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I have owned my Honda CB350K4 since 1976. I did not buy it brand new, it was already two years old with 12500 miles on the clock. It had been standing in the local dealers for three months looking for a new owner. It was absolutely standard even down to awful OE Jap tyres that were swapped for a set of Avons as part of the deal.
Thus equipped my first run on the bike was not very frightening nor very exciting. The twin cylinder, OHC engine didn't have much of a sharp power output, what power there was just flowed gradually with a bit of a surge at 6500rpm, from which revs (at least until 9500rpm) the motor smoothed out nicely. It would buzz along at an indicated 80 or 85mph without any apparent problems or the need to rush up and down the five speed gearbox like a lunatic. But getting a ton on the clock was very hard work indeed.
The handling was not particularly precise, the soggy back end letting it weave a little, but it was by no means dangerously decadent like a H1 or even some old British stuff. With 87000 miles on the clock, I have had Girling, Koni and currently Hagon (an update on the old Girlings) shocks on the back, all of which eradicated most of the wobbles. I once tried a set of Michelins which made the handling well dangerous, so it was back to Roadrunners before they wore out.
The front forks were adequate for the first 20,000 miles and then were junked for some Marzocchis (off what I don't know, they were laying around in the local breakers) along with a set of alloy yokes and gaiters. The stock bottom yoke is a very flimsy item and ought to be checked for cracks or distortion as it can't hold the front wheel up if the clamp screws are taken off! The Marzocchis were stiff for the first 10,000 miles but are now well bedded in.
The same could be said for the engine. Perhaps the fact that it only knocks out a mild 32 horses from its 325cc capacity helps to explain why it's such a long lasting unit. The massive four bearing crank (with pistons moving up and down alternatively) is still there, as is the gear primary drive, clutch and gearbox. The top end has not been quite so lucky. Burnt out exhaust valves at 35000 miles were not exactly amusing, but a £25 used cylinder head fixed that. It's only had one rebore at 65000 miles and the resultant new set of pistons. The camchain was replaced at the same time, although the tensioner (a non auto job that needs a fiddle every 5000 miles) is still working okay!
One tedious problem, common to many old Jap engines, is a leaking pushrod seal. The seal leaks because it is next to the final drive sprocket and gets doused in lots of crud. It can be pulled out by inserting a screwdriver in it at an angle and a new one bunged in without taking any more than the engine sprocket cover off, but has to be done every 5000 miles. It's worth checking this area for oil leaks anyway, as a broken chain may have holed the crankcases.
Another problem, rotting rubber carb manifolds, especially if the airfilter box has been removed (a waste of time, it doesn't go any faster) that cause erratic running and poor starting once they start to leak. Similarly, diaphragms on the CV carbs can rot. Silencer rusting is endemic to the breed as well, although just about anything with a passing resemblance to a silencer can be bunged on without upsetting the carbs. I bought two new sets whilst they were going cheap, so have a spare if the bike ever gets classic status.
Engine maintenance has not been a great chore. Change the oil every 1000 miles, at every second change do the points, valves, carbs and bung in a new set of plugs. I do the latter because it's the only way to maintain first kick starting, the electric foot having long gone to that great scrap heap in the sky. Which brings me neatly to the battery. They seem to last only 7500 miles, although the fact that the bike is still on the original wiring, regulator and rectifier may help explain that.Consumables are reasonable.
The (still excellent) TLS front drum shoes need replacement every 17500 miles, the back every 25000 miles - I snapped up the whole supply dead cheap from one dealer who was clearing out old stock, so I'm set for the next 100,000 miles. Chains went for a modest 12000 miles on new sprockets which needed changing on every second chain (or chain life was about 5000 miles) until I adapted a CD175 full chain enclosure which nearly doubled chain life. Roadrunners last 12000 front and 10,000 rear, reasonable in that they still grip well when worn down to the limit.
Handling is better than new with modified suspension as the frame is quite hefty mild steel that maintains its resilience well with age. The same can't be said for the paint - I had to have it stoved enamelled at 32500 miles, taking the opportunity to replace the dodgy swinging arm bearings. The tank and sidepanels, though, are still on the original paint and respond well to the once monthly shine up. Same can't be said for the chrome guards. The front rusted through at 30,000 and the rear at 42000 miles, both replaced with new ‘uns that were undersealed and then coated on the external surfaces with a clear varnish. They still look okay. The wheel rims were well rusty at 35000 miles, replaced with stainless spokes and alloy rims that still polish up well (but talk about tedious).
The engine sidecovers are bead blasted every 15000 miles (as were the barrels and head when the rebore was done), so it's just a matter of some Solvol and elbow grease to get the engine looking nice. Not bad for a 17 year old bike. All the silly crosshead screws have long been replaced with allen bolts although some of these have some ragged edges to their seats so that allen keys start slipping.
There are four threads in the alloy casing that have been repaired with Araldite......the engine doesn't leak any oil save a slight weep from the cylinder head gasket (that was there from purchase and didn't go away even with new gaskets) and uses about a pint between oil changes.
The engine still seems to push out the same kind of power as when I bought it, at least up to 85mph; after that it's such a tedious business to get up any more speed that I've all but given up. It involves revving the bike dangerously close to the redline in the lower gears and the poor old motor starts vibrating badly when I do that - no way to treat an old friend.
I am now 48 and the Honda has been used for everything. It has occasionally been slung to the back of the garage when funds have allowed the purchase of a newer, faster multi but when my income takes a dive I always seem to sell the new bike and go back to the sensible old Honda. It doesn't seem to resent this treatment. Indeed it has never once let me down on the road, enough in itself to mark the bike as a good ‘un.
Its age has not deterred me from taking it on llong rides. I recently did 3500 miles in two weeks running around Europe without a hitch. I even saw quite a few CB350s on the Continent in as good, if not better, nick than my own, although they are rare in the UK. Having tailored the bike to suit my own tastes - flat bars, rearsets, stock seat but with denser foam on a homemade GRP base after the steel effort rusted through - I am quite happy to breeze along between 70 to 80mph for several hundred miles in a day.
Mileage on that tour was around 60mpg, a figure that shocked my GS500E mounted companion (he was getting 45mpg at the same speed). I must admit that he could have ridden off into the distance on his bike, but my brief ride on it left me curiously unimpressed - yes, it accelerated well and would do the ton no problem, but it handled very weirdly (a twitchy little bugger) and seemed to lack character. On the Honda I always felt like I achieved something after notching up a couple of hundred miles and felt part of the vehicular experience.
