diff --git a/src/event/cloudevent.ts b/src/event/cloudevent.ts
index cef0675f..8c67baa3 100644
--- a/src/event/cloudevent.ts
+++ b/src/event/cloudevent.ts
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ See: https://github.com/cloudevents/spec/blob/v1.0/spec.md#type-system`);
   toJSON(): Record<string, unknown> {
     const event = { ...this };
     event.time = new Date(this.time as string).toISOString();
-    event.data = !isBinary(this.data) ? this.data : undefined;
+    event.data = this.#_data;
     return event;
   }
 
@@ -184,30 +184,30 @@ See: https://github.com/cloudevents/spec/blob/v1.0/spec.md#type-system`);
   }
 
   /**
-   * Clone a CloudEvent with new/update attributes
-   * @param {object} options attributes to augment the CloudEvent with an `data` property
+   * Clone a CloudEvent with new/updated attributes
+   * @param {object} options attributes to augment the CloudEvent without a `data` property
    * @param {boolean} strict whether or not to use strict validation when cloning (default: true)
    * @throws if the CloudEvent does not conform to the schema
    * @return {CloudEvent} returns a new CloudEvent<T>
    */
   public cloneWith(options: Partial<Exclude<CloudEventV1<never>, "data">>, strict?: boolean): CloudEvent<T>;
   /**
-   * Clone a CloudEvent with new/update attributes
-   * @param {object} options attributes to augment the CloudEvent with a `data` property
+   * Clone a CloudEvent with new/updated attributes and new data
+   * @param {object} options attributes to augment the CloudEvent with a `data` property and type
    * @param {boolean} strict whether or not to use strict validation when cloning (default: true)
    * @throws if the CloudEvent does not conform to the schema
    * @return {CloudEvent} returns a new CloudEvent<D>
    */
-  public cloneWith<D>(options: Partial<CloudEvent<D>>, strict?: boolean): CloudEvent<D>;
+  public cloneWith<D>(options: Partial<CloudEventV1<D>>, strict?: boolean): CloudEvent<D>;
   /**
-   * Clone a CloudEvent with new/update attributes
+   * Clone a CloudEvent with new/updated attributes and possibly different data types
    * @param {object} options attributes to augment the CloudEvent
    * @param {boolean} strict whether or not to use strict validation when cloning (default: true)
    * @throws if the CloudEvent does not conform to the schema
    * @return {CloudEvent} returns a new CloudEvent
    */
   public cloneWith<D>(options: Partial<CloudEventV1<D>>, strict = true): CloudEvent<D | T> {
-    return new CloudEvent(Object.assign({}, this.toJSON(), options), strict);
+    return CloudEvent.cloneWith(this, options, strict);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -217,4 +217,22 @@ See: https://github.com/cloudevents/spec/blob/v1.0/spec.md#type-system`);
   [Symbol.for("nodejs.util.inspect.custom")](): string {
     return this.toString();
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Clone a CloudEvent with new or updated attributes.
+   * @param {CloudEventV1<any>} event an object that implements the {@linkcode CloudEventV1} interface
+   * @param {Partial<CloudEventV1<any>>} options an object with new or updated attributes
+   * @param {boolean} strict `true` if the resulting event should be valid per the CloudEvent specification
+   * @throws {ValidationError} if `strict` is `true` and the resulting event is invalid
+   * @returns {CloudEvent<any>} a CloudEvent cloned from `event` with `options` applied.
+   */
+  public static cloneWith(
+    event: CloudEventV1<any>,
+    options: Partial<CloudEventV1<any>>,
+    strict = true): CloudEvent<any> {
+      if (event instanceof CloudEvent) {
+        event = event.toJSON() as CloudEventV1<any>;
+      }
+      return new CloudEvent(Object.assign({}, event, options), strict);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/message/http/headers.ts b/src/message/http/headers.ts
index 510488ff..e8a9c708 100644
--- a/src/message/http/headers.ts
+++ b/src/message/http/headers.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 */
 
 import { PassThroughParser, DateParser, MappedParser } from "../../parsers";
-import { CloudEvent } from "../..";
+import { CloudEventV1 } from "../..";
 import { Headers } from "../";
 import { Version } from "../../event/cloudevent";
 import CONSTANTS from "../../constants";
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ export const requiredHeaders = [
  * @param {CloudEvent} event a CloudEvent
  * @returns {Object} the headers that will be sent for the event
  */
-export function headersFor<T>(event: CloudEvent<T>): Headers {
+export function headersFor<T>(event: CloudEventV1<T>): Headers {
   const headers: Headers = {};
   let headerMap: Readonly<{ [key: string]: MappedParser }>;
   if (event.specversion === Version.V1) {
diff --git a/src/message/http/index.ts b/src/message/http/index.ts
index 3934416f..dfde84c3 100644
--- a/src/message/http/index.ts
+++ b/src/message/http/index.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 */
 
 import { CloudEvent, CloudEventV1, CONSTANTS, Mode, Version } from "../..";
-import { Message, Headers } from "..";
+import { Message, Headers, Binding } from "..";
 
