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Honda CB 350 1971 Restoration Project

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RedRooster
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PostPosted: 08:53 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Honda CB 350 1971 Restoration Project Reply with quote

Just purchased a honda cb 350 blind from a dealer and i am planning to do a restoration to return it to its former glory. But i have little mechanical knowledge as i have only worked on single cylinder 125s
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Rogerborg
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PostPosted: 10:23 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

For pleasure or profit?
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Islander
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PostPosted: 10:52 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Why has it got a comstar front wheel?
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RedRooster
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PostPosted: 10:59 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Im currently working on the project to go to vintage meets and as a future investment not for profit. And im not sure about the front wheel im hoping to pick up an original wheel if anyones interested in the one on the front.
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motorbikes. Honda Cg125 1972/Honda Cg125 2001/Suzuki Ts185 1979/Honda C90 1979/Honda Cb125s 1972/Yamaha ty80 1975/honda xr250 1984
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RedRooster
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PostPosted: 12:56 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hope to post more photos after work just to show the general condition. Anyone have any ideas if i should restore to concourse or just cafe racer???
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redeem ouzzer
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PostPosted: 13:09 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

It would cost a fortune to Restore that to standard. I wouldn’t cafe it (because I think all cafe racers look shite) I’d just go for the best balance of cheap and shiny I could achieve, then ride it. The comstar needs to fuck off though.
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Islander
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PostPosted: 13:13 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

mpd72 wrote:
RedRooster wrote:
Im currently working on the project to go to vintage meets and as a future investment not for profit. And im not sure about the front wheel im hoping to pick up an original wheel if anyones interested in the one on the front.


How do loss making investments work?


Duh.

You invest, you lose money. Wink
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Islander
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PostPosted: 13:14 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

GT200Fan79 wrote:
It would cost a fortune to Restore that to standard. I wouldn’t cafe it (because I think all cafe racers look shite) I’d just go for the best balance of cheap and shiny I could achieve, then ride it. The comstar needs to fuck off though.


I think it's just been put in there to make a rolling chassis. There's no easy way of mounting a caliper with the standard front end.
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stinkwheel
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PostPosted: 13:39 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now look what you've gone and done! You made me agree with GT200!

Money vortex right there.

If you want to make money on it. Spray it all over with corrosion inhibitor, bag it and store it. Wait for it to become worth more than you just bought it for.

If you want to take it to shows. You'll spend a lot of of time, money and effort getting it to acceptable condition that you wont get back if you then sold it. So restoring classics for a show is a hobby, not an investment.

If you cafe racer it, you are effectively wrecking it. The bobber/cafe racer thing is a fad. In 5-10 years, people will be trying to do restoration jobs on bikes that have been cafe racered. Airboxes and mudguards will be at a premium. Many frames will be scrap.

Look at the old Yamaha LCs. When people bought them, they used to bung renthal bars, allspeed exhausts and a load of anodised aluminium tat on them. They'd drill holes in the airboxes, fuck with the carbs, take the thermostats out of the coolant system, fit dominator headlights etc. etc. Now people are buying them and returning them to standard.

One other option is to make it into a racer but you'd need to know your stuff to get the engine up to speed and again, unless you bought it really cheap, you won't get your money back on it.

In any case. Make sure it's a runner before you spend a fortune on cosmetics.
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RedRooster
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PostPosted: 14:12 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for all the input so far. I mostly do this type of thing as a hobby just to keep me busy really im not too worried about cost or return just be happy to get it up and running again and yeah definitely agree the comstar has to go lol
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RedRooster
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PostPosted: 14:27 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I will probably start by sorting the engine then focus on getting it to a rideable standard if it gets that far it will be treated to new paint trying to reuse and refurbish most of the original parts. Some also said that i could bore it to a 350 and use Kawasaki pistons from a similar bike is this true as i know the bikes actually a 325?
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Islander
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PostPosted: 14:43 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

RedRooster wrote:
I will probably start by sorting the engine then focus on getting it to a rideable standard if it gets that far it will be treated to new paint trying to reuse and refurbish most of the original parts. Some also said that i could bore it to a 350 and use Kawasaki pistons from a similar bike is this true as i know the bikes actually a 325?