I've never got the CB350 below 55mpg and have done as much as 75mpg when I've been desperate to save money. The bike can be slammed through town traffic with a great deal of ease; narrow, light with predictable and adequate power, I've often surprised many superbike owners with some skilful riding - it really gets up their nose and they often try to wheelie their lumbering beasts through too small traffic gaps.
Things that could be improved - the notchy gearbox that needs very careful changes when going up the box to avoid false neutrals, conversely, less clutch drag at traffic lights that would allow me to find the proper neutral; throttle cables that wear out every 10,000 miles despite copious greasing from new (they are a pain to replace); rust prone cycle parts and exhausts that should be stainless steel (that would cost more than the bike was worth); and, perhaps, a bit more power.
For the kind of money I could get if I sold the CB350 there is nothing that I could buy that could replace its versatility or dependability. It seems to me to have all the virtues of Brit twins with none of their reliability problems, and just to rub in it, is far more practical that modern Jap stuff.
Ian James
Return to Contents for CB250/360's
There are old Hondas that survive against all the odds. This one cost me all of fifty notes. The way I got it home was by pushing for four miles. Ouch! The chassis was a bit rusted but intact. Nothing new consumables and a bit of painting wouldn't sort. The engine was an entirely different matter. There were two in fact. A CB350 twin in bits dumped in the top box and a cardboard box strapped on to the seat. The engine in the frame was, wait for it (grab the sick bucket), a CB250G5 unit.
There was no hope that either motor would ever run again. As well as sharing knackered cylinder heads, which was expected, the crankshafts were also shot. What was needed was a crashed bike with a newly rebuilt engine. What I ended up with was a fanatic's load of CB350 parts. His main bikes had gone up in smoke in a fire. I was assured there were enough bits to make three engines. The transit load cost £200.
There was a complete bottom end that where it wasn't filled with oil was greased. It seemed pretty obvious that no-one would go to that trouble unless it was a good ‘un. There were about ten sets of pistons and barrels but only two decent heads. The only thing I had to buy was a new camchain. The rebuild was very straightforward with the aid of the manual, helped along by having a choice of new gasket sets to hand.
The electrics fitted in the chassis bore little relationship to what was in the workshop manual. Anyway, I put the motor in and wired up the ignition to a new battery. One new set of spark plugs and about fifty kicks later the engine growled into life. The OHC unit has a distinct off-beat note that by modern standards is rather loud.
The Honda has a sensible riding position, but I felt a bit perched above the compact machine and in my initial excursions the handling seemed a trifle loose. It already had Girlings out back and the front forks were reassuringly firm. The swinging arm bushes were shot and there were none in my cache of spares. The local Honda dealer only just restrained himself from telling me to piss off but after fifteen minutes of muttering under his breath he came up with the part number. Come back in six weeks, he said! Aaagh!
I approached the local back street merchant who said no problem, come back tomorrow. He had a big box full of various bushes and felt sure that one set would fix. I left him to it, was pleasantly surprised to find that he'd done the job (£20). I'd already put on a new set of Michelins (they were cheap), so there seemed nothing for it but a bit of speed testing on the local bypass.
That was how I came to get a ticket for 97.5mph and a lecture on riding twenty year old motorcycles in a sensible manner. The Honda had weaved once past 75mph, which I think was just down to an inadequate frame as nothing I tried subsequently improved matters. The frame was originally designed for the late sixties Honda CB250K1, at a time when the Japanese were just making poor copies of British frames without a true understanding of the interaction of weight distribution and geometry.
The Honda was by no means the worst handling bike of the era, most of its nastiness tamed by upgraded suspension and a firm hand on the bars. Weighing 360lbs, maybe 400lbs with a full load of fuel and oil, made for reasonable stability over bumps and in crosswinds without needing to take up weight training to throw the little twin through traffic.
There were some problems in town. This era of Hondas are famous for their dragging clutch and awkward gearbox. It took a while to perfect the art of coming to a stop in neutral. If I came to a halt in gear with the clutch pulled in, the box would lock solidly, refusing to entertain the idea of going into neutral. As soon as I moved off it would free up, but waiting at the junction the bike would creep forward as the clutch dragged. Hitting the front brake stalled the engine. The box would then go into neutral straight away and come to life on the kickstart first time. There was an electric start but it just rumbled away to itself rather than turning the engine over.
The other problem in town was down to the suspension. It was fine with a bit of speed up, but at commuting velocities it barely moved, the bike being shook over pot-holes and minor bumps going straight through to my spine. It was more like riding a bicycle than a motorcycle, the way it twitched from bump to bump.
On the upside, it was commendably narrow, easy running below 6500rpm and able, when the going got tough, to burn rubber with the best of them, the revs shooting all the way up to 10,000rpm in second and third gear. It wasn't a good idea to try that trick in first as the change up to second usually ended up in neutral. The motor made such a row that it became incredibly embarrassing. I usually tried to take off in second, something the engine could manage without an excess of clutch slip except when faced with near vertical hills. Honda claimed 36hp from the short stroke 325cc twin but it never came viciously on cam, giving an impression of mildness.
Top speed was 105mph on the clock but it wasn't a very pleasant experience. A combination of weaves and vibration meant I didn't hold it for more than a few moments. 75 to 80mph cruising it could handle all day long, with just the gentlest of thrumming from the engine and the mildest of weaves that not even quite vicious bumps would turn nasty. The chassis was neutral in bends, neither running wide when accelerating nor trying to leap off the road when the throttle was backed off.
Braking in bends was okay, the TLS front and SLS rear drum had excellent feel with none of the dangerous grabbiness of discs of this era. The front drum was powerful enough to twist the forks from high speed stops but just one heavy workout would have it overheating, fading away to almost nothing.
This was a limiting factor when trying to ride fast down the back roads. The first time it happened I was hoping to lose 20mph before swinging over for a sharp left-hander. Instead I ended up riding straight off the road when the brake failed to work. Luckily, there was a gravel strewn track, so we skidded along that for a hundred yards before hitting the grass and toppling over.
There was no apparent damage, except to my ego, so I rode home cautiously, wondering if the shaking front end was due to my nerves or some hidden damage. When I'd recovered they were still there, the steering head felt loose. Rather than tighten this up I decided to take the forks off as I wanted to test them for straightness. Never undo the lower clamp bolts with the front forks and wheel still attached to the bike. I was gobsmacked as I knocked the second bolt out, the front wheel sliding forward as the lower clamps were massively deformed - they have no strength unless the bolts are fitted!