 import {
   headersFor,
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import { JSONParser, MappedParser, Parser, parserByContentType } from "../../par
  * @param {CloudEvent} event The event to serialize
  * @returns {Message} a Message object with headers and body
  */
-export function binary<T>(event: CloudEvent<T>): Message {
+function binary<T>(event: CloudEventV1<T>): Message {
   const contentType: Headers = { [CONSTANTS.HEADER_CONTENT_TYPE]: CONSTANTS.DEFAULT_CONTENT_TYPE };
   const headers: Headers = { ...contentType, ...headersFor(event) };
   let body = event.data;
@@ -47,10 +47,10 @@ export function binary<T>(event: CloudEvent<T>): Message {
  * @param {CloudEvent} event the CloudEvent to be serialized
  * @returns {Message} a Message object with headers and body
  */
-export function structured<T>(event: CloudEvent<T>): Message {
+function structured<T>(event: CloudEventV1<T>): Message {
   if (event.data_base64) {
     // The event's data is binary - delete it
-    event = event.cloneWith({ data: undefined });
+    event = (event as CloudEvent).cloneWith({ data: undefined });
   }
   return {
     headers: {
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ export function structured<T>(event: CloudEvent<T>): Message {
  * @param {Message} message an incoming Message object
  * @returns {boolean} true if this Message is a CloudEvent
  */
-export function isEvent(message: Message): boolean {
+function isEvent(message: Message): boolean {
   // TODO: this could probably be optimized
   try {
     deserialize(message);
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ export function isEvent(message: Message): boolean {
  * @param {Message} message the incoming message
  * @return {CloudEvent} A new {CloudEvent} instance
  */
-export function deserialize<T>(message: Message): CloudEvent<T> | CloudEvent<T>[] {
+function deserialize<T>(message: Message): CloudEvent<T> | CloudEvent<T>[] {
   const cleanHeaders: Headers = sanitize(message.headers);
   const mode: Mode = getMode(cleanHeaders);
   const version = getVersion(mode, cleanHeaders, message.body);
@@ -261,3 +261,14 @@ function parseBatched<T>(message: Message): CloudEvent<T> | CloudEvent<T>[] {
   });
   return ret;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Bindings for HTTP transport support
+ * @implements {@linkcode Binding}
+ */
+ export const HTTP: Binding = {
+  binary,
+  structured,
+  toEvent: deserialize,
+  isEvent: isEvent,
+};
diff --git a/src/message/index.ts b/src/message/index.ts
index 94c725c2..4e1990a9 100644
--- a/src/message/index.ts
+++ b/src/message/index.ts
@@ -4,8 +4,10 @@
 */
 
 import { IncomingHttpHeaders } from "http";
-import { CloudEvent } from "..";
-import { binary, deserialize, structured, isEvent } from "./http";
+import { CloudEventV1 } from "..";
+
+// reexport the HTTP protocol binding
+export * from "./http";
 
 /**
  * Binding is an interface for transport protocols to implement,
@@ -39,11 +41,11 @@ export interface Headers extends IncomingHttpHeaders {
  * transport-agnostic message
  * @interface
  * @property {@linkcode Headers} `headers` - the headers for the event Message
- * @property string `body` - the body of the event Message
+ * @property {T | string | Buffer | unknown} `body` - the body of the event Message
  */
-export interface Message {
+export interface Message<T = string> {
   headers: Headers;
-  body: string | unknown;
+  body: T | string | Buffer | unknown;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -62,7 +64,7 @@ export enum Mode {
  * @interface
  */
 export interface Serializer {
-  <T>(event: CloudEvent<T>): Message;
+  <T>(event: CloudEventV1<T>): Message;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -71,7 +73,7 @@ export interface Serializer {
  * @interface
  */
 export interface Deserializer {
-  <T>(message: Message): CloudEvent<T> | CloudEvent<T>[];
+  <T>(message: Message): CloudEventV1<T> | CloudEventV1<T>[];
 }
 
 /**
@@ -82,14 +84,3 @@ export interface Deserializer {
 export interface Detector {
   (message: Message): boolean;
 }
-
-/**
- * Bindings for HTTP transport support
- * @implements {@linkcode Binding}
- */
-export const HTTP: Binding = {
-  binary: binary as Serializer,
-  structured: structured as Serializer,
-  toEvent: deserialize as Deserializer,
-  isEvent: isEvent as Detector,
-};
diff --git a/test/integration/sdk_test.ts b/test/integration/sdk_test.ts
index f31653b6..37dc4fd9 100644
--- a/test/integration/sdk_test.ts
+++ b/test/integration/sdk_test.ts
@@ -5,11 +5,13 @@
 
 import "mocha";
 import { expect } from "chai";
-import { CloudEvent, Version } from "../../src";
+import { CloudEvent, CloudEventV1, Version } from "../../src";
 
-const fixture = {
+const fixture: CloudEventV1<undefined> = {
+  id: "123",
   type: "org.cloudevents.test",
   source: "http://cloudevents.io",
+  specversion: Version.V1,
 };
 
 describe("The SDK Requirements", () => {
@@ -34,4 +36,19 @@ describe("The SDK Requirements", () => {
       expect(new CloudEvent(fixture).specversion).to.equal(Version.V1);
     });
   });
+
+  describe("Cloning events", () => {
+    it("should clone simple objects that adhere to the CloudEventV1 interface", () => {
+      const copy = CloudEvent.cloneWith(fixture, { id: "456" }, false);
+      expect(copy.id).to.equal("456");
+      expect(copy.type).to.equal(fixture.type);
+      expect(copy.source).to.equal(fixture.source);
+      expect(copy.specversion).to.equal(fixture.specversion);
+    });
+
+    it("should clone simple objects with data that adhere to the CloudEventV1 interface", () => {
+      const copy = CloudEvent.cloneWith(fixture, { data: { lunch: "tacos" } }, false);
+      expect(copy.data.lunch).to.equal("tacos");
+    });
+  });
 });