Why would you want to?
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RedRooster
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PostPosted: 15:09 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Currently the engines siezed so its not going to be fun trying to get the top end off just thinking of worse case scenario could be damage to the internal hopefully get away with just a hone
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stinkwheel
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PostPosted: 16:56 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

RedRooster wrote:
Currently the engines siezed so its not going to be fun trying to get the top end off just thinking of worse case scenario could be damage to the internal hopefully get away with just a hone


The whole thing could be scrap too so I'd get that engine post-mortem done first. Or it could have seized the cam in the head (as I recall, the cam ran straight in the alloy head on those).

If the engine's seized to the point you can't get the top end off, the outlook is bad. However a good tip inthat situation is to take as much off as you can then put the whole engine in a big bucket of diesel and leave it in there for several weeks.

I hope you didn't pay much for it...
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I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
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Speedy23
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PostPosted: 19:21 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Are the forks bent or is it just the photo?
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Teflon-Mike
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PostPosted: 19:35 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

RedRooster wrote:
I will probably start by sorting the engine then focus on getting it to a rideable standard if it gets that far it will be treated to new paint trying to reuse and refurbish most of the original parts. Some also said that i could bore it to a 350 and use Kawasaki pistons from a similar bike is this true as i know the bikes actually a 325?


Oh-Kay... from photo-first-impressions.

1/ that comstar front wheel but as significantly, the disc brake.

Means you don't even have the original front drum brake hub.. and what has or hasn't been done to make the disc bake operative? Have the forks been butchered to take a caliper?

Fact that the front wheel is missing, instantly strikes suspicion in me, that the bike likely ended up scrapped after a head-on, buckling the front wheel, and gawd knows what else... so just how much work may there be over and above obvious, 'some-one' umpety decades gave up on or deemed beyond economic, repair even then?!

Could just be that, the front wheel got so rusty spokes pulled out the rim, and got lost when some-one gave up trying to 'true' it... but that gives little confidence the back may be any better.... leading to...

2/ Wire Wheels. Absolutely TOP of the list, on any wire wheel machine. THIS is where I would start... and you are a starting from the pit-lane, not even the back of the grid on that one thanks to that comastar.

Steel rims rot from the inside; and spokes rust. On any bike even approaching that age, I would have little hope I could find a complete wheel second hand, and if you could, that it would be any good?

This begs suggestions, that the 'best' way to tackle the wheels is to start by stripping to the hubs, procuring new rims and new spokes and rebuilding from there.

They are drum hubs, so before starting that, you need good hubs and to make sure that the drums aren't oval or worn beyond limit. The drive flanges cracked or the spoke eyes stretched or anything like that.

You have a back drum, not a front.... I would be checking CMSL micro-fishe for the original part number, and with a little luck hoping that either hub is the same casting as used on another, hopefully later and more common model, like a 200 Benley or XL250 or something, to widen target search, or it's down to getting dimensions, and hoping I could use a little lathe work to make a more common and available hub, 'like' original.

As front hub is missing, so too presumably is the brake that should live in it. Another problem to add to the list.

Again, CMSL for part number compatibility to widen search, but likely that alternative bikes that may have used that hub, also used single-leading shoe brakes in them, whilst what you have should probably have a Twin-Leading-Shoe, I imagine.

This little issue may be difficult to sort and ultimately procuring the parts expensive.

But, all up, I would antiipate having to spend, maybe £250 per wheel or a lot lot more, to get hubs, get them reconditioned, get new rims and have them laced up and trued.

That is £500 straight off the top, without adding around another £100-£150 to put new tyres on them wth new tubes.

Yes, you could save a few pennies trying to DIY... good luck, Its not a job I'd tackle with any glee!

BUT its a key to making a bike mechanically sound and reliable. I have had an old hub collapse on me, the consequent carnage is NOT pretty. I wouldn't try stint on it.

3/ Then I could ponder the forks. Are they original? Are they complete, vis brake bosses and fittings etc? Have they been butchered in any way? Like having the brake drum boss hack-sawed off so the disc can go around?

