[clofan]

I bought my ’72 CL350 a little over a year ago as my first bike and loved it! It needed some work to run, but after just a little Carb tinkering I was able to get it rockin’. I rode it for a few months, but then made the mistake of letting an inexperienced buddy ride it. It ended up on the ground with some significant cosmetic damage, but after getting it home (via trailer) it still started up. I got a few needed replacement parts, and was able to ride it for the last couple months of the season last year.

I neglected the poor thing all winter… I had planned to do a lot of work on it, but a new job and a couple other factors got in the way. March eventually rolled around, and I realized I needed to get off my lazy butt and get to work! Engine was out and frame was stripped the first week of March, but that’s about the extent of where I’m at now. There’s a huge list of things to do, and hopefully I’ll be able to complete them all.

This project thread is meant to keep me accountable and working on this thing, and to have it done in time for summer! I’ve got the following parts on order:

• Engine Gasket set
• Stainless engine bolt set
• Handlebars
• Headlight brackets
• Left and Right Switches
• H4 Headlight + housing
• LED Brake light / license mount
• LED Turn signals
• Bar end mirrors, grips, lever perches
• Coils

And I still need to purchase: Exhaust gaskets, piston rings, cam roller (maybe), front and drive sprockets (maybe), fork gaiters, LED compatible flasher, and regulator / rectifier.

Currently, the engine is out and I’m at the point where I have to take off the cam sprocket. I wasn’t able to make it budge with my current toolset, so I stopped work on it for the time being. I have a couple more things to try before I post lots of pictures and solicit you guys for help

I'll try to post some pictures up tonight after work!

 

[clofan]

To Do:
Paint Tank
Paint Side covers
Polish/paint forks
Replace fork seals
Replace all engine gaskets
Check tolerances on clutch
Make new wiring harness (maybe)
Put it all back together! (Will expand on this when I get closer)

Done:
Bike completely torn down
Powdercoat Frame & Fenders
Paint shocks
Clean engine block
Paint rims / replace spokes
New Pistons / Cylinder Bore & Hone

 

[clofan]

Parts came in! :mrgreen:

H4 Headlight, fork ears, bolt kit, gasket set, coils, handlebars

LED tail light.. I was worried this might be too dim to see in direct sunlight, but I was completely wrong! It came from China, but is surprisingly well made.

Sweet-ass turn signals! I need to smoke the blue side, it's a bit too harsh in person

Bar end mirrors!

Frame, steering stem fork brace, triple tree, and fenders are all being powder coated this week. Can't wait!

 

[clofan]

Started stripping the tank today:

(really need to go back out and finish!)

I also stripped and put a primer coat on one of my rear shocks. I'll post some side by side pictures when they're done. Quick question-- is the rear hydraulic supposed to push back out, or just provide resistance? Mine will stay in whatever position I put it in, is that normal?

Finally, I picked up some freshly powdercoated parts today! This is titled, "Motivation.jpg"

And I talked the guy into doing my tank for free :mrgreen:

 

[clofan]

I never took these springs apart, but the damper should be there just to provide resistance. Did they work before you took them apart?

If that's the case, then they still work as intended!

 

[clofan]

We're have to see. I figure I can get away with a warning if I get stopped for it, then paint over it. It's part of my color scheme, so I'm hoping I can get away with it. The blue is constant unless I wire it to flash as well.. and it's on the backside of the signal. Problem is, I'm using the same signals in the back, so blue will be forward!

Finished painting one shock this morning.. I've got to wait for it to dry before I can resemble, so hopefully I'll have pics of that tomorrow!

How do I remove the top fork nut so that I can remove the tubes/break the seal? Rod type forks. edit: Thanks for the PM, Steve

 

[clofan]

You might be wondering what theme I'm going with for this project. If there's any gamers out there (and I know there are), you probably know the game Portal. My idea kinda solidified after I found those turn signals which are an exact color match. Tank will be stark white (like the fenders), black cap, with a blue and an orange pin strip offset 1-2" from center and 'falling' off the side. This logo will be on the tank:

on both sides. I thought about going with the period logo, but ultimately I like the above image more. The sidecovers will be painted orange/blue and have either this logo:

in white, or the one with the split guy in the portal-- I couldn't find a good image for that. Shocks will be white, headlight will be chrome, seat will be stock, pipes will be stock. I've thought about putting pipe wrap around the main part of the pipe.. I think it would look good with the chrome heat shield.

