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Build Thread: CB350 Cafe

Hell yeah, Gabe! Can't wait to see how it goes. Are you just going to get the whole thing back, completed, or can we see some of the progress along the way?
 
You know I'm in on this one. Even if it's going to be a VISABuild. :p
 
Hell yeah, Gabe! Can't wait to see how it goes. Are you just going to get the whole thing back, completed, or can we see some of the progress along the way?
I don't know how it's going to work, but I'm going to try to get photos along the way.


You know I'm in on this one. Even if it's going to be a VISABuild. :p

C'mon now! I'm going to be a little more involved than that!
 
'71 CB350, my first bike:love

Honda claimed 36HP, vs 33 for the Scrambler, IIRC
 
Looking forward to seeing the progress. Can you post up some of the costs for parts as you go. I have some crash damage to this one so I might try to upgrade while i am fixing it. Lighter pipes sound good to me - as does the free part.

Thanks to Gary Rather Photography for the photo.
 

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Charlie has located a pair of early CB750 carbs that he says have already been modded for the CB350. He also has a frame that I will pick up on Saturday.

I also won these rearsets on eBay. They're for a Ducati supersport, but they seem like a waste to bolt up to my POS 750.


Looking forward to seeing the progress. Can you post up some of the costs for parts as you go. I have some crash damage to this one so I might try to upgrade while i am fixing it. Lighter pipes sound good to me - as does the free part.

Thanks to Gary Rather Photography for the photo.

Your bike is super-cool! Looking forward to doing a track day...

The seat was $220 shipped. The Works shocks are around $450, and the Dyna stuff was probably about $400. Charlie hasn't quoted me any numbers for the parts he's set aside: I'll talk to him about that on Saturday.
 

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sounds like you are doing it the right way! thats going to be a kick ass bike. as for cracking your drilled rotors: I have had mine crack nearly completely through, and once it cracks in one space little spider line cracks go through the whole thing-- it did not jam into the brake pad, but it did look fairly narly and make me think about the possibility of it doing so -

but they are old rotors from the 80s, if you can get a modern steel rotor that fits, id say drill it. not only do you loose weight, but you get the heat dispersion that you need to keep the brakes cooler--
 
Nice stuff going into the bike alright. I understand that the CB550 front end is the upgrade of choice - maybe Charlie has one. If you don't want it..... I might.
 
Ooh the gauntlet's been thrown! Time for BARF Biker Buildoff! :thumbup

I love build threads! Bring on more pics! more custom bike pr0n! more fabrication! I don't care if it's ordered from eBay or scratch built with hammer and anvil, bring it on!:)

You know I'm in on this one. Even if it's going to be a VISABuild. :p
 
The 550 has a 35mm fork I believe. Not sure about the 400F, but I think it is 33mm like the 350.
 
The 550 has a 35mm fork I believe. Not sure about the 400F, but I think it is 33mm like the 350.

Yes the CB400F had 33m forks, but you can get awesome bling like THIS for them... (plus I think Gabe has access to the full setup already...)

http://www.400fourstore.com/Merchan...Store_Code=4&Product_Code=1912&Category_Code=

also note the write up:

Some people have claimed that the 33mm fork tubes on the CB 400F / CB 350F are a weak point of the bike, in reality it is the wimpy stock lower triple tree that is the cause of the flex.
Bolt on one of these and you will notice the difference right away!!!
 
Nice piece but pricey. If you are going with the 33mm forks and the stock triples you might want to try a fork brace if you are going to track the bike.
 
Nice piece but pricey. If you are going with the 33mm forks and the stock triples you might want to try a fork brace if you are going to track the bike.

Gabe, I heard some guy named Twitch might be good at fabrication shit, yo. Someone should line up some extra income in the way of fork braces for him....
 
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I bought a motorcycle today...

Okay, I bought the frame of a motorcycle today: a '73 CL350. Shouldn't be too different from the CB frame. Charlie picked it as one of his cleaner and straighter frames, even though it looks bent and twisted. Charlie says, no, they're all like that. Crazy way to build shit if you ask me.

DSCN0727.JPG


So these frames were designed and constructed to be cheap and easy to manufacture, not to produce sweet-handling vintage roadracers. Not by a frigging long shot. I denigrate tube-steel frames when I review a motorcycle: oh, how I long for a tube-steel frame. No, this jus tlooks like tube-steel: the main structural member is actually folded mild steel crimped--yes crimped, like a tin toy--together along the seams. Nice!

DSCN0729.JPG


It's not even that light: I'd say about 30 pounds or maybe even more.

DSCN0730.JPG


"Oh, yeah," said Charlie, as I carried the frame out of his parts room, "look out for spiders. Lots of spider in there."

DSCN0731.JPG

Another detail of the backbone, showing the tab.

So what I need to do is have a welder/fabricator grind down the seams and weld them solid. Then we'll take it back to Charlie, who will match up the seat to mount that and then remove extraneous brackets and other stuff.

I've also put a bid in on this swingarm:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230421984786&viewitem=#ht_500wt_1120

Next step: sourcing the front end and wheels. I'll also need clip-ons.
 
Gabe, I have a 1973 350 swing arm with the axle, I think - you can have it if you can pick it up in Berkeley.
 
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