Triumph Seat Bracket

While I created this blog for the CB 360, I could not help but post my adventure related to getting my Triumph seat bracket fabricated.


I purchased a solo seat for the Triumph on Ebay during the fall of 2009. It did not however, come with a bracket for attaching it to the fender. I called Collin's Cycle and searched the internet with no results. I had asked a machinist friend to make me one and I gave him my prototype and I never heard back from him.


In December, I saw an ad on Craigslist for motorcycle parts fabrication in Slippery Rock. After emailing the fabricator, I finally set up a time to meet him afer Christmas.


Ray gave me his address so I could Mapquest it and I was still unsure of his directions, so I emailed him and he sent me the directions which included the statement: "it looks like you are pulling up into a cornfield."


I made my way through the snow covered roads up PA Route 19 North to Hunt Road. The sign in the photo below was at the intersection.

The driveway was located on a snow covered road between two cornfields. If I would have used the Mapquest directions, I would have thought I was going into the incorrect place.

Rays' Driveway

As I turned into the field, I saw that Ray's shop was a trailer located in a field and a box truck outside.


I hesitantly got out of my car and grabbed the seat out of the back. I turned and heard the door of the trailer opening and the half expected dog's angry bark. The man at the door of the trailer had a cigarette in one hand and he was restraining the black lab with the other. He welcomed me inside the trailer and told me the dog was all bark, which I found to be true. Buddy, the lab, responded to a few pats on the side and then went to the center of the main room of the trailer and found a spot in front of a space heater to lay down.


As I shook Ray's chapped right hand and put the seat down the edge of thread bare sofa, I scanned the interior of the room. The cigarette smoke hung in the air of the make-shift shop. To my right, there were three bikes in various states of repair behind the sofa: a older model Triumph, some offroad bike, and a red V twin Honda. A lone pair of motocross bike bars was on the floor not far from heater. I could hear the rustling of unseen occupants in another section of the trailer.



We stood in the doorway we discussed my vision of the seat bracket and its dimensions. He asked if I wanted flames on it.Initially I said that would be great, but after showing him my drawing, he asked again and I said just make it plain. He also asked if he could keep the seat while making the part.

Ray explained about his past as fabricator and that his former partner and he had bikes in magazines, but that the partner left and took all of the credit. We spent the next 10 minutes talking about my CB and rebuilding bikes.


He told me he have the bracket ready in a couple of days and that he would call me. I shook his hand and headed out through the half attached screen door, the smoke following me like a ghost.

I started the car backed away from the shop, the car's tires fighting for traction in the snowy field.

Another Part.

Bought a Petcock today on Ebay.

Another Purchase for the CB360

Purchased a new, old stock Oil Filter Cap on Ebay since I "goobered" the stock one up by reading incorrect information on a blog.

December 20, 2009

Purchased stainless hardware today on Ebay.

So far I have purchased:

The CB 360

A gasket

A front fender

A battery

A bolt set

Handlebars

Headlight bucket

Once the bolt set is here, I can put the right side crankcase back together and then concentrate on the carburetors and air filters. I have to buy the rebuild kit for the carb and the filters from bike bandit.

CB 360 Oil Change continued

December 19, 2009

As I continue to document the trials and triumphs of rebuilding this motorcycle, I hope to share my problems so I and others do not repeat them.

I finished cleaning the lower filter unit. As I was cleaning it, a washer "flew" off of the inlet end of the tubing. I need to be more careful when I remove parts as to not lose components.
In addition, I need to clean the area so I know what may have fallen off.





This second photo is of the lower filter unit installed. I just have to get some oil, and new screws for the crank case.

360T Oil Change Continued

In the previous post, I removed the right side crankcase.

I have now removed the cap from the centrifugal oil filter. After reading some incorrect information and finding some correct information in blogs, I used a 6 x 40mm allen bolt to ease the cap off.

If you try to pry it out with a screw driver, you will damage the bearing surface of the cap.

I then cleaned the interior of the filter. The sludge was quite extensive.

I still have some cleaning to do. The o ring is not perfect, but I will reuse it. The e clip holds the cap in place.

I have to finish cleaning the interior of the filter and clean the lower screen.

Right Side Crankcase Removal

December 15, 2009

In order to change the oil completely on the CB 360t, it is necessary to remove the right side crankcase cover, as the engine has no oil filter that is removable from its outside.

I started the process on Sunday afternoon by emptying the crankcase of the oil. I also had to remove the kickstarter, right side exhaust and foot peg to gain access to the case and aid in its removal.

I also began to loosen the 12 or so Phillips Head screws that hold the case on the lower unit. With some WD40 and some persuation, 7 out of 12 loosened without major stripping of the screws.

I took Monday off to allow the WD40 to do some more work on the remaining screws. I also needed to bring some larger phillips head drivers from the school.

One of the minor problems is gaining the leverage necessary to loosen the screws without knocking over the bike on its center stand and getting enough pressure so the screws do not strip.
My solution was to use a battery powered drill with a Dewalt extension and larger bits. I had success with all but two of the remaining screws. I first tried a forcing a square drive bit in with no success.

The final solution before resorting to a screw extractor was the Dremmel tool and cutting wheel. I cut a groove in each offending screw and used the drill and flat head bit to remove them. The last, of course, lowest screw, finally came out after cutting two slots into it.

I had to then tap the case with a rubber mallet and partially remove the rear brake foot lever to totally remove the case. Of course I forgot that is was partially full of oil and I did not have a pan under it.

