Anyone in the know about 'vintage' bikes?

[Ostego]

A friend of mine recently sold there acreage so they had a 'stuff give away' of sorts and I was given a 1972 Honda CB350. I was told it has not ran in 7 or 8 years and it needs a clutch (and lots of cosmetic items repaired) but its still a fairly nice old bike and its 100% intact. But this is where the problem comes in....I have very limited knowledge on bikes and what I do know is more on the dirt bike side of things.

So now...wait for it...I have yet another project of sorts! 

So any information on parts/experience with old bikes that you may know I would love to hear!

[Vinman]

Maybe start here:

http://www.motorcycleforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=39

[cuzican]

I had a 74 CB360 a long time ago.

If I recall correctly it shouldn't be hard to change out the clutch plates - provided they're still available.

Replacing the cam chain on the other hand is quite a task. Hopefully that's not why it stopped running.

[rt01]

clean out your :)s tank , the petcock ,, and the carbs(don`t get them too far out of synch) check for a spark , put charger on , check again, new gas , try to start it , If you cant start it get a jug of whiskey and decide if you really want to get into this . any more than rings and pistons , then your in deep and is it really worth it? Its  a cool old bike and such but not something I would sink a lot of money into. On the up side if it starts and runs you have a true classic. I layed my buddys 350 down on a ice covered street sin the late 70s early 80s ......good times.....pm me if you need a hand
     




         an old Harley is a classic a old jap bike is junk   

[justchillinout]

I agree with rt01.

As I currently own about a dozen CB750's of similar vintage, you have to ask yourself if it is worth it.

The CB350 is not a rare bike, nor does it hold much value.  However, if you were to do the work yourself and throw about $3000 into it, you would have a cool old bike, a little bike, with not much use, a bike that probably won't (or you wouldn't want to) go on Deerfoot with.

But, cool bike and there are guys that do collect and restore these bikes.  Depending on how "complete" it is, EBay.com (not .ca) is your best bet.

Highly sought after items, whether you are parting out or selling complete - factory original pipes (non-rusted), gas tank with factory original paint (and no rust through) and side covers with factory original paint.  Bonus item, good seat pan.  Extra bonus item, good seat!!  The rest of the stuff is still easily available (though disappearing quickly).

Post up some pics if you have, could help us make up your mind for you! 

Otherwise enjoy dreaming about what could be.

[Ostego]

If anything it would be a shiny toy to get me into road bikes I've ridden dirt bikes and ATV's all my life.
I've always liked the mid to late 80's Suzuki Savage LS650's but never had any motivation to buy one as I dropped a lot of coin on my dirt bike and quad (almost 10g's together!) and just never figured myself for a road bike kind a guy...maybe this old CB will change that.

I'll post some pictures of it once I clean it up a bit...lots of years of dust on the old girl. 



....Where the heck am I going to put it....

[jpthing]

A buddy of mine recently quit blackfoot motor sports after several years and has started working on powersports stuff out of his garage. Pm if you would like his #. He has more diplomas in his garage than I have vehicles so he definately knows his stuff (but he'd probably argue with me about running belts loose).

[justchillinout]

Ostego

If you do go the route of restoring and are interested in doing the work yourself, let me know.  I can point you in the direction of most of the parts you may need.

A good forum to get ALL the info you ever wanted on the SOHC4 is http://www.sohc4.net/

No place better to go.