brianwilsonsdog
Member
Just put a new battery in today and to my surprise the headlights, neutral light, turn signals, horn and starter are all working. No blink on the right front turn signal and no light on the left rear but otherwise not too bad.
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1968 CL350 Restoration
- Thread starter brianwilsonsdog
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- honda cl350
That's a good beginning for sure. The starter clutch is slipping but the starter switch, solenoid and motor seem to be okay.
brianwilsonsdog
Member
I checked for spark a few weeks ago and looks like all I needed was new spark plugs because I was able to get it sparking. Didn't actually get the engine running just yet. Points need to be cleaned and adjusted but that's a problem for another day. I also got the gas tank off and it's looking pretty alright. I took the exhaust and the carbs off today. Only thing is there's a metal strip that connects the two carbs and I sort of bent that **** out of shape. I'm not sure what shape it's supposed to be or whether I should replace it so open to suggestions. On the plus side no parts of the exhaust seem to be rusted through.
Also one question since I'm not mechanitician I can still try to get the thing to start even without carbs and fuel tank right? Like I just need to spray the engine full of that starter fluid stuff right?
Also one question since I'm not mechanitician I can still try to get the thing to start even without carbs and fuel tank right? Like I just need to spray the engine full of that starter fluid stuff right?
brianwilsonsdog
Member
this is the bent piece in question.
It's the choke linkage, clamps to the shaft for the choke on the right carb. You can bend it back to original shape easily. #8 here
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1969 CL350
Veteran Member
That choke connector doesn’t look very bent, so it will probably still hook up ok. It is necessary, because it synchronizes the choke plate positions and keeps both in place when open. Without it, the right hand carb plate is free to seek its own position the entire time the engine is running. The connector should look something like this, but it will work ok when bent as long as it isn’t twisted.
brianwilsonsdog
Member
Awesome thanks guys. I'll be cleaning the carbs out tomorrow hopefully and then tackling the throttle, clutch and brake cables after that. The throttle is totally stuck and barely pulls the cables and all three cables are decrepit to the point of needing replacement.
Boomer343
Veteran Member
Well part of me wants you to set up multiple cameras and record while you fill the cylinders with starter fluid and crank the engine over and have a live feed to whatever tube you want cause I figure two things will happen .... you won't have a bike to restore and you will get lots of hits and memes ......
So then my shop teacher brain cells kick in and will tell you in no uncertain terms not to do this. Can you hear my teacher voice? Good. Now go clean those carbs and don't play with starter fluid .... it will mess up lots of things ....
Boomer343
Veteran Member
Those carbs look to be model 350A carbs ..... hard to find parts for and if you do they will be expensive .... especially the floats. Be careful.
brianwilsonsdog
Member
I can hear your condescension and I think your answer is really obnoxious. There was a point in time where you didn't know everything yourself and had to ask stupid questions. Leave that bs unc talk in the 20th century where it belongs.
mike in idaho
Veteran Member
"Like I just need to spray the engine full of that starter fluid stuff right?"
Nope, that's a good way to ruin something. I use gasolene, in an old squirt bottle, for priming engines. Better yet, some 2cycle oil/gas mix, to help the rings out with that first dry startup.
Nope, that's a good way to ruin something. I use gasolene, in an old squirt bottle, for priming engines. Better yet, some 2cycle oil/gas mix, to help the rings out with that first dry startup.
brianwilsonsdog
Member
I'll give that a shot thank you. If it's warm out today I might be able to get enough work done to get it running.
brianwilsonsdog
Member
Hi folks I'm cleaning and rebuilding the carburetors and I can't seem to get this butterfly valve (I think that's the name) open. It is supposed to open right? I've tried pb blaster and cleaning the surrounding parts as much as I can. Any suggestions?
Judging by the way the cable holder is bent, I have a feeling someone took the carbs apart before and misaligned the butterfly plate and now it won't rotate freely. The top of the plate looks like it was bent. You could try to loosen the two screws and jiggle the plate to see if it will align better and allow the plate to rotate. The screws are dimpled on the back side so they don't come out easily, but as a first step just loosen them to see if you get any movement.
If the butterfly frees up and rotates, check that the fit in the bore is even all around. Shine a flashlight from the other side an d look at where the light is coming in around the plate.
