[WhatTheFett]

I love Hondas. Always have. Owning my own Honda CB is something I have wanted for a few years now and I guess you can say my dream has come true, in a very misconstrued, backwards, ironic, kind of way. Once I was financially able to buy a CB I started casually scouring craigslist for a deal on a CB 550 or 360. I wanted a rough bike; make it into a project, so it would be my own. Well, I definitely got what I searched for.

I finally found it, a 1974 CB 360 for $500. For two years it was stored under a tarp, completely taken apart, except for the motor. The guy I bought it from said it ran perfect when he took it apart; he just wanted to clean it up. It never got put back together. Everything was rusted, dirty, and wet. The motor, although together, was full of old oil, water, and rust. The motor wouldn’t turn over and you could see the valve was open. A bit skeptical, I bought it anyway. If things went south with the motor, figured I could part everything out and make my money back. PLUS it came with a bunch of extra parts.

I knew this was going to be a challenge considering I have only worked on dirt bike motors (I own a 2010 CRF 250) but I figured it couldn’t be THAT much different. Ill spare you most of the details and give you the highlights of the tear down and rebuild of the motor.

-Everything was covered in rust
-PB blasted the valves, and they broke free fairly easily
-A bucket of diesel petrol and brillo pads became my bestfriend
-Cylinder was rusted and pitted – Honed it out – looks brand new
-Piston rings were seized – bought used pistons off ebay for $40
-Attempted to clean the cases and cylinder in the bathtub, then the dishwaser, and then scrubbed them with steel wool, no dice. Ended up getting them sandblasted.
-Used high temp spray paint to paint the top end.


This wasn’t an easy task! If anyone has questions about anything feel free to ask.

After being sandblasted

Another issue i ran into, was the triple tree clamps were broken - I bought a set of 1976 CB400F triple trees which worked perfect for the forks, but the headlight and gauges will not mount up now, which i'll just have to figure that out eventually, but shouldnt be too hard.

After buying a bunch of missing bolts off ebay we got the motor in the frame and the new handlebars on.

I attached all of the handlebar controls, having to drill holes in the handlebars, not difficult. Helped to wrap all of the wires in electrical tape to help maneuver them through the bars. Also, my exhaust was really really rusted and I was missing the mounts, so I decided it would be easier, and better looking, to just wrap the headers with exhaust wrap and run straight headers.

Everything should lead to it starting but my ignition coils are bad, so I ordered a set from Mikes XS so hoping that is gonna work.

Planning on using the anti-gravity battery, since I plan on Kick starting it as much as possible.



A lot of work to go! i'll post more as the progress continues!

 

[ctrider]

Really nice work !!
That bike is going to look great!!

 

[frogman79]

Nice project, I built one of those "Hauled it home in pieces on a trailer" myself. I think its a lot more fun that way. Get to learn all the in's and out's of the bike that way, much more involved yes but you when you are done you know how each individual part works and how it makes the bike a bike.

I suggest hunting up mufflers for it that at least get to the back axle. 360's need pipes of at least that length to properly run, just running headers will cost lots of power. Most aftermarket mufflers will come with the brackets to mount to the bike.

 

[WhatTheFett]

Nice project, I built one of those "Hauled it home in pieces on a trailer" myself. I think its a lot more fun that way. Get to learn all the in's and out's of the bike that way, much more involved yes but you when you are done you know how each individual part works and how it makes the bike a bike.

I suggest hunting up mufflers for it that at least get to the back axle. 360's need pipes of at least that length to properly run, just running headers will cost lots of power. Most aftermarket mufflers will come with the brackets to mount to the bike.

It really did help me learn the bike, now when something goes wrong i'll have a good idea as to what it is.

Thanks for the advice! I'll look into getting some mufflers... I was thinking about maybe putting some stock dirtbike mufflers on it that I have pulled off my CRF250 - my friend that builds bikes does it pretty often, seems to work great.

 

[Sam I Am]

Glad to see that I'm not the only one who brings bikes home in boxes. :mrgreen:

 

[Ckonow]

So I ended up purchasing this bike about a year ago. I found this thread and thought it would be cool to share how the bike sits today. Still need to sync the carbs and dial in the points but she's running. Big thanks to the previous owner for the work she put into this bike.