Topic: 1972 CB350 For the Daughter

[Lostboy Steve]

What are you using? Gun blue?

[Harsh]

Using for what?  Are you asking about the parkerizing?

[Harsh]

So the wheels looked good from afar, but far from good when viewed even remotely close.  I was pretty impressed how the sisal mop cut through the oxidation and general nastiness on the fork lowers.  And since I just can't leave things alone I decided to give it a try to the wheels.  First I needed to remove the tires.  I swung up to Cycle Gear, but they wanted $30 to just pull them off and I had to take the old tires with me.  Never mind, I will do it myself. 

It took a little bit to figure out how to position the wheel in order to get into some of the nooks, but I figured it out.  Unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to do the inner lip unless I figure out another way to position the wheel against the mop because the shank on the buffer makes contact with the wheel legs.  So maybe just the outer lip will be shiny.  I am good with that.  No I am not.  I ordered some sisal mops that attach to a drill so I can get into the hard to reach areas.
 
You can see the part I have polished and the part I have not.  The parts of the wheels I haven't polished look A LOT worse in person.



I have a pretty good idea what I want to do on the tank for an accent.  Not sure what to do with the side covers yet though.  My daughter and I are going to go to a few dealerships to look at some colors.  We have found a few that we like, but want to see them in person.  I know which one I like the most and feel would look the best overall, but she may have a different opinion.

[Harsh]

Just about done with the wheels.  I had to order some bits for my dremel to get in the corners since the buffer wheel can't.




Finished the forks today. They came out a bit shinier than I wanted, but oh well. I may have run into an issue using the CB400Tii front end. Why I didn't measure before hand is beyond me, but I read a few places that others had simply swapped them onto their 350's without issue so I didn't bother. Well the 400 forks are pretty close to 1.75" longer than the 350's. I can't just raise them through the triples because the top fork caps are used to secure the top triple in place.

About the only things that jumped in my head is to raise them in the triples and use a spacer to take up the space. Or I could put a set of clipons in there.. Either way I am not sure how it would look.

[NobleHops]

Everything looks amazing. Get some grey scotch bright and burnish those stanchions with WD40, will make the finish satiny.

Nice job!

[Harsh]

Well using the 400 top triple is out.  I forgot that the hole for the fork tubes is smaller than the tubes themselves.  The fork tubes sit on the underside of the triple and the fork caps secure everything together.  The hole in the triple is 29mm and the forks are 33mm.

So I put the 350 triples on the tubes and raised the tubes the approximate amount.  I was worried that the width of the triples might be different so fitting the wheel could be an issue.  Slid the 400 triple over the top of the 350 triple and they appeared to be the same.  However, to make sure I mounted the wheel up.  Then added set of clipons to get a guestimate of how it might look.  I used my spare set from the Triumph which are for 50mm forks, but it might not look too bad with a properly sized set.

[Harsh]

So I have a bit of weirdness going on.  The other day when I put the front end together the caliper bolts I had bagged and tagged did not fit in their respective holes.  They were M6x33 vice M8x33.  I scratched my head for a while as I remember taking them off and putting them in the ziploc bag.  I hunted through all of the bagged parts and did not find the correct bolts.  When I secured the rotor for assembly I used a bolt from my parts bin.

That is missing bolts part one.  While I was searching for the above bolts I came across the bag that has the triple pinch bolts in it.  There was only one in the bag.  No holes in the bag and it was sealed.  Of course I had the bolt, D washer, and nut all together so one side is now missing.

I have scoured the garage and absolutely can not find these bolts.  I am completely befuddled as to where the bolts went.  The rotor bolts especially.  Did the ones I have shrink in diameter?

[Harsh]

OK...I went through my parts bin AGAIN.  Low and behold sitting at the bottom of it was the triple bolt and associated hardware.

Now the rotor bolts.  I absolutely know as I removed them I put them in the bag.  So I got to thinking.  When I was soaking them in the Prep&Etech I remember the liquid turning into a sludge.  It was the first time anything like that had ever happened.  I cleaned the sludge off the bolts and soaked them in some new solution.  When I went back to check on them later that evening the solution had started to congeal again.  I remember saying to hell with it, removed them from the P&E, and went straight to the parkerizing.  While in that solution I remember they fizzed A LOT longer than any of the other hardware had.  I honestly think the threads were eaten down from the solutions.  So I guess I need to source some new bolts.

