CB/CL 350 RACE BIKE FAQ FRAME MODIFICATIONS PAGE
- Chris Marshall, Frame modifications: No major ones on my bike. The backbone has
been MIG welded solid, and all unnecessary brackets removed. I also
welded a tube in front of the tank to mount the steering damper to.
and reliability.
- Hoyt McKagen, Close up open stampings, shave off the spot-weld flanges and weld the
resulting butt seams. Rear motor mount especially needs to be boxed in.
Could be lighter or stronger with seat loop replaced with tubing, needs bigger
downtube. Or, frame needs beams running from Steering Head to Swing Arm pivot; I'm building
one like this now using a 550 as basis. Bike would probably benefit from
steeper fork rake, can be achieved at least partially with suspension height settings.
- Chris Ford, I didn't make very many modifications to the chassis of my bike,
other than to lose as much weight as possible, and install a tapered
steering stem bearing. There are a lot of gimcracky little brackets on a
CB, and you can cut, chip, or file almost all of them off. That will
save you about 3 1/2 pounds, and make the bike look cleaner. I stripped
my bike down to the last thing I could unbolt (swing arm), and then
started rebuilding, piece by piece.
- Buff Harsh, Since you will be using a stickier tire on your race bike(and you'd better!)
the frame is going to be loaded beyond of what was intended. The metal is
soft (and heavy) and wants to flex. The first modificcation I made was to
attach a post under the seat to "tie" the top shock mounts
together.(especially if the rear loop of the frame has been cut off) In
order to save weight all stock tabs should be removed as well.
Footpeg,kickstand, helmet lock, anything that is not useful. The other
frame mod I have made is the commonly seen bracing from the main backbone
to the up tubes of the frame just below where the stock battery box would
be.
- Seg Niebuhr, Pro-Flo sells steering head bearings of the tapered variety
for the CB/CL 350 although they do not specifically list the CL 350 in their online catalog.
The appropriate part number is SSH-750. When the bearings are installed, the
top bearing will stick out of the top of the steering head approximately
1/8" - 1/4". That's O.K. Steering damper - the NHK damper available from Pro-Flo is just fine.
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