Build a REAL Motorcycle Only From SCRAP!

Hi everyone!

In this Instructables, I'll teach you how you can build your very own motorcycle, from nothing but scrap parts or universal motorcycle parts!

There are usually two ways to get a motorcycle: you can either buy a brand new one at a dealership, or buy a used one from someone... but what if there was another way? what if you don't like some specs or looks of some bikes and can't find the right one for you? wouldn't the perfect bike be one made just for your taste, by yourself?

That is my way of thinking! :)

It is totally possible to build your very own bike! and this is what I did for this project, that started from a 1973 Honda CB350 Four engine. Buckle up, grab your coffee, and ride with me on this project :)

- A motorcycle engine, that's all

- The rest is totally up to you!

- A garage to spend some quality time :)

What's best that showing you the whole project, every single step, in one big video with all the details? there is it! :)

The first thing to consider for such a project is where do you want to start?

It could be from an engine, that you have laying around or that you like.

Or it could be from a frame as well. But most of the time, such project starts from an engine.

In my case I had a 1973 CB 350 F engine laying around. I got it when I bought a CB350F 4 years ago, the guy had a spare engine for parts, and he gave it to me with the bike.

He also had another CB350F frame for parts that he gave me with the bike as well. So this was the perfect starting point for me: I had a partial engine, and a partial frame!

Both of them were in a terrible shape and missing a lot of parts of course, but it was a starting point :)

An important point to consider before starting such a project is to know the regulations of the area where you live, and the usage you want to have for the bike. For a race track usage, no problem. If you plan on using the bike on public road, you'll need to make it compliant with the road regulations.

Where I live in France, this means that you need to have a title for the bike. This is why I chose to re use the old frame, and not build a brand new frame for example (which would have been possible in some other areas of the world).

There is a French regulation that allows you to have a title for any old bike that is more that 30 y/o, if you can prove your ownership, and this include just a bike frame as well, so this is what I did, and it allowed to have a title for this project. This also means that I had to stick with the original 350 Four engine, and not put a different engine displacement in the frame.

If your place doesn't require this, then you are pretty much free to use any frame and engine you want :)

Now that your build has started, you'll be able to make some custom parts, use some universal parts, but you will also need to use certain model specific parts in order for your bike to properly work!

For instance, anything related to the engine like carburetors, engine covers, exhaust, wiring harness, ignition system... will need to be specific to the engine that you are using.

Same goes for the frame, in some case, small parts like the yokes (triple clamps), or pivot axles, wheel axles, will most of the time be specific to a certain bike.

This will be the most difficult parts to source if you are working on a very old bike, but not impossible, I found a lot of used specific parts on craiglist, or online, in order to make my build work :)

In my case, I was missing those parts:

For the engine:

- Left side engine cover: I found a used one

- Kickstart: I found a used one but it was difficult

- Some carburetor parts: I found what I needed on ebay

- The whole exhaust system: brand new replacement were available

- The wiring harness and ignition system: brand new replacement were available

For the frame, I was missing the most crucial parts: the triple clamps, the forks and the wheels!

I was not able to find this from a CB 350 Four, however, by doing some research online, I found that another bike from the same era, the CB 250, which was a 2 cylinder, army bike in France in the 1970s was sharing the same type for wheels and fork. I managed to find on Craiglist, someone that was selling parts of this bike, and I bought from him the 2x wheels and complete front end (forks and triple clamps).

It was in a terrible shape and had to be rebuilt and repainted, but this wasn't a problem :)

I now had everything I need to start building my very own bike :)

What we have now is basically the "skeleton" of our bike, and we are now free to create what we want around that.

I had a pretty clear idea of what I was looking for: a slim gas tank, with a nice slim black seat that can accommodate 2 person, some low style handlebar but not clip-ons. And a super vintage look overall.

I knew that a gas tank could easily be mounted on such a frame, so I bough a universal CG125 style gas tank.

For the seat, I always love to make my seats myself, it is the best way to make sure that it fit the bike the best. For this, I used a base of Forex PVC to build the seat base, cut to the correct dimensions, then I put some high density foam on it, and then I cover it up with some fake leather for a nice vintage look :)

Then, there are some parts that can pretty much be mounted on any bike, such as:

- Handlebars

- Headlight and tail light

- Turn signals

- Grips and control, like clutch levers or brake master cylinder

- Tires of course

- Shocks, all you need for this is to measure the dimension you need.

So for those parts, I looked online to find parts I liked and that, in my mind, would fit nicely together in terms of look, and ordered everything.

I also had to fabricate some parts like some engine mounts that were missing, but this wasn't too much of a problem since I could just take a piece of flat steel and build a mount out of it.

Now comes the fun part! :D

But don't get me wrong, it still required a lot of work to get there!

Especially with the engine and the frame.

Since the engine has been sitting outside without even spark plugs or a carburetor, I had to spend a lot of time rebuilding it, doing a full complete maintenance: ignition system, carburetors, clutch, oil clean-up and so on... I won't go too much into details here because I already made a full Instructable on the topic, you can check it out if you want to learn how to re start an old engine:

Instructables: How to Turn a Junkyard Bike Into Collector's Bike

The frame also required a ton of work. First I cut all the pieces I knew I wouldn't need, then I sanded everything to remove most of the paint and surface rust. I then applying a nice coat of anti rust paint to protect everything and make it look good.

From this point, all I had to do was put everything back together, if you take your time, there is not really any difficult part, and this is the most enjoyable part because you see a brand new motorcycle being created in front of you, and from your hard work :)

One of the most tricky part is often the wiring, and I had to troubleshoot a bit there because I was using universal style handlebar switch to turn on the lights or start the bike, so I had to dive into the wiring diagram to make sure I connect everything correctly, but other than that, it is like putting legos together, for the grown-ups :)

Congratulations! you did it! you have build a bike entirely from nothing! :D

I have to say that it is an amazing feeling, but before you hop on the bike and go wide open on that brand new throttle grip, you need to make sure that everything is working properly, and is safe!

First of all, make sure that the brakes work well.

The front brake I used was the original caliper, that I rebuilt because it was seized, I put a new piston and seal, and I used a new brake line and master cylinder. I made sure that it worked well and it did.

On the rear, I installed brand new brake pads on the drum brake.

You also need to test the clutch, does it work well? or need to be adjusted? in my case, the cable needed to be adjusted a lot, so I did.

It is also a good idea to test that all the gears can engage properly, for instance by putting the bike on a stand, and engaging the gears.

To do all those safety check, I did some low speed runs in my garage, and adjusted everything.

It is very important to make sure that all the safety component are OK and work well, especially the brakes! you are dealing with your own safety there!

Also make sure that all the bolts are tighten correctly and that nothing is loose!

All you have to do now is enjoy what you have made :)

Of course, don't forget to bring few tools in your backpack.. just in case :D but thankfully, I did not had to use the ones I brought.

The bike ran great and was very fun and nice to ride, It actually rides better than the other CB350F I have which has its original parts on it.

The gas tank I chose fits very well and looks like it was the original one.

Overall, I am super happy with this project :) this was a salvage from a crashed frame and engine, that people started to take parts from in the past, and I managed to re used them and bring them back to life :)

I hope that you liked this project and followed me along, hopefully this would have motivated some of you to build your own bike :)

Ride Safe!

Tom