They were unusable but I found some replacements in the stash of spares. The steering head bearings were either cracked or pitted, not an ounce of grease in evidence. New bearings removed the head shaking but did nothing for the high speed weave.
The engine had been running reliably for about 6000 miles when it started misfiring. It felt like partial fuel starvation so I looked at the carbs. One of the rubber diaphragms had a small crack; predictably the spares were in an even worse state. Superglue to the rescue. I felt sure I'd solved the problem but it wouldn't run on that cylinder. After much head scratching I found that the rubber manifold was cracked, I must've traumatised it when I'd pulled the carb off. Fortunately, there was a spare on one of the other cylinder heads.
That fixed the poor running until 2000 miles later huge quantities of oil started coming out of the clutch pushrod seal. This is a chronic problem on old Hondas because it's right next to the drive chain sprocket and gets covered in crud. The seal can be brought from bearing factors and was easy enough to pull out. I always used a bit of Superglue on the seal to make sure it doesn't fall out. Later Honda twins relocated the clutch mechanism to above the clutch on the other side of the engine - now you know why!
The engine was a bit of a pain on maintenance, needing a 750 mile oil change, carb tune, valve check, points setting, chain soaking and casing polish (they had been bead blasted in the past). If it didn't get that fuel would go down to 40mpg (from 55mpg), the gearbox would become intractable and the vibes vicious. As I'd got it so cheaply I shouldn't have complained but it became too much hassle every time I took the bike on a long weekend's tour, although the Honda was comfortable for 300 miles in a day and the consumables, except for the chain which always needed an adjustment, didn't seem to wear.
When someone came up to me with an offer of £750, I, kind chap that I am, said he could have it for a grand with the garage load of parts thrown in. And he did!
James Kilburn
Return to Contents for CB250/360's
Everyone laughs when I tell them I have a 55000 mile Honda CJ360T, circa 1977. Until they see its neat resprayed and rechromed chassis. Even the engine cases have been blasted and polished. This may seem a lot of trouble to go to for what is basically seen as an old hack, but I did most of the work myself in my spare time and total cost is still in hacking country, at around £300. Spread over five years that doesn't add up to much.
The engine has its roots in the sixties when Honda were the only purveyors of OHC twins with a straightforwardness and basic design clarity that made even British twins seem awkward. Honda designers always relied on revs to make power, knowing this equipped their bikes with massive roller cranks, good enough for an engine of twice the capacity.
The need to rev hard made an OHC set-up obligatory, push-rods falling apart at 10,000 revs, especially when subjected to British twin type vibes. This kind of design threw up a couple of problems that were as prominent in the sixties' engines as they were in the seventies. The camchain and tensioner actually worked well if given regular adjustment (a ten minute job) and the oil supply to the cylinder head's bearings was often marginal when the engine was initially started.
The latter problem was compounded by using the cylinder head surface as the bearing, as in the case of the CJ360 and the even heavier afflicted earlier version, the CB360G5. The other related cause of early demise was lack of regular oil changes which allowed all kinds of crud into the oilways and a choked supply of lubricant to the head bearings.
The first lesson to learn when buying one of these bikes is to start the engine gently, keep revs low until the oil has had a chance to circulate. There isn't an electric start on the CJ but under normal circumstances it will start first or second kick. The second thing to learn is to do both regular oil changes and maintenance. I'd suggest every 750 miles on any engine that has done more than 15000 miles, although if you're lucky enough to find one of the few low mileage ones left in existence then 1250 miles will suffice.
Servicing is simple once you know what you are doing, but high mileage engines definitely need regular attention to valve clearances, points and carbs. The sump plug will wear its edges round and refuse to come undone unless hit with a chisel and hammer. So common is the fault to the Honda range that you can still walk into some Honda dealers and buy a sump plug over the counter. OE points are expensive but worthwhile as patterns wear out rapidly.
There is some vibration in the 5000 to 6500rpm range but its effect on the bike rather than the rider is limited. The Campbell 2-1 exhaust has cracked a couple of times where the silencer bracket was welded. After the weld repairs started blowing big holes in the silencer, a new universal megaphone was attached, much to the relief of the neighbours, with two brackets, which seems to have stopped it trying to fall off. The downpipes have long since lost their chrome but monthly doses of heat resistant paint keeps them in shape and it doesn't detract from the overall appearance of the bike.
The vibes also affected the electrics, with batteries that didn't hold a charge for long and a rectifier unit whose wires fell out. I bodged a repair before a Superdream item was found and put a couple of layers of cut up inner-tube around the battery. At one time I had a lot of problems with the lights blowing that wasn't fully sorted until they were rewired through new switches with separate earth leads. The alternator is still stock and puts out just enough power to keep a decent Cibie light in watts without flattening the battery. The brake light switch ended up being replaced by a unit off an old Triumph that had spent half a decade in my toolbox looking for a new home.
The engine runs well as long as it gets a new set of plugs every third service (the HT caps were replaced after the first wet weather sortie). Power is never magnanimous but quite sufficient for sensible riding. Fast enough in town, 75 to 80mph cruising is fine and top speed works out at a licence enduring 90mph (a new one might do 95 to 100mph). For some reason the mildly tuned engine doesn't balance its lack of outright speed with an excess of midrange punch. Or to put it more plainly, it's a gutless, useless pile of old crap if you have an aversion to twisting the throttle and making the gear lever jump. The gearbox is surprisingly slick for an old Honda and the clutch light and precise unless the engine has spent too much time in town when it overheats, causing drag at junctions; a typical old Honda trait.
The seat fell apart and was patched back together with some steel sheet, a cover and a bit of foam courtesy of BR (some vandal had already cut the seat up, honest). Once that was done it was rather more comfortable than I had any right to expect, with slightly raised bars and good peg placement. The most I did in a day was a mere 225 miles, which my body coped with magnificently, although the CJ is really my town bike rather than tourer.
Fuel, even on the open road, stayed stubbornly around the 50mpg mark, which given the lack of speed was poor but taking into account the age, mileage and need to rev demonically almost acceptable. A British 500 of similar performance would turn in 65 to 70mpg. Having owned several old British twins I really didn't want to return to that level of trouble, with a trail of bits falling off, electrics blowing up and engine failures in the middle of nowhere. No, no, no, no, no, no......
I had the same kind of feeling about the front disc, a device built down to the lowest cost that only just makes it out of the guarantee. Wet weather lag, caliper seizure, soggy feel and only minimal power were the major complaints. I was going to fit a Honda CB250K4 front wheel as the guy who owned it foolishly wanted to fit a disc front end, but a week before we were due to do the swap, his front drum casting broke up, throwing him over the bars into the lap of the local nurses.
