1968 Honda CL450 Project

I picked up a ratty original Honda 68 CL450 barn leaner in February, 2012 and almost have the nos and good used parts collected to begin mine. It looked like it had been sitting outside for decades and someone with too much time on their hands tapped out the gauge lenses and taillight lens. The VIN is CL4501001762 which is a fairly early build and with mileage at 10461 it didn't get a whole lot of use. I disassembled and documented every piece with pictures so I could make a get list for parts over the past 20 months. Had the frame glass bead blasted and went with Dupli-Color primer and gloss black. The engine is stuck so I went ahead and scored a like new used cylinders in case the old one is damaged and I am hoping that rain over the years didn't find it's way into the tank and on to the crankcase. With the early screw open cap it's possible that it came off long ago as evidenced by the missing cap when I picked the bike up and the hundreds of pin holes thru the metal under the paint on the bottom of the fuel tank. Did some research on the front fenders for the 68-69 and came across some interesting stuff. The K1 and first 940 K2's have a 19" wheel and uses fender #61100-294-670XW. The later K2 has an 18" wheel and starting with frame number 1010957 uses #61100-294-671XW. The fenders are of the same design but the arch is enough different that the one for the 18 wants to dig into the tire on the 19. It's late and I need some sleep before I add some pictures.

As delivered in February, 2012 and a ratty mess but the plus is the valid title which is somewhat rare on a bike this old and neglected. It sat outside for years and had rodent nests in the battery box, seat and even in the exhaust mufflers. I now have boxes of new parts and will soon have a set of new tires of the original tread design to begin the restoration with.

Just a few of many new or good used parts:

I just answered my own question about the headlight by looking at the first official CL450 parts manual. The manual has the standard light with the separate replaceable bulb beginning with the first CL450A's but doesn't say at what frame number it was replaced by the sealed beam.