Finished

After spending the past week on final tuning, riding up and down the road, listening/feeling for every little hiccup or pop from the exhaust and making small adjustments to correct, the bike is finally finished! It starts cold with the lightest touch of the starter button, idles perfect, pulls hard, and is a blast to ride. 

Compression is right at 175 psi and the spark plugs show a nice dry, golden brown color. This bike is ready to tear up the pavement once again! 

  

Can't We All Just Get Along

One of the most difficult things to figure out when modifying stock components is how to make everything old work with everything new. In order to maintain the front brake light I drilled a hole in the perch and fitted an oem brake switch inside. 

There are many obstacles any time you make a modification because so many parts are interlinked. Take for example the led turn signal indicator in the new speedo. The fact that the oem wiring is set up to reverse polarity to the indicator made the led only work for either the left or the right but not both. Since led's only work with polarity one way, extra diodes and a slight wiring change was needed to make everything work properly again. 

Handlebar controls

These simplified controls really help clean up the front of the bike. I have been running this same setup on my cb450 for over a year and they work great! This is actually a cabinet hinge cut/drilled/ground to size then polished for that nice finished look. 

RH controls headlight (high/low/off) and electric start.
LH controls turns signals and horn. 

Upholstery

The seat just came back from the local upholstery shop. The quality of the material and the stitching used is top notch! Just a few more details and this bike will be tearing up the pavement once again. 

SS Engine Bolts

Today I changed all the old soft aluminum engine bolts with new SS bolts that I ordered from boltdepot.com. An impact driver is the simplest way to aid in removing the bolts without destroying them. However, when all else fails use a slightly larger philips bit in a 1/4" socket, hammer it into the bolt head, and use a ratchet to pursued them to come out. 

 Before

 After

Turn Signals

It's great when things work out just right (how rare that moment is). My turn signals I bought from DCC (Dime City Cycles) were the exact same thread size and pitch of my headlight bolts. This allowed me to use them to hold the headlight, hide all the wires, and maintain a stylish look. 

Exhaust

I started working on the exhaust after deciding to go with my scrambler style pipes. The headers were ceramic coated to lower heat and prevent rust. The mufflers have been sealed on the pipes to avoid any exhaust leaks. The next step is to wrap the exhaust with header wrap to help keep the riders legs cool. 

Tach Plug

Since I will only be running a single, center mounted speedo I needed to figure out a way to plug the tach cable mount in the engine. Using an old tach cable I removed the guts from the housing and filled the end with jb weld to prevent oil from leaking out. 

Intake

The rubber on the original intake boots were hard as a rock compared to these new ones. These boots will ensure that there are no intake vacuum leaks.

Fork Cover

I took a trip to my local sign shop and bought some gloss black vinyl to cover the upper forks where the headlight mounts. The vinyl is designed for use outdoors and has a 10 year warranty! This is some tough material and really cleans up the look of the forks.

Breath of Fresh Air

Nothing makes the Honda 350 run better than OEM air filters. Smooth, clean airflow and not having to worry about re-jetting should be well worth the investment. 

Roller

The bike has finally progressed to something that actually resembles a motorcycle. I really like the look and functionality of the center stand and I will not be installing the side stand. I hope to fire up the bike for the first time within a week. 

Rear Shock Bushings

Due to the powder coating process all rubber had to be removed before baking so new rear shock swingarm bushing were installed. 

Carb Dip

These carbs were some of the cleanest I've seen but I still put them through the wash cycle. I'll be replacing all the o-rings on the jets but most internal parts are good to reuse as long as there are no signs of abuse from the P.O. However, I've learned from experience that the needle/seat should always be replaced to ensure proper fuel level and flow. 

Front Wheel/Forks

The forks were disassembled and cleaned thoroughly then rebuilt with new fork seals and polished to a mirror finish. The tires are Dunlop D404s which provide a great look and feel on the road. The brake hub was completely disassembled and rebuilt after being polished to a mirror finish. New brake/speedo cables were also a must.

Engine

The heavy lifting is done. The engine was repainted with high heat paint and the engine covers will continue to get polished.

Ignition

The new ignition switch and steering lock will provide extra reliability along with added security.

Oil Filter

While I was polishing the oil filter cover I decided it was a good time to clean the oil filter. The filter uses centrifugal force to hold any heavy particles to the sides of the filter and out of the flow.

Harness Refresh

Fresh wire loom not only looks better but also is a nice improvement over the old original, hard as a rock cover.

Steering Stem Bearings

Upgraded steering stem bearings are a nice and in this bike's case necessary upgrade. Also installed some new handlebar bushings as most the rubber parts on these old bikes are in need of replacing.

Barebones

1968 CB350

Beginning Full frame up resto-mod. All parts powder coated, cleaned, polished, and/or replaced. This bike will be available for sale after completed. If you are interested in owning this bike feel free to contact me and you can customize the finishing touches.