Abarth

Brilliant! Good to see another one being rebuilt. What colour flake haha? Mine’s been sitting in the garage all winter but will no doubt be put back into the water during summer. Found they like mineral 2 stroke oil way better than synthetic, doesn’t foul the plug as easy with its eco friendly 10:1 fuel/oil premix.

Carried on shaping and sticking on the badges, originally for the early CBs with the square shape tank but I liked them so much I picked up a replica metal set and stuck them on. Was going to paint the badges but like the raw alloy look so gave them a coat of Matt clear to keep them crisp. Drilled holes in the clip ons and feed the wires through for the controls, now on to the major wiring to make sure everything works like it should. Fitted up the gear linkage I got from AliExpress, so mint! A tad short which was completely my fault as a don’t know how I got the measurement wrong but hey it works! Next is to build an exhaust which doesn’t hit the rearsets!!

Big update mostly about clearances. Firstly the Supertrapp reps turned up and wow are they mint! Did a test fit and fired it up which sounded great, stoked!!! Now clearances, looking at a lot of other CB350 builds I always wondered why they added aftermarket headers. With the rearsets I realise that the factory exhaust sits too high so the brake leaver hits the muffler. Also the kick start hits the rearsets too, bit of a cluster really. Gave it a quick tune with the glass plugs, found the 70 idle jet ran too rich so swapped it out for a 68 which helped when tuning with the Air/Fuel mixture screw. Also added in the blue titanium hose clamps round the carbs, kind dig it kinda don’t, they are quite wide so they don’t quite fit. Can see them in this pic. The push button controls turned up for the handle bars too; again quality and feel is immaculate so far, they also did a perfect job of setting up the buttons as some were momentary and others were push on/off. Test fitted them to check and happy with the fit/clearance. I’ll thread the wiring properly down through the handle bars eventually. Realistically this bike won’t be ready for the DGR ride on Sunday so the CB250k is hitting the ride again this year with the DGR headlight stickers to support men’s mental health. Lastly found the winged Honda badges I brought ages ago to stick on the CB350. Factory colour is to fill them in white but I reckon black could be the go. Thanks for looking!

Thanks guys! It’s been a lot of work to get it to this stage. I’ve added an LED flasher unit so I think it’s something to do with the wiring not being quite right. I’ll revisit the wiring once the controls arrive from AE and try to knock it out all in one go. Super Trapp reps should also be arriving too this week as there is an issue with the exhaust and rearset brake hitting. Probably going to make new headers to get the clearances. Anyways she’s come a long way since the Trademe purchase that’s for sure!

Finally kicked this thing into life this arvo. Started easy as and sat there idleing like a champ. Stoked the motor is working as it should have. One step closer to the DGR ride! Still have so much to go, mainly wiring as the indicators don’t blink, starter motor is dead, rear set linkages etc.....

Carried on setting the motor up today. Kept the points instead of a CDI as there is something oldschool mechanical that I like about them. Tensioned the timing chain at 90 degrees after tdc. Then set up the points timing and tested the coils, got good spark so she’s getting very close to starting now! Fitted the headers and noticed there isn’t much room between them and the rearsets. Might have to make some out of 35mm ID pipe to get the clearances.

Carried on with the wiring, cleaning up all the old connections and added in modern plugs. Added in a regulator/rectifier to replace the old Honda ones. Drilled holes in the underside of the clip on bars to feed the wires out and down into the headlight. Trying to keep the wiring tidy with some going through the centre of the frame. Had my other Honda round to compare factory spec to cafe spec.

Been putting the front together. Added in heated elements inside the clip on tubes for those cold days. Indicators are now bar end indicators, they have a white LED and orange LED in them so we’ll hook the white to the headlights and the orange to the indicator relay. Connected all the cables up, we used short versions which were perfect with the clip ons. Found that the headlight bracket we fitted made the headlight stick out too much. On the hunt for brackets with shorter arms. May even use the factory ones as they are short. Ordering some gaiters to fit over the fork too. Anyways this is as it stands at the end of the evening.

