CL 175 question

M

mwoods17

New Member
So I'm new to the forum and riding, but I've always wanted to build a cafe racer and now I'm deciding to get my hands dirty.

I found a local guy who has a 1973 Honda CL 175 Scrambler that he's selling; less then 6,000 miles, the emerald green color, clean title, hasn't been registered since '77, black license plate 8) haha. I am considering buying it, but I'm still up in the air on it because of a few issues.

The main issue is it's stuck in gear right now. It kicks over, but the rear wheel spins when you try to kick start it. No electric start, which I'm not sure was normal since I've seen a few of the scrambler's with electric starts. The Owner said they didn't make em with it since it was supposed to be essentially a "dirtbike".

Other then that, it's in pretty decent shape and he'd sell for $395.

My main concern is trying to diagnose why it's stuck in gear. I don't know if it would need a new transmission or not and what kind of work and budget would have to go into it to get it running. One thing I wanted to ask is do any of you guys know if they changed anything in the engine between years say 70-73?

You guys think it'd be worth it to get as a first build? I can try to provide as much more info as possible if there's any questions you guys have.
 
Clean title.....mostly complete......400 bucks? I would buy it.

That being said, if it came from the factory with no e start it could be an SL- not a CL. What did the exhaust look like? Did it run along where your left thigh would be? I wouldn't be TOO concerned about it being stuck in gear. Probably just the shifter arm seized into the sprocket cover. And if you buy it and need it, I have a tranny from a 71 that will fit.

Oh ya, all the vertical 175's have the same motor. At least I'm pretty sure.
 
Rich is right. The shifting problem will be a cheap fix. The way we fix ours - seriously - is to buy a spare motor at a swap meet or junk yard for no more than $25, and pull the trans and anything else useful and re-cycle the rest. Or keep some spares. There are probably less out there now than a few years ago, but they made millions of them and a few are still lying around.

It's possible that something is seriously bent or broken but if Rich can't supply what you need and you can't find one at a swap meet, let me know. I'm sure we have some parts here in one of these heavy boxes.
 
Yeah the exhaust runs up the side like the CL Scramblers. It's missing the heat covers though.

I'm kinda up in the air about it. I put some money down just in case I fully decide to commit to it haha.

I did a little bit of research and it didn't seem like there's much of a difference between the CB175 and CL175 scrambler. A few things, but nothing too drastic in my opinion.
 
Id buy it dude. I payed $900 for mine, though they are rare up here & it was in great shape.


19'' front rim
different fork covers
different tank
better pipes


I think there may be something in the engine different. Gearing wise?


Either way 175s are rad. Even though Ive only rode mine around the block once.


Rich knows whats up though!
 
So it turns out that it wasn't a '73, it was actually a '69 CL. He was selling two different bikes around the same time and so when I checked it out and went to buy it he said he was emailing me saying '73 but forgot he sold that one already. However, he'd been sending me pictures and info on the '69 Cl so the only difference in our conversation was the numbers.

I bought it and he kindly delivered yesterday (Santa Barbara is small 8) ) so I got it in my garage and I'm ready to get my hands dirty with this. Gonna take a little work gettin' some of the rust gone and cleaning everything up and replacing a lot of cabling and wiring i'm sure, but it'll pay off I'm sure.
 
Here's the bike and then some!


Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr


Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr


Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr


Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr


Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr


Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr


Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr


Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr


Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr


Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr


Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr

A little bit of yumminess

Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr


Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr


Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr


Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr

Didn't see this when I checked the bike out haha

Untitled by Bike Woods, on Flickr


Bike by Bike Woods, on Flickr


Bike by Bike Woods, on Flickr

Whaddya guys think?
 
Nice, should be a good project.


The main differences between the CB, CL, CD and GL are the CB is the sport version and has sportier cams and electric start. The CD is the cruiser and has electric start and single carb for easier maintenance. The CL is the scrambler and has twin carbs and kick start only. You can see in your photos the factory block off plate where the starter normally goes. The GL is a single carb ag bike that from memory was only released in Australia, it has high pipes like the CL but big guards like the CD and a fully enclosed chain guard.
 
