my first 350x build (COMPLETE)

[twitch101]

this started because i wanted to build a trike the way i want it from the start. ive had the 350x for awhile and went through and got it into riding condition by adding a header and painting the exhaust. From there i got the brakes working from scratch, in the process learning alot of it the hard way (shot myself in the gut with a brake piston). i intend to do everything im doing on this build the right way and i wanted to make sure i had the best parts to work with.
this is my foundation
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to start i picked up a frame from a guy on here that was advertised as a rust free frame which is exactly what i needed.

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then i just kind of stashed it away and dreamed for the time it would be necessary to rebuild from scratch. so fast forward a few weeks and i go out to ride at one of the local ohv parks and i had a blast out there but everything came to an end when i started to here some squeeling. my first thought it something with the chain but everything looked fine. when i start riding back im thinking about what could go wrong and then it hit me....bearings!

before i even made it home i had a lonestar carrier and bearings on its way (theres an app for that!)
when i finally do decide to tear into it for inspection i came across this and all the bearings had fallen out. just the outer race left.

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i figured that since im already into it this far i may as well spend the down season making it what i want. i picked up some NOS forks from ebay and there currently on there way to schmidty racing in california along with my rear shock to be anodized, sprung, and reweighted. for the rear shock i went with black anodized body and black spring as well as going to a 3 valve set up. so when this is together im hoping this thing rides like a Cadillac. ive never had the opportunity to ride a good suspension set up.

while im waiting for that i decided to gusset my new frame. using DC and a few other threads as reference i cut out some sub frame gussets at work and ground them into shape. the first set i cut was trash and i considered it practice since im generally scared of the plasma cutter. :wondering but, FREE materials thanks to metal scrap. i ended up cutting the gussets out of some 1/8 steel. this is what i came out with.
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then i asked the welder at the shop if he could help me out since i suck at welding. the sub frame gussets came out good in my opinion but the foot peg area reinforcement we did wasnt nearly as graceful as some of the greats here on the forum but i dont build show bikes ;) we ended up using some schedule 40 pipe and half wrap the area on both sides. removed the motor mount and master cylinder brackets that are in the way then used the motor as a jig to weld them back on. i cleaned off some of the sharp edges on my foot peg gussets and believe it wont look to funky when powder coated black.
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im planning on going with a black frame, darker gray swinger, and black carbon fiber plastics with a black tank. when im done with this bike literally everything on the chassis will be new or revamped. this will definitely be a learning experience for me in sandblasting,painting, polishing, and jetting because im going with a supertrapp exhaust and 400ex carb.

i cant wait to get this thing rolling but for now i think im moving along pretty fast.

[250rRoostmaster]

Looking great so far man!! Keep up the solid work!

[ezmoney1979]

Good job! Looks like you are making fast progress. :beer

[resqtool844]

Go ahead and pickup a service manual and a ATV various bolt kit. These were priceless when I was doing my build! Service honda and bikebandit along with ebay were my friends!;)

[twitch101]

Ive got the service manuals already. Soon to order a complete stainless bolt kit. As of now i need a set of new 86 sprocket bolts. How does paint hold up on axles? Im only powdercoating the frame and swinger due to cost. To anodize it would i need to remove the brake hub?

[murfman]

I think you are talking about the sprocket hub, and as far as I know it does NOT come off. The brake hub must already be off if you have the carrier out.

[murfman]

Oh' and I had the rear axle PC'd along with the frame. It was pretty nasty, and came out great. I am not sure how it will hold up, but eventually I will be running a dura blue anyway.

[twitch101]

Yea sprocket hub my bad. My axle still has the gold coating on it but i want it to match my build

[badass350x]

Sprocket hub is pressed on the splines. Your build is looking great!

[Dirtcrasher]

Looking good. With practice you can make those gussets look OEM. The frame wrap could have been a bit thinner walled and conformed to the curve, holes drilled in it; But it looks like it will hold! :D

:beer

[twitch101]

Hey dc i tried to go with tpc and even sent them a check but got horrible
service from them so i went with whatever my shop had laying around on the one night our welder was open to help me out. I agree the wrap could have been thinner but i know i can run the hell out of this frame. Next year im hoping for a 400 kit sometime. They say make the best with what you have right now and where you are. Im still waiting on something to have embroidered on the back of the seat as a name. This frame would have been at your place but your part of the inspiration dc. Im hoping i dont dissapoint.