[Harsh]

Picked up the clipons from the local guy today.  I did a bit of mock up to give you all a bit of visual reference.  There is a plan in place to make them fit.  Once assembled I noticed a couple of issues in regards to the gauges.  The fork tubes will hit the gauges when they are extended through the triple and with the clipons installed they interfere with the gauges.  The first solution that jumps in my head would be to make a small bracket out of some flat stock to extend them out a bit.

With the gauges mounted. 

[Harsh]

Been trying to figure out the wiring. I don't know why, but it kicks my butt every time. Which is sad since I am an electronics guy. I am not going to use the stock controls on this bike. I am going to use a set from a 2008 Suzuki SV650.

[Harsh]

Well I am not sure if this is correct or not.  I am not sure what to do with the Y and Y/w wires and I would like to add a switch to turn the headlight on/off.

Right Switch.........Bike

Black /r...............Black
Black /bl..............Green /y
Yellow /g.............Red /y
Orange /w...........Black /w
Orange /b............Black
Light Green..........Light Blue
Light Blue............Gray
Black..................Orange


Left Switch...........Bike

Black /y..............not used - clutch switch
Black /y..............not used - clutch switch
Black /w.............Light Green
Orange /g...........Black
Light Green.........Light Blue
Light Blue...........Gray
Black.................Orange
Orange..............Black
Yellow...............Blue
White................White
........................Yellow - to Alternator and RR
........................Yellow /w - to Alternator
........................Brown /w - power from ignition switch to speedo/tach lights.  Doesn't have to run through control switch, but could run through a separate switch to kill those lights along with the headlight.

[calj737]

........................Brown /w - power from ignition switch to speedo/tach lights.  Doesn't have to run through control switch, but could run through a separate switch to kill those lights along with the headlight.

Easiest to install a relay between the headlight and RH switch with a separate toggle switch as the trigger for the headlight. you could tap into that "relay leg" for the gauge back lighting so when the headlight is on, the gauge backlight is on.

[Harsh]

That is basically the plan.  It almost looks like I need to connect the Yellow and Yellow /w wires because it looks like they are only connected when the headlight is on.  But something just isn't sitting right in my head about that.

[Harsh]

Dreams...my dreams last night annoyed me.  I am sure you are sitting on the edge of your seat wondering what they were about.  Well let me tell you.



Wiring diagrams...damned wiring diagrams.

If I don't figure that crap out soon I fear I may go insane.

[grcamna2]

Dreams...my dreams last night annoyed me.  I am sure you are sitting on the edge of your seat wondering what they were about.  Well let me tell you.



Wiring diagrams...damned wiring diagrams.

If I don't figure that crap out soon I fear I may go insane.

LOl  You'll get it,trying to interface the Suzuki controls to your Honda sounds like a challenge.

[Harsh]

I put triumph controls on my CB750.

I think I figured out the yellow and yellow /w wires.  Since they are connected when the headlight is on I see no reason why I can't just connect them directly together.  I remembered reading something about people connecting those two wires in the headlight bucket to keep the charging system running all of the time or something like that.

Now I think I just need to make sure I have the rest of the wires are hooked up to the correct polarity or signal in/out and I should be good.

[grcamna2]

I put triumph controls on my CB750.

I think I figured out the yellow and yellow /w wires.  Since they are connected when the headlight is on I see no reason why I can't just connect them directly together.  I remembered reading something about people connecting those two wires in the headlight bucket to keep the charging system running all of the time or something like that.

Now I think I just need to make sure I have the rest of the wires are hooked up to the correct polarity or signal in/out and I should be good.

I have heard some other folks that are wiring these say that those wires(yellow/wht stripe)are coming directly from the stator to power the headlight.

[Harsh]

Looking at most of the solutions to modify a stock reflector to accept an H4 bulb only one was acceptable to me.  While nicely done, that one still didn’t look as simple as what I had in my head.  So here we are.  My idea will allow you to easily swap bulbs without having to undo copious amounts of safety wire and will leave you with a nice looking application.

I had a couple of spare headlights from previous builds that used H4 bulbs.  I got to thinking how were the mounts connected to the glass.  Well, there are just a few pressed in tabs that keep the parts together.  Before you remove the mount make sure you notate which direction is up on it.  You can easily press the tabs out and remove the mount.  Once done you now have a solid foundation for an H4 bulb.  If you don’t have any spare lights I suggest going to a junk yard or your local auto parts store and pick up the cheapest light you can find that uses an H4 bulb.

My donor light.  I think it came from my CB750.  In the second pic you can see where the tabs were pushed out to remove the mount.