And after that, stripped of the shrouds, what state are they in beneath?

If shrouded telescopes, are the stanchions beneath in a state that is even close to serviceable? If not, can they be re-chromed? Probably, but at a cost of possibly £150 a leg or more.

New fork seals, are probably the least of your worries, and not that big an expense. Springs and things likewise, and there's some scope in the hidden bits for work-arounds to original parts. But NOT in the visible ones, where the shrouds and the lamp brackets could cause vexation and expense, especially where things may need to be show-chromed before over-painting to match brochure pics.

PARTIAL CONCLUSION!

THIS sets a big threshold of both cost and hassle for the start point. JUST on what I can see, to start getting that close mechanically to a viable rider/show bike, the costs are mounting.

There is around £1000 just in getting the wheels and forks sussed....

It's a reletvely rare machine, but, what are concourse examples fetching?

The benchmark is the original wire-wheel CB750; a geunely orignal or brochure restored example may fetch five figures, but there are plenty less authentc examples that struggle to command £5K

As a starting point.. a bike that desirable and inherently 'valuable' does have a much better chance to be restored.. and that's before you look at the length of its model history and the sales volumes it achieved, and the possibility for part substitutions, either new or used, likely to make it a little less fraught than the short lived CB350 twin...

Seriousely, tackling a project of this age and type, paying even the silly money oft asked for whire wheel 750 four's, in basket case condtion as a resto-base; chucking even £15oo or £2ooo at a more 'complete' wreck to start on, gives so much extra chance of getting something close to orignal and working condition.

Picking something less complete, less original or in obvious need of extra work, is likely false economy in the scale of the likely all up cost to road.

Picking something so much less common, so much less complete, something so obviously in need of big work and original parts, is not making the job easy on yourself, or long term, likely to save you any money along the way, or give you anything any more valuable or salable for it... or pleasurable to own and ride.

COULD be a lot of fun... but also a huge money pit, to never have more than a pile of non working junk in the back-garden.

And ultimately begs the suggestion, given that economic reality, is it even worth trying to get it back to working, let alone near catalog standard?

DOWN AND DIRTY!

Taking the alternatve aproach; keepng costs in check, chucking out aspirations of orignality; what COULD you do with that bike?

Now, a Bike Shred, brat-bob-chop hipster special, offers some 'hope'.

Chuck away everything it doesn't really need just to ride. Make new seat with plywood and old PVC jacket, make a feature of improvised repairs and the non-originality... and look at how many drool over such creations, you are maybe in with a chance.

B-U-T... still only looking at the photo! You have a 250N front wheel. Fair enough, match that with a cheap common 240N back wheel! Cheap and easy and maybe £500 of 'restoration' budget saved. Still got the issue of them forks though. Have they been butchered for a Super-dream disc caliper? Can you fabricate a caliper mount some-how? STILL are the forks salvageable? Plenty of 250N's lying around you cold just rob a whole super-dream front end off, if needs must, but where does that lead? And, would you have anything at the end that looked a lot different to any of the Super-Dream specials out there?

Is there anything about the 350, that other than simply not having been a 250N, that makes it anything more? And if it does, how many are going to value that compared to how many tut and suck and grumble about another fantastic 'classic' being butchered to a fashion victim?

Motor! The two-valve 350 twin, as stock, claimed, (optmistically!) 35bhp, which is actually pretty healthy. BUT, the three-valve 250N offered almost 30, the 400N almost 45.

Engine reuilds are expensive. And on less common two-valve twin, harder. Fiding a 3v 250N motor in good working order, would likely give you as much, more easily than trying to recondition your original; a 400N far more than trying to extract a bit extra from the 325cc 350 lump, to rob originality along the way.

As an asside, I believe that Kawasaki 125 pistons do go into a number of older Hondas, but usually need machining to suit being pocketed for the valves etc. 20 odd years ago, I had the disprivilidge of contendng with a clubbie road-race SOHC 500/4, bored to a little over 600cc, that ran modded 125 Kawak slugs.. it was no walk in the park, believe me!