Only thing up in the air is the rims. I may go with white, but I'm not 100% yet. That wreck I mentioned earlier did a number on the rims.. they got bent, but were able to be hammered out. I need to check the integrity before rolling on them, and I also have a couple bent spokes to take care of. I can't for the life of my figure out how to remove the tire from the rim. I've got two tire irons and a bead buddy... I've watched some videos on youtube but I'm just dense and feel like I'm forcing it too much. Y'all got any tips?

Finally, I'm debating the electrical system. Should I rewire? I want to and will have to to some extent (new coils don't fit where the old ones did) anyways, so I'm thinking of doing the whole job. I think I can do it, but it's a pretty daunting task. I could make my harness meet behind the headlight or in the space the coils once took. Headlight will likely be easier, and there's a lot more room in this headlight than in the stock.

 

[clofan]

Hmm..

(gotta re-do; notice the scratch at the top of the shaft, and a bigger one on the other side not pictured. The preload adjuster did not go on smoothly, nor do I have an idea how I'll compress the spring come real reassembly time)

 

[clofan]

Pic dump time! I had a few hours to tear apart the engine, after learning I don't have the correct tool to get the forks apart..

The above and below pics are to tell me which side the shouldered cam bolt goes!

DIrt Dobber nest behind the spark plug area:

Ok. In the above pic, when I took that part of the engine off and turned it upside down to take a peek at the valves, two things fell out; the orientation spacer thing and a single small washer. I can get a picture or measurements, but does anyone know what the washer might go to?

Success!

Notice there's only three circle clip thingies.. there's one in the belly of the beast

 

[clofan]

What tool are you lacking?...... only takes an open end wrench (jam nut) and a socket or wrench on the top cap hex.....

I'm missing either a) a big enough socket or b) a second wrench that's big enough :lol:

 

[clofan]

Oh I understand.. I've actually got three sets of metric wrenches, two go from 10-19 (one is an Offset set) and the other goes from 7-15. Those fork top bolts and jam nuts are pretty huge! Only my biggest crescent wrench fits, so I either need another big crescent wrench or some larger normal wrenches!

 

[clofan]

:shock:

(Linking pictures because they're huge)
http://imgur.com/daNeU4w

http://imgur.com/rz3yl6x

That's a crack. In the lower engine, right below the right piston. How the hell does that even happen? Better question, should I just stop this build right here?

http://imgur.com/iJG5Feu

Scratch in the cylinder head.. it's not measurably deep, but you can feel it if you run your finger over it. Would honing fix that?

 

[clofan]

 

[clofan]

I finally got around to splitting the case to get a better look at that crack. Here it is:

Also found this plastic part had cracked in the lower case:

Advice needed! Is that crack fixable or do I need to be looking for a replacement?

 

[clofan]

Thanks for the advice, Yendor. Does this mean the cases had been split before, or is there a possibility this happened from the factory? Just curious, really.

 

[clofan]

Update time:

Yesterday, I performed a leakdown test (well, what I thought was a leakdown test):
Starting out - poured Acetone in the up-turned valve head

After ~12 minutes

After ~60 minutes

I just assumed I was supposed to pour it in there and see how if it held or if it leaked. I think mine leaked, but after reading up a bit I realize I may have misunderstood the test. Did the acetone just evaporate, or is there a leak? I'm a dummy and didn't put a rag or anything under it so I couldn't tell for sure.

I also went to disassemble the other shock so I could get those finished this week. My method:

Unfortunately, that failed. I think I used 8 zip ties on the other one (disassembled a few months ago), but I only used 6 yesterday and they popped. Regardless, I would not be able to reassemble using this method, so I'm trying to come up with something else...

I found these plates at a hardware store for around 40 cents a pop. I ground the little tabs off (you can see one off in the picture), and it just fits around the wide internal shock part. I think I can get some long bolts and nuts, and use this as a makeshift spring compressor. I'll let you know how it turns out...!

Current state of things:

:!: Yeah, need to get that engine back together before I forget everything, or maybe that ship has sailed! I kind of want to get a rolling frame first, though. To do that, I need to 1) get my 3rd wheel disassembled so I that I can 2) begin soaking all my rusted parts together in some Bar Keeper's Friend mix. Also need to wait on that before I can put my head/triple tree back on, because one of the pieces of that was all rusted up. I love the way the new bearings look, though!

