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Build Thread: CB350 Cafe

Hey, a question for you guys following this fiasco-in-the-making: I want to pair a modern front brake master cylinder with a vintage CB single-pot front caliper...any ideas what I should or shouldn't use? Charlie O' said 650 Hawk off the top of his head, but he couldn't think of anything else.

Anybody have something they have lying around they want to sell/donate to the cause? I'll donate $20 to Haiti relief efforts for an appropriate part...or I'll pay a fair axing price. Or I'll give you a City Bike T-shirt.

Screw it: I'll donate 20 bones for any part (except stupid stuff like screws, nuts, washers, etc...I mean, c'mon...) for my project.
 
Hey, a question for you guys following this fiasco-in-the-making: I want to pair a modern front brake master cylinder with a vintage CB single-pot front caliper...any ideas what I should or shouldn't use? Charlie O' said 650 Hawk off the top of his head, but he couldn't think of anything else.

Anybody have something they have lying around they want to sell/donate to the cause? I'll donate $20 to Haiti relief efforts for an appropriate part...or I'll pay a fair axing price. Or I'll give you a City Bike T-shirt.

Screw it: I'll donate 20 bones for any part (except stupid stuff like screws, nuts, washers, etc...I mean, c'mon...) for my project.

Gabe, I'm not familiar with the 350 so I don't really know what you're starting with. Did it come with a front disk and you want to use a different master, or was a drum, or...?

edit: I might have some stuff for you...I've got a few Brembos and Nissans that I used on my 900SS, and a small variety of calipers.
 
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Hey, a question for you guys following this fiasco-in-the-making: I want to pair a modern front brake master cylinder with a vintage CB single-pot front caliper...any ideas what I should or shouldn't use? Charlie O' said 650 Hawk off the top of his head, but he couldn't think of anything else.

Anybody have something they have lying around they want to sell/donate to the cause? I'll donate $20 to Haiti relief efforts for an appropriate part...or I'll pay a fair axing price. Or I'll give you a City Bike T-shirt.

Screw it: I'll donate 20 bones for any part (except stupid stuff like screws, nuts, washers, etc...I mean, c'mon...) for my project.

I'd try and find an older brembo 16x18 or 16x20 master cylinder. If I had any, I'd happily donate one.
 
you know, i have a fibre glass tank and cafe tail section i could sell you-- they are actually for an rd350 but i bet they might fit on a cb350 as well. i just got my morini project and im going to be focusing on that and not buying an rd anytime soon.

these are never mounted - built locally in the 80s-- pics dont show hardware, but i have the gas cap etc.

4297041014_ac4c2176e2.jpg


4297041012_836a96a943_o.jpg
 
you know, i have a fibre glass tank and cafe tail section i could sell you-- they are actually for an rd350 but i bet they might fit on a cb350 as well. i just got my morini project and im going to be focusing on that and not buying an rd anytime soon.

these are never mounted - built locally in the 80s-- pics dont show hardware, but i have the gas cap etc.

4297041014_ac4c2176e2.jpg


4297041012_836a96a943_o.jpg

I'm scared of running fiberglass tanks! Too many horror stories. And that tail section looks like it might be kind of painful...but I'll try anything, once, heh, heh...
 
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.

Getting in late on this thread...
Perhaps a silly question, but why even bother with an original frame if they're shite? Why not fab one up from welded aluminum or something?
 
Getting in late on this thread...
Perhaps a silly question, but why even bother with an original frame if they're shite? Why not fab one up from welded aluminum or something?

Aluminum? Do you think I'm some kind of cheapskate? I'm going to make it from DARPA-developed advanced composite ceramics, man! And I'll like clone John Britten in a space pod so he can engineer it...and then I'll make a frictionless flywheel that counters the laws of thermodynamics and gets my motor spinning to 22,000 rpm!

Er...sorry about that. Did I mention I'm on a limited budget and a welded stock frame is good enough for AHRMA racers? I went very, very fast at Sears Point on an FT500 with a very similar frame, once upon a time...

But hey, if you want to make me a frame, I'm all ears.
 
Organizing some moto photos and ran across this bike that was running Sears Point back in 1998. It's my all time favorite Honda 350:

picture.php
[/IMG]

Ceriani Front end, cut off starter motor, electronic ignition? (points removed), and no visible battery.
 
Hey, a question for you guys following this fiasco-in-the-making: I want to pair a modern front brake master cylinder with a vintage CB single-pot front caliper...any ideas what I should or shouldn't use? Charlie O' said 650 Hawk off the top of his head, but he couldn't think of anything else.