As expected, the gasket was damaged and there was considerable sludge in the bottom of the case.

I removed the snap ring on the centrifugal filter can called it a night.

I am hoping and am confident that I can replace the screws with Allen Heads.

Honda CB 360T Rebirth Part one

Day One, December 5, 2009.


I traveled the Pennsylvania Turnpike to the Monroeville Exit and then took Route 48 to North Versailles to meet with Dave, the current owner of a CB 360T that I had found listed on Craigslist. The blue, 1975 CB was listed for $500.


After looking at the bike and noting its deficiencies, and trying a dry start, I offered him $300. He obviously knew I would not walk away and he also claimed he had two other people looking at the bike. He did show me a number of parts that would be included with the purchase including but not limited to a spare tank, speedometer and tachometer, crash bars and three starters. Seeing as there were extra parts and I had the cash, I said I would take it for $500.

We went in his truck to a local insurance agent and I paid the notary and state fees to transfer the ownership.

As the snow fell, we loaded the CB onto my Silverado and then stood talking in the cold of the December early afternoon.


I then drove to Three Rivers Harley Davidson to see Joe and his coworkers. Needless to say, I don't believe that Joe thought I got a good deal, and the other employees did not even come out to see the bike.

On my way home, I stopped in at Gatto's Cycle Shop and ordered a new battery; it was the first part of many that I would need so far. A couple of the bicycle shop employees made me feel better about the purchase as they offered me the same amount for the bike.

At home, I managed to offload the bike without assistance. After rolling it into the garage, I immediately removed the heavy luggage rack and sissy bar. It would later be posted on Craigslist.

December 6, 2009

Before church, I removed the tool box and found the tools to be in their original plastic case. I also took off the chain guard. Later in the day, Joe and I removed the carbs, seat and tank. We emptied the old fuel from the tank.


December 8, 2009

I picked up the battery from Gatto's in Tarentum and brought it home. I immediately put it in and checked the lights and controls; turn indicators, brake lights and headlight all were working properly.

December 10, 2009


I removed the rear fender and tail light. I also did research to find out what to do next. I found a great resource on http://www.hondatwins.net/ that explained 6 steps to evaluating Old Honda Twins. I also printed out the Honda Manual from this site.

December 11, 2009

While on a run to the grocery store for my wife, I picked up some chrome polish.


December 12, 2009

I purchased new handlebars on Ebay since the stock bars were bent and were not part of the look I was going for with this project. Since they were not in, I spent the beginning of the day polishing the rear fender and then removing the old bars and putting on Renthal moto bars for the mean time.

The processes of replacing the bars would be simple if the control wires were not routed through the interior of the bars. First, I had to detach each of the 20 or so bullet connectors onthe control wires. I was concerned that I would never get them back where they belong, but the color coding is extensive. Addtionally, the black plastic wire housing was very brittle on the clutch control side and it shattered each time I bent the mass of wires. There was a pile of shards littering the floor below the CB.

After attempting to remove the wires from the bars unsuccessfully, I decided to cut the bars with a pipe cutter in various places, since the bars were trash to start with.

The photos show the bars after the cutting and the holes from the wire routing.



Just the removal of the wires and bar cutting took about 1 hour.


The photo below shows the bulleted wires that I had to disconnect in order to pull them through the bars.

My real concern was breaking the wires and creating an open. So after attaching the Renthal bars, I reattached the bullet connectors for the control wires and then reinstalled the battery. The lights were all relit and I was satisfied for the moment.

For a temporary fix, as I stated, I installed the Renthal bars from my now departed DRZ. The problem lies in the routing of the control wires as the were previously routed through the stock bars. The controls are not designed to allow the wires to past out through them.

After some online research, I found it is best to step drill the control mounts. In order to get the mounts to the drill press, it was necessary to disconnect all of the wires and cables from the mounts. The wires wre connected with small screws and metal retainers. I should have used the digital camera to note their positions. I did however, bag them in plastic so as to not lose them in the garage.

I also needed to unattach the clutch lever sensor wires. The two wires end in bullet connectors inside the headlight bucket. While taking apart the bucket, I cracked it. I have already paid $7.99 plus shipping for a new bucket.

Once the mounts were free of the cables and wires, I drilled and Dremmeled them to 3/8 inch diameters to get them to cleanly accept the wires without causing any opens.

I reattached the controls to the bars and reinstalled the battery for a check of the system: absolute failure. Possible causes: opens from pinched wires or not replacing the small screw and metal retainers in the correct places.

I went online and also to the repair manual to find a schematic of the light controls and turn signals. No luck.

I headed back to the basement, and hoped for some solution, or I knew I would not be able to sleep for the remainder of the weekend.

After looking at a spare mount, I reinstalled the metal retainers and the battery for a third attempt. All lights and signals operated. Not sure why. Possible reason: metal retainers form a ground on the handlebars.

Final mounting of controls turns out clean enough for this project.

Later on Saturday, I escaped to the garage for enough time to clean the frame a little more and prepare to drain the oil on Sunday afternoon.

On a side note: the original 1972 CB 350 Joe and I looked at in Butler is still there. Maybe he will give me it for parts.

Sunday December 13, 2009

It was freezing rain the morning, but I still was silly enough to take out the Cavalier to go to church. When I returned, I drained the oil and removed the front fender. I had to take the speedometer cable off of the meter to completely remove the fender.

I removed the kick start, the right side exhaust and foot peg and the attempted to remove the crank case; the phillips head machine screws are incredibly tight and only a few have been loosened. Here how the bike looks currently.