[girlnamedgo]

i figured i should go ahead and start a thread for my 1969 cb350 cafe project.
tinker belle.. ha ha get it?

so far i've rebuilt the carbs. i'm waiting on parts. edit: i got my tank today!
next month i will have more time to work on it, and a nice big garage to work in. i need to finish it in one month, so i'll be working on it all day every day.
while i don't have time to do much work on it right now, i've ordered most of the parts i need, but there are a few things left to order.

 

[OC Steve]

Yep, guys, it's true. Girlnamedgo will be moving to my house next month.

I think it helped that I have a lot of room in my garage:

My wife Ming likes Girlnamedgo too. She says we will need a king size bed now. I have no problem with that.







Oh, well. A guy can dream, can't he?

 

[girlnamedgo]

beautiful bike! i love the seat. what material is it? sweet garage, nice and clean, and plenty of room for my tools. hope you don't mind my bringing tools

oh yeah, who here paints bikes?

 

[OC Steve]

You can bring any tools you want to. I'll let you use mine too!

Oh my, this dream is getting way too good for me to handle [pauses for heart rate to slow down].

Ming can handle it better than I can, apparently. She is laughing pretty hard as I am writing this. "She better help me do house work and cooking!" Ming says.

Anyway, the seat cover is the same material they use on car seats, a tough polyester velour. I got it at an auto upholstery supply shop.

 

[girlnamedgo]

actually, i was noticing the washer/dryer in your garage. i can do laundry while working on the bike! hahaha
i read martha stewart living every month, that should tell you something. hi ming!!!

 

[OC Steve]

Ming says "Hello Miss Girlnamedgo!", and bows formally in the general direction of Pennsylvania. She is a seamstress herself, and she sewed the seat cover for my bike. She hopes you will bring your sewing machine with you, too.

 

[girlnamedgo]

she did a great job! i'm digging your choice of materials. sure i will, i have a regular machine, an industrial machine, and a serger. next, i'll invest in an embroidery machine.

 

[texmawby]

lee,

what kind of parts did you order? what are you planning for your build (stock oem, cafe, bobber, chopper, etc....)? i am moving to a new shop soon myself in kenzo. psyched to have most of my stuff in one place. i have been collecting some more CB350's over the past three days......i just bought four, so that brings my total to eight! yeah, i know....i got a problem!

cheers,

texy

 

[OC Steve]

quote:Originally posted by girlnamedgo

sure i will, i have a regular machine, an industrial machine, and a serger. next, i'll invest in an embroidery machine.

Ha! We'll put you to work right away, making the yoga clothes we sell in our yoga studio:

Like Texy said, what parts did you order, and what is Tinkerbelle going to look like when you're done?

 

[girlnamedgo]

tex, i want to have that same problem. we have 12 in our shop in tx (not 350s though). this is actually my first 350. i'm going for a cafe. i got that benelli mojave tank, and happened to have some clubmans around. this needs to be a pretty quick build because it's my only means of transportation now. when i move into the new place i may make a seat for it, if i feel the need. but for time's sake, i went ahead and ordered one. also, i'll change the clubmans to clip-ons, but it isn't a priority at this point. i need tires, and honestly, i really want white walls. if i can't find white walls in the right size, i'll order regular tires and do my own. i also need to order foam, so i can make an especially pretty seat. i want the bike to be mostly white with some green. and there should probably be green and silver streamers on the handlebars. (ok not really. or i'm at least half joking about that..)

and steve- yoga, too?! it's move-in time

 

[joe c]

you find green and silver streamers, order me a set. i need some for the race bike!


jc

 

[chrisf]

GNG:

This is going to be a fun build to follow. You going to take pics as you go?

I just went through a 1 month build--actually 5 weeks. It's a beating for sure. To save time, you might want to consider powdercoating as much as you can. Aesthetically, I think paint looks better but it takes sooo long to do properly. Maybe just powder everything but the tank/seat.

White is cool. I too used white on a build. I have tons of bits laying around. Let me know if you need anything.

--Chris

 

[girlnamedgo]

i can make the green and silver streamers!
i need to cut the seat and the rear fender, and sand everything.
is there anything y'all would recommend not leaving stock? brakes, air filters, shocks, cables, etc?

 

[bmartin]

I would guess under that green paint is a sea of rust. Actually the paint looks like it was brushed on. Therefore; I'd sandblast everything down to bare metal and give it a good paint job. Many folks use powder coating for frames and such - while this is a great choose, it is expensive. You can get a great result with can paint from the auto parts store on your frame and other frame pieces. The tank and side covers - you can have an auto body shop spray some color on for you or someone you know who knows how to paint for reasonable cost.

The next step is to get the bike mechanically sound meaning brakes work like brakes and the engine runs well. Next step is the electrical - like lights, turn signals, horn and such.

The last step is the creature comforts like seat, instrumentation, bars and other items that make your bike you. The more work your able to accomplish on your own - the cheaper your project will cost. Don't go hog wild buying expensive items to put into your bike - you will never get that kind of money out of it when you upgrade to a new project.

Half the fun is the build - the other half is the ride - enjoy them both..

 

[girlnamedgo]

yeah, i'm thinking the paint was brushed on. i happen to have a friend who is a professional painter, and he's doing the paint for me.
i just got NOS cables for the bike, the old ones were really rusty.
i know better than to go spending ridiculous amounts of money on her, as bikes are worth more in pieces than as a whole.
big fan of ebay, i've been getting most of the parts there, and i've asked my brother to keep an eye out at the motorcycle salvage back home. also, i check CL for parts bikes.

 

[bmartin]

I prefer MC salvage yards to ebay. At least you can hold the part before shelling out cash. I have a close connection with one yard here that has a ton of 350 parts, give a shout out for what every you need. As a side note - check out the General section under two very sweet twins (or something like that). They have two nice looking 350's all done up - it will give you some idea on what can be done with your bike.

Cable replacement is a step in the right direction...

 

[girlnamedgo]

i also prefer being able to hold the part before paying for it, fortunately i haven't had any problems with my ebay purchases. i'm also debating replacing some of the parts that are so heavily coated in the green. i.e the fenders and the shocks. it does appear that there is corrosion under it all, at least on the shocks. it's hard to tell, apparently the guy was in a real hurry to paint it and couldn't take the time to clean the bike up, or even dust it off. i've found more than one green cobweb. i'll have to take a picture, it makes for a good laugh.

 

[kenessex]

Girlnamedgo,
I probably have most of the original parts that are not green, if you want them. I won't be able to get to them for another month, but I will be happy to send them to you. The front fender you have on there is a CL fender and I don't have one of those but I do have several CB fronts.

Ken

 

[girlnamedgo]

i'll e-mail ya

 

[TonyDanger]

I'm jealous of you guys with salvage yards around you. We don't have salvage yards in Seattle, and there is only one that I know of in South Oregon. There are just a few shops that get ahold of old bikes and piece them out, but its far from salvage yard capabilities.

GNG, post the pics of the green spiderwebs, that's awesome! How far have you gotten on the bike? Where are you at work wise?