CB360 Custom Seat

One of the last larger purchases that I wanted to get done for the CB was a custom seat. Sure it was a modification that didn't need done in order to get it back running, but it was definitely something I wanted to do for several reasons. The main reason of course is looks. I've gradually developed the look of this vintage Honda over time, somewhat going at it blindly. Mods have been determined a lot on functionality, cost and then looks. Therefore, this seat was all about looks just because it could be.

I've looked at a ton of cafe builds and determined I like the flat brat style the best. I really like the look of leather upholstery, but I've been undecided on the color. With my tank being a turquoise, I was leaning towards a brown leather, however, the more the bike developed overtime more and more parts were transforming to black. I determined I didn't really want to go brown leather on the handle grips so I figured just the seat being brown would look a little odd. Color determined: black. Stitch color determined: black.

While the main emphasis is on style, I did consider some functionality in the design. Overall I fit pretty well on the bike but would be more comfortable with slightly lower seat. The goal would be to shave down some of the foam to reduce the height. The type of material was critical too in that I don't want to be slipping all over the place while riding, but still wanted some mobility. The upholstery suggested a vinyl, which gives it the look and feel I was going for.

In addition to all of that, I really liked how the stock seat mounts on the bike and has this nifty little compartment underneath for my registration and any other paperwork. Luckily I was able to keep all of that to get exactly what I wanted.

A few weeks ago the seat shipped off to Michigan to a friend I met last summer, Chris Carr. Chris builds some pretty gnarly bikes from start to finish. I already posted some of the progress shots Chris had sent me of him shaving the foam and repairing the seat pan (view original post). He then took it to his upholstery place for the finished product. Last week I received it back, and it was as good as I could have imagined, if not better. Visit ChrisCarrDesign.com to see a few of his awesome builds.

I Don't Recommend Crashing a Motorcycle into a Car

Take my advice and don't ram your bike into a car. Not only does it not end well for the rider, but it also causes many hidden cracks and bends that need to be repaired. We've uncovered another necessary repair as I am getting my seat remade. Initially I went into this thinking it would be a cosmetic change; however, two cracks in the base have been found as well as a bend that needs straightened out.

A ton of progress is being made, and I am looking forward to seeing it all come together. Below are some progress shots of my seat I sent to Chris Carr of Caro, Michigan. Check out his killer builds on Instagram.

CB Rear Fender

My CB360 rear fender was next on the restoration list. The exterior wasn't too rusty, however, underneath was pretty ugly looking. Per usual I resorted to steel wool, Mothers Polish and some quality elbow grease to remove the rust. The end goal was to paint it black to match the springs I recently done (see previous progress post.) 

The exterior cleaned up beautifully and quickly, where the underside took a lot more elbow grease. I had then painted it black with some "rattle can", as my Caro friends like to refer to it as, and it was looking really good.  I removed the tape I used to protect the rubber and screw holes and quickly nicked part of the paint off. I figured I'd touch it up and use some clear coat. I had 1shot enamel laying around and figured that wouldn't hurt to use as touch up paint. Tonight I got some clear coat to top it all off.

To my surprise a reaction occurred either between the clear and the enamel or purely the cold temperatures. It's days like these I wish I paid more attention in science class.

The bubbles spread in various areas and removed all of the paint when wiped with a towel. Looks like I will be stripping it down, digging out my steel wool again to smooth it out. Then I'll repaint it and clear it in appropriate temperatures, sans enamel. Looks like I'll keep on learning! Stay tuned...

The Navajo Nugget Tank

About a month ago I dropped to OG CB360 motorcycle tank off at Powder'd Remedies to finally get it stripped down and coated the color I've been looking for (see original post). After a few weeks of progress photos and videos, last evening I was finally able to pick up the final piece.

I am absolutely amazed at the Navajo Nugget powder color and how it changes from turquoise, to teal, to blue in different lighting. The tank looks pretty awesome on the bike as it stands right now as well. I got lucky with how well the Robin Egg Blue 1shot paint I used on the side air filter covers.

Now the question is if I'll carry on with my original idea to paint over top of the powder. For now, I think I'll just admire it as is until I find the perfect solution. Woohoo!

1,600 Miles Later

Friday morning at 6am my co-pilot/best friend Nicole and I began to head west to start a very full weekend in the state of Michigan. Ten hours later we arrived in Kalamazoo, MI at our first stop: Bell's Brewery. Perhaps it was just because our lunch consisted of only SunChips, but everything tasted delicious. We scored some cool souvenirs and then were on our way to stop #2. About an hour north we arrived in Grand Rapids and found a cheap hotel before heading to Founder's Brewery. Founder's has been a destination on my list for a bit now, and it surely did not disappoint. People weren't kidding when they recommend I visit Grand Rapids-what a cool city. Of course we met some really nice locals throughout the evening at various places we explored which made the long day better yet. 

Saturday we woke up and we're back on the road by 9am to travel three hours east to make Caro, MI our first stop of the day. We pulled up at Cass Tavern to be welcomed by some of the friendliest motorcycle guys my dad and I have met at the races. The menu of only hamburgers, cheeseburgers and fries made for an easy lunch choice. After having a good meal with our six friends we made our way to Caro to begin our bike tour. Have you ever seen 500 motorcycles at one house? It began with the "museum" followed by an additional barn and garage full of bikes, however, the absolute coolest part of our tour was the motorcycle graveyard. "Oh my goodness" was the PG phrase of the whole tour. "Want to see more bikes?" was what our friends kept asking and soon enough we were heading to another house to see more, and then again to another house. We met a few new people along the way, including a few bike builders, and their hospitality was unreal. Needless to say, it was really, really great to see my "Caro Friends."