As far as resto and tuning go, there are a LOT of incompatabiltes that make the 'idea' that there is possible advantage, to both save money and gain peformance, that often realise neither.

So... where do you want to go?

PERSONALLY... I would be inclined to leave this one to the brat-pack, to hack how they see fit, and let their optimism take them where they will, and make it some-one else' problem!!!!

Hence offer you the advice of doing no moe than scrub it up, take some photo's that make it look a good bike-shred contender, and slap it back on e-bay...

And offer the irishmans directions, "Well, I widdna be stairtin frum 'ere, noiy!"..

Personally I would, pick a bike I REALLY wanted to own/ride at the end, or something that stood a much better chance of being worth a good proportion of its resto cost, when done.

Have you any vast sentimental value already invested in this one, to make it worth tackling? Was it your Dad or Granddad's bike for instance? Did it take Uncle Jim and Aunte Mable to the church when they got marred and on a trans-euro-tour for their honey moon or anything?

What that would suggest to you, only you andecide.

For me? It would suggest a geunuine wire wheel CB750K, and a big gulp to find the money to get one and do it justce, probably begging the suggestion I look at Kwak Z1's, which in turn would have me looking at air-cooled two-smokes, like the tripples, and from them to early air-cooled RD's and trying to wrap my head around Zook GT's.. and looking longingly at Bridgestones! PROBABLY to plump for a single cylinder dirt bike.

On that score, plenty of candidates. I have owned a less than common as muck Montesa 248 trals iron for over thirty years, and 'restored' that thing countless times along the way, to make it competition ready each season... I wouldn't pick another!!! But, perhaps one of the enduro models, or a Bultaco, or if I was [s] completely daft [/s] , looking for a REAL challenge a Fantic! Or a Husquevana, or 'something' of that ilk!

But that's MY sort of selection. Pulling it back to more available road-bikes, that SOHC Honda 750 four would remain my bench mark. Two-Stokes of the 70's command a similar if not higher premium; they also have less intricate mechanics, they could be as viable and more do-able; but, I would have to think long and hard about the matter.

For something more likely to be do-able that I could actually see to road without a complete nervous break-down, or re-mortgagng the house, I would probably pick a Moto-Guzzi.. (been there, done that!) Two valves and push-rods, and parts compatibility between models that cover my entre life-time, bodes well... probably pull me back to looking at GT250 Copy two-smoke Benelli's though, and that I have to confess does tempt.... BUT.... I may be daft I may have lost my marbles, but I still have enough faculties to make me pause before diving into that one!

Back to the top...Here and now, you need a clear project philosophy.

Just how much you are prepare to chuck at THIS bike, by way of time effort and money. More... how far you can stretch that intended budget of time effort and money to see it through. More still, how many compromises you are prepare to make along the way, straying from catalog original 'concourse' to make it ride-able and or sale-able at the end.

Then a 'plan' of how best to achieve that WITH A HELL OF A LOT of inbult elasticity, to change plans to suit on the ground conditions as you find them.

Eg; straight off the top, I have highlighted the niggles of wheels. You have problem there, that before you begin, you only have one. Rough, and likely conservative estimate of £500 'just' to properly renovate them, by way of re-building with new rims, spokes and tyres, new bearings and seals etc.

Big chunk of upfront money, and the logical start place, because wthout wheels you dont have a motorbike.

The engine? As it stands, I dont know if it runs, or if it could be even fettled to run close to well.

Even if it could, the risks of an early post MOT resuscitation failure, are high. Old piston rings, old stem seals, old crank seals etc that have held oil or done what they should for forty years not asked to work for a living are likely to start breaking when they are, and you are back to square one, having to pull motors and do jobs you hoped to avoid at the beginning.

Tackle the engine first, and whether you do a scrub-up or full tear-down. Once that motor has signs of life, you will be inclned to rush the rest to see the whole 'work'.

Or end up with a very expensive motor sat in the corner seizing up again, whilst you come around to the niggles of things like wheels, frustrated you cant find the propper one for the front...