[twitch101]

heres where i sit with an update guys.

dropped the frame and swinger off at the powder coaters to be blasted and coated. all i can say now is WOW. i cant believe how much that is but the clear coat added a bit. i settled on misty lava for the frame "mettalic blackish/gunmetalish" and bombastic for the swinger which is kind of a flashy silver. im going to take my axle up there to be blasted along with my other parts and just clear coat it to keep the fresh metal looks.

as of tonight i have all new motor mount bolts on the way as i decided against using stainless on that for fear of breaking and i put most of the other parts im going to be using in a bin to soak in some cleaner overnight to loosen up the muck.

my question now is, should i make a new wiring harness or try to clean my old one up and trust the old copper. can i sandblast the regulator to get rid of the tarnish on it or is a wire wheel safe on it?

in the next weekends ill be bringing all the small metal stuff to my 2nd home to sandblast myself and paint.

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[twitch101]

picked up my frame from the powder coaters today. had it done in misty lava and the swinger is going to be in bombastic. the guy got my swinger mixed up with a crotchrockets swinger. he said he would have it done tomorrow. good guy that nikko person is ;) he said he loves the way it came out and wants pics of it when im done with my build.

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thinking im going to use my NOS engine on this build now that i have one. seems like it would be wrong not to..or ill just remove the silicone sludge from my rocker box sealing face to eliminate its drip and repaint my current engine.

have a 454 piece stainless bolt kit on the way (hoping it comes with 86 stle sprocket bolts cause i cnt find them anywhere...i was able to locate 1....)

[twitch101]

heres a sneak peak of some bling. all parts are powdercoated now and ill be pressing my bearings in saturday and maybe get my front end on. project slowed down while im waiting on swingarm parts. additions include a durablue +4 axle, polishing, sprock 400 kit, tapperline chain guard, 400ex carb, NOS engine!

in the future ill be looking at hreatv wide foot pegs and custom exhaust.

pictures are my polished lower tree and my NOS shocks i have respung with progressive springs and anodized. the rear shock has been rebuilt and now has a 3 stage valve set up in it.

thanks go to gking!

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[Dirtcrasher]

Looking great!!

Lots of guys won't fork out the $$ or run brakes etc etc............

[69-ss-396]

First trike I built was a 1986 350x. You are going to have a blast on that sucker.

[twitch101]

its turning into something i dont wanna ride :p. new ebc offroad rotors as well. the way i see it is if i dont build it the way i want it now its money down the road ill wanna spend and labor i may not have time for. i may not have time cause im always working but the benefit to that is i always have money ;)

[69-ss-396]

Took me two years to complete my x build. It was Hard to ride and get dirty for sure but you will get over it after the first time out...

[Dirtcrasher]

Ride it, beat it; You'll never get back what you have into it!!

[TennesseeATC]

Looking Great!!!!!! Keep up the good work, the good updates and the pics, I wanna follow your build to completion!!

[aldochina]

looks like a real nice build going on here!! kudos for doing it the right way the first time!! frame looks great !

[Jason125m]

Looks great! Goodjob, soon I will be doing the same thing... once people around here decide they want some F*CKIN RENOVATIONS DONE! GR.

[sittinguy]

If you build it to nice you'll just have to build a second one to ride. Show girl/Go girl.

[Team ATC]

let see some more pics

[longbedGTs]

Looks good bro. That color you chose for the frame looks good enough to eat!

[twitch101]

got my bearings pressed in today and started mounting up my front end. i need to to find some washer to make a bushing for the bottom shock linkage bolt. anyway, starting to look like something. bought the atv jack and it helped a ton with comfort. also showing a good pic of what the tapered bearing conversion is supposed to look like up close to help with the others looking to do it. i had trouble finding information on it here. 139827

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dont have a socket to press the new races in? save your top race and use it!
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[sittinguy]

The steering stem tapered bearings was one of the best upgrades I did to mine. You will be very happy with it. It really is worth all the effort.
Keep the pics coming

[twitch101]

got my swinger and shock mounted up most of the way. and cleaned up my rims. big vouch for eagle one mag cleaner.

