Thanks for your interest & patience as I work through this project.

Recent updates

Bought some air filters knowing they were too long, and had to be cut down & glued back together.

Cleaned & rebuilt the carburetors so I could size up and order the throttle cable from Motion Pro.

Got a used drive chain tensioner at a swap meet (don't know what bike it came from?). Made a bracket to mount it on the lower side of the swingarm (top of photo).

Before

After

Front brakes back on.

 

Such an inspiring build with great detail. Can't wait to see future progress. Thanks for sharing with us!

 

Brother stopped by for some welding. Afterwards he helped get the engine in.

Decided to go with a different oil filter.

Required a hole be drilled in the side cover.

Also had to cut down the stock filter drum.

One of the VJMOG forum members lead me to these.

Won't be using the kick starter (for now, needs to be extended, more design & fab work).
Instead of leaving the shaft bare; machined a couple of covers. Will probably go with the right one.

Getting closer on having a hydraulic clutch. Got everything working. I used the old seal, and it leaks, so I'll need to order a new one.

 

Thanks for pointing me to Tony's thread. Wow! His combination of photos, videos and write-ups are outstanding.
Took me a while to get though the posts & videos, but it did help understand some the engine assembly.

Thanks again! Good luck on your project.

 

there must be another saturdays wrench there is a guy here on honda twins who goes by the tag "saturdays wrench" and is making some fantastic and insightful videos for CB350 owners, and lots of good info for other honda twin owners. here is a link to his youtube channel with a series of videos documenting his progress. Also a link to his thread here on hondatwins http://www.hondatwins.net/forums/1-...1-project-logs/34716-1973-cb350g-canadian-noob-build-gotta-start-somewhere.html

I bought the stainless bolt kit for CB450's from Dime City Cycles but it doesn't include the big lower and upper crankcase bolts, can't seem to find anyone that does a full kit for the CB450/500. I'd love a set like that but I imagine it would be hard to get exactly what I want from a bolt store so I was hoping someone had made a full kit like they have for your 350, but I may just zinc plate the old bolts.

 

Thanks


Liam, the Allen bolt kits are available from several sources. I went with one of the eBay vendors. Most offer standard & polished sets. I went with the standard. It's recommended to use either an anti-sieze or blue Loctite on the threads. Also; read the instructions from the manufacturer/vendor. Recommended torque specs will be less than the factory specification.

I've heard of Saturday Wrench, but can't get it with our satellite plan (I don't watch a lot of TV)

 

Wow, you really nailed that electrical. Looks very clean.

 

I love those bolt kits that are available for the cases for the CB350's, who sells them and do they make kits for CB450/500T?

Nice looking build, bummer about having to split the cases. Are you watching Saturdays Wrenchs videos? great lessons for CB350's and a lot of general engine assembly advice, I'll be paying attention when it comes time to reassemble my CB450

 

Thanks guys!

Been working on getting the lower end put together. Had it done, and woke up early the next day questioning whether I installed the "sealing ball".

I hadn't... splitting the cases wasn't bad, but getting the fresh Yamabond off took a while.
heres the dreaded rubber ball. It's used to seal oil pressure from coming in contact with the outer bearing race (right side). Some opt to not install it, but mine had a definite flat spot indicating a bit of oil pressure behind it.

Lower end together

 

Nice job on all the electricals. Several years from now when it's all still working like it should, you're going to be happy you did it the right way the first time.

 

Glad you revived this thread, I love watching the progress. I had originally thought I would read through this thread to get ideas for my 350 Cafe build I just started but you are on a completely different level. I have some milling experience but not to this point. Good luck with build, cant wait to see the finished product.

 

Electrical...

Finished photos

Left side has quite a few more wires & connectors. Had clearance with the tank, but put a piece of an inner tube for added protection.

Got some Tygon tubing and slid it over the spark plug wires (similar to stock)

Used liquid electrical tape to adhere & seal the top end.

"Dash"
Digital voltmeter is where the stock GSXR switch was (machined a piece to fit in place)
Switch on headlight is for the low beam & parking light
Green light is neutral indicator
GPS antenna is mounted on the triple tree (lower right)

Low beam

High beam (triggered through the hi/low switch or the pass switch)

Cleaned up the wiring under the seat pan

Strobe is wired through the 4-way switch.
Still need to finalize the stator wires (waiting on a connector), neutral switch and tail light.
Hope to start engine reassembly later this week.

 

Started back on the electrical. Been over two years, and need to verify things. Electrical isn't my forte, but I do enjoy the challenge.
Had a little "hitch in the get-along" with the starter button wiring, or so I thought. Ended up the switch was dirty and not making contact.

Temporarily wired the rear turn signals. I'm impressed by how bright the LED's are.

Heres a short clip of the strobe in action. There's 11 different patterns toggled with a momentary switch.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OmFlRmOuMIw

 

Had purchased a set of aftermarket headlight brackets. Fit well, and looked okay, but they hit the tank side to side. Didn't want to decrease the turning radius so went another route.

Got a used/damaged lower triple tree (same model as the forks, '08 GSX-R750, ear was broken off where the steering damper bolts on).
Cut off the ends, used a flapper wheel* to shape them down to size. Then finished them up with 120grit paper* and a pass through the bead blaster.
Left one is just after using the flapper wheel. Right is finished & ready for paint.

