71 CL350 Project

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Cycle Asylum > 71 CL350 Project

Dolphin: Dec 5, 2008; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

I have this 71 CB350 donor bike that hasn't run in 20 years or so. It's been in a shed and squirrels have gotten into it.

I want to do a cafe type setup for as cheap as possible. I don't have working wiring, carbs, ignition, cables, lights, etc. I'm thinking of running Mikuni VM30-80 carbs on it, possibly GSXR fork swap. I'm expecting this to take a while and I haven't made any major decisions or purchases so I'm starting a project thread. I don't know what I'm doing but lord willing I'm hoping to get this thing rolling by July.

Dolphin fucked around with this message at 23:58 on May 17, 2020

# ¿ Apr 30, 2020 02:01

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 15, 2024 13:11

Dolphin: Dec 5, 2008; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

And by rolling I mean engine started and turning the rear wheel.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2020 02:15

Dolphin: Dec 5, 2008; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

TheNothingNew posted:

YESSSSSS.
I keep thinking I'm going to take a crack at a project like this but between the decision paralysis and living in a state where getting a title off a bill of sale is borderline impossible, I'm just going to live through this instead.

I'm in Michigan and the standard for getting a title on an antique is to walk in and go "It's mine, I didn't even steal it or anything."

# ¿ May 1, 2020 21:44

Dolphin: Dec 5, 2008; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

mewse posted:

Hell yeah another project thread!

e: not sure if you knew this already but 4into1.com seems like a really good place for old honda parts, here is their section for the 71 cl350:

https://4into1.com/honda-cl350k3-scrambler-350-1971/

e2: do you have the exhaust?

Yes.

And to those doubting it's a CL350 here's the pipes

And here's the vin:

oh

So yeah, CB350 with CL350 pipes.

e: That site is a goldmine, thank you very much for posting it.

Dolphin fucked around with this message at 18:08 on May 17, 2020

# ¿ May 17, 2020 17:50

Dolphin: Dec 5, 2008; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Gorson posted:

I owned a 75 CB360 in similar condition I bought for $100. You've got your work cut out for you here, but it's not impossible. These things are dead simple, just very old. Also I think that's a CB350 not a CL, the CL was the scrambler and had a different looking tank and the high mount exhaust.

The thing you probably have to worry about the least is the motor. Unless it's frozen solid it'll most likely run. How well it runs is going to be the harder part. That electrical system looks like it's in rough shape and that's going to be your nemesis. Grounds, grounds, grounds. Replace the points with e-ignition. If you don't need turn signals by law eliminate all of that. The charging systems on these are extremely primitive but there are newer aftermarket stators and reg/recs. I would imagine that with the popularity of CB's that there are full brand new wiring harnesses available. You're going to want to put most of your money towards parts that make your life less of a living hell and make troubleshooting easier in the future. I can't emphasize that enough. To that end, if you're looking at a GSXR front end you're probably going to be out at least $500 and that front end is really overkill for a bike with a wet noodle frame. Also this will require a rear wheel swap if you want the wheels to match. Keep it as a roller, go through the motor and carbs, get it running, then make some decisions.

e: apologies for sounding like a bossy rear end in a top hat, I'm guilty of not taking my own advice and it always ends up in project creep.

No you're good, that all sounds like good advice.

The motor turns over easily and sounds like it has compression but I haven't checked yet, I'll be doing that later today if I can figure out where I stuck my compression tester. The wiring is definitely a rat's nest, P/O said he tried to get it running for months and he could never get a spark out of it so he kept dicking around with the wiring and now I doubt there's a single unmolested circuit on the bike. I have a cousin that does automotive electronics for a living who offered to help wire the thing so when I get to that I'll have him over.

I don't really have a list of priorities but in terms of compression/fuel/spark I need to tackle fuel first since the carbs are gone. I've heard a lot of people put Mikuni 30mm on these bikes but word is they're harder to tune and that they're overkill for these bikes. I've read that Mikuni 28mm's are easier to find on the cheap and easier to tune. If anyone can speak to that I'm all ears.

