Thought I would draw your attention to an extremely clean and well done Honda CB 350 currently for sale. It’s in the “brat” style made popular in Japan, but this really excels. For everyone who likes the smaller displacement vintage Hondas, this is such a sweet example I had to point it out.
The tires are Coker Classics, which means gorgeous reproductions in the old style, but definitely not high performance, though this bike isn’t aimed at that crowd anyhow.
If there is any one overriding attribute to this bike, it’s the attention to detail. Everything is just right, no loose wires hanging out anywhere, nothing extraneous, just perfect execution throughout. Very, very well done!
Link: Honda CB 350 Brat on eBay – auction over
HoughMade says
Looks like a nice bike. Well built….very well done, in fact. It’s bid up to $4,550 at the time I write this and the reserve is not met. We’ll see, but I don’t see that price or a higher one. I could be wrong, of course, but that seems like a lot of coin. I’ve no doubt more than that went into it, but that’s got nothing to do with what someone else will be willing to pay. I would be very glad to be wrong.
Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says
The builder “mauromoto1” is his ID, has quite a reputation for building this sort of custom. I don’t know his name or his business name, but he also sells custom gauge faces and other cafe type items for these old Hondas. He’s had other bikes out there before, a CB750 some time back was beautiful. I think the price will rise quite a bit yet, we’ll see.
B*A*M*F says
This bike has a very iconic feel to it. It’s something so familiar, but also very fresh at the same time. You could say the word “motorcycle” to a thousand people, and if you could download their mental images most of them would probably look something like this.
Unlike so many customs, it also looks really, really fun to ride. I would also imagine it would be comfortable enough to do some 2 up riding around town or on a country road for the afternoon. I love the fact that this bike could be equally at home on a white box in the living room, or out on the road.
Paulinator says
My old neighbor had a 350 twin (owned it from new). He told me he was going to dust it off and get it running, but just scrapped it instead. Too bad. Looks like a great boot-around bike even though mid-sized is the new small.
todd says
To me, the 350 (and 360) Honda twins were just about the best blend of style, simplicity, performance, and style. You can easily ride these things in any way, anywhere, all day long. This is a nice tribute to such a successful bike in Honda’s history. Looks like it would be tremendously fun. A bike like this is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. I don’t see why it would be worth any less than a custom Harley or CB750.
I’d like to figure out how he formed that tank. Maybe he cut out the bottom to access the inside?
-todd
OMMAG says
The Honda 350 twin from the early 70s is a well proportioned bike.
I had one … as did three of my friends… we actually had one that changed hands between all of us.
I also liked the CB 250 with high pipes. It was a nice gold metalic with the fenders removed, repositioned foot pegs and clubman bars. Equipped with a Hooker 2-1 header and shorty megaphone/muffler it made all the right noises. Over all that bike was a bare bones and very sanitary looking little cafe style machine. With a 14 tooth larger rear ring it accelerated very nicely. Loads of fun to drive as long as you didn’t need to go over about 90mph.
This interpretation of that bike makes good use of the natural line and balance of the CB …. except for the outsized tires … but those still look pretty good. I notice those mufflers look like Dunstal pieces.
The bend on the handle bars really suits the overall feel and the saddle seems to be perfect. I builder could take a lot of these style cues and apply them to other bikes as well.
OMMAG says
I meant to say “A builder could take a lot of these style cues …. ” but I guess that I’m thinking ahead to how I could use some of these ideas…
Bob says
Clean. Well executed. I’d like it with DT style 19″ers.
QrazyQat says
A friend of mine had a couple CB350s back in the 70s. Very nice overall bike. We even set it up for production racing, stock, and I rode it around Daytona once. Really nice stock and a cam change would get more power.
Mule says
Clean build! But does the engine have enough power to even push that front wheel.
FREEMAN says
That would probably depend more on the size of the rider.
milesofplymouth says
I’ve had a couple of CB350’s, the first was a stock bike bought from new back in ’72. I used to ride it year round in Toronto, Ontario. As long as there was no snow or ice on the roads it was a fun and cheap way of getting around. The other was a customized cafe racer with straight handlebars, K&N Filters and a Wolf 2-in-one racing header that my wife could hear from over a mile away as I commuted back and forth to work, 40 mins each way on country roads. The CB350 was an iconic bike, it introduced a lot of people to motorcycling. I particularly remember the unique sound of the bike, like the Bonnevilles and Ducati Desmos, you knew right away what was coming.
