1973 Honda CL350

[jas67]

Wow, amazing job, Dave!

[larrys]

I worked in a motorcycle rental shop part-time when I was in the Army in Denver. We had a fleet of CL350s and CB160s. They were all great bikes, I knew them well due to the destruction they experienced. They were like a Timex, they took a lickin' and kept on tickin'. Beautiful bike, nicer than new.
kk

Wow! Brings back a memory! That was on the Aurora side of Lowry AFB, yes? When I was a young airman in 1972 going to tech school at Lowry a bunch of us rented CB160's there (none of us had the scratch to afford the CL350's) and rode them to the top of Mt. Evans. By the time we were 3/4ths of the way up, the bikes had so little power you couldn't use any gear higher than 2nd. One crapped out about halfway back we made a tow strap with three of our belts and towed the guy the rest of the way...
Dave, sorry for the thread drift...
Larry

[Dave Swanson]

Wow! Brings back a memory! That was on the Aurora side of Lowry AFB, yes? When I was a young airman in 1972 going to tech school at Lowry a bunch of us rented CB160's there (none of us had the scratch to afford the CL350's) and rode them to the top of Mt. Evans. By the time we were 3/4ths of the way up, the bikes had so little power you couldn't use any gear higher than 2nd. One crapped out about halfway back we made a tow strap with three of our belts and towed the guy the rest of the way...
Dave, sorry for the thread drift...
Larry

Great story.  These are the kind of things that makes a thread interesting. 

[Moparnut72]

I worked there in 1969 and 1970. I made enough money to buy a new BMW and was interested in riding. I had had enough working 16 to 18 hours a day, 7 days a week except for Sunday only 6 or so. Yes it was outside the North gate on Yosemite St, S&S Cycle. We replaced the CB160's with 175's sometime in 1969. I remember that we worked most of the night on a Friday setting them up. The next morning we finished that part, Frank, owner, adjusted valves, set the points and took each for a short test ride around the block. The they went out the door and down the street at full throttle. It made me cringe to see a new bike with maybe a mile on it having it's guts getting wrung out of it. I think we had 15 new 175'sonly one had trouble, a shaft in the transmission broke. Unfortunately it got cannibalized before we got the parts to fix it. It was quite the experience working in that shop.
kk

[dte8dom]

Beautiful, just beautiful. That is what a motorcycle is supposed to look like. Most new bikes are just “busy”. That bike is perfect.

[Dave Swanson]

Beautiful, just beautiful. That is what a motorcycle is supposed to look like. Most new bikes are just “busy”. That bike is perfect.

Thanks.  You can tell why they sold like free popcorn.  They had the look and the design throughout is amazing when you consider the time frame that it was on the Honda drafting boards. 

[cliffrod]

That’s a great looking bike, Dave.

[Scout63]

I love seeing your finished bikes Dave. Each one is a gem.

[BRG-BIRD]

Beautiful machine

[skixc1]

Dave,
How did you get the aluminum engine cases looking like that? stripping and painting? polishing? I have a CB 750 that I've brought back to life but the engine cases look like crap. I didn't try to do anything with them as I wasn't sure what to do.

[Dave Swanson]

Dave,
How did you get the aluminum engine cases looking like that? stripping and painting? polishing? I have a CB 750 that I've brought back to life but the engine cases look like crap. I didn't try to do anything with them as I wasn't sure what to do.

The 350 engines were mostly painted.  The lower case, and cam case were left natural from the factory while the upper case, barrels, head, all the covers, and the starter were painted.  I bead blasted the painted housings, painted with silver engine paint, and followed up with a coat of 2K clear.  The 2K clear is fuel resistant. 

[Gliderjohn]

Beautiful. Those were good years.
GliderJohn

[Moparnut72]

A couple of hours ago on some news feed there was a very short article about Honda bring out a CB350 styled after the original. It looked good but due to the very small picture not much detail. I think it was stated that it was most likely for the Asian market.
kk

[frozengoose]

A couple of hours ago on some news feed there was a very short article about Honda bring out a CB350 styled after the original. It looked good but due to the very small picture not much detail. I think it was stated that it was most likely for the Asian market.
kk

Yah just have to read the Royal Enfield blogs, my wife has one...

https://www.theindianwire.com/automobiles/retro-reimagined-honda-cb350-ready-to-compete-against-royal-enfield-classic-350-343256/

[chuck peterson]

Foto of the new honda cb350…India market









Beautiful bike dave!

[Shiny Hat]

Nothing screams retro and the good old days more than a digital display and phone connectivity.

Not much of a fan of restorations and removing the soul (patina, character, history, story, life lived - whatever one calls it) but the Honda looks great and just needs to be ridden and put away wet.

[Dave Swanson]

Not much of a fan of restorations and removing the soul (patina, character, history, story, life lived - whatever one calls it) but the Honda looks great and just needs to be ridden and put away wet.

My decision process regarding how far to take a restoration or a rejuvenation is dictated by the bike.  Some only get mechanical restoration, others get the Full Monty, and most are somewhere in between. 

For instance.  My 1956 Harley KHK started out like this.  Kind of hard to maintain the soul of this one as is.   

[Shiny Hat]

Yeah, no soul in a box of parts. Your restorations are impeccable and surely a labor of love.
Just different idea’s on how they should look, neither wrong. I focus on mechanically sound and safe to ride, shiny and fresh paint take a back seat (think Mike from pickers, brother from another mother) I’d love to see a before on the Honda.

[Dave Swanson]

I’d love to see a before on the Honda.

Just imagine a garden variety, knackered, POS CL350 that was a couple baby steps from the junkyard and you'll have an accurate "before".