In the end, I modified a couple of calipers so I could pull them apart without resorting to the hammer, fitted a length of Goodridge hose and bunged in new EBC pads every 8000 miles. All this care and attention still didn't stop the master cylinder from cracking, leaving me without a front brake until I fitted a GPz305 cylinder that made the front forks bounce on their stops every time I used it.
For a long time the CJ ran entirely standard suspension. Come 35000 miles this made the basically sound handling a bit more like riding a push-bike as it was thrown around all over the place. Girlings out back and HD front springs brought it up to better than new spec, although in long, sweeping corners at 70mph it would often give one almighty twitch that was bowel emptying the first time it happened but after a couple of months I learnt to ignore it. Pillions were given the shock of their lives when I was in a foul mood; making the CJ move fast two-up was hard enough work to make a saint slightly crazed. Don't bother is the bottom line on that.
The chassis was generally durable but turned rather tatty once past 20,000 miles but I did it up as I went along. It's gone through two sets of rear wheel bearings, about half a dozen swinging arm bushes and one set of steering head bearings. A mild accident bent the front rim but it wasn't expensive to rebuild. The tank started rusting on the inside, but before I got a lap full of fuel I brought a brand new one in primer for £25 from some guy who had a garage full of Honda spares and refused to tell me where he got them from, but I wasn't going to complain, was I?
The engine is still stock apart from a new camchain at 42000 miles. This may make it the longest lived CJ360 in the world. I do rev the bike hard, Hondas are designed to take that but they also need a sensible amount of maintenance and very regular oil changes. Most CJ's were blown up early in their life due to neglect and stupidity; I know this because I've bought two non-runners for spares, each less than £75. I put an advert in the local rag saying I wanted CJ parts and had about six replies so I could have filled the garage with the damn things but I'm not that mad!
The reputation of these bikes is so bad, and the reality of their use so appalling, that even though there are so few good ones left their prices are still not high. My own experiences suggest that if they get past 30,000 miles they will probably go for twice that. They are the kind of versatile hacks that appeal to those who want a bit of simplicity in their lives without having to suffer the indignity of Iron Curtain wrecks or step-thrus. A category of motorcycling that used to be catered for by legions of British bikes in the sixties. I wouldn't die for an Honda CJ360T but I'd certainly cross the road for a nice 'un.
Frank Westerman
Return to Contents for CB250/360's
I could smell a bargain a mile away. The advert in the shop window told of a 1973 Honda CB350 twin, a non-runner for 25 notes. No phone number so I had to make the trek on spec. The bike was whole, a bit rusty in places and the motor still turned over. Better still, the owner's old man would deliver it to my house free of charge within the hour. The deal was struck and the adventure begun.
I've lots of experience making old engines run. My immediate suspicions centred on the ignition system. The spark at the plugs was yellow rather than blue. New plugs, same trip. Cleaned and set the points to no avail. New condensor. Nothing's ever that easy but receiving about 10,000 volts via the HT lead put me on the right track. Car coils with new HT leads and caps resulted in a bright blue spark. But still the engine only stuttered rather than started.
The next logical place to look was the carburation, although I could smell petrol getting through. The rubber manifolds were intact, as were the diaphragms. Some jerk had screwed the pilot jets right in. After a bit of trial and error I got the engine sounding positively enthusiastic but not quite firing. The final piece of the puzzle was an OE airfilter clogged up with 32000 miles worth of grime. A few strategically placed holes revived the flow characteristics and the motor finally fired up.
Nothing's quite that easy, is it? The top end rattled and the gearchange was way past its prime. The top end was down to a dead tensioner and camchain, the gearbox had worn out selectors. Whilst I waited for the bits to come from Japan, I set to the chassis with a vengeance. Rust had almost ruined the guards and seat base but GRP and paint revived them. The frame was rubbed down and touched up where necessary. The forks and shocks were handed over to a mate who had a small engineering workshop in his cellar and was able to renovate them for fifty quid. The wheels were painted silver, the chrome long since lost to the mists of time. An expensive round of consumables completed the renovation effort.
What I had was a plain and simple vertical twin of 325cc, about 35 horses and 360lbs. Utterly conventional in almost every aspect, the CB350 was one of the best selling motorcycles ever in the USA, although licensing laws made the 250 version much more popular in the UK. Its looks are somewhere between bland and classic but grow on you with time. My bike was a dark green that still shone up nicely after a bit of T-cutting.
Once the engine had been reassembled, a relatively painless process, I was all set for some serious riding. Already, there were fitted rear-sets that matched the flat bars much better than the forward mounted pegs that came stock. The seat left me feeling perched atop the machine, but other than that the riding was really easy. A moped graduate would have no problems if he were allowed aboard such a machine, making rather a mockery of the 125 laws.
To be sure, I was initially aware of a top heavy feel that tried to tilt the machine into slow bends but my body soon compensated and I was kicking the bike around like the proverbial juvenile delinquent. Braking, with a TLS front and SLS rear drum, was close to brilliant - loads of power and plenty of feel. The refurbished suspension was rather stiff for modern, ruined roads but stopped any wandering or wallowing. Performance was up to 250 Superdream levels but lacked any kind of viciousness or wickedness.
I could just crack the ton in neutral conditions, maybe 105mph flat out down a steep hill. Even when thrashed into the red at unlikely revs, there wasn't very much vibration. Surprising on a bike of this age and mileage; a testament to the basic correctness of the design and an indictment of nasty things like Superdream balancers that Honda later inflicted upon the world.
These style of older Japanese bikes have taken over from ancient British twins as righteous sickles. Don't laugh, they have the same kind of performance, are still cheap to buy and run along without too much expense or effort. All attributes that Bonnies and Commandos used to have but they've priced themselves out of the market, these days. If you don't believe me just look around at the number of cheap chops that've been built around old Jap twins. A sure sign of the times.
I felt pretty secure with the Honda's engine but slightly worried by the stories of the chassis cracking up. I'd noticed with alarm the appearance of great gobs of rust at the upper shock studs. My friendly local mechanic tested them with his largest hammer, got the right-hand one to fly off. He said not to worry (something about the alarm in my face), the welding torch would solve all. And it did, praise be to primitive technology.