Ya, Hotfunk. I think the GL was only released in OZ as well. Wasn't the CD model only released in Europe or something? I don't recall ever seeing one in the States.


Anyways BikeWoods - I've seen some great bikes made with much less. Congrats!
 
And don't lose that starter block off plug. People are always trying to machine something to block off the starter on their cafe bikes and you already have one.

Not a bad place to start, but a lot of rust to deal with.
 
I've seen CD's in Oz but they seem rare here.


Edit my 1st post, the GL has similar guards to the CL not CD.
 
yeah there's some rust here and there, but I know I'm gonna need to slowly upgrade stuff too. When I first got it, I noticed some weird lateral play in the rear wheel it felt like. you'd hop on the rear shock and a little side to side movement occurred, and it seemed like a little lateral play in the front as well possibly.

I'm gonna need to take care of a little bit of frame rust before I paint the frame (still debating if I should or not) and this really needs a good cleaning too haha.

What's the best way to take care of rust? grind and bondo? deal with it? I still need to find the time to figure out what's up with the shifter lever, I don't know if you guys noticed but there's no cover where that cog is

edit: just curious, is it at all easy to add an electric start? And what are some good aftermarket levers, gauges and rearsets for the price? I'm gonna slowly upgrade this thing as I go.
 
Depends what exactly is left after the removal of the starter. Might have to pull the left side cover to find that one out.

Motobits makes rear sets specifically for that bike, and the fit and finish is great. Clip ons can be a little bit tougher although Sean at RocCityCafe should have them.
 
I turfed the starter on my cb, 175s dont need them and it saves a heap of weight.
Make sure you treat the rust before you bondo or it will come back.
 
Man I've been busy! I had a little time this after noon to start taking the bike apart so I can diagnose everything, I don't know who welded that muffler to the pipes, but I wasn't sure if i wanted to hack it off just yet, so taking the pipes off was a little difficult, but I ended up getting them off.

Gonna start cleaning this thing off and getting the rust off. I am probably gonna be ordering new cables and junk soon, so my time will be spent diagnosing what's up with that shifter lever and waiting for parts. Hoping to get some handlebars this week, remove some of the rust, and get a battery and wiring harness down to a science.

I'll be hoping to update with pictures soon! It can be pretty time consuming being in a band and being a photographer.

I was probably going to upgrade the carbs, wanted to ask what you guys think of the Mikuni vm20's? I have a buddy who also said he might have some tanks and seats and stuff lying around that he'd sell me. hoping to score!

I should probably ask, I saw that RocCity does have 2 different types of clip ons available in 31mm (my fork size correct?) Should I shell out the $100-$120 and get some clip ons now? I've seen some adjustable clubmans that seemed lucrative, but I havent made a complete decision yet, I wanted to know some opinions on either or. (I've read the clip in vs clubman thread, still seems pretty divided to me, i don't mind shelling out a little more for clips though if they're really worth it)
 
The whole clip ons vs clubmans thing is up to you of course. But if you do go with clip ons, RocCity is the way to go. I'll be honest- when I got mine I got them somewhere else, but only because RocCity was out of stock and I was impatient.
 
hotfunk67 said:
Nice, should be a good project.


The CL is the scrambler and has twin carbs and kick start only. You can see in your photos the factory block off plate where the starter normally goes.
Click to expand...

I have a CL parts bike that has an electric start, its an early 70's and the engine code starts with cl175, so why does mine have one?
 
That's a stock exhaust by the looks of things and yes, they are a PIA to remove and fit.

If that were my bike, I'd probably start by getting the wheels spot on i terms of play and the brakes etc. Then I'd pull the clutch cover off and separate the plates. Then I'd give it a good service and run it for the summer as it is and work out the kinks as I go.

They are small bikes and the riding position can get a little cramped, so that's another reason to not rush to spend your cash until you get a chance to get some miles on it and get it running sweetly.

I was digging through some old pictures and it seems that the 69/70 did not have the electric starter but later models did.
 
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