Stephanie's CB350
By Anthony van Someren - 22 May 13
This CB350 was sent to us by Justin from Boise, Idaho, who built the bike for his wife, Stephanie, after putting together a lovely XS360 for himself. Clearly impressed (and very trusting of his mechanical skills) she wanted a side-by-side ride, so this is what he built. See Justin's original bike written-up here.
"My little brother now owns The Motoshop in Bend, OR, so he was a big help for me in acquiring all the parts I needed. He also introduced me to the guys at Spin Cycle, so much of my inspiration came from their builds."
"When I was about finished with the XS360 project my wife Stephanie decided it would be cool if she had a bike also. I decided that I would find a project to build for her. She didn’t have much riding experience so I looked for something that would be light and easy for her to handle. She also requested that the bike have an electric start. She looked at pictures on the Internet and pointed out to me the style of bike she wanted. So this is what we came up with."
"I found this 1972 CB350 on a local ad and was able to pick it up real cheap. It wasn’t running however and it had rust on top of its rust! First thing it got was a motor rebuild, pistons and rings etc. I cut the back of the frame off and welded a rear hoop in place then de-tabbed everything that wasn’t needed. The wheels and frame were then sent to powder coat."
"My wife picked all the colors she wanted and was drawn to the white and blue color scheme you see on the bike. I had my doubts about the white seat but that is what she ordered and I really like the way it turned out for her."
"I rewired this bike from scratch as well and replaced the stock Reg/rec with a modern single unit regulator/rectifier. I fabricated a battery box to fit nicely under the seat along with the new starter button etc. I wanted to keep the handlebars clean and uncluttered looking so all you see is a little toggle switch for the turn signal. The rear fender was cut from an old one I had lying around and I made a mounting bracket for it."
"Stephanie really liked the Coker tires I had on my bike so we went with the same ones. I had a local upholstery shop cover the seat"
"Stephanie recently took a motorcycle-riding course and passed her test for her motorcycle endorsement. She is riding better all the time and getting more comfortable on the bike. She mainly just rides for fun on nice spring weather days."
All we can say is, lucky Stephanie. That CB350 is a really sweet looking ride that any of us would be proud to be on. Thanks for sharing.
Pics by Just Kate Photography.