Next on the list of possible disasters was ageing alloy in the drum casings. It's not unknown for old hubs to crack up after 20 years of service. A weekly jet-wash and inspection kept some kind of peace of mind. However, after about 6000 miles the rear drum started to crack up. Alloy welding didn't inspire much confidence in such an important component. A used back wheel was found in the small ads of one of the other magazines. There was no guarantee that this wasn't about to disintegrate but in the greater scheme of things it was a risk I was willing to take.
Eventually, some 14000 miles further down the line I ended up with a pair of Bonnie wheels (with concentric hubs), forks and shocks, making the similarities between the breeds all the more noticeable. A couple of Brit bike fanatics made nasty noises about my misuse of Triumph components but in general the little Honda was received well wherever I went.
The stiff Triumph suspension and powerful brakes allowed me to ride the Honda right at the limits of engine performance. With 52000 miles on the clock such levels of abuse couldn't last for long. Sure enough the pipes began smoking and top speed decreased to a mind nurturing 80mph. The top end was okay but the bores and pistons looked like they'd been around the clock a few times.
Replacements were already to hand, in the form of CB250K3 barrels bored to take high compression pistons, a popular move back in the seventies when the porkers were unable to tell that the motor was bored to 325cc. Still useful, today, as it brings down the cost of road tax and insurance (damn, I should've bought the 250). Out of sheer respect for the motor I bunged in new top end gaskets and added a shiny new set of exhausts.
The engine, given a gentle bit of running in, managed to push the Honda to all of 110mph. Some replica jockeys were quite surprised at the way the bike would cruise along at 95mph (in excellent comfort, I might add) and, also, at the angles of lean it'd take (the stands had their prongs ground down and the Triumph suspension made the bike ride an inch or so higher). Acceleration was, it has to be admitted, rather stately by modern standards, a lot of effort needed to see off derestricted TZR125's, and the like.
Much to everyone's annoyance (I mean there's nothing like getting up the nose of people who spend thousands on new bikes, is there?) the CB ran with an almost miraculous lack of faults to 82000 miles when the camshaft bearings, rockers and valves were all dead meat. The thing with these kind of bikes, rather like MZ 250s, is that along the way you tend to collect all kinds of rats and out of this accumulation of junk, er, valuable future classics, I had the necessary bits to fix it.
However, the purchase of a bargain priced FZR600 with ruined plastic meant I had my hands full. This was my first replica and the performance turned out to be so stunning that I left the Honda to rot. There's no excuse for this kind of neglect, other than rampant self-indulgence. If any UMG readers want to buy a CB350 plus several rat CB250/350's then drop me a line via the UMG. About £250 seems right! CB350's are neat motorcycles with a future.
John Trent
Return to Contents for CB250/360's
It all started with a fifty quid hack. A rough old CB360 that'd been discarded when the camshaft bearings had started screaming in protest. Stored in the guy's front garden for a couple of years, rust had attacked most of the chassis and the engine alloy was buried under white corrosion. My wife thought I was mad to pay fifty quid for the pile of rust but I'd checked that the engine was still full of oil and turned over. I was convinced that I'd bought a bargain even when the seat fell apart and one of the shock's studs sheared off. Other bits of the rear subframe looked ready to rust through.
My welding kit was employed to weld in some extra sheet steel for added bracing (and make up a new seat base). My 22 stone friend was instructed to leap up and down on the back of the bike - it survived so was obviously strong enough. The wiring looked good. New oil was added, then a gallon of fuel. A car battery was attached to the existing one, which was devoid of acid and full of white muck. Sparks shot across the new set of plugs when I gave her a kick. Plugs in the engine, 15 kicks later the mill burst into life. Seconds later I turned the ignition off; the noise from the top end rattled windows!
Breakers just laughed when I enquired about good cylinder heads. Eventually, one reckoned he could sleeve the head for sixty quid. One week later I reassembled the engine, full of anxiety and worry that I'd been ripped off (again). The state of the guy's workshop was straight out of Steptoe and Son. Six kicks later I was in seventh heaven.
The engine almost purred, a marvellous mechanical rustle that would put many modern bikes to shame. A blip around the block revealed vague but light steering. Power was far from fear inspiring, it just seemed to gradually gain velocity the more the throttle was opened. Bland but civilised.
I nearly died when a cager shot out of a drive. The brakes, a front disc and a rear drum, hardly worked but a quick twirl on the bars got me around the pillock, who tooted his horn in celebration. Okay, then, time to do some serious work. Caliper taken down, cleaned, and new pads fitted. 10 years worth of brake dust removed from the rear drum and new shoes fitted. Spokes and rims wire-brushed and painted silver. Replacement seat and mudguards from the breaker. New chain and sprockets. Used Avon Death-master tyres (a quid each!). Polish the engine, paint the cycle parts and fit replica exhausts.
Total cost almost £200, including the initial purchase price. During the next ten years I've done 33000 miles in addition to the original 16000 on the clock. Many minor problems but nothing major from the engine. Things like the vibration making the fuel line fall off, a weeping cylinder head gasket, a starter motor that broke its clutch, a chain that broke and scored the back of the crankcases, and carbs that kept cracking their diaphragms.
The chassis was more troublesome. The tank started weeping fuel and had to be replaced with a new (but heavily discounted) one. The sidepanels kept falling off (and are almost impossible to find cheaply) until I riveted on some new latches. The swinging arm bearings were crap, lasted for less than 5000 miles. I had to fit an old TLS drum front wheel as the disc was appalling in the wet. The mudguards rusted through again.
The suspension started out weak and soon ended up mushy. Girling shocks and heavy-duty springs in the forks sufficed, though there remained a passing resemblance to a pogo-stick on neglected country roads. I eventually fitted a complete, used front end off a GS450E, which was out of this world in comparison. Handling was amusing sometimes but rarely dangerous. The frame was strong and the mass relatively low. The back end wallowed in a friendly kind of way, down I'd say entirely to the poor swinging arm bearings. The front was vague until the GS bits were fitted, when it settled down to being merely imprecise.
The handling wasn't much hassle because top speed was effectively only 80mph. On a long downhill stretch, with a howling gale to my rear and my head in the clocks, 100mph was on the speedo. Normally, when trying for high speeds the engine could best be described as totally gutless! Up to 80mph it was quite acceptable if never going to strain my arms...more throttle just made the engine note deepen and the clock refused to budge unless the aforementioned conditions were met!
As it'd cruise at 80mph for a couple of hours, the strange lack of extra speed was only a hindrance when I tried to overtake cars that were bubbling along at 70 to 75mph - they always speeded up a little as I came alongside, perhaps responding to the brutality of my baffleless silencers. It may just've been the lack of the baffles leaning out the carburation at high revs, although putting on the choke just stopped the engine dead.
