New Bike! Soon at least. . .

Hey guys, Im gettin a new bike soon. Its a honda CL350. 1972 I believe. Im getting it for free because it is my girlfriend's grandpa's bike. Lucky for me though it isn't one of the thirty other projects hes working on right now. He has two of them anyways. What ever the case, all I had to do was get A 1974 yamaha two stroke dirt bike running for him. New battery and carb cleaning and it fired up. So now I just have to go pick up the honda. Its a four stroke ( sorry to stray from the path), but I think this will be a good project. the engine had compression and turned over when he got the bike, but its been sitting for a few years and has since seized. Hopefully I'll be able to get it started. Its all there I've just got to get it together. Heres a pic of what it probably looked like new. When I get it I'll send a pic of what it actually looks like.

http://www.hondamuseum.com/motorcycles/regular/CL350/images/CL350_02.jpg

G'Day Kyle, will be interested in seeing the CL, I am just finishing a CB350K0 (1968) - very similar to the CL, same engine. Then once this is out the way I can get stuck into the 550. Lots of parts NOS and replica available for the CB/CL's. Good Luck

I thought the pipes on the CB's went straight back. do you have different ones on there? Looks real good though. . .

Thanks. My girlfriend's grandfather hordes bikes, and he has about 5 CB's and CL's so I'll be able to get spares from him without much cost I know. He is in the process of Cafeing a CB350. I'm not sure what year, but hes going all out with bubble windshield, different pipes, and cafe style seat. I'm going to try to stick to original with the CL350 though. I'll post some pics later. I think I'm going to get it this weekend.

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

He gave me slide carbs. . . The owner before my girlfriends grandfather had them on it and it ran fine, and slide carbs seem a hell of a lot more simple. . . well I'll post pics as I go anyways.

Looks a great resto Kyle. Keep up informed with the progress mate

Kyle, when I see some-one doing a resto lke that, I don't feel so bad about mine. Do you think it is complete or are you going to be chasing parts

Macca

Great find, Kyle. A friend of mine has an xl350 thumper that is a torque monster in the dirt. Real fun bike! Yours will be an eye catcher when it's done.
Good luck,
Tim

Heres what she looks like about now.



I have since gotten the steering column off, but only half of the berings will come out of the column. One side and the balls. The other sides won't come out of the column. Im not sure if I should try to beat them out or what. . . I'd rather not have to try to find new ones. . .





I also now have the swing arm off of the back wheel.







Taking the frame and steel pieces to be boiled and sand blasted next week. And painting of the frame, tank, and side covers will hopefully begin next week as well. Alls going well. If it keeps up and I don't have major engine work, I might be done in a month or two. PIECES ARE ALL OVER MY GARAGE!!!

Well Done Kyle, it looks like one of my bikes now.
Macca

well its getting there at least. Tank, Frame, and steel pieces went to boil and sandblast today. I hope to have it back by tomorrow or wednesday. In the mean time I've got to order fork oil and dust seals to install. I'm playing the waiting game now. . .

Kyle, sounds like you're making some good progress. This may seem like a silly question, but what does boiling the frame do? I've never heard of that trick. Do you mean boil, like in a big pot of hot water?
Keep up the good work. I can't wait to see it with the new paint on it!

You know tim, I\'m not really sure what it boils in. Its a mixture of chemicals. Im not positive because its my girlfriends grandfather\'s. Its a big tank that strips most of the paint and rust off by just leaving it in for a few hours. He uses it on motorcycles and car fenders when doing repainting. Ill ask him what is in it when I go to pick up the bike. Ill take some pics too.

It must create a lot of harmful to the \"enviornment\" sludge too. Because here in Ada County, Idaho he has to have a permit to use and a proper waste disposal system. Im fairly new to it so i\'ll try to get some more info soon.

Kyle, that would be great. Sounds like it sure beats sanding and prepping by hand!

Tim

Yeah, beter than doing it all by hand. Hes doing the gas tank for me to which he says will take off the lining that someone must have done years ago. which is good because whoever did it did a horrible job.

Sorry no word for a while guys. I was a little more excited than my girlfriend's grandfather I suppose. He has had the tank and frame since Tuesday, and I dont think they've moved from where I set them down at. hopefully Ill get them sometime next week. In the mean time. . . fork oil and dust seals. I'm a little inexperienced at this so. . . any one got any good tips?

Does anyone know about the price of powder coating? I got my steel parts back yesterday and I am trying to decide how expensive it is to powder coat. Otherwise I might just paint the frame.

Also, This is for Macca, Can you help me out with taking off the heads? I've been shooting penetrating oil down the engine for two weeks, so I think its about time to pull the heads off and try to tap the pistons down. This is my first four stroke. I know I need to wire up the timing chain, but thats all I know.

Well, I'm going to go with powder coating. Heres what she looks like right now.

I'm thinking he has a HOT TANK, similar to what most engine rebuilding shops have, its basically used to melt all the old grease crud that builds up in a motor oil passage way and leaves it nice and clean, all the paint gets stripped in the process so I'm guessing it has a acid of some type in it also.