Anybody have something they have lying around they want to sell/donate to the cause? I'll donate $20 to Haiti relief efforts for an appropriate part...or I'll pay a fair axing price. Or I'll give you a City Bike T-shirt.

Screw it: I'll donate 20 bones for any part (except stupid stuff like screws, nuts, washers, etc...I mean, c'mon...) for my project.


I ran a 5/8ths Nissin on my CB750 race bike, and it worked great. You can find them pretty reasonably cheap. Using the stock caliper, I don't think you'd get a whole lot more performance from the bigger (and much more expensive) Brembo. You can find the Nissin new for around $130.00 and comes in gold, silver or black finishes.

nissin.jpg
 
I ran a 5/8ths Nissin on my CB750 race bike, and it worked great. You can find them pretty reasonably cheap. Using the stock caliper, I don't think you'd get a whole lot more performance from the bigger (and much more expensive) Brembo. You can find the Nissin new for around $130.00 and comes in gold, silver or black finishes.

nissin.jpg
What do those secret numbers mean pertaining to master cylinders, like 5/8 or 16X18 or 16X20. What are you guys, Masons?
 
What do those secret numbers mean pertaining to master cylinders, like 5/8 or 16X18 or 16X20. What are you guys, Masons?

For the Nissin, the 5/8th is the piston size.

For the brembos, you've got the piston size (16mm) by, I believe, the pivot lever distance, in this case, either 18mm or 20mm. The longer pivot means more mechanical advantage, so for a given amount of travel, you get more force at the pads. I prefer the 18mm to the 20mm, as I felt the 20mm feels overly stiff and hard to modulate. But some people prefer the instant on of the 20s.
 
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I happen to know someone who has a stack of those old 350s that once belonged to his dad. They have been sitting for a while but should anyone want one for parts or a project contact moonbeam and I'll see if the kid will get up off them.
 
But hey, if you want to make me a frame, I'm all ears.

Heh- sorry, I don't know how to weld. Do you really want me to learn on your frame? :laughing

Your original post made it sound like the stock frame wasn't worth more than its scrap value- that's why I asked. Guess its all ROI for these things...
 
Heh- sorry, I don't know how to weld. Do you really want me to learn on your frame? :laughing

Your original post made it sound like the stock frame wasn't worth more than its scrap value- that's why I asked. Guess its all ROI for these things...

No, I just wrote that it would need a little modification. Guys go plenty fast on the track with stock frames, so I'm sure it will be fine. And if I had a frame fabbed, then I would want a better motor then a CB350...and then better suspension and wheels...and then when would it end?
 
agreed, Killf - that's certainly a way-cool, hi-tech 350 - added to the archive, thx

not only are those forks Cerianis, they're 35mm GPs with rather-rare 2nd fender mount
[added to sliders as more FIM & other roadrace competitors grafted 1st-gen disk brakes]
 
Gabe, it would end with the AFM class-winning Kawi EX500 [slotted into locally-made extra-special frame] - former AFM Prez Kevin Smith did the deed, IIRC

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Kill, that truly is the sweetest 350 evar - added to the archive, thanx -
hope Gabe is inspired by its level of preparation

you're correct about the Cerianis - they're late-production 35mm GPs,
with added 2nd fender mount [a response to FIM & other racers grafting 1st-gen disk brakes]

just Thursday, I learned here on the intreweb that Ceriani improvements & features trickled down to public after they'd already worked well on the factory MV racers [which also utilized exclusively Ceriani drum brakes - 4-leading shoe front & 2ls rear]

the genuine Ceriani Company's very last offerings included this same GP fork as on your 350, only restyled & improved - 2 recessed axle pinch bolts per slider & outward-facing, thru-threaded fender brackets [to assist with attaching a caliper carrier]

I think a foto of that fork resides on my other computer - if so, I'll PM it later

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moonbeam, thanx for the offer of someone else's herd of 350s

that's remisicent of the way the Pac NW guys kick-started the whole Formula CB160 phenomenon
 
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Gabe, it would end with the AFM class-winning Kawi EX500 [slotted into locally-made extra-special frame] - former AFM Prez Kevin Smith did the deed, IIRC

Yes! I remember that frame-builder...what was his name? He had a shop in Livermore, I think. We had his frame on display at SF Moto while I was racing.

If I had an extra few grand lying around I'd have Jay (with the Jaybuilt triple) make me a frame...but who has an extra few grand lying around? Not me.
 
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