In fact, 80mph equated to just half throttle and if I contented myself with the mild velocities the engine was willing to give, 60 to 65mpg was turned in with gratifying regularity. During motorway work, the oil level could go down to the minimum within 200 miles. Dead easy to end up with an empty sump on a long trip. Oil changes and servicing were done every 500 miles in deference to the machine's age and alleged fragility! Absolutely essential on these simple, old Honda twins.
The bike still runs as mildly as ever. However, it's been supplemented by two other Honda twins. The CB350 turned up when I was looking for a replacement front end for the 360. The TLS drum was ideal to my mind. The guy was selling a load of old Honda parts and an original, 9000 mile CB350. This was in 1987 when old Hondas weren't too popular. I bought the bike and the parts for £300. A bargain as far as I was concerned.
The CB350 was a 1974 model, shared a lot of its engine design with the later twin (save for the latter's troublesome top end). The 360 was mugged by emission and noise laws, the 350 was a much freer revving if rawer twin. 90mph came up on the clock with ease, 105mph possible if I was willing to push it and sustain the grating vibration.
Such speeds pushed the chassis, which was running stock suspension and a worn set of Deathmasters (they last for ever). The weaves and mild wobbles weren't too disturbing, but the way the centrestand dug in and hurled the back wheel off the ground, did have me scrabbling for my heart pills, wondering how I'd explain the dirty underwear to the wife. She was still smarting from the fact that I'd sold my car to fit the second Honda and parts in the garage! Stronger fork springs and Koni shocks, plus a set of grippy Michelins, were fitted. The centrestand was removed.
Totally transformed the feel and handling. Better, in fact, that the later bikes. I was so impressed by the rugged running, and more than adequate performance, that I added a handlebar fairing and set of panniers. The 350 became my touring mount whilst the 360 did the everyday chores.
The 350 did about 5000 miles every year for five years until I bought a CB500 four for the long distance work. I received some strange looks from fellow travellers on superbikes, especially on the ferry to Calais. However, the old twin valiantly fought its way through France, Spain and Italy. Sometimes it'd cruise at 90mph but most of the time 80 to 85mph sufficed. 55mpg was normal for high speed work and 65mpg possible under mild usage.
Overall impression was a sensible but far from boring motorcycle. The one area in which the 360 was superior, but by no means perfect, was the transmission. The final drive was much smoother and the gearchange action much more likely to attain the required ratio. Other UMG contributors have described old Honda's that have gearboxes that are excellent anti-theft devices. I think they were being kind.
The 350 liked to be wound up through the box until the cruising speed was attained but had sufficient power to hold 80 to 90mph without needing excessive footwork. Also, the engine ran hot in town, which warped the clutch plates, leading to enough drag to stall the mill at junctions. Luckily, the electric starter still worked and would churn the engine back into life. The bike was also a finicky starter, needing much choke juggling for the first ten minutes.
I could certainly see how Honda had civilised the 350 in making the 360 but they had also lost a lot of its soul. With about 35000 miles on the clock, the engine lost a lot of its zip. Smoke out of the breather pipe suggested worn bores. Engine out, split the camchain and off with the head and barrels. The latter was heat-welded into the crankcase, needed an excess of hammering to free, with several broken fins for my pains.
I had a set of new barrels and ordered new pistons (and gasket set) to suit. The crankshaft was wonderfully hefty and in good shape. The chassis was given a respray and good polish, alloy and chrome shining brightly. I'd picked up new bits when they became available cheaply and the bike ended up looking very nice, in its mildly classic way. At one point, the Honda decals on the tank were missing, causing quite a few old codgers to gasp in admiration because they thought it was an old Brit. Embarrassment all round when the truth dawned.
The bike's rolled out in the summer, kept in excellent shape now that it's a bit of a pose to ride around on twenty year old Japanese motorcycles. I've been offered £800 and £1200 for the 350, which I've refused. True, some nice US imports are turning up for around £750, but this bike and I go a long way back and we are old friends now. They were best sellers in the States where they didn't have the limitation of the 250 learner laws. It's easy to understand why because they are cheap to run and have enough performance to stop the rider falling asleep.
With the garage already full of old Hondas, it was a bit mad to pay out £400 for a CJ360T. Especially as it had 22000 miles on the clock. But it was in very good nick and I just liked the way it looked. All the usual suspension mods had been done. The CJ was very similar to the CB360, except that it lost the electric starter and had neater styling.
The 2-1 exhaust, with a modicum of baffling in the silencer, helped the engine rev higher, though it was still gutless even compared to a 400 Superdream I've recently bought (should I seek help for this obsession with old Honda twins?). On a very good day I might see 110mph, normally the engine turned asthmatic as the ton was approached. 90mph cruising seemed possible except that I was aware of the fact that the cylinder head had the same potential camshaft hassles as the CB360.
In reality, most of the damage to these kinds of engine's done when they are revved too harshly from a cold start. Oil needs time to circulate to the cylinder head - simply don't use full power for the first ten minutes. Most Honda twins like to be revved hard when accelerating, even the gearbox action becomes more precise.
For some reason, maybe because it'd had only one previous, mature owner, the gearchange was sweet, a real pleasure to rush up and down the box. Whilst the CJ had most of the performance of the 350, it lacked a lot of its gruff character but not the secondary vibes when taken into the red.
Handling and flickability were excellent. The taut, non-standard, suspension gave it a feel not that far off an old Triumph twin and I was impressed by the way I could feel the tyres reacting with wet road surfaces. I often surprised modern fours with the speed I could clip along in the rain.
Only when I had to hammer the front disc in the dry, going into bends on a trailing throttle, did I find anything frightening within the chassis. The front wheel reared up, redirecting the CJ across rather than around the road. I had no time to scream, had to struggle its mass on to a new, safer line. It happened several times as I often found myself travelling 10mph faster than I'd thought, coming into bends far too fast. At least it woke the cagers up!
The only problem I had with this bike was from the rear wheel. First, the spokes started breaking up when I had the wife on the back. For sure, she's a touch hefty, but ending up with an egg shaped wheel was something of a surprise. Rather than buying a used one I had a new rim laced on to the old hub.
400 miles later, the back drum locked on solid. I knew the shoes were a bit worn but the over-camming came as a shock. I relied on the plausible front disc for a while until the handling became dire - the hub was cracking up! The bike was off the road for six weeks until I found a replacement. I've only had the CJ for three years and 8000 miles, so not much else to report.