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[twitch101]

got the +4 in. waiting on the brake hub from the powdercoaters (they ran out of clear) and my sprock 400 is up at gkings getting the treatment. the trike also decided to party with us that night :TrikesOwn

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i have a jason hall inverts kit coming with some cr500 forks and other front parts i scored from the 350x forum for 675. not sure if ill use it on this build, depends on if i thing the progressive set up works fine for me or if not ill probably be selling the forks.

ill be getting a stainless exhaust from NOS_350x. my question that goes with that is, when going spark arrested is there any power loss or would i not notice it?

[twitch101]

Things seem to have come to a screeching halt because the paint place cant seem to find any clear coat....or they lost my parts :wondering hope not...anyway got some goodies back from gking today. sprock 400 cylinder, tapper chain guard, covers, and dip stick. things are on halt for atleast another 3 weeks because ive got to fly out to north dakota for some generator work.

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[twitch101]

looks like i lost a bit in the server crash. time to bring it up to date.


got it all back from the PC shop and finally assembled into a roller
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got my exhaust from NOS_350x on here in the forums. good guy and does good work ill be doing a review on it once i get it running.
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got the sprock 400 kit on the NOS engine. BTW on this i hit a bump. the original top end used the long chain tensioner. so i moved over to a manual tenioner...i hit a bump there! easy fix though. i just flipped it because it has 2 diameters on it. anyone doing this should use an aluminum crush washer in place of the oring.
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and finally the engine is "almost" in the trike. for those looking for the bottom front cradle bolt (10x235mm) you can use a 2008 kawasaki z1000x engine bolt in place. if you cant find another option. you can see some tapperline in here on the chainguard.
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currently in new jersey on another job so was a stop for a while too.

[twitch101]

test fit on the new HREatv double we foot pegs. very worth the price.

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[Jason125m]

Damn thats looking good. I love the silver cylinder.

[twitch101]

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http://youtu.be/J6Wf-fJQzRg
it RUNS! btw this exhaust the NOS350x makes sounds sick. been out of it for awhile. got tied up in a mess and traveling all the time.

[tanks350x]

It looks good, nice job.. Just like DC said, run it, beat it to death, it can take it. I have well over $3,000 invested in mine. where we usually ride, it's the most brutal terrain on the planet. I'ts not going to stay new forever...

[twitch101]

finally got around to adding the plastics and seat. waiting on a 37 degree flare to convert to braided stainless oil lines.
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[hillbilly 200x]

looking good man i just flipped through your build so i didn't read much. is that a stock swingarm??

[twitch101]

Yea its a stock swinger. Im thinking ill eventually have to go +2 from hre to keep the front down

[aldochina]

nice build man, looks sinister!!

[userj8670]

that is one nasty bike!!

[JasonB]

looking sharp! very nice work man, from the gussets up to the plastics and seat! nicely done, dont know about the Tater on the seat back but the 400x on the side is sweet looking! i like it man, nice work



on a side note, are you into long-boarding? what you got? I have 2 sector nine boards and an old school psycho-stick reissue. Use to love bombing hills!

[twitch101]

Tater is one of my nicknames lol

[twitch101]

looking sharp! very nice work man, from the gussets up to the plastics and seat! nicely done, dont know about the Tater on the seat back but the 400x on the side is sweet looking! i like it man, nice work



on a side note, are you into long-boarding? what you got? I have 2 sector nine boards and an old school psycho-stick reissue. Use to love bombing hills!

2011 rayne killswitch drop through, paris 180s, orange barrels, venom sidewinders.

[twitch101]

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complete! got a ride around the block! time for breaking in the engine!

[userj8670]

Can you post up more videos?

[d_b3ck]

Very nice 350x must feel completely different from when u started

[BeersBuds&Mud]

damn dude that thing is bad@ss!!!

[tanks350x]

the black color scheme always looks good to me! :beer: