of the seller.. It's not as clean as it looks.. Oxidation and rust were showing up everywhere but not terribly, side covers missing, aftermarket exhaust that is iffy at best, dents, dings, etc... but I did sort of like the dual sport tires.
Here's a less glamorous photo of the front end when I brought it home to give a more accurate view of the condition at my point of purchase...
that's the bike after I stripped it down..the good parts at least...
above is the bike mocked up with the tank and seat/cowl in primer.. Flat drag bars installed, engine rebuilt, wiring partly completed..
the design issues (stumbling blocks) I still have to deal with include: rear brake actuation, cable routing, side/center stand,,, and who knows what else in regards to actually getting it to run and be street-worthy!!. There are also rear wheel clearance concerns since I welded in a battery tray and moved the regulator, rectifier, and starter solenoid under the rear hump of the seat cowl. Visually that appears to cut a couple of inches off the suspension travel on the bike when compared to stock... So perhaps that will never be an issue if I tighten up the rear end suspension but that may just be wishfull thinking.. I'm also a little concerned about my moving most of the electronics to under that rear "hump" behind the seat but not having a rear fender.. It's not a touring bike obviously but even riding down a wet section of pavement would expose those rear end electronic components to water.. Should I try to rig up some sort of minimal inner fender or just not ride the bike in the rain?
what else for minor details I already took care of..... aftermarket fork "ears" or headlight bucket mounts, replaced the orig head light bucket with an OEM bucket which I repainted along with the gauge bodies, I installef new steering head bearings ("all balls" brand), new aftermarket solid state style rectifier, generic brushed aluminum turn signals are on hand, tail light and license plate holder installed on the rear cowl, all new cables, and much more I am sure I am forgetting.. new coils, plugs, condensors, points, etc..
I've got a ways to go but it's back in motion at least...