Had a play with the headlight. Managed to order the wrong size so it’s huge haha but was keen to see how it looked with a yellow tint. Once the smaller one arrives I think we’ll keep the yellow as it pops against the blue. Next is the wiring, so much to do before the Distinguished Gentlemen's ride in Sept!! Edit: man that rear tyre looks huge, thinking of down sizing as it looks a big out of proportion in the profile shot.

Painted the frame and got the motor back in the frame today. Lots of figuring out where all the bolts went as most of them were sitting in a bucket before buying. Front guard turned out perfect, so many hours spent to keep the rolled steel edge on the front. Stoked with how it turned out. On its feet for the first time! Placed all the pieces to see how it looks all together.. Big shout out to Eliav for doing the upholstery, leather with the dark blue stitching looks mint!

Engine build has been a bit more of a mission than expected. Found a replacement for the cam, new second hand one is mint compared to the old one. Can see the old cam on the bottom with chunks missing from the lobe and grooves ground into the surfaces. Also found some good replacement rockers as those surfaces were equally as worn. Pretty much all the internals are either new or as new in the engine, pistons, gudgeon pins, rings, cam chain, tensioner, cam, rockers, etc... hopefully this thing isn’t rattley when it fires up.

Thanks mate, I’ll get in contact Frame is back from the welders, stoked with how it’s turned out. Fitted the rear wheel and took some measurements, fitment clears the frame even with the big tyre. Added in a bracket to mount the seat latch mechanism too, also doubles as frame strength. Continued on with the engine build today, got the piston and rings in, everything was going great until we noticed small cracks on the camshaft where the timing chain cog fits on. Turned out to be cracked right through on both sides. Yip that’s game over for that cam.

How to blow your CB350 build budget CNC cognito tree with Motogadget Mini and warning lights built in. A few Joker Machine parts, rear brake strap, tachometer cable plug, rear wheel and brake adjusters. Then cognito rearsets, these are beautifully engineered. Anyways, pistons arrived so got started with the engine build. Added in all new cam chain and tensioner. Had the pistons matched to the bores by Taylor’s Engineering, they also gave the head and cylinder faces a skim. Checked the piston ring gap clearance at 0.010, well within spec. All was going well till we got to the gudgeon pins; in short these are rooted. So back to waiting for new ones to arrive.

Spent the arvo shaping the mudguard after cutting it. Spot welded the ends back on and filled in the holes from the guard supports. Then cut 15mm out of the mounts to get the guard sitting closer to the tyre. Had to pre heat the metal before welding to get the MIGs weld to fully penetrate into the steel. Happy with how it’s all sitting now

Got the tyres fitted to the rims. Went with Michelin Pilot Activ, 90/90r18 on the front and a big ol 4.00 on the back. Remember the 90/90r18 is pretty much the factory rear size which is now on the front. Looks tiny compared to the 4.00. The 4.00 has a 102mm tyre wall height while the factory 81mm. May swap out the rear for a Michelin Sirac as they have a 110/80r18 rear size which may suit the frame clearances better. Plus they have a sweet semi trail blocky tread pattern. With the 90 on the front it’s a squeeze to fit them under the factory guard but it’ll go. Got chopping with a drop saw, almost felt guilty as it was a mint guard. Will re weld on the ends to keep the nice factory curves. and lower the mounting brackets so it’s more flush with the tyre.

Rim’s arrived from Birmingham, England this week. Stainless steel WM2 and WM3, one size wider than factory. Got stuck into lacing them up to the hubs, stoked with how they turned out. Cycle Treads did the final truing and torquing of the spokes. Going to run a 3 inch wide tyre on the front and a 4 on the back. Gave all the vapour blasted parts a couple coats of VHT satin clear to keep them looking crisp. Also added all new wheel bearing to the hubs, stripped the front forks and cleaned them up. Added genuine Honda fork seals and fresh oil ready to go. Motor is still waiting for the pistons which is on the way and the frame is down at the engineers getting the hoop welded in fully.