This whole weekend plan started around a trip to Lapeer for Miss Morgan Monroe. You could say we saved the best event for last, as it was really great to see everyone from all around gather to help out a very special injured flat track rider. Good food, killer raffle items and genuine, generous people are what made the benefit a huge success. I have to admit I was a bit emotional, partially because I was unable to attend the benefit for Kyle and Charlotte. I'd like to think this trip counts for them as well. I am so grateful to have attended and meet a lot of really wonderful people within the racing family. Even the custom 10J Throttle Down Speed Co. pillow I made for a raffle prize went to a good home to a new friend of mine. I look forward to watching Morgan Monroe progress and get back to 100%. She is no doubt a fighter, and I am honored to have been a small part in the fundraising for her and her family. 

The "afterparty" solely consisted of girl talk on a couch in Flint Saturday night with my friend Kara because Nicole and I felt like we were running on fumes the whole day from traveling. At 8am Sunday morning we hit the road again, this time heading East. About 9.5 hours later we finally made it to the homeland where we divided up our weekend treasures we picked up along the way. We reminisced the whole ride home, but the last 100 miles was no doubt the longest of the entire trip. 

I probably could ramble on and on but to keep it short and sweet: I am forever grateful to be apart of this motorcycle community. I've met amazing people and continue to meet more everyday. I have a lot of thank you's to give out including being apart of the Aid to Injured Riders. The opportunities that have come up because of AIR and Throttle Down Speed Co., are overwhelmingly wonderful and I look forward to many more in the future. I couldn't imagine my life differently, and I surely wouldn't want to. To think, it all began when my dad took me to the race track...

Anyways, so long, Michigan. I'll see you when I see you. 

Honda CB360 Tank Progress

Here's the first coat of color!

CB360 Motorcycle Tank

I have been hoping to transform my CB tank for well over a year now and have had some hiccups along the way. Therefore, I am happy to report that the tank is currently transforming as we speak, and I couldn't be more excited. 

After a few failed attempts, I finally discovered and reached out to a local powder coater: Powder'd Remedies who assured me they'd be able to fix/fill the dents and imperfections and then spray it my carefully selected color of Navajo Nugget. Throughout the process Powder'd Remedies has provided progress photos, which makes me even more excited. Below is how the 1974 CB360 gas tank was dropped off and progress photos that include chemical stripping and metal filler to smooth out the imperfections.

When I purchased the bike in July of 2015, she came with the small dent on the right side and the scrape on the right. I added my own personal touch by slamming into the top of the tank leaving a nice shallow but large dent. For powder coating, I popped off the side emblems so everything could be smoothed out.

Above are various progress shots taken by Powder'd Remedies. I am looking forward to seeing the final product of which I will most likely splash some paint on top to make her extra special.

Here's a video I just received of where the tank stands today!

CB Progress

I've been making quite a bit of progress on the CB360 over the past few weeks, and it's been pretty exciting! Mods include new handle bars (Norton Hyde M-Style) and new controls and levers. Together, it's looking really sharp up front. I shinned up the springs as shown in a previous post and then wanted to paint the springs black. I think the contrast of the clean black springs over the silver shocks looks pretty rad. I always hated my stock air filter covers and wasn't quite sure what to do with them. I ended up painting them a solid black and liked them a lot better already. With plans of getting my tank painted a turquoise color, I hand painted the CB360 lettering with some Robins Egg Blue 1shot. Now the rear is really shaping up in looks as well! 

We tossed the springs on the bike and now I officially have a roller! There's only one way to celebrate a roller, and that's to scoot around in the driveway as if I'm on a Strider. From there we began to test the electrical and things are coming together nicely. This weekend I will be dropping my tank off in hopes of getting the dents fixed and having a nicely Navajo Nugget colored tank. It's getting there.....

CB Springs

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Mothers Polish is AMAZING! In just an hour I transformed a rusty spring like the one on the right to look shiny and almost brand new. Add another hour to the process and the one on the right looks just as good. I used coarse steel wool with the polish and got to work. I managed to destroy a pair of rubber gloves in the process in an attempt to save my fingers from rubbing off my finger prints with the steel wool. I'm very happy with how these turned out, stay tuned for more soon.

Throttle Down Speed Co. Wrecking Crew

These photos do not need much of a caption other than this article's title. Bike building with these guys is waaay too much fun! 

CB360 Progress

I have been doing a poor job documenting the progress I have been making with the Honda CB360 motorcycle build. There was a lull in the action as I ordered more parts and anxiously awaited their arrival. About two weeks ago we got the rear wheel in place, and man is the CB shiny and cute or what!

I was really happy with the progress and it was starting to transform from a simple pile of metal to something that resembles part of a motorcycle!

Tuesday evening we made even more progress with a rebuild of the front forks, using none other than Spectro Fork Oil. We got the forks on, front wheel and put on some temporary handlebars for the time being while I awaited the delivery of new ones.

I even had some help from the Throttle Down Speed Co. sponsored GNC1 Flat Track racer, Dan Bromley as you can see above! And while I failed to get a nice profile shot of the progress we made, I'll just have to leave you with the one below until next time. Next up are handlebars, mirrors, air filters, covers and a trip to the powdercoater. Next on the order list is a front caliper and a custom seat.