1974 honda cb360e - new project

[timmyg73]

hello everyone, just picked up a 1974 honda cb360e and will be tearing it down and rebuilding. anyone have any pointers, experience, suggestions that would help me that would be awesome. i will post pics as i go through this project. thanks!

[timmyg73]

these are the pics of the bike before i picked it up in south carolina. i picked it up last weekend and did a quick glance over, supposedly it turns over haven't verified it yet, i did find that the battery is missing, and the key doesn't fit the gas tank.

[v65infla]

Drain all of the fluids including the gas if any in the carb's and refill with fresh.  Add some Seafoam to your fresh gas and put in a brand new battery before attempting to start.  Just put in a 1/2 gallon or so of gas because if you have to tear it down and remove the carbs you don't want to drain a lot back out.  I prefer the sealed battery's from Discount Auto Parts because they are close to my house and always have what I need.  Usually $75 to $90 but will last a long time.  Also, put in fresh properly gapped spark plugs.

Also, that is a cool old Honda that is getting harder to find in one piece.  Please don't chop her up or do something stupid like turn her into a pseudo cafe racer.  There are plenty of wrecked bikes out there for that.  Restore her to her former glory and she will run another 40 years. 

Welcome and my condolences on living in Deltona.  

[dt]

Cool restorer I see potential.

Welcome to the forum timmyg.

[lrn2fli]

these are the pics of the bike before i picked it up in south carolina. i picked it up last weekend and did a quick glance over, supposedly it turns over haven't verified it yet, i did find that the battery is missing, and the key doesn't fit the gas tank.

I worked at a Honda dealer back then and as I recall the gas cap lock was a recall. Originally there was just a thumb button and Honda recalled them because they were popping open in crashes. I changed out hundreds of those things. ANY key, screwdriver, flat bladed object should open the latch. Maybe yours is frozen simply because it's 37 yrs old.

I agree.... don't chop it up. Good luck with the restore.

[mrbones]

Welcome to the site. Here's the thread to mine that I'm making a pseudo cafe racer out of. My project is currently on hold until I finish other things, or just end up selling it.

http://bikerflorida.com/forum/index.php/topic,146.0.html

Check the diaphrams in the carbs and see if they are ripped. A few years ago I couldn't find any replacements, but maybe that has changed now. I ended up buying another set of carbs with good ones.

[dt]

How about starting a build thread when you're ready. It would be cool to watch the project develop.

[timmyg73]

thanks for all the replies, i am keeping it as original as i can when i rebuild it, the only option i am thinking of right now is to paint everything flat black, still debating.. so last week removed seat, tail light blinkers, tail light, and battery tray i attached a couple pics.

this last weekend i removed the gas tank, rear fender and tail light housing assembly. i had to drill the license plate bolts out they were rusted to bad and i couldn't get them to turn whatsoever...

[timmyg73]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57274114@N07/

i've uploaded some pics here check it out:

also some good sites i found:

http://www.hondarestoration.com/tech_tips.htm
http://www.vintage-japanese-motorcycles.com/honda_cb360_models_1974_1976_parts.html
http://www.bikebandit.com/
http://www.oldbikebarn.com/Street/1974-Honda-CB360-Motorcycle-Parts

[Croz]

Please don't chop her up or do something stupid like turn her into a pseudo cafe racer.

Here's the thread to mine that I'm making a pseudo cafe racer out of.

Hee hee...

[timmyg73]

just uploaded some more pics to my flickr account, showing more of the tear down

[dt]

It's good that you're taking lots of pictures. Helps to see how everything was together when you go to put it back together.

Have you run down some blown up parts diagrams for this model, or copied any off line? Those are helpful too, plus you should be able to find some with the OE part numbers. I usually copy them off an OE supplier site and make a little manual. Clymer has a popular series of shop manuals that I've always found helpful.

Out of curiosity, how did the engine checkout?

[timmyg73]

yeah that is true, trying to document to help me with the rebuild, haven't had the motor checked yet, was told it ran but haven't tested it yet. probably will take it in somewhere to have them check it for me, i have also found the manual online, someone photocopied it but it works..

[dt]

...was told it ran but haven't tested it yet. probably will take it in somewhere to have them check it for me...

You should try and get it cranked up rather than take it someplace. imo, that’s part of the fun!

I’ll give you a thought, or a hunch…it doesn’t run as the po says. The reason the motorcycle is in that condition is there’s something wrong with it. The po didn’t just decide that they didn’t want to ride it anymore twenty years ago (or whenever). If that we’re the case they’d have sold it. There was something wrong and they were probably going to get to fixing it, but never did. Decades later, it’s still got the problem. You need to find the problem.

The engine requires three basic things to run: fuel, fire and compression. Take them one at a time.

Consider that there are pre-start procedures when attempting to start an engine that hasn’t been run for a long time. I totally blew up and seized a 71 bultaco pursang about three years ago over a careless mistake on the cold start. That sucked, and it won't ever happen again.