1974 Honda CB360

Thought I would start a new thread for this bike.
20190704_151014 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
So far so good, three of the four valves were out of spec. Starter button didn't work but that just needed a little TLC, lube and now it is good.
Battery was bad so she has a new one. While I was going through the carbs I found one of the diaphragms was really messed up. I tried to fix it just to run the bike to see if I see or hear anything out of the ordinary when and if the bike would run. She did and sounds good. Took the carbs off to really go though them, well the diaphragm fix did not work. Normally that would be costly but I was lucky to find a place that send me these.
20190722_135904 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
They don't have the little ear on them but if you just make the center potion as it should be when you put the tops back on, not so bad. The cost was minimal and as long as you measure as they ask you to, they fit very well. Still waiting on the bowl gaskets with the kits.

 

Got the carb kit in, wrong stuff as always! So I used what I could, the rubber was all right, secondary emulation tube jet and air fuel mixture jet. Besides that waist of time and money. Now the only thing that is holding me back is the fuel bowl gaskets. Yes I am trying to make my own from gasket maker, I will let it dry for a good 24hrs before putting them together. The stuff I use turns into a soft rubber and I hope is not dissolved by gas. Hope to have it together and try to run her for a bit in a day or two.

 

No, no, no, no.
Cerial boxes. Cut the gaskets from one.

 

Really??? Way cool thanks k-moe. Trying to find these old gaskets is nuts and the prices are even worse. Thanks again for the info.

 

k-moe, thanks for the idea, have them made and now to mount and put some gas to them.
20190724_085826 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
20190724_090235 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
20190724_091419 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
Get a good outline by making a hole in material for the overflow vent. Careful on all of this as you don't want to rip gasket material or damage the vent tube. Put bowl with gasket material on a flat surface that will allow for the vent tube to not get damaged. Trace the outline of the bowl.

The first gasket will take a little longer as you have to guess what the inside will need to be. Fit it and re-fit it as needed and only take a little off at a time. If you over do it, you will have to start over, so take your time.

Once the first gasket is cut out, I put the bowl back on, lined everything up and used a small nail or something to poke the first screw hole through the gasket material. I used a drill bit to remove open up the material on the gasket to the correct hole size for the mounting screw. Do this for the all four.

Make sure before you tighten everything down, that you take the bowl back off, use the screws to hold the gasket in place and make sure the float can move without hitting the gasket. No holes are being covered that are used for jetting to the bowl if you have that. My CB360 does not have a bowl jet. Once the first one is working you can use that to make the second one, will go much faster.

Thanks again to k-moe for the idea...I thought I had to do a little write up as I am so pleased with his idea

 

Well she lives and rides nice. Sure it is a little 360 twin but that motor is sound. Six speed for a little bike, need to work on little things now, speedo and tack are not working as they should. Also looks like the bulbs on the gauges are all out. What, it is a 1974 they should all still be working right?

The bike will need new shoes but I will wait till the bond paper work comes back from Wisconsin DMV before I put the extra cost in her.

 

Is this a temporary fix? Or can I count on my Corn Flakes to provide a permanent solution?

 

I am guessing the material has some type of plastic coating in the material. I am hoping it will last as finding the parts for some of these older bikes is just hard to do. I did leave the form a gasket in the channel the old gasket was in, but I used the new material gasket and made it big enough to cover the touching surface of the carb body and the bowl. Bike ran fine with no leaks from the new hand make gaskets.

 

Trick is to make a template so it's easy to make more should you need to. Who knows, maybe instead of corn flakes, try frosted flakes. Or get crazy and try a raisin brand box hahaha

 

Most float bowl gaskets are made from pressed fiber. Cerial boxes are made from pressed fiber.
My lawn tractor had a cerial box float bowl gasket on it for several years. No leaks.
A difference in thickness may require resetting the fuel levels. I don't consider any workaround a permanant fix, unless the original part is unobtainable.