*its important to note when working with aluminum (and other metals) to use the appropriate dust mask or respirator. Aluminum dust does nasty things to the brain and nervous system.

Okay, onto the good stuff...

Couple of coats of paint.

Installed

Misc.

Wanted to mount the ignition coils, but remembered they needed some work. The wires coming out of the coils felt like they were just hanging on. Had read about others replacing the coil wires, so thought I'd take a stab at it.

Here's the coils off the bike.

Knocked off the factory epoxy with a screwdriver & hammer. Came off very easily.

I did experiment with another coil before going into the known good ones. Kinda strange, after breaking the epoxy on the guinea pig coil; the wire broke as I tried to pull it out. On the known good coils; the wires pulled out intact.

Heres a shot inside the guinea pig coil after carefully drilling with a 7mm bit down to the pin (where wire gets stabbed into). Had to scrape the remaining insulation out too.

Thought the new wire would just push on, but ended up using a very small sharp tool to pre-bore the new wire before pushing it in.
Sanded the area where the epoxy would go, and lathered it on.

 

Thanks

Made a makeshift rotisserie. Painted the frame with about 1 1/2 cans of Rustoleum epoxy appliance paint.

 

Nice welding, Ray.

 

A fresh sand-blasted honda-twin engine is such a beautiful sight to behold. You're build is looking really nice!

 

Thanks Danny, appreciate the kind words & interest.
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Needed to hang the license plate. First option was put it under the tail light. Wouldn't work out because I'd have the plate a such an angle it wouldn't be seen from the rear (pretty corny). Next option was a vertical mount.
Bought a generic model. Had to machine a bushing and washer. Also got a used, longer shaft which needed to be shortened and rethreaded.

Wasn't 100% sold on the vertical. Decided to go with the modern ninja approach.

Thought I had the frame done, then I remembered I didn't have the battery hold down brackets.

Also decided to relocate the turn signals to the frame vs the seat cowl. Boxed in the plate bracket too.

Resanded and reprimed the frame. Hopefully will get painted today

 

Thanks Steve.

More stuff.
Put a seal in the slave, bled it, and checked the throw. Need to buy a lottery ticket! Throw is really close to stock. I'll fab up the push rod once the engine is together and I can take some measurements.


Some more details on the slave (sorry, didn't take any pictures).
Normally there's a connecal spring behind the piston (fluid side) which exerts outward, pushing the piston out of the bore. This wasn't going to work since I needed a bit of clearance between the pushrod and the clutch lifter. Ended up machining a hole in the piston so the stock CB350 ball would fit. Also installed the connecal spring on the outward side, so it pushes piston back in the bore.


Started in on the engine. Progress will be slow. Recleaned the cases, cylinder & head.


Some pics

After lapping the valves and assembly. I like to "leak check" with alcohol for about an hour.

I check it about every 10-15 minutes.
Not the best pic, but no leak through

Weather warmed up a bit, so took advantage and painted the engine.

Wanted to go with a darker color than stock. Had a can of Cast Blast (500degF rating, mainly used on automotive cylinder heads)

 

Beautiful welds nonetheless......Looking GOOD!

 

FWIW

First time I saw a Honda Dream 50. Thought seriously about getting one, but they go for too much.
So, my next project will be a Honda Dream 175.
Here' the inspiration.

 

Thanks Graham. Kind of a tough question. I enjoy restorations & custom work, pretty much the same. Most everything I've been doing lately has an emotional attachment. The 175, while not "the" bike; is the same year & model of my first bike. The cafe has been on my list for quite a while.

More updates. Got the sprocket cover back. Looks good. He did have some issues with the old cover, but I'm satisfied. Still needs quite a bit of finish work. Here's some pics.

Had to make some modifications to clear the stator cover, and had to fly cut the slave cylinder attachment ring. Still need to drill & tap the holes.

 

Exacting as ever Ray.

Do you enjoy the custom approach more than the stock restoration?

 

Okay, back on the project.

Getting closer to making the hydraulic slave work.
Here's some pics. Hope to have it back from Scott after he TIG welds it. I know from past projects the chain guard will be hard to weld because its porous and had a lifetime of grease & oil.

Opening is to clearance the chain

Rest of the puzzle

 

Not much to report. I did finish the frame.
Here's a shot of the frame offset for the chain after welding, massaging it with a flapper wheel & primer.

Finished the exhaust. Ended up painting it versus ceramic coat. Anxious to see how it works and sounds.
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Not exactly part of the project, but I cleaned up the back room. It'll be used for storing the bikes. Kind of excited, now they'll stay clean

Before

After. 12"x12"x 1/2" plastic tiles that snap together. Used in residential garages.its a full floating system, so there's slight gaps between the tiles, and they require a 1/2" gap at the edges.

 

Did you have to do any mods to mount GSX front end? Just started on 74 CL360 cafe

 

Had to take some metal off from the bottom on the neck where the lower triple tree slides in. Then used the AllBalls kit. Good luck with your project.

https://www.allballsracing.com/index.php/forkconversion