Tackle that and/or others first, you could have a pair of very expensive wheels sat in the shed, whilst your get frustrated with a half rebuilt engine, struggling to find or afford a new cylinder head, debating the viability ad cost of local machine shop boring out and shrinking in new guides, and seats, that they may have to mod from stock or make from scratch to start! And running out of bits and bobs and brackets to attack with the wire brush and a can of primer....

So... back to the project-phlosophy, and your aims and objectives, aspirations, and the capabilities offered by way of time, money, effort and as importantly facilities and ability.

I dont want to be a complete nay-sayer, but its oyrishmans directions.

As a starting place, I really dont see an awful amont of merit in what you have shown us as a startng point.

And ideas of how to tackle that, that are probably not the best to lead to a happy conclusion, if you do persevere with it.

Sorry... but if you cant face this sort of unpalatable fact now, you sure as eggs wont when faced with a stator turning to dust and a replacement that doesn't fit in it's housing, or a pressed up two journal crank that has knackered bearings o the big ends, you cant just replace with a 12mm socket!

Its a less common, and more interesting machine to tackle; but that alone is probably NOT a huge incentive to chuck what it needs at it.

If its a genuine UK import, then it is rarer still, and that much more interesting, BUT....

The 250 Learner-Laws were introduced in 1961. The 'moped' laws that restricted 16 year olds to 50's came in in 1973. So in '71, it had been a decade since any-one could ride a 350 on L-Plates without a side-car, and a 350 wouldn't likely have been bought by a 16 year old expecting to age up and be able to carry on riding it after law change, as so many 17+ did from '79 to '83 ahead of 125 learner laws.

The Japanse light and middle-weghts, were also not all that popular in the UK until after 1973, with the domino colapse of the brit-bike industry, in the wake of BSA bankruptsy. The Jap bikes, just were NOT 'cheap' by the standards of the day.

If you wanted 'cheap' you bought an ex GPO BSA Bantum. If you wanted performance, you bought a 650 Twin... or probably a big single! What they Japs offered, in the lightweight class, was big-bike sort of performance, for not quite big-bike sort of money, whilst dodging, then incredibly 'easy' and hardly expensive wobble round the block tests to actually be able to ride a real big-bike!

This begs very big suspicion, that a '71 CB350, is very very likely NOT a geuine UK bike.

Its too big to have been learner legal, so they sold in very very small numbers here. They DID sell in large numbers in the US which was, and still is, Honda's cash-cow market, and from which an awful lot of old scrap has subsequently been retrospectively imported to the UK onto the resto-market.

This begs a very very large area of uncertainty, with that machine, in its origins and registration.. starting with whether it even has one!

If its 'grey' imported US model, it likely doesn't have and never has had a UK regstration, and you will probably have to make it road worthy and get a MOT on it before you can tackle even that little niggle, and potentally face SVA rules regarding its orginality to type in that... as well as impact on ultmate market value.

But more niggles in sourcing parts, and decypherng specs, especially if you elect to restore to brochure/concourse standard...

So... sorry to say it, but oyrish directions, I really really wouldn't be wating to start from where you are.

If I did, I would have to have plenty of bludy good reasons to, and I would want to get very very clued up about what I actually had to start with, and where I could source the necessary bits I needed along the way.

Which would all beg having a very clear idea of my project philosophy, or how was going to tackle it what was and wasn't so important, in what I hoped to achieve.

And a BIG dose of realism, as to what I realy MIGHT achieve along the way.

Starting with what looks like a typical barn find wreck; tackling the engine, in a naive hope of making it a runner, while pondering the wheels issue as a big problem to tackle later, and suggesting the pretty bits of paint and chrome don't really matter at this stage?

Credt for not being too bothered at this stage about the paint and chrome.... there is a lot of prettily painted scrap out there conceived by the folk that do stick this at the top of the list.... BUT, it is a whole not a collection of parts, and IF you are going to have to tackle the mechanical bits beneath, by the time you have stripped something down to bare metal to find out if its sound and salvageable, by the time you have prepped that part, hammering it straight, or cleaned
the rust to fit new seals or bearings or make a hinge bend or bolt screw in and out, you have probably done 99% of the prep to paint, and be done, anyway, and you aren't saving much if anything NOT painting... and if you don't, you probably haven't done the job that actually needed doing along the way.