I like all my old Honda twins The CB350's my favourite and I'd recommend one of the reasonably priced American imports. The CB360G5's a bit too slow and lacking in character to be of much use as anything other than a hack. The naff cylinder head design means you'd be a fool to pay serious money for one - I've been waiting for mine to go ever since I had it fixed (those frequent oil changes have saved it). The CJ360T seems a pretty good bike, though again the top end's suspect. Cheap, cheerful fun's what these old twins are all about.
Adrian Turner
Return to Contents for CB250/360's
I did not know what to expect. The advert had been extreme in its vagueness. The only good thing, that I only had to walk ten minutes across town to view it. A rare convenience. The owner was elderly enough to sport a large belly and smelly pipe. I've been known to grab such noxious devices out of ped's mouths, stamp the foul thing into oblivion. However, the greater cause of a cheap motorcycle won out: I held my breath.
It was worth the effort. What lay before me was possibly the best kept CJ360 in the country. 9000 miles, an immaculate sheen and a nice, as new, rustle from the engine, which started first kick. Even the tyres were half-worn original Japanese fare, some twenty years old! How much for this paragon? £300! I couldn't believe it. Handed over the dosh without taking a test ride, half afraid someone else would turn up and offer more money. As the UMG has long said, there are bargains out there - just takes some time and effort to find them.
The combination of brittle tyres and soft suspension made life difficult. In direct contrast to its newish sheen, the ride was something straight out of hell. Had the bike weighed more than its 360lbs I would've been in real trouble. I was able to manhandle the Honda the short distance home. The wife couldn't believe the bike cost so little, checked out our building society account to make sure I wasn't lying to her. Girling shocks, heavier fork oil and a pair of old Avon Deathmasters were hastily fitted. I'm lucky in that the garage is big enough to keep loads of old junk. Eventually it all comes in useful.
Classic insurance was laughably cheap for the CJ. Back on the open road the bike was a whole different kettle of fish. It all depends what you're used to. My bikes consist of sixties Brit's and seventies Jap's. Bantam, Tiger Cub, T100R, CB550F and CB350K4. Compared to such senile steeds, the Honda was pretty damn good. Compared to anything remotely modern it was a bit of a museum piece. Wholly lacking the ride quality, smoothness, easy handling and general sophistication of the modern bikes I've ridden - mainly due to the local dealer keeping a stock of test machines!
If, on the other hand, you're used to older bikes then the OHC Honda twin is pretty much what you'd expect. A bit more urge than my CB350K4, though not up to the standards of the T100R (a Triumph 500 twin if ignorance rules) and certainly not as useful on the motorway as the CB550 four. It snapped around town and along country lanes without much complaint - unless you weren't used to square section Avon tyres! I found the vibration at the top end of the rev range a touch intrusive, making the ton a rather unpleasant experience.
It's worth checking the engine breather for smoke on these Honda's, as that's the first sign of the piston rings or valves going down. Both the 360 variants had dodgy camshaft bearings which were part of the head material, therefore somewhat difficult to repair! All seemed okay on my machine, as befitting such a low miler.
Frequent oil changes (every 750 miles) being far more important than checking the valve clearance, doing the ignition timing, setting the camchain tensioner or balancing the carbs. Though all four jobs are easily accessible and simple enough if you're used to this era of Honda twins. Spares, whilst neither plentiful nor cheap new, can usually be found in the specialist dealers and through the classified ad's in the motorcycle press. Those who do serious mileage on any particular model usually have a couple of dead machines as back up. A lot of spares turn up by word of mouth. I'm always surprised by the number of people who rush over to have a chat about the bikes I own.
Back to the 360. Weaving and wallowing is down to poor suspension, readily cleaned up by doing similar mod's to those already mentioned. Even better, fit a front end off a sixties British twin (with a TLS front drum, please). This also gets rid of the abortion of a disc brake. No doubt it wasn't bad when brand new but time and wear ain't kind to them. Even using aftermarket pads failed to clean up the atrocious wet weather lag and poor general performance. Engine braking and the rear drum helped out.
Incidentally, don't fit one of the earlier Honda twin front ends. My 350K4 ended up with a cracked front drum after 55000 miles and a cracked bottom yoke some 8500 miles later. Either of which could've proved terminal and just goes to show the attention to detail you need to take when running old Jap bikes. Having said that, when in fine fettle the TLS drum's as good as anything you'll find on an old sixties British twin.
The 360 soon suffered from chronically rusty rims that ate into the rim tape, eventually causing a series of annoying punctures. Once sussed I decided the only way out was to have the wheels rebuilt with alloy rims and stainless steel spokes. That was until I found out it would cost an absurd £150! That's why my bike has matt black wheels!
As the CB550F seized and the CB350K4 dropped a valve within weeks of each other, the 360 suddenly became my prime winter machine. The Brit's too valuable to trust to the rigours of acid rain and ignorant cagers who don't slow down in the wet. It proved pretty adequate, as only a suicidal fool would try for more than 90mph. The finish proved better than expected with only the down-pipes and a bit of alloy rot to contend with, plus the aforementioned wheels.
My only complaint was the ease with which the water attacked the coils, causing the engine to go into a fit of the splutters though it never actually went down on to one cylinder or conked out altogether. WD40 only helped for a few minutes. A set of coils meant for a GS450 were fitted and worked much better. In the wet and dark I had the safety benefit of a spark show from the plug caps. Cold morning starting was greatly improved when proper rubber caps were fitted, though I missed the reassuring firework show - at least it meant I knew the electrics were still working!
If you buy a well worn version of the 360 - or most other old Honda's - get rid of the spark show pronto. My cousin ignored it, on his CB500, until petrol from his weeping tank met up with the sparks! Even his 40mph cruising speed failed to put out the fire. The fire brigade reckoned he was lucky to merely end up with a charred motorcycle rather than find himself atop a fireball. Old Honda petrol tanks rust from the inside out, no warning (except for rough running from the debris attacking the carb or clogging the fuel filter) when they are going to start leaking. Bang, bang; bye-bye motorcycle!
It didn't take long, less than 3000 miles, for a series of cable breakages to take the piss. No clutch for 90 miles? Piece of cake. Dead throttle cable? What are mole-grips for? Rubber fuel pipe dissolving into nothingness? Oh shit! Then the electrical insulation decided to peel off, didn't it? The bike needed a thorough going over to sort out the effect of twenty years of life even though the mileage wasn't that high. Cost nothing, just loads of my time, as I had everything I needed in my stash of junk. This kind of effort to be expected on old Japs - I've even known people who have paid thousands for so-called restored examples to have the same hassles.