If the butterfly frees up and rotates, check that the fit in the bore is even all around. Shine a flashlight from the other side an d look at where the light is coming in around the plate.
Submerge that portion of the carb in PB Blaster, WD40 or a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF for a day. Re[eat until it comes free
brianwilsonsdog
Member
damn those screws feel like they don't wanna budge one bit they just wanna strip. I definitely see a little crack of light through the top when I shine a flashlight. What is the cable holder supposed to look like? I guess probably like a mirror image of the one on the other carb unless they're both bent. I will try drowning it in stuff and see if that makes it open up.
The cable holder should be 90 degree bracket. A slight crack of light at the top is not bad. I would focus on submerging the shaft in a mix of acetone and ATF as LDR suggests.
brianwilsonsdog
Member
Alright so the past few days I've thrown everything at this thing, PB blaster, WD40, heat. Finally tried the acetone and ATF thing and it worked like a miracle. I soaked it overnight, hit it with a heat gun this morning and could tell that it had made significant progress so I put it back in the acetone ATF mixture and after another couple of hours it seems to have cleaned the rest of the gunk out of the carburetor, didn't even need to use the heat gun again. I'm going to start putting this stuff in my morning coffee it's so good.
brianwilsonsdog
Member
I did some work on the bike today and tried to start it. I got this really weird doink noise. What does it mean? Something good I hope. Anyway could someone tell me what's going on here based on this video? Someone also said that my starter clutch is slipping and I still haven't started working on that.
I also found these tools in a little hidden compartment so that was cool. 
I think that noise is because you are turning over the engine without the carbs on, and I suspect without the exhaust pipes.
I also noticed that the eccentric valve adjustment cam looks to be oriented with the tick mark facing inward, it should face outward.
Nice find on the tools!
I also noticed that the eccentric valve adjustment cam looks to be oriented with the tick mark facing inward, it should face outward.
Nice find on the tools!
brianwilsonsdog
Member
lol thank you for clarifying that. I thought something else was wrong with it. For the valve adjustment cam you're talking about those bolts with the little notch in them right?
That is correct. Facing inward moves the tip of the rocker off the center of the valve stem.
brianwilsonsdog
Member
which is bad right
Correct, not good. Do you have the Factory Service Manual (FSM) if not ask one of the admins for a copy from our library. I would adjust the valves and cam chain tension as part of your first steps to getting this bike running.
That closed end wrench in your toolkit should be used to remove the tappet covers, although they seem pretty chewed up and the wrench may no longer fit.
That closed end wrench in your toolkit should be used to remove the tappet covers, although they seem pretty chewed up and the wrench may no longer fit.
brianwilsonsdog
Member
Yeah unfortunately a different idiot other than myself must have roughed up those covers. I ordered some replacements that should be here this weekend. I do have the factory service manual. I'm planning on going over the valves, cam chain and working on the points this weekend. Unfortunately a bunch of basic maintenance items are locked behind screws that previous owner seems to have stripped so I'm going to be replacing them with allen bolts. I was also wondering though about the starter clutch, how can I fix the slipping issue? Should I just get a rebuild kit?
I would wait until you have the starter clutch apart to see what the issue is. It may be more that the rollers, springs and caps. Sometimes the screws work loose and the the clutch housing becomes worn.
brianwilsonsdog
Member
Thanks so much
hopefully once I'm in there the issue will be more apparent to me
It isn't always as convenient, but with these old engines it's best to wait until things are disassembled before ordering parts because you just never know how the prior work was done and what additional *ahem* challenges you might be facing courtesy a PO.
brianwilsonsdog
Member
Well I finally took some time to work on the bike today after ages of letting it sit. I replaced the throttle cables, got the choke linkage all hooked up and my freshly cleaned and bench synched carbs. Got the throttle synched or whatever on the carbs and I decided to go through the cam chain tension, valve adjustment and points one more time and test for spark again just because I wasn't too confident in the work I did previously. Both cylinders have spark. After I was sure everything was set right (at least I hope it was), I decided to see if it would start up just for a second. The starter clutch is no good but I kicked it once and it immediately tried to start so I decided to slap the exhaust back on real quick and see if it would idle.
It needs a couple squirts of starter fluid to get going but this is what I got
it looks like the tachometer isn't working, some insight into how to fix that would be much appreciated. If you can't tell the exhaust pipes aren't really attached properly. I didn't let it run long like this and it doesn't really want to run long anyway. I just wanted to see if it would start after all this work before I kept going.