Threw in all new wheel bearings into the hubs. Converted the steering bearings to tapered bearing with a kit from 4 into 1. Then made a start on assembling the motor. Reassemble the gearbox first, cleaned everything and check it ran through the gears before closing the cases with Yamabond. We’ve noticed that one of the pistons has stuck rings, looks like it got hot at some point. Which is probably the reason it got parked up in the first place. Will have to order new rings and pistons. It was already on 0.5 so will probably go 0.75 oversized this time. Looks like the oil pump plunger has a lot of scoring on it, so will be rebuilding it to make sure oil pressure is good. Thinking that we will give the freshly vapour blasted alloy a coat of 2k matt clear keep it fresh.

Added 4 layers of 1mm thick fibreglass doing two layers per night. Used a roller to push the resin into the matting driving out air bubbles. One it all set we popped the seat off the frame. The carbon fibre looks epic but the white lithium grease added so many ripples in the resin. To fix this we’ll give it a layer of resin let it dry and sand it flat. A quick polish after that should have the carbon popping. Pretty much just cut to shape with an angle grinder, stoked with how well it fits. Just need to find a latch mechanism. Seen one off a Suzuki Bandit that’s perfect. Is Pick a Part for bikes a thing? Mocked up the upholstery too, black faux leather with dark blue stitching.

Carried on fitting the rear hoop, chucked on the rear wheel and measured clearances as the new shocks are 3cm shorter than factory. The rear of the hoop now sits just over an inch past the rear wheel centre point. IMO anything shorter and the bike looks stumpy. Once that was tack welded in we got started with the seat. Decided to create a mould out of pallet wrap. Layed down Polyester resin and rolled carbon fibre into the resin to set. Dream result is to have a nice carbon fibre look under the seat. We used white lithium grease as a release agent which may have left white streaks through the resin. So it could look shit house but we’ll see after it hardens off.

Work continues.... Got the motor back and it’s looking mint! Thanks @Mr Vapour!! Chopped the rear end to fit the rear hoop, just need to smooth off round where the steel pressed frame meets the tube steel. An order from 4 into 1 arrived which meant we could crack on with the carbs. Wicked rebuild kit which literally had everything, even included larger jets for the trumpets. Also made a start on the motor, had the bros round help lap the valves and reassemble the head. The lower casing had a oil pan fitted in the bottom which weirdly had two screws and three rivets holding it in. Had to drill out the rivets to remove it and clean the sump properly. Then drilled the holes and tapped a thread in each to add proper screws in.

How’s progress? Mocked up the frame with some of the parts this evening and were pretty stoked with how it’s all looking. The blue tank pops against the raw alloy silver finish on the fuel tank strips and clipons. Test fitted the rear hoop and it’s bang on the right width so we’re figuring out the best way to attach it to the frame. And all those part number lists = genuine Honda parts for days! Even the washers come in their own Honda bags. Rims are on their way from the UK, ordered 1.85 x 18 fronts which are up from the standard 1.6 and got 2.15 x 18 for the rear up from standard 1.85 in stainless steel, be nice to have slightly bigger feet on this for looks mostly. Hopefully we get the engine back together this weekend.

Parts are slowly trickling in, stoked to receive the package from David Silver Spares UK Building up my CB250 meant I still had a list of part numbers for all the small detail parts like dome bolts, dust washers, OEM seals. Took hours of looking through old Honda schematics to find those part numbers the first time So to used them a second time when doing the David Silver order on this CB350 build made it a lot easier. AliExpress stuff arrived too, looks great so far! Haven’t had a chance to test it out yet but I’ll report back later.

Sweet as, cheers!

While a bunch of parts are inbound from the US, U.K. and China we decided to get busy on the jobs that can be done locally. Currently all the hubs and engine parts are with the vapour blaster after stripping it all down. Got the tank back from the painter, stoked with how it turned out, tried to keep as close to the original colour as possible but with high gloss. Gonna look mint with the new chrome strips and chrome fuel cap fitted. Also going to add the Honda wings logo to the sides. Quick compare to the old paint, about a million times glossier than before and maybe a shade lighter because of it but stoked with how it turned out!

So after a whole lot of work by an extremely talented motorcycle refinisher in west Auckland the tank went from this: To this: Super stoked with the outcome, the black paint is perfect and now has nice black AN fittings for the fuel sharing. I'll chuck it on tomorrow as the paint was still a bit fresh.