Help - cb360 carb removal

[cb360]

Hey there. I recently bought a 1974 Honda CB360. Only 1500 miles and in really good shape. I haven't rode it much and everything seemed ok until the other day when I noticed I was just running on one cylinder (I have good spark and fuel supply and the points are fine - I'm almost certain it's the left carb). So, I'm in the process of removing the carbs so I can dip the offending unit and get it cleaned out. And I've almost got it off... and that's where I'm running into problems.

The twin carbs are completely disconnected from the bike and are now only attached to the throttle cables. My Clymer manual says to disconnect the throttle cables from the handgrip area, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to do it. The cables screw into the bottom of the housing for the electric starter button - I can unscrew them but the cables are still attached inside the housing. Even when I pulled the screws and opened up the starter housing I still can't see a way to free those cables - and thus the carburetors - without somehow damaging the throttle assembly. I'd be up for just disconnecting the throttle cables from the carbs in situ and freeing it up that way but I'm not sure how to do that without making a mess I can't fix.

Any tips from you more experienced mechanics?

Thanks.

[BuzZz]

Either right beside the switch housing or built into it will be the throttle assembely. The part that turns when you twist the gas.....

You need to gain access to that piece. Once that's done, you will see how the cable ends slide into grooves and holes in the throttle tube abd be able to get them free. Then the cables will pull ouy of the holes the enter the switch housing through.

[vintagebiker]

Dude, i've got the same model 360, and all I had to do when removing the carbs is diconnect the cables from the center round that runs the throttles, on the carb. I don't know how much you took apart, but I removed my air filters, and the tank, so I had more room to work in there.

[cb360]

OK - I got it - just like you said. For some reason the Clymer manual says to disconnect the throttle cables at the hand grip, but your way is way easier. Any how - I dipped it last night and it looks beautiful. All I need are some new floats and a float valve set. If anyone is still reading...

#1 Does anyone make brass floats for this bike?

#2 I need an O-ring for the fuel inlet valve - (called the "float valve set" it's number 15 in the clymer manual.

Thanks!

[Quick 350]

It would be a lot easier to order a complete carb rebuild kit.

I've had good luck with Classiccycleparts.com their an eBay store but good people that I've ordered off of many times now.

If not Part# 17-0550 $18.99 each carb plus delivery through bing.com

Good Luck!!!

and post back!

Mike Haverhill, Mass

[cb360]

Hey Mike. I got the rebuild kits from oldbikebarn.com -about the same price. I'll put it all back together on saturday .

The floats are another matter. No brass floats for this bike. I did find not one but two companies that actually sell OEM floats for this bike.... believe it or not they want almost $40 per float. I'm gonna take my chances with my old ones. I don't even know that they are bad I was just considering replacing them as I would essentially have new carburetors after that but $80 is too much. Might end up regretting it, but we'll see. My time is cheap!

Do you know much about tachometers? After I get the carbs on my bike will be near mint with the exception of a non-functioning tach. It looks like it's been in a museum and the cable is good. So I think it just got stuck sitting for twenty years. It's a sealed unit so I don't think I can repair it without ruining the trim. The aforementioned parts dealers even had one of those but they want $120 for it. So I'm bidding on a tach off a 73 450 that looks like it'll work. I'll keep you posted if I get it.

[joshhead]

I have a CB360 tach in my parts bin you can have for the cost of shipping if you didn't get that one. It ain't too pretty, but its yours if you want it.

[cb360]

Thanks for the offer - that's generous. Luckily my tach is working now... and it's a total mystery to me. I have the bike running perfectly and the tach was the last thing not working and then this last Saturday I polished a bunch of chrome and washed the bike and waxed the tank and took a ride - lo and behold my tach was working! It was weird, I didn't mess with the cable or anything. I'm thinking it was just frozen after so many years of sitting and then it just started working again. Of course I won't be surprised if it quits again just as easily. But it's cosmetically perfect so now that I know it CAN work I'll probably stick with it as it would be hard to find one as pretty as the one I have.

[joshhead]

That's pretty freaky - I've never heard of a cleaning fixing something. I'm trying to fix up my CB360 to sell and I'm at that point where there are a dozen little details to take care of. I have to figure out why the carbs aren't pulling fuel this weekend - it runs on the first kick for as long as there is starter fluid in them, and the fuel is leaving the tank in great streams via the rebuilt petcock. I think the floats are stuck or something like that, even though the carbs were rebuilt just before I got the bike.

[wyomech]

Older bikes like your CB360 are hard to find parts for sometimes ("Yeah, sure I can order it, but won't be here for a month....."). It pays...in $$$ and in riding time...to take care of what's already there.

You might think about removing the throttle cable or cables (never worked on a 360, but did have a '73 CB350...had only one cable) and pressure lubing them. Don't know if such a thing is still available, but back when the aforementioned 350 was new, I bought a clamp-like device that screwed down over the end of the cable housing, leaving the cable end sticking out. A can of chain lube could be hooked to the clamp-thing with the little plastic nozzle. Push the button until you see liquid lube coming out the other end. While you're at it, hit the clutch cable, too. (Had a throttle cable break on my ol' 350 once when riding back to Colorado Springs.....ended up wrapping the cable around the "T" bar from the original Honda tool kit to us as a pull throttle...was rather thrilling when in traffic, but it got me home.)

Also, go to an auto parts store and ask for some speedometer cable lube. This stuff is a lightweight oil with graphite in suspension. Unscrew the speedo and tach cable where they enter their respective devices and drip enough of this black lube to fill the little "cup" at the end of the cable. Does wonders for a fluttery speedo/tach.

The tach on my '78 Suzuki 550 was getting noisy, and those speedo/tach pods are almost impossible to get apart, much less fix and reassemble. I took the tach off, set it on a pillow of rags on the workbench, and sprayed WD-40 into the spot where the cable connects. Chucked the end of an old cable into my portable drill and ran the tach to let the lube work into the bearing. Cured the noise.