My dream machine
This is my 1968 Honda domestic market CB350. I first clapped eyes on the 250 version on a trip to Japan, during a visit to the Honda Collection Hall. The bike looked cool to me – a cross between a CB77 and the CB350 we got here in the States. I was pretty sure that I’d never get to own one, as I’d have to purchase it in Japan and then have it shipped to my home in the USA.
That situation remained until December of 2017, when a mate of mine, Bill Silvers, sent out a note of his intent to sell off a pair of bikes. On a whim, I opened the pictures attached to the note – and there it was! The pictures showed a 1968 Honda domestic market CB350! I quickly contacted Bill and we struck a deal. My 1997 Honda CB50 went west and his CB350 came east. On a January day with the outside temperature standing at -2°C, a truck arrived in my forecourt and inside was the CB350. It was quickly unloaded and moved to my garage.
A detailed assessment revealed that there were a number of deficiencies that needed to be corrected. Through my contacts in Japan, I obtained a genuine Honda parts list. It showed me all the missing and incorrect details, which have now mostly been addressed.
This is a very early CB350. The carbs are unlike those on later examples and the left one required quite a bit of work to be usable. Early CB350S like this one used a hydraulic cam chain tensioner and my bike has one of these. Honda quickly found that the hydraulic tensioner wasn’t one of their best ideas and quickly replaced it with a mechanical one. However, I decided to leave the hydraulic tensioner in place and will keep a close watch on the cam chain. Amazingly, the seat is original and needed only a bit of clean up to make it presentable. Purists might raise their eyebrows at the Hagon dampers, but they keep the rear under control much better than the originals. I also fitted a CYB350 hydraulic steering damper.
The motorcycle is put together with new Honda bolts – I saved all the originals (with an ‘8’ stamped on them) during the restoration and they will be re-plated in due course. Finally, for reliability I added an electronic ignition from Charlie’s Place and a higher-output alternator winding from Rick’s Motorsport Electrics as well as one of their regulator/rectifiers to keep the battery fully charged.
Ellis Holman, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA