1974 Honda XL350 and 1983 Honda CB1100F rebuilds.

This is an update to my original thread. I ended up moving the pictures. So here it is again in a condensed version.

The start, not bad, but not what I wanted in my garage.









The teardown.

Refurbishing/Rebuilding/Replacing

off to be rechromed.



Needs to be repainted.



The tank was rusty inside.












Preping the frame for sand blasting.





Blasted and primed.

The fork tubes were shot. I ordered a set from Franks Engineering and rebuilt them.



Air is great!







New seals. I drive the seals in using the old seals and an appropriate piece of PVC pipe.



The triple trees were good. I reused the old bearings. New parts!

NOS switchgear restores the showroom look.



Taking the tank down to bare metal.















I had to paint the tank twice, you can't sand metallic paint. You have to paint all the colors, then shoot clear over the whole thing, then wet sand it again, then apply the decals, then shoot clear over the decals. All the striping is paint, not decals. It took a couple tries to get the black stripe even and the gap between the blue and black consistent. I used tape made for models to mask off the silver.

Once I painted the tins, and cleaned all the parts I was keeping I put it together as a rolling chassis.



New tach and speedo to go along with the switchgear.

I knew it would run, but it smoked and sputtered so I know I had some work to do with the engine.



















The piston was scuffed, but the bore was good so I had it honed and replaced the piston and rings with standard sizes.


Then everything got painted and reassembled with lots of new seals.


















and ready to go back in the chassis.

The carb was really dirty and it was running way rich. A problem I worked at fixing for over six months. Once you hit 4-5K it would sputter. Finally, figured out the air cut off valve was malfunctioning. Its supposed to cut off the air on a closed throttle, but it wouldn't move so it was cutting off air all the time. Once I removed it it ran fine except for some stuttering when you let off the gas.

I ended up spending a lot more than I had anticipated, but then we don't do this for money right?

Everything that wasn't replaced with NOS parts was taken apart and cleaned, rechromed, repainted, or otherwise rejuvenated. You'd be surprised how far you can take some of the assemblies.

Although it looks good, it's still somewhat a work in progress. I respoked the rear wheel with DID originals I found in Japan, but I have not found a set of spokes that fit the front wheel. I'm finally sending the rim and hubs to Buchanan's for a professional respoke. I haven't found a good original carb so I'm thinking of buying a modern Mikuni, but I'll have to modify the throttle to work with one cable.

The shocks, while clean and original are really soft so I'm looking at replacing the with something modern and I intend to replace the fork springs with progressive springs and heavier fork oil.

Wow, very thorough report. Keep at it, setbacks are part of the fun!

This is awesome, I would love to do something like this.

I used POR-15 paints on some of my Airheads parts and the stuff is really amazing. I never tried it in a fuel tank but now that youve done it, it looks like a good method.

Good going!

I'll be keeping an eye on this. I have always loved the the 3fiddy K0... ever since a guy I was at school with got one brand new, when all I could afford was a MT125. I was green then, and I'm green now.

It's good to see someone taking the time to restore one and keep it original (although I do reckon they look better without those bloody great Xmas tree indicators... sorry, turn signals)

Sweet find! IMO the XL350 was what the XL 250 wanted to be, and never was.

Great report, keep up the good work.

I would love to see some pics of your CB1100 if you have them.

Mike

Holy crap! That last post could be a thread of it's own.

Beautiful.

You do excellent work.

WOW, thanks a bunch. You did a great job.

I'm kind of partial to the old red and white color scheme you had stock but the euro finish you put on it looks great too.

I just really love some of the old 80's superbikes. That's what I rode at the time.

Paging Kbasa to the Honda CB***F thread.


Mike

Damn, that's a fine looking scoot.

+1

Incredible! My jaw dropped as I went through the pics. Mind if I lend you my airhead for a year or two?

No kiddin. That thing's gorgeous. Does painting your cooling fins affect cooling?