Refurbishing and Fitting the Honda CB350 Custom Exhaust

The 1971 Honda CB350 café racer build moves on to the exhaust system in this episode. After cleaning and refurbishing the original pipes, I repaint the exhaust components and fit the twin exhaust system back onto the freshly detailed motorcycle.

The exhaust is a big part of the character of a vintage Honda Scrambler, so rather than simply replacing everything, I work with the original system and see what can be cleaned, refurbished and brought back into usable condition. This includes cleaning the parts, using heat-resistant paints and fitting new exhaust gaskets before mounting the pipes back onto the bike.

In This Episode

• Cleaning and refurbishing the Honda CB350 exhaust

• Cleaning motorcycle parts before painting

• Removing rust and cleaning the exhaust components

• Using anodized heat-proof paint

• Applying matte black heat-resistant paint

• Using burnt copper heat-resistant paint

• Refurbishing the exhaust system

• Fitting new exhaust gaskets

• Installing the custom twin exhaust system

• Fitting and adjusting the exhaust heat shields

• Aligning the exhaust for a clean finish

Getting the exhaust back onto the motorcycle is another satisfying milestone in the build. With the frame freshly painted and the rear end refurbished, the twin pipes help bring the shape of the finished café racer into focus.

This is also a good example of the approach I'm taking with this partly built Honda CB350: rather than replacing everything automatically, I'm refurbishing the original components where possible and combining them with new and custom parts.

If you're restoring a vintage Honda, refurbishing a motorcycle exhaust or building your own café racer at home, this episode shows the practical process of cleaning, painting and fitting an old exhaust system.

Follow the 1971 Honda CB350 Scrambler café racer build as the refurbished components start going back onto the motorcycle and the project moves closer to the finished bike.