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Ballpark questions for a CB350

3K views 23 replies 15 participants last post by  whiskeysid 
#1 ·
So I was walking my cousins dog just a few minutes ago and I walked by a house that I never really paid attention to before. I only stopped because the dog took a huge shit right in front of the gate. So after cleaning up after the dog, I got up, looked over the gate and noticed a CB350 leaning on the gate. Now, this is in a pretty bad neighborhood in Brooklyn so that's the last type of bike I expected to see. I only grabbed a quick look, so I'm not even 100% sure if it's a CB350 (maybe like 80% sure). From a quick observation, the bike looks like it's gone through hell. Wheels are flat, there's bits of rust all around (unless it was mold/fungus growing on it from being left there for god knows how long), and I'm going to assume it's not at all in running condition.

So my questions are as follows assuming the bike has gone to shit:

Would it be worth it to completely restore it?
How much would it hurt my wallet?
Due to the ridiculously overpricing going on with CBs, should I just get it running and sell it? (I kind of want to keep it. Never owned a CB before and I feel I should)


I may head back over there tonight to snap a few photos to show its condition.
 
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#3 ·
New rules:

1. No more pointless, gratuitous dog crap stories. Only funny dog crap stories are allowed.

2. If someone asks if a bike is worth rebuilding but does not know the model or even post a photo of it, the answer is: "How about those Lakers, huh? Do you think D'Antoni will be able to turn things around?".

3. The answer to any question about how much will it cost to rebuild any given bike is always exactly $2,894.34 (tax included).
 
#7 ·
so are you gonna steal this bike or purchase it? have you spoken to the current owner? honestly, i would be quite livid if someone looked over my gate or fence and started taking pictures of my stuff.
 
#12 ·
I still want Jack's bike. I keep getting people flaking on me via craigslist about my car so I've been just oogling over build threads all over the interwebs.

But yeah, I talked to the owner about it. He pulled it out of a flooded ditch (I thought he was joking. He was not) and nothing works. At all.
 
#11 ·
I still want Jack's bike. I keep getting people flaking on me via craigslist about my car so I've been just oogling over build threads all over the interwebs.

But yeah, I talked to the owner about it. He pulled it out of a flooded ditch (I thought he was joking. He was not) and nothing works. At all.
 
#13 ·
A grand to rebuild a bike? On my latest Ducati project I spent about a grand rebuilding the front wheel. Though to be fair, the only Ducati part left on it is the axle. :D

There are very few bikes that are "worth" restoring other than for sentimental reasons. Certainly not a ratty CBanything. If it WERE worth it, you'd see a bunch of restored CBs out there. But you don't, which should tell you something. I'm guessing when you say "restore" it you don't literally mean a restoration though. Doesn't really matter in this case though.
 
#14 ·
A grand to rebuild a bike? On my latest Ducati project I spent about a grand rebuilding the front wheel. Though to be fair, the only Ducati part left on it is the axle. :D

There are very few bikes that are "worth" restoring other than for sentimental reasons. Certainly not a ratty CBanything. If it WERE worth it, you'd see a bunch of restored CBs out there. But you don't, which should tell you something. I'm guessing when you say "restore" it you don't literally mean a restoration though. Doesn't really matter in this case though.
 
#18 ·
There are guys racing CB350s in WERA GP350 that didn't spend $1000 on their whole bike...

Talk him into giving it to you. Get it running. Safety wire it. See ya at AHRMA NJ Motorsports Park next summer.
 
#17 ·
There are guys racing CB350s in WERA GP350 that didn't spend $1000 on their whole bike...

Talk him into giving it to you. Get it running. Safety wire it. See ya at AHRMA NJ Motorsports Park next summer.
 
#20 ·
Not thinking it's rare in Brooklyn, just that neighborhood. I'd expect to see like idk, Ninjas or dirt bikes laying around in backyards there.

I was thinking of just asking him to give it to me and I'd slowly work on it, but with returning to college and all, I think just one bike would be enough to work on. Plus, not even sure if I can get a title on it since he DID just, literally, pull it out of a ditch.
 
#19 ·
Not thinking it's rare in Brooklyn, just that neighborhood. I'd expect to see like idk, Ninjas or dirt bikes laying around in backyards there.

I was thinking of just asking him to give it to me and I'd slowly work on it, but with returning to college and all, I think just one bike would be enough to work on. Plus, not even sure if I can get a title on it since he DID just, literally, pull it out of a ditch.
 
#23 ·
Wow everyone is so friendly on this forum...

Worth restoring is your question, probably not. Worth restoring to me is saying will I get my money back that I spend and thats why I say no. A bike like that could need some carb work, tires, tune up, and be on its way to being rideable. Chances are the tank is rusted but you could pick something up used for cheap. You would be stripping a lot of the crap off of it that is probably rusty and more of your work is gonna be manual labor but chances are you wont get out what you spend even making it a budget basic cafe bike.
 
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