This Brat brings back many great memories. The builder has done a great job of customization that nevertheless retains the iconic karma of the original. I hope he gets the price he’s looking for.
sfan says
I like this very much but it begs a question. What makes a retro custom bike “brat style” vs a cafe vs bobber? The similarities are clear, the distinctions less so.
Also, any sources of tires like these made with modern tech?
Aichbe says
I like the way the bike is designed and executed, very clean and flowing, except I hate the fat 16″ tires on that bike, and I dislike this whole painted wheel trend, too.
(maybe because I’m a metal polisher, but still…) On something proportionate, 16’s look good. I had them on the rear of both CB 750s, but on this? No. It would look a lot better with a pair of alloy 40 spoke 18″, and be a lot easier to ride. I once had a 305 Super Chicken, about the same size as that 350, and I can’t even imagine a 16 on that little thing.
Marvin says
That looks nicely done, its not quite for me but then i didn’t commission it!
I really like that tidy back end and seat as well as the just general neatness. Like a lot of guys the wheels/tyres are not to my taste and I would hate to have to find somewhere to bolt a number plate that wouldn’t ruin the look of the back end. Number plates seem to be a problem for custom build bikes in general, in the UK they (theoretically at least) must be a set size and dead flat, which is hard to flow into a bikes lines.
Pat says
That is one of the coolest bikes I’ve seen in a while. Throw a new Bonnie motor in there and it would be perfect!
GuitarSlinger says
So how about an in depth article on this ” Brat ” style from Japan
Its the first I’ve heard of the term .IMHO it kind of looks like a mix between Shinya Kimura and Wrench Monkees
Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says
We’ve written quite a few posts on the Japanese custom scene, including one on “bratstyle” itself and several others closely related:
Gravel Crew
Ritmo Sereno
Ritmo Sereno BMW
Bratstyle
Those should get you started. The Japanese have a unique quality to their customs that’s very appealing. You might also check out Bull Dock and Sanctuary. That little search box up there in the upper right of the page will yield some very interesting articles from the past.
GuitarSlinger says
Molto Grazzi and thanks for the insight on how to do deeper searches on the site .
FYI if I haven’t said this already , the KneeSlider gets top marks from me
akaacount says
Love the rear fender. I usually wonder what the guys who build these bikes do with the front fender when they take it off, but in this case I guess we know.
Daoud says
With tires like those it would be great on the beach!!
Tin Man says
Did they manage to get some weight off the Honda ?? I always found the 350s to be very heavy for their size, my RD350s would run and hide from these things. Sometimes just because a bike was a big seller it gains a cult status out of proportion to its abilitys. The 350 Scrambler was good looking (Triumph Clone) but Electric problems and excess Weight put me off Hondas for some time.
milesofplymouth says
Hey Tin Man,
Agreed your RD350 would always pull away from my CB350, but the bikes are in different classes. The power to weight ratio of any two-stroker is much higher than a four-stroker of the same size. Your 350 would compare to a 500 4stroke or maybe even a little larger. When I had my CB350 my brother had a Kawasaki Samurai 250, quite a radical bike at the time. We were fairly closely matched, but his bottom end torque would give him a bit of an edge in the starts.
What I think makes the CB350 iconic is the fact that they were often first time owners, and the fact that they were rather lower powered than Bonnevilles H-D’s or Norton’s meant the newbies could have a lot of fun on the bike without getting dangerously overpowered.
But thanks for your comment, it brought back great memories. The RD350’s were really great on the race tracks.
Swagger says
What a tidy, understated build….very nice. All it really needs is a front fender and it’s complete. I could see stepping off the SuperIII and just relaxing down some country lane on this one.
Well done….
Godffery's Garage says
I’ve never been a huge fan of Brat style but I do have to say, it seems to be put together well.
Godffery
Psychophilly says
You can tell it was a builder who built this bike to sell, and not for personal use. A builder with this attention to detail would have shaved and lathed the brackets on the fork lowers if it was his personal bike. Instead leaving them for the client.
steve w says
I am a tad older and worked in a shop when the 350 was released. The ’68’s weren’t very good but by ’70 they were excellent. I once took a ’72 and ported the heads and added CB 450 carbs and did nothing else and the bike really woke up. I think because it was a vacumn slide carb it worked very well. I like the overall bike but would choose a bit differnt style for myself. I have part of one in my yard now. Instead of scraping it, because of this piece I will squirrel away the parts until time permits. I’m thinking “ohio roadracer “style..
steve w says
oh that tank looks like a stock tank with the sides hammered in.
davidabl says
“The drapes don’t match the carpet” as they say.. The 16’s plus big Cokers are just a little to big for the little bike. I don’t think BratStyle builds ’em quite that big..