As it stands though I think my next steps are to get the exhaust cleaned up and restored as much as it can be and reattached properly, get the bike in general clean as it's still covered with dust, dirt and rust, replace the brakes and cables, get the tach working I guess go through whatever maintenance the shocks need, new chain and sprocket and get some new tires on it. Other than cosmetic stuff is there anything else I ought to be doing? Right now the tank has 2 stroke and seafoam in it, that's what I had laying around. There isn't a ton of it in there so I was thinking I'll just burn through it before I put some regular gasoline in, unless that's bad for it please let me know. If you can't tell already, and I can't stress this enough, I have very little mechanical knowledge and experience so please if there's anything obviously idiotic here going on that I'm blissfully unaware of don't hesitate to tell me. Also when I signal to go right, the front turn signal doesn't blink it just stays on, and the back one doesn't turn on at all. Any idea on where to start with that?
One more thing, I noticed this rubber... thing fell off and so I guess I need another one. Does anybody know what these are and where I can get them? Thanks.
It needs a couple squirts of starter fluid to get going but this is what I got
it looks like the tachometer isn't working, some insight into how to fix that would be much appreciated. If you can't tell the exhaust pipes aren't really attached properly. I didn't let it run long like this and it doesn't really want to run long anyway. I just wanted to see if it would start after all this work before I kept going.
As it stands though I think my next steps are to get the exhaust cleaned up and restored as much as it can be and reattached properly, get the bike in general clean as it's still covered with dust, dirt and rust, replace the brakes and cables, get the tach working I guess go through whatever maintenance the shocks need, new chain and sprocket and get some new tires on it. Other than cosmetic stuff is there anything else I ought to be doing? Right now the tank has 2 stroke and seafoam in it, that's what I had laying around. There isn't a ton of it in there so I was thinking I'll just burn through it before I put some regular gasoline in, unless that's bad for it please let me know. If you can't tell already, and I can't stress this enough, I have very little mechanical knowledge and experience so please if there's anything obviously idiotic here going on that I'm blissfully unaware of don't hesitate to tell me. Also when I signal to go right, the front turn signal doesn't blink it just stays on, and the back one doesn't turn on at all. Any idea on where to start with that?
One more thing, I noticed this rubber... thing fell off and so I guess I need another one. Does anybody know what these are and where I can get them? Thanks.
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stl360+450
Veteran Member
You have already downloaded the factory service manual, correct? If not, it's here.
- The motor sounded like it was holding a high idle, probably 2000–2500 rpm. You can probably back off the idle adjuster screws a bit. I usually set them about a half turn in from where they first sit on the stop as a starting point. Eventually you'll want to check for air leaks if you can't get that idle under control.
- Use the wiring diagram in the FSM to follow wires around. You may find something with the turn signal relay, e.g., it's missing, not wired correctly, or worn out. Similarly, the rear turn signal bulb may have a broken filament or might not be wired up correctly.
- The tachometer cable is connected to the motor at the right cam bearing as well as at the backside of the gauge? You might try lubing the spindle where the cable connects to the gauge. I recently had to open one up to clean out old grease that was preventing the needle from moving smoothly. That's a bit of work because the gauges were not really meant to be opened and you will have to pry back the crimp ring holding the two halves together and then crimp it back into place afterwards.
- The rubber pieces should fit into the seat pan and their function is to support the seat from below — the fact that they are rubber means they absorb vibrations and do not conduct electricity. You can see the circle where it was in contact with the frame. You can probably find new ones in a variety of places like Partzilla, eBay, or CMSNL. The Honda part number is 77204-286-020.
- That red waffly thing in the picture is an original selenium rectifier. It may work just fine along with the voltage regulator, but, then again, maybe not. A modern rec/reg combo unit (e.g., from Sparck Moto) would not be a bad idea. Once the beast is running, a working charging system is important for keeping it running!
I assume you had the tank off to adjust the valves and do the carbs, so I'd check the throttle cable spiltter (where the two cables from the carbs go into a junction box and connect to the single cable from the handlebars), sometimes one of the cables from the carbs gets pulled out of the splitter inadvertently during removal of the tank. That can cause a high idle regardless how you might have adjusted the carbs.