 

Took the bike out today and the paper in the carbs did not hold, not only that but the gas tank was not as clean as I hoped it would be. So the carbs are off the bike again, need to do a little cleaning of the jets. I do have the gas tank soaking again, this time I will soak it till it turns the inside just a little dark and then rinse the heck out of it like I did the Magna. That Magna tank turned out really nice from what is started.

I have real gasket paper that I will be cutting the new gaskets from. After this second time around I should be good. This will give me a little time to work on the speedo and the tack as they are not working as they should. They are from 1974, they should work just fine....lol. I will see if I can clean them inside some how and or oil grease the gears in there. If that does not work, I might go with at GPS speedo this time. I would like to keep the bike stock though.

If you guys ever get a chance to ride one of these little bikes they sure are fun. The forks on this one need a rebuild and some new tires, but I can see me keeping this bike for a fun little town hopping bike. Carbs come out so easy is another big plus.

 

Tank is all done and the inside is so much better. I did get two more in line fuel filters to add to the fuel system just in case. I like to use these:
20190801_154133 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
I tried the cheap way from ebay and I guess they plastic they use on them just can't handle the 10%+ ethanol we have here in Wisconsin.
20190801_154121 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
That discoloring and the melting of the plastic on that ebay style filter came from a nice looking filter that started out like this
20190801_154223 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
So learn from my frugal ways, when it comes to the carbs and the fuel system just spend the extra money and get a good filter like the "prime line" or equal. If you get them through amazon prime you will save about $2.00 each. Again, the nasty filters above came from ebay and were in a six pack....they suck!

 

It's not the ethanol causing that. It's the gasoline (strips the plasticizers out), and that happens to all of the filters with clear plastic housings.

INLINE FUEL FILTER Longevity Alert

That happens to most translucent fuel line too.

I run a sintered bronze filter that comes in an aluminum housing.


I'm a bit surprised that the cerial box gasket leaked. I've used that method before without issue. Maybe the wood fibers have other stuff blended in that didn't used to be there years ago.

 

I change the fuel line and filter every year with the plastic filters and translucent hose. I have been switching over to aluminim housings but I still use the translucent hose from filter to petcock . I like to see the fuel flow.

 

That's why I still use transparent fuel line. Change it every year, even though it's usually still not too brittle. Costs less than a new filter too.

 

So maybe going with the green fuel line like what is used in small engine and two stroke lawn equipment. I know it is bright green but it is good to work with and not break down. Thanks for the heads up on the clear plastic all breaking down, I hope the new ones I have do not brake down. If so I will have to get a link from k-moe to the filters he uses. I don't mind if they are the all aluminum type as long as they are not too big as the space we have for a lot of our bikes is minimal.

 

When I was kart racing I used to run VP racing methanol in my briggs animal. It sure was an animal, but that's another story. There were a multitude of fuel line available from karting catalogs and local supply stores. I found that usually you get what you pay for. Use the cheap stuff and within a couple weeks of methanol running through it, it was rock hard. Spend more on the "best" quality fuel line and I was able to make it almost an entire season before it got brittle. I didnt expect it to last forever in those conditions but almost a season I could live with over a couple weeks.

 

I have been looking into a few of the billet aluminum type that I can start to use. I will have to find one and stick to it, look like more are reasonably priced. The lights went out on the CB today, she does run well but now the headlight and running lights are out? No fuse issue, so time to go and look for what came unhooked or broken. I would guess with me playing around putting the gas tank on or what ever.

 

Don't overlook the fuse clips. Age and current and vibration conspire to make them crack, usually where you can't see the crack.

Also check the grounds, and the bulbs.

 

Thanks k-moe, ya they are in great shape. It was the connection from the main wiring harness to the fuse block that was nasty! It had so much corrosion on it that power could not pass even to get to the fusees. So all is well, but the headlight is still not working? This bike does have a power swx for the lights on the right side, tested it and it seems to have power in all the right places. I will have to get a new headlight anyway, the HI is burned out. Bike sure does run NICE! Once I get all the other little things working can't wait to take it for a longer ride. Still waiting on the paper work from the state.