You don’t need to worry about getting super close to the base because you are going to drill a bigger hole in it later.  The only reason I even removed the oem bulb was so that the hole saw wouldn’t bottom out on it.  I have noticed a difference in diameter between the two mounts I have so whatever you have might be different as well.  Don’t worry, it isn’t a big deal as it is only important because it will dictate how big a hole you drill.  I suggest a drill press with a hole saw designed for cutting glass or ceramics.  It will bounce around less on the metal.  If you don’t have a drill press recruit someone to help hold the headlight in place.  Use the rubber dust shield for the H4 bulb under the glass to help protect it and provide a somewhat stable base.  Get the hole saw centered over the hole that is left from the removal of the bulb.  Go slowly and keep the metal of the reflector cool.  If it gets hot it WILL cause the reflection material on the inside to bubble up.  Not a total loss if it does, but not perfect either.  Now due to hole saws not coming in every size imaginable size you may have to do a bit of trimming to the hole you just cut.  Go slowly as you only want the hole to be a tiny bit bigger than the mount.

Tab, this one had three of them.


Mount removed.



Bulb cut out.



Once you have the hole drilled, using emery cloth, a file, or whatever rough up couple an inch or so of the metal housing around the outside new hole.  You want to do this so whatever you choose to adhere the mount with will have some tooth to grab onto.  You will also want to remove any sharp edges from the newly cut hole.  More on that later.  After roughing up the area make sure to clean it thoroughly.  Now would be a great time to clean out the inside of the headlight as well.  Shake out any loose stuff that may have fallen inside.  I then take a rag with some denatured alcohol to wipe out the inside thoroughly.  Do not scrub too much against the reflector part you can remove it if you do.  If you didn’t heed my advice about removing the sharp edges your fingers are probable cut up right about now.

Hole drilled and sanded.



I will say upfront that having to stop and take pictures during this stage greatly impacted my final product.  The two part putty starts to get hard quickly.  Because of that I wasn’t able to get it as smooth as I would have liked.

I chose to use some two-part putty because it is more controllable than mixing some JB Weld or other epoxy.  You can get it in the plumbing section of just about any hardware store.  Make a nice ring around your hole.  Ensure you have the mount oriented correctly then press it into place.  Once pressed in, keeping pressure on it, stick your finger on the inside and smooth out whatever putty has oozed through.  You may and hopefully will have some putty come through the holes from the tabs that originally attached the mount to the reflector housing.  That is good as long as it doesn’t impede bulb installation it will actually work to your advantage in helping to hold the mount onto the reflector housing.  Trim away any excess putty on the outside leaving a little bit to blend/feather it to the mount.  I keep pressure on it for a few minutes until I am satisfied it isn’t going to move anymore.



Putty in place.  I did push it a little bit over the edge before pushing in the mount.


Smooth out the putty.


Putty trimmed.  You can see it oozing through the original mount hole where the tab was.



You should now have a good looking and solid H4 bulb mount.

[NobleHops]

Or you could source a 7 inch headlight from one of the DOHC bikes. In 1981 or so they converted over to a lens with a removable H4 bulb. I think the form factor is identical, and would fit in an SOHC headlight rim, but I haven't tried.

Super crafty work man!

N.

[Harsh]

A 7" bulb won't work.  It is too big to fit between the fork ears of a 350.  The two spare bulbs I have are 7" bulbs a 350 has a 6 1/4" bulb.

[NobleHops]

Ahhhhh.

[Harsh]

Did a little mocking up and frame de-tabbing.  The seat isn't as wide at the front as I had hoped so the rear seam of the tank is going to show and a bit more of the frame than I wanted.

The rear frame hump has to go.  I was hoping I would be able to keep it, but it just won't work with it there.






After cutting off the hoop, seat hinge points, and helmet hook.  I still need to cut off the seat latch, but it wasn't in my way for what I was doing today.






The rear of the seat hits the frame.






Thinking about adding a brace across the shock mount points.  It will also give me a place to attach some brackets to mount the rear of the seat and a place to attach the part of the fender.  Every thing in green tape I am thinking about cutting off.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Nice, clean removal of the cross-member/fender mount. I agree that you should replace it with a new cross-member and the location looks good and practical for mounting signals/taillight/fender.

[Harsh]

I was looking at the pic with the seat and thought that instead of cutting the frame straight down that if I were to cut it at an angle to match the seat it would look good.

[kslrr]

Following this build.