The 360 has the same kind of performance as a 250 Superdream, lacks some of that bike's agility and doesn't usually last for anything like its 50,000 miles. Oddly, it does seem to have better quality, but perhaps it's just the patina of age. Also fuel's good at 65mpg and none of the consumables wear rapidly. Worth a look if you find a relatively low miler at under £500, but paying any more is throwing money away - there are lots of better machines around for such serious money. I'm keeping mine, anyone has some spares or dead bikes they don't want, let me know.
L.D.
Return to Contents for CB250/360's
It looked pretty neat for a 25 year old bike. Very much in the tradition of those old sixties British twins. An import from the States, a 1971 trail version of the famous old CB350 twin. The shiny upswept exhaust on one side of the bike indicated that the 3500 miles on the clock might just be genuine. Also reflected in the rest of the chassis that shone nicely, confirming it probably hadn't ever been used off road.
The dealer went into the usual spiel - been stored for a couple of decades, never used hard, runs perfectly, three month written guarantee, mine for a measly two grand (about six times what they cost new). I tried the usual UMG inspired ploys to get a reduction for cash, but even when I took my wad out of my underpants he wouldn't shift. Must be I have a sucker face. All he'd promise was that he'd have it ready for the road in two days rather than the six weeks which was the normal waiting period as they were overwhelmed with people throwing money at them, it was the beginning of the season, etc., etc.
Two grand was a lot of money but I'd save a few hundred on the cheap classic insurance, I'd never have to pay road tax again and the engine had burbled beautifully, enticingly. After handing over the dosh, the dealer gave me his sucker smile, one born every minute and the money would pay very nicely for his loose change expenses this month, thank you very much, and ain't it a pity you can't afford the latest Porsche like me, etc., etc.
According to the UMG - and who am I to disagree?- if an old Honda twin has a good gearbox then it's very probably low mileage and in nice nick. So I was pretty happy to find the 350's change was slick and precise, though the gearing made first and second a waste of time for road use - the thing would happily pull off in third and it ran into the red in fifth with a mere 80mph on the clock. A bigger gearbox sprocket was top priority.
Before that, I had to do the forty mile ride home. With the trail based gearing acceleration was nifty enough to burn off 250 Superdreams, and the like, and it had a nice off-beat exhaust note (from the pistons moving up and down out of sync), whilst handling was steady as long as I didn't dive down into the potholes when the suspension could only be described as desperately loose. Probably naff from new, I consoled myself, not wanting to contemplate the idea that it was worn out from 25000 miles of abuse and the bike had been clocked.
Entering that charming and pleasant conurbation known as Luton, where I happened to live, I got caught up with the traffic, which even the narrowness and light mass (345lbs) of the Honda didn't allow fast progress. The cages were too jam packed for even emaciated ped's to get through!
Heat rose off the engine and neutral became elusive. The clutch was light so no great strain to hold the lever in, save that the machine started to creep forward as the plates dragged. I held it on the front TLS drum for a moment when the motor stalled. Five million kicks later it grumbled into life and I could leave the hundreds of horns in my wake. Even changing the oil every 500 miles, and much adjustment of the clutch, never removed the drag. When the engine got hot it simply turned very nasty.
After fitting a larger gearbox sprocket and flatter bars, top speed improved to just over the ton, which confirmed that the motor was making all of 33 horses and that, heat problems aside, it was generally in good nick. In fact, it was one of those motors that ran better the more it was revved, smoothing out above 6000rpm and not having a touch of the jitters until after ten grand.
At lower revs the engine tried to leap out of the frame and the gearchange was reluctant to work in a noise free manner. Clutch drag also hit the engine when started for the first time each day, but it was just a matter of holding the front brake on to avoid a kangaroo hop into the oblivion of a stalled motor. Just part of the character of the bike.
After the first month, or so, starting became difficult. I phoned the dealer who told me to buy a new battery (not covered by the guarantee) despite my protestations that there was plenty of juice. Reluctantly he agreed to look it over. Blackened points were diagnosed and cleaned up...cured it for two days. It took lots of whining to get them to replace them and they were not amused when I phoned up a week later.
In the end, I got new points, HT leads, carb diaphragms, rubber inlet manifolds and a rectifier/ regulator before the guarantee ran out. The dealer complained that he had spent hundreds repairing the bike but I chortled happily enough as I got it fixed for free and it was running like a new bike. Bikes that have been stored away for years rot all kind of things, so it's worth making sure you get a decent guarantee if paying top money.
The dealer wouldn't agree to fitting a new clutch, though, reckoning the drag was a design fault that couldn't be cured, his chins wobbling furiously at the thought of how much money he'd have to spend. The strange thing about the way he lied was that deep down he probably believed himself a real hero rather than a total arsehole.
None of that stopped me enjoying the Honda. Especially after I'd rebuilt the front forks with hefty springs and fitted a pair of used Girling shocks out back. A precision piece of engineering it wasn't but nonetheless it was basically a stable, sturdy and strong little thing that was well matched to its power output- could be ridden on the limit for most of the time without excessive speed or danger. I enjoyed it anyway.
It was also amazingly cheap to run. 65mpg, slow wearing tyres, zero wear from the brake shoes and the only concern the need to do the chain every few hundred miles. Engine maintenance was a 1000 mile chore but astonishingly simple compared to modern bikes with no need to spend hours removing millions of bits.
However, after two years and 19000 miles, things turned a little dismal. Simply put, the bike much preferred the Texan sunshine to the English winter, and rot was soon attacking the metalwork. The guards disintegrated, the huge rear light bracket fractured, the silencers rusted through (an MOT failure), the seat base disintegrated and bits of rust seized up the petrol tap. The wheel rims went all rusty and the alloy corroded. My pristine bike was quickly turned into a rat, although most of the paint was of good quality.
Study of the UMG revealed that I could also expect the drum brakes to crack up at speed and that the forks were likely to unfurl some day soon. I knew something bad was going to happen when the spokes started breaking up at both ends and that riding around on a machine with egg shaped wheels was only something for the foolish looking for employment opportunities in a circus. Yes, after paying two grand for the bike I should've been made to ride around in a clown's outfit.
The Honda was cleaned up and sold for £725, which was what I should've paid in the first place. Apart from slightly dodgy cam lobes, the engines are reasonably tough and for summer use low milers represent reasonable buys. As serious hacks they have their limitations unless you want to wallow in rat status and like every ride to be an adventure into the unknown!
Ralph Williams
Return to Contents for CB250/360's