I am new to the cafe scene and have long been a kawi person. I know the cb750 was a landmark and the cb350 tank looked cafe without doing anything, but how come u don't see more kawi or Suzuki's. Am I missing something. I have a kz650 project going on right now and finding that many aftermarket companies are using the cb series as the platform for their parts.
I'm guessing it has something to do with the number of bikes produced, Honda sold a ton of CB750's and over 300,000 CB350's alone, not including their other popular models in the CB lineup. Kawsaki and Suzuki sold alot of very nice bikes too, but not in as high of a volume as Honda. So the aftermarket companies would obviously be better off supplying parts for the most popular bikes.
Oh, and you might want to lay off terms like "cafe scene, cafe culture, cafe lifestyle, etc....". Tends to disturb the natives lol. Any pics of the KZ?
Yeah, I tore motor out because once I make seat pan and relocation tabs and brackets for battery and foot controls, I am sending off to powdercoat. I am thinking right now University of alabama colors.
I can get it blasted and coated for around $300. Seems like money well spent. I am going to do frame and rims and tank in burgandy, and knee cutouts and tail in dark grey I think. Nothing set in stone yet.
Don't remember where I saw figures but I believe Honda produced over 3,000,000 CB350's
It's why there are so many still around un-restored, even after 40+yrs
Honda produced roughly 83,000 cb350s over the model years production run from 1968-1974. That number came out of a hemmings motor news article from a couple of years ago but I have no reason to dispute its veracity.
To put this in perspective - GM did not make that many 1967 GTO's and that was a popular car. To further put this in perspective most of the other bike manufacturers production numbers for single model runs usually runs in the thousands (not 10's of thousands). That is a production run like a car and for a bike that means there are tons around.
I rebuilt carbs and got bike running nice. Basically my goal is to take an older bike that ran well and was light relatively fast and make it my bike. Doesn't really matter what anyone thinks of it. I am going to take off what I can and try to improve what I can't. I am also in NY, on Long Island. Never said it was a great deal, but for the strength of that vs. paint, I thought it to be a good idea. I have been rebuilding wranglers for almost 20 years. I used to ride motorcross and I also had a 81 GS 750 during college. I am not into choppers, don't have cash for new triumph or rice rocket, and have been welding and repairing things since I can remember. It seems like a fun project. Do I know anything about the Cafe Scene" "NO". But does that matter?? Why the negativity.
You name on the title? Yes? Bike is yours. Boom. Done. Mission accomplished.
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