As it stands, as shown, I would take odds on your 'hope' that you might have something to show the MOT man by the time the sun starts shining come March! AND they would be long odds!

Odds that you'll be happly pottering out to a local meet on it, come April, even longer, and notion that you would't end up stranded at the sde of the road waitng for an AA truck if you did, are headng into lottery ticket realms.... they really, really are, IMO.

BUT, definition of a project is that its whatever you want to make it.... its your call how to tackle it, BUT, my best advice, is first this should be in Show and tell, not work-shop... A-N-D before that, do a heck of a lot of evaluation, and more research as to whether this bike, as it stands in any way shape of form, stands any chance of delivering you a 'project win' at the end...

How much hassle, grief, frustration and cold hard cash it will likely cost along the way, and can that in any way, be worth the project satisfaction IF you get it to completion....

That is something no one else can put a value on; but knowing that you have spent £1000's on a bike the market wont pay £100's for, will damp whatever pleasure you may get from riding something you have built, that can, per minutes saddle time, be a very very expensive indulgence, to so often NOT be riding the bike you would really like to be, that might have warrant the cash spent on it.

Back up, take a good hard look at what you have got. Invest NO MORE in it; Time, effort or money, or 'hope'.

Decide on a proper project philosophy. Define what you hope to achieve. Define how you might acheve it. Evaluate whether you have the actual time, the actual money, available skills, tools, effort and inclination to do that. AND allow the elasticity for ALL the unknowns you will encounter along the way.

And start wth a clean piece of paper and question, IS this the best place to start?

Only you can decide, BUT.... THIS is the sort of shift in thinking, you should apply.

Trust me, I have done enough projects like this over the years; on average perhaps one every 18 months or so, for well over quarter of a century! And if they stand any chance of any sort of happy outcome, its ALL in the planning, and its all in being realistic, its ALL about having enough money and enough elasticity to contend with the unknown, and reeling in optimism and ambition, whilst persevering in the face of utter adversity and pools of your own blood, JUST to see it through!

You really need a MUCH better project philosophy and a real, project plan for how to proceed, IF at all. Think long and hard, about it.

Blog it if you must it's not a bad idea, & the show-and-tell section the place to show-case that; but probably best to hold back first and early some entries, until you have some worthwhile progress to show.. and there's some momentum propelling the project along.

There are many many MANY blogs showcasing photo's of old wrecks and fantastic aspirations for them... very very few that show completed, road worth machines... and even fewer of those, that show those machines a year, or two years after, still in use, actually delivering a fraction of all their creator ever hoped!

Chances of even moderate project success are lottery odds. And from suggested start point, as said you are like a penalty entrant starting from the pit-lane, not even the back of the grid, with very very low chance of a podium position, with that bike, and current plans and ideas.

Take a big, step back, and decide if ts worth pursuing, and if so, how, and how you might achieve any, let aloe most preferred conclusion.

It's an interesting bike... and could make an interesting project.... B-U-T... it's not one I would even consider taking on I am afraid. Be interesting to see how you might tackle it.... but I fear for you trying, I really do! Especially with current suggestions a plan!

Good luck.. I really think you could do with all you can get on this one, I'm afraid!!!
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Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'
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stinkwheel
Bovine Proctologist



Joined: 12 Jul 2004
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PostPosted: 19:49 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

So here we have a ratty as hell bike with a seized engine that probably seized the cams and big-ends in 1972 because nobody bothered cleaning the oil pump strainer and has been parked in a chicked shed somewhere dry and sunny ever since.

