Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

• THE • fIG I II ALL-NEW HONDA CB-360. ALAS, BEIN( I II ..:I E 28 Photos by Art Friedman In the IIOO miles and four weeks that we had Honda CB-360 twin, we never: A) Adjusted the chain or changed a spark plug B) Got less than 45 miles per gallon of gas. C) Felt obstrusive on it. D) Needed the six-speed gear box. E) Liked the handling. F) Beat any street bike over 200cc in a drag race. G) Figured out why Honda built it. The CB-360, you see, contradicts itself. It has a wider powerband than the old CB-350 twin which makes the six speed gear box nothing more than a sales gimmick. You don't· need six speeds. You'd manage splendidly with five, four would be OK. Six speeds are to be coupled to peaky, powerful, performance oriented engines. The Honda CB-360 powerplant is none of these. It's just as well, too, because the suspension and chassis aren't really up to what's asked of them now. An all-new motorcycle, especially a Honda that doesn't go and doesn't handle must have some strong point. About all that's left is reliability and comfortable operation_ The CB-360 had both reliability and comfort if you qualify each with one large "but". "But" Number One: The bike would have been trouble free but for a c1u lch adjustment problem that has apparently carried over from the CB-350G. Part of the throw-out mechanism loses its grip on an adjoining part and slips. When this happens, your c1u tch adjuslmen t slips. It wasn't too much of a hassle at first. It slips with a loud clank and an accompanying jerk at the lever. You know what's happening and you can deal with it. The clutch drags slightly after it slips and finding neutral Js impossible. All of this was no major problem until somebody took it for a long ride in heavy traffic. Then the clutch got so hot that it wouldn't disengage. Since he couldn't stop without stalling or get going again very easily, he decided to fix it. T h'e CB-360 includes a state-ofthe-art tool kit, not very good at all for serious work - and when you break down you're always serious. The clutch was fixed after the countersprocket cover was removed, but it wasn't removed with the Honda tool kit. All the kit supplied for this job was a ten millimeter wrench that released the shift lever and a Phillips screwdriver that boogered the screws beyond use. The screws were finally extracted with a real screwdriver (used as a chisel) and a hammer. Allen screws are appearing in all the best places now, Honda, and it wouldn't be unfashionable to use them yourself. Failing that, an impact driver should be provided. Other than the c1u tch hassle we never had to do anything to it other than add a quart of oil. It usee! a quart of oil in 1000 miles. The oil was either going out the brea ther or through the top end. There were no leaks anywhere. "But" Number Two: The CB-360 would bave been very comfortable for most riders hut for the vibration that set your feet a-tingle at any highway speed. The vibration lessened some as the bike accumulated miles but it never went away. Using the buddy pegs helped some and wearing heavier boots provided some insulation. Discounting vibra tion, the bIke was quite comfortable for solo use on the freeway - if rain groove shimmy doesn't bother you - and for around town use. The seat kept your biner comfy for long periods and the much-needed, new, improved handlebar grips kept that end of your relationship with the bike on a comfortable level. The puzzling tbing about these glaring imperfections is that the bike is ".. No matter how you look at it, the CB-360 doesn't handle well. completely new. The engine is visibly differen t. The frame, too, has been redesigned. Instead of the usual single backbone that drops down to support the swing arm pivot and the engine, the CB-360 has two smaller tubes that support the ends of the swing arm. At first it looks like a geometrically stronger arrangement. If you look closer you'll find that the ends of these down tubes have been crimped where they join with the top frame tubes. It appears that the down tubes are able to flex some, and this appearance is confirmed by riding impression. Frame llex is generally associated with big powerful bikes: The more weight, power, and speed involved in cornering, the greater the stresses placed on the frame. It's generally held that slow bikes handle pretty well because of this lack of frame stress. The Honda CB·360 is an exception; the frame will flex, and both wheels get out of line at times. The frame doesn't get a chance to flex too much, however, because of the horrible suspension, particularly at the rear. You can't ride it fast enough to get to the frame. Everyone who rode the bike compared the shoe ks to pogo sticks. They did an excellent job of soaking up most bumps, although they would bottom on the big ones. Freeways are made of concrete slabs and each concrete slab is on a slightly different level than the next. Most bikes will transmit small bumps back to the rider at each slab joint. The CB-360 was more comfortable than most bikes we've ridden on the freeway. They may be comfortable, but the shocks don't work in corners. Sorry. It goes around any r.omer, fast or slow, with a nice sway as the damperless-seeming shocks bounce up and down. It makes it difficult to take a smooth, predictable' line in any corner. The front forks were better; forks always are better than shocks. Besides the shocks. the tires keep you from road-racerly cornering. The rear tire was so hard that you could lock it up while .coming to a stop and leave no visible rubber on the road. That's a hard tire. The CB·360 also wiggled worse in freeway rain grooves than most bikes we've ridden with street tires. The hard tire got little enough grip that the front brake could lock it up at most speeds. Our bike had a drum fron t brakc, although the same disc that has been used on the CB-35OG is available on the CB-36OG, which is the same bike as our machine except for the brake. We recommend the disc. The rear brake is a rare combination of senSItIvity and strength, and we liked it a lot. To start it you can use the choke or not. It never needed it, no matter how cold. It was ready to go, if you had to, right away. A couple of minutes of warm up would prolong engine life. You snick from gear to gear as you pull away. The six speed is very close, unnecessarily so. You can go 30 MPH in any of the six gears without lugging (below 2500 RPM) or over revving (over the 9,200 RPM redline). Shift pressure is moderate and neutral finding is satisfactory if the clutch throw out mechanism is working. Buzzing the boulevards, shifting when the mood (though not necessarily the need) overtakes you, annoying no onewith the quiet note of the CB-360and shattering no one with the performance, you settle into what seems to have been the intended mode of behavior of the CB-360. The thing is that there are bikes that will do this without the complication of a six-speed, without bouncing in the corners, and withou l requiring a 7000 RPM foot massage on the freeway. The good details on the CB-360 include the chain, which never needed adjustment because it was so hefty, and

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