A few of you might know that I have dived into building a motorcycle as a winter project. Well, this is the thread about the project.

A friend and I had tossed around the idea of building a bike a few months back, and for whatever reason it struck a cord with me. I really got into the idea and started researching what kind of bike would be doable for a first timer, and also what was affordable. Me and my friend settled on the honda cb model line from the early 70's. They go as low as 125cc I believe and as high as 750. We decided the 350, 400, or 450 were probably our best bet, with the 350 being ideal since the most numbers were produced and therefore part availability would not be a problem. We lucked out and found a package deal for 3 non running cb350's about 200 miles away for 600$. We drove down there, checked them out, and rented a uhaul to bring them home.


just incase youre wondering, this is not an ideal, much less safe, way to transport motorcycles.



We are using my moms garage as a shop. She OK'd it as long as we were willing to clean it out. I forgot to get pics from its worst state, but believe me, it was filled to the rafters with junk. Also my brothers project civic drag car is in there which he hasnt touched in 5+ years. Sadly I have to work around the car, so a lot of room is lost to it.


After about 20 hours of both of us cleaning and starting to lay some insulation



The ladies make it safe and sound to their home for the winter



Even with the car taking up a lot of room, theres plenty of space for the project. You can see the parts bike in the foreground. Someone was turning it into a hardtail chopper and cut the frame in half. *sigh* The one in the middle has some nifty apehanger handle bars compliments of the 1970's. *sigh*



Friends neighbors were throwing out this logitech 2.1 system. I resoldered the stereo jack and viola, weve got a 200$ sound system. Next to it is the portable propane heater I picked up from home depot. I drilled a hole and ran the line outside so I dont have a 20lbs propane bomb sitting next to me while I use my angle grinder...



The shop drill. Previosly my granddads. Must be 40+ years old. Works like new.



This is what tipped the scales in my decision of which bike I wanted to build.

Dont see it? Check out the trip odometer


Tear down has begun. I really dont know what Im doing, but Im learning a ton as I go. Ive got a Clymers cb350 repair manual, a must have for a project like this.



never done any engine work before. I have a sound understanding of how the thing works, so the rebuild shouldnt be too hard.


So thats about all the pictures I have loaded to my computer at the moment. As for the design of the bikes, we are going for a cafe racer style. I think my friend is going to go more traditional, and my plans have a bit more of a modern twist. For those of you who dont know what a cafe bike looks like, here are a few examples.





Well, thats it for now. Ill be posting updates as I make progress.