Will just any grease work on those? I have some general purpose, but I wanted to check first to see if there was a specific kind I needed to use.

I'm going to hopefully be hitting this project a lot harder in the next few weeks... I'm ready to get it going! Unfortunately, I'm a procrastinator at heart, so instead I make neat little modifications to my workbench.

 

[clofan]

Spring compression Method # 2 Tried and failed. It failed because 1) the plates bent when I compressed them, and 2) the plates would slip off once there was significant resistance. If I had used two plates, it might have worked, but that was a very un-elegant solution.

I was googling around for some other methods, not having much luck. I came across a post to photobucket (and now I can't find it again to link it) with three pictures of a shock reassembly-- there was no description and the pictures were TINY, thumbnail sized, but I couldn't find a bigger version. From those pictures I was able to puzzle out what was going on, and took a trip to the hardware store. I had to describe the thing I saw in the picture because I had no idea what it would be called, but luckily the employee at the store knew what it was. It's called a Turnbuckle! Two of those, coupled with some S hooks and a bolt, and BOOM, my spring is compressed and the second shock is disassembled. It took about 10 minutes and was completely painless. This method should work to reassemble as well, I'll just have to be careful not to scratch the new paint.

Very excited I can finish my shocks now! They will be done by this weekend, and I should be able to attach the swingarm to the frame.

I got my 'new' rim/wheel in, so I've got to get that apart and then soak a ton of parts in Bar Keeper's Friend, then finally I can begin assembling my rolling frame. From there I'll probably work on my wiring / electrical, concurrently with the engine. I still need to check tolerances on all the engine parts and get my cylinders honed/bored, as well as get those cracks fixed.

 

[clofan]

Alright, time for an update.

Thanks for the tip on straight oxalic acid, Yendor.. I ended up using BKF anyways because I already had it though.

Before:
Rear Spokes
Front Spokes
Spoke heads
Shock Spring
Steering Stem retainer thing
Bonus rusty tools

Ready to soak:

Sprinkle on 'a little' BKF:

(I had 4/5ths of a can left, so i used pretty much all I had left)

And soaking!

I will take some pictures tonight and post results tonight or tomorrow. Unfortunately, it didn't work that well. It worked great on the chrome parts, as expected, but the unfinished metal (pretty much everything besides the shock spring and part of the fork tubes) remained pretty rusty and ugly. I suppose from this I learned that Oxalic Acid works to restore chrome, not remove rust, as I previously assumed.

I was able to complete my shocks, though! In progress: http://i.imgur.com/uGKANBg.jpg

Finished!

Only, not really. I scratched the paint real good on one of them near the top of the tube, I'll need to touch that up. I also want to paint the nylon spacer/divider, I don't like the off-white contrast. I'm also toying with the idea of painting the springs black, but that will require stripping the chome, yeah? And even then, I suspect the paint might crack when the spring is compressed. I'll probably end up leaving them chromed.

Last night, I assembled the headstock. I forgot to strip/paint the big nut that holds it all together, so it's not complete, but I put the new bearings in and put the retaining part on to keep it in place. It turns smoothly, but it seems like there's more resistance than when I had the old ball bearings. That may be because the forks aren't in so there's not much weight leverage, but I did want to ask if that's normal. Also, the retaining part I mentioned (#10 here) threads on less than one turn... I don't think that's normal. I used the proper spacer under the bottom bearing, but it seems like the stem won't go up far enough in the headstock. Any thoughts there?

 

[clofan]

I'll have to look into that. I don't look forward to having to remove the bottom bearing!

I took some pictures at lunch for 'after' the bath:

As you can see, on some of the spokes it worked really well, but on a majority it didn't do much except loosen it up a bit. These were taken after a little scrubbing with a scotchbrite pad. I bet it will come off with a wire wheel now.

 

[clofan]

Long time, no post. I had planned to be done with the rebuild in winter, but Life happened and the pieces got put into storage. Well, I finally started pulling them out, and yesterday I polished up the hubs. I will be replacing the bearings and hopefully rebuilding/lacing the rear wheel this weekend.