Teff. "Absolute first and second priority, top of the list, spend another £500 on wheels for it." Rolling Eyes

OP, spend not a penny more on it until you've found out if the engine is salveageable and the frame hasn't rotted out. All that should take (at least to get a very good idea about it) is time.
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I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
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RedRooster
Derestricted Danger



Joined: 11 Dec 2017
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PostPosted: 20:58 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the input bud you must know your stuff but im still going to take my chances not really bothered about resale value just want the challange hopefully i might pull it off lol and yeah probably need all the luck i can get Razz
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motorbikes. Honda Cg125 1972/Honda Cg125 2001/Suzuki Ts185 1979/Honda C90 1979/Honda Cb125s 1972/Yamaha ty80 1975/honda xr250 1984
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RedRooster
Derestricted Danger



Joined: 11 Dec 2017
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PostPosted: 21:03 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Planning on having a better look during the week the frame is mint and most of the original parts are salvagable apart from the seat base
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motorbikes. Honda Cg125 1972/Honda Cg125 2001/Suzuki Ts185 1979/Honda C90 1979/Honda Cb125s 1972/Yamaha ty80 1975/honda xr250 1984
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jjdugen
World Chat Champion



Joined: 03 Jun 2011
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PostPosted: 21:17 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not rare at all! Honda sold shitloads, CB250 K1 -4 1969 - 1974. There's actually lots of standard stuff around as these are highly prized by the classic racing mob, for very good reasons. Robust and (relatively) fast, certainly far less likely to spit you off through siezure than the Yam equivalent. But even I would look at that one a bit sideways. Good runners with MOT go for the £2 -2500 mark, this one will take that much and more. Breaking it might be your best bet I'm afraid.
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Oldie
Brolly Dolly



Joined: 05 Dec 2010
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PostPosted: 21:47 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't actually believe that a dealer would hold a wreck like this. Nice story.
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Teflon-Mike
tl;dr



Joined: 01 Jun 2010
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PostPosted: 23:32 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

stinkwheel wrote:
Teff. "Absolute first and second priority, top of the list, spend another £500 on wheels for it." Rolling Eyes


Nooooo Stink... try again! Old shed barn find bike, with ONE wire wheel...

THAT is the first thing to WORRY about.... not necessarily pay out on to 'sort' .

Does beg having a plan, to deal with, to secure two serviceable hubs, that £500 or mores worth of spokes and rubber can be assembled around at some point! But that is all, and once you have the plan, and the bits, that could be left almost until everything else is done.

Engines? Last thing a motorbike actually needs to work.... before you 'go', make sure you can 'stop'! And before that, make sure you 'go' in the right direction!

Brakes, tyres, wheels, steering and suspension, should come before engines... that do no more than shove you along.

Practically the engine can be pretty much last thing to tackle. You might lift a rocker cover to see if the cam-shaft is chewed, or a rocker broken or something... BUT you wont learn much of huge import until you tear down into the bowels.

Once there, in for a penny, in for a quid. You wont know if the valve seats need doing, or the rings are snapped or how bad bores may be, until you have taken the head off; you wont tell much about the state of big end journals and main bearings until you have split the crank-cases, and you have a full rebuild to contend with either which way, and a lot of oily bits lying about to get lost.

So... plan for the worst, hope for the best... expect that the motor, at some point, will have to come out, and will have to be torn down and reconditioned.. and will cost money... brackets can be stuck around that blind, and then the matter left until you have bottomed out all the rest, and can be sure that there is more than better chance you'll have a bike to stick motor in to at the end.

Here, the motor actually being seized can be a boon, deturing you from trying to tinker a dodo to life, or wasting lots of time, energy and money, trying to breath some useful life back into a clapped out old clunker, on its last legs, that really needs a complete rebuilt but teases you refusing to actually lie down and be dead, while you mess with carbs or ignition and exhausts, and do anything and everything, but look at oily bits!!
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'
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Teflon-Mike
tl;dr



Joined: 01 Jun 2010
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PostPosted: 23:39 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oldie wrote:
I don't actually believe that a dealer would hold a wreck like this. Nice story.

Oh, there's a notorious one in the pottries, with a penchant for chequer-plate scenary in their e-bay photo's, renowned for flogging dead horses like that. And many more that they get in the transport container, that even they cant make look half viable in chequer-plate photo's, that are pictured in suburban back yards and punted out by 'private' traders...
I am certain they are not the only one.
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'
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Jewlio Rides Again LLB
World Chat Champion



Joined: 06 Oct 2015
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PostPosted: 23:42 - 11 Dec 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fucking hell, a million word post to say nothing that hasn't already been said.
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