So with Bacon Junkie's help I started tearing apart the wife's '71 CB350 today.
Her seat finally came in from
www.dimecitycycles.com (and I can't recommend them highly enough for cafe parts) so we started tearing her down in hopes of getting it in shape in time for DIMBY.
DucStew found this bike in Albuquerque for us. He negotiated the deal and made the purchase. Melissa is only 5'2" and the size of this bike makes her extremely happy. She loves it. Plus its a kick start which makes her just giddy every time she kicks it over. THANKS STEW!
what we are doing is 1) getting it ridable 'cause Polpetta has the moto itch in the worst way and 2) playing around with the look and ergos for a total tear down when we will cafe the thing out totally. Some of the basic overall design ideas are already decided. First I want the bike to look recognizable as a cb 350. There were a few things Honda got right (to my eye, like the tank) and I want to preserve those. It may start veering in the toward the bad ass rat-like feel and not the highly stylized cafe racers you see people building. Less will be more when it comes not only to style and lines, but of course the functional bits as well per the cafe racer ethos. The straight simple exhaust (oppose to the up swept mega phones you see a lot of) is the first step in this direction. For now I will just be bolting new bits on and seeing what I like and don't like.
Here she is coming back to Cali with Bacon Junkie's 999 (did you hear he got one? 'Cause he did.)
The Seat:
Fritzy Pants The Good Time Party Dog is thanking Bacon Junkie for doing such a good job with the removing the old pipes from the header:
Honda decided this as the best way to hide the wiring
Clubman Bars:
Today we removed the signals and fenders and got the wheels removed and prepped to have the new tires and tubes mounted. we fit the new pipes and mounted the club man bars. Gotta cut almost 2" off of the bars, but they look great.
Ordered a tail light, brake pads, a throttle tube and a dry cell battery today.
Found some fork gaiters and turn signals that we like, so those will get ordered soon.
This is fun! And a great way to learn a bit more about wrenching on these things. A few years down the road (after I have more money and more knowledge about motorcycles!) I really look forward to tearing this thing apart and making exactly how my wife wants it. This is really the perfect bike for me to do this with. There are a zillion of these things around so parts are cheap and I don't have to worry about make the beast with two backsing up a classic. And it is in good working order so I have to do very little actual mechanical improvement. Replace some gaskets and a some disposable bits (brake pads, spark plugs, etc.) and she'll run like a top. Maybe some carb work but I shouldn't have to crack the engine! Yay!
If you've built a cafe bike feel free to post up pictures. I need
ideas to steal inspiration!
Thanks again to DuckStew and Bacon Junkie! You make my wife very happy. And of course happy wife = happy life.
Cheers.
sac