I'm definitly paying out for one of the aftermarket electronic ignitions. Rectifier/regulator ditto. Starter will definitely need an overhaul, but I'll settle on kicking it over for the time being, maybe permanently and shave off the 10 pounds the starter occupies.

e:
I found a harness replacement. I'm not sure if this is the only option but this one looks drat near identical to the OEM harness and it's cheaper than I expected. Also comes with the regulator/rectifier so it'll knock that out too. ($140)

Electronic ignition is just as expensive as I expected. ($230)

Dolphin fucked around with this message at 20:50 on May 17, 2020

# ¿ May 17, 2020 18:05

Dolphin: Dec 5, 2008; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

I found my compression tester and kicked the hell out of the kickstarter.

Left:110
Right:110

That's cold obviously so the actual number is probably a bit higher, and the thing hasn't been ran in so many years I don't know how meaningful those numbers are anyway. Should be enough to get it firing at least I'm assuming.

# ¿ May 17, 2020 19:34

Dolphin: Dec 5, 2008; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Tank off.

Look, old twisty connectors for house wiring!

Next I needed to get the seat off, which...

Was a problem. I don't have the key. Luckily the seat is trash and the pan is so rusted it's cracking apart so I just bent it.

This was my unholy method of getting the seat off. It destroyed the thing but that's redundant and I'm not reusing it anyway so whatever.

Seat off. If anyone wants it you can find it at a landfill in west Michigan.

The fuse is still good, so some top dollar money savings on the build there.

Here we have rectifier and starter solenoid. Both getting trashed since they're getting replaced/unnecessary. Battery box is going as well because I'm going to go with a lithium battery.

Seat, main wire harness, rectifier, regulator, starter solenoid, half of a handlebar control. Garbage garbage garbage garbage. Voltage regulator is there on the bottom of the battery box. Getting rid of the battery box also gives me an excuse to use Mikuni carbs since that port at the bottom of the battery box is necessary for Keihin CV carbs, which need equalized vacuum between the airboxes to balance the throttle. I had that problem on my other bike, if you want to read a somewhat long winded description of the performance issues that can cause you can read about it here.

This is the seat lock. I have a very strong feeling I'm going to have to drill those screws out.

And that's how the bike stands at this point in time. I mean that literally. The idiot current owner removed the footpegs and kickstand a while back for some reason so I'm leaning it up against that piece of sheathing. I'm going to get a bike floor jack from Harbor Freight to make this easier.

I'm not sure if there's much else to do now but order stuff and wait. Carbs, air filters, wiring harness, regulator/rectifier, electronic ignition, ignition coils. I'm probably going to need a new petcock for the tank. Tank is also kinda rusty so tank cleaning and sealing kit is probably necessary.

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:

How many kicks was that? Cause those numbers are awfully low. Throttle wide open?

Twenty kicks or so. No carbs on it so yeah throttle wide open. I'm hoping it's just rings stuck and running it will fix it but I don't know of any way to tell until I can start it. I put a bit of oil in the cylinders and it popped up to about 185psi both sides so something is definitely up with the rings and I'm hoping it'll work itself out after running it.

Dolphin fucked around with this message at 00:23 on May 18, 2020

# ¿ May 17, 2020 23:53

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 15, 2024 13:11

Dolphin: Dec 5, 2008; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Sagebrush posted:

Just for future reference there are only like 50 different keys (maybe less) for all these CB350s so you can just look on eBay for Honda T1927 (T is the key pattern, 1927 is the code) and you'll find one. Might be better than replacing the ignition.

Also get yourself a manual impact driver, the kind you hit with a hammer. It's basically a required tool to work on old bikes with lovely screws and it will probably save you a lot of drilling.

Thanks for that, I ordered a couple. I still have to replace the ignition but I think I can rekey one the same as the steering lock, tank and seat. Speaking of which...

Impact screwdriver did work.

Coydog posted:

I have one of those and it's literally never worked. How on earth could I be operating it incorrectly? Maybe all my nuts and screws were beyond hope.

You have to reset the thing every time you hit it with the hammer. Stick the driver in the screw head, twist it to the left, smack, repeat. I did it the wrong direction for the longest time and it only ever stripped screws. You can also twist the tip to the right before using it to make sure.

Dolphin fucked around with this message at 23:11 on May 20, 2020

# ¿ May 20, 2020 22:46

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Cycle Asylum > 71 CL350 Project