My first project - 1974 CB360 K0

[ozzybud]

I’ve put some more bits back on the bike and am getting close to see if I can get it running for the summer.

What I did only just notice is the lever for the choke won’t drop all the way down, the lever catches on the carb body. The butterflies open and close in unison and looks ok in that respect.

Could it just be a case of bending the arm out a bit to clear the body or is there likely to be more to it?

Yes. just bend the arm out a bit.must have been bent in during storage.in that position choke will not be fully open.

[Craizeehair]

Yes. just bend the arm out a bit.must have been bent in during storage.in that position choke will not be fully open.

I did bend the arm back a bit and it’s now working correctly. I initially thought there might be more to it and expected it to be really difficult to bend back but it gave very little resistance, must have been easy to bend out of shape in the first place.

[Craizeehair]

Well my plan to get this bike back together with its patina in place and enjoy riding it a bit through the summer is within touching distance.

It had its first start on its own tank after being de rusted and an aftermarket petcock fitted, new fuel lines attached and away she went, it starts very easily and seems to be ticking over ok, did a few laps of the patio and it felt pretty good. I should be able to get a run around the block soon.

There is just one problem I can see and that’s electrical. I will have a bit more of a play tonight and then post a question if I’m still scratching my noggin.

I’ve gone through the bike back to front and top to bottom and whilst it’s a complete novice attempt, I do feel that the bike will now be in half decent shape. Thanks for all the help and support along the way. I (probably) won’t post much more on here until the winter when I may well start making her look a bit prettier or attempt a bit more engine work.

[andy120t]

Good work! It's a nice little bike - hopefully you can get some mike's in no whilst we have a couple of months of good weather! Post some out-and-about piccies!

[Laverda Dave]

Well done for getting it to a running condition. Get some miles into it to determine how far you want to take a full rebuild (if that's the path you decide to take with it).
I think you'll enjoy it.
Do you know silencer's are fitted, they look the type I am after for Ratty.

[Craizeehair]

Well done for getting it to a running condition. Get some miles into it to determine how far you want to take a full rebuild (if that's the path you decide to take with it).
I think you'll enjoy it.
Do you know silencer's are fitted, they look the type I am after for Ratty.

Thanks.

I’m not sure on the silencers, a friend donated them as he had picked them up but never found a use for them.

[florence]

That is a lovely looking bike.  If it was mine I wouldn't worry about the patina, it shows it's true age.  I feel inspired to get my 350 out of storage.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I agree with Florence except I would have to fix the seat cover!

[Craizeehair]

I agree with Florence except I would have to fix the seat cover!

Definitely, I did enquire about getting the seat done professionally and it wasn’t cheap. I think I would give it a go myself If I could find a good quality cover

[andy120t]

The silencers look like the ones I had on my X-plate Honda CM125.

[Bryanj]

Does Silver not do a cover?

[Bryanj]

He does the 250G5 which should be the same and all his used to come from Bob the sear so were good quality

[Craizeehair]

Thanks Bryan,

I will take a look at those. It may be time to get my upholstery on!!!

[K2-K6]

Bike looks good, hopefully a nice ride for summer too.

I like the USA spec bars, rear guard short etc. Looks nicely different to have a front drum brake too, more effective than many think they are when working well.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

As you will be well aware replacing the cover is only going to work if the foam is in good condition.
We had a local guy in Derby who would remove the old cover - his seamstress would use the old cover as a template to make a replacement complete with piping etc all stitched together on site. Like wise new foam would be sculptured and when done it would look like it just came out of the factory. He also did a lot of re-roofing of convertables including our old R129 SL using special kits he imported from the US.

Sadly Stan died a couple of years ago he was known in the trade locally as "Stan Stan the Vinyl man" as he cashed in big style on the 1960-70s demand for Vinyl Roofs on cars. When this work dried up he did contract re-upholstering of small passenger aircraft as well as specialising in a rear seat conversion for Jaguar XJS models. Unfortunately his son was not a chip off the old block as it was too much like hard work.