Thursday, May 08, 2014

That time of year...

Since I am not the nicest person, I did not get to meet the rider.
Squeaky clean little Honda twin parked up out front of Twenty Tap the other day. A CB350, I think, but I'm pretty fuzzy on old SOHC Hondas from the era of wire wheels, drum brakes, and kickstarters. Love the matching paint on the fork tubes, bar-end mirrors, and very practical-looking luggage rack.

Ocypus olens
 Sunroof open and windows down, ready to go cruisin' down Broad Ripple Ave. It's very... red.

Going topless.
 MG A and Jeep CJ-5 out front of Brugge Brasserie at the mystical corner of Westfield and Westfield.
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30 comments:

Matt G said...

I had a '78 CB450 in academy ('94). I loved it's electric and kick start set-up, and still wonder why all cycles aren't so equipped.

6:23 PM, May 08, 2014
Anonymous said...

Good memories. Two years riding around college and to summer job in N AZ on the CL version. Thx

6:24 PM, May 08, 2014
Roger Ritter said...

I had a CB350 much like that one - different paint on the tank, so not quite the same year. It was a good, reliable bike, except that it kept shedding the rear footpegs. They were only held on with a cotter pin, and the vibrations would eventually break the pin.

6:32 PM, May 08, 2014
Mike in KY said...

I nearly swooned over the beetle. Went through two of those in my younger years. Neither were nearly as pretty.

Not too crazy about the address, though.

7:13 PM, May 08, 2014
Jeff F. said...

I do believe that's a CB175...

7:23 PM, May 08, 2014
Eric said...

Any clue on how old the Honda is? That bug looks '72 - '74.

7:23 PM, May 08, 2014
NotClauswitz said...

MGA! The look of that car, the shape - it's practically Italian.

7:32 PM, May 08, 2014
Jay Bee said...

Oooooh, I like the CJ.

I got to wheel a 1963 CJ-5 that someone plopped a Dauntless V6 with V8 heads into a few years ago. That was fun. Had a whole bunch of stuff done to it.

Crap.... it's time to go wheeling in my Cherokee.

7:32 PM, May 08, 2014
Jeff F. said...

The little Honda is a model K6. I believe it's a '72. Nice bike.

8:22 PM, May 08, 2014
Old NFO said...

Nice ones! And you're lucky you get to see them up close... sigh

8:25 PM, May 08, 2014
Netpackrat said...

> MGA! The look of that car, the
> shape - it's practically Italian.

You're kidding, right? The Italians never made a car look that good.

I'm kind of envious. My MGA is a bare frame in my garage (just finished the rust repairs; next step powder coat), and my CJ-5 is still rotting in the back yard.

8:49 PM, May 08, 2014
billf said...

Ah,memories...I had a CB350 ,and also a MGA back in the college days.I remember when ALL motorcycles had wire wheels,and my MGA didn't have a top,it had only a tonnaeu (sp) cover that you could open the driver's side to drive it in the bad weather.

8:52 PM, May 08, 2014
Larry said...

I had a CL350 Honda, with both pipes up on the side. Fun little bike but it would rattle the teeth out of your head on the highway.

8:58 PM, May 08, 2014
Anonymous said...

Nice Honda, but the kickstarter makes it verboten for the likes of me...well, maybe. If I could get it cheap enough, I'd have to try.
I just wonder how many of your Faithful Readers are old enough to get the joke in the caption? Hell, I own 3 Honda bikes, & I'm certainly not one of "the nicest people."
--Tennessee Budd

8:59 PM, May 08, 2014
global village idiot said...

SlugBug Red, no slug-backs!

(Jeez I can't believe I beat all of y'all to it!)

gvi

9:25 PM, May 08, 2014
Joe in PNG said...

Tennessee Bud- that is why one never saw Hunter S Thompson on a Honda.

10:38 PM, May 08, 2014
Paul said...

Buddy of mine had a 350 that looked just like that. I had a 74 360 for a while and as I recall the tank decal went down the side to the bottom. His, a 73 stopped mid way like that one.

10:49 PM, May 08, 2014
Anonymous said...

Yes, that does look like a 175. Friend of mine had one. I was amazed that redline was 10,500.

Of course, with just 175cc, one needs a 10,500 RPM redline.

11:22 PM, May 08, 2014
Will said...

Not a 350, the engine doesn't fill the frame enough. Most likely 175/200?

Had a friend who built a chopped CB350 Honda, a commission for a girl. Beautiful bike, had a different paint design on each side. We went to a car/bike show in Philly later that year '73(?), and found that she had it on display. He was pissed that she hadn't posted any info about who had done the bike.
I got to ride it before she picked it up. Handled remarkably well for a chopper. Nice total package. Turned out she and I went to school together, in a different state. Small world.

Tom was a talented guy who ended up a wino, living on the street, last I heard.

5:16 AM, May 09, 2014
Will said...

Ventilated running boards on the Bug? What is that 13.1 sticker in the side/rear window?

5:27 AM, May 09, 2014
Murphy's Law said...

Classic Beetle. (Eric nailed it--early 70's). My first and third cars were Beetles. And that sweet CJ-5 would look even better with a pintle mount set-up. Just sayin'.

7:47 AM, May 09, 2014
Unknown said...

Yeah, pretty sure that's a CB-175. Neat little bikes. I'm old enough to remember lusting after one when they were current(-ish) production.

That was 'way back when 350s were considered medium displacement.

7:50 AM, May 09, 2014
Jim said...

The bug is a '73 or later, Super Beetle. See the curved windshield? Dead giveaway.

Distinct from the traditional beetle, the Super had MacPherson front suspension, and the wheelbase, being a few inches longer, allowed for the spare to lay flat in a well in the trunk, making for large gain of useable space therein.

The '71 & '72 Super Beetles had the same flat windshield and same dash as all other Beetles, but from '73 onward, the Super featured a sculpted, foam injected dash, and that curved windshield.

My first car was a '71 Super, and I later owned a nice '72.

I'd love to have another, and the time, space and money to do a proper, frame-off restoration-modernization.



Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

8:39 AM, May 09, 2014
leaddog said...

Add a milk crate to the luggage rack and it looks like the 71 CB350 that I ran the 60 miles from farm to university for 3 years in the late 70's and early 80's.

9:45 AM, May 09, 2014
Crowndot said...

Waitasec... The house number in the Vee Dub picture!!! "Oh yes, we live at the Number of the Beast, but the Beast hasn't lived here since the 1950s."

10:55 AM, May 09, 2014
Randy said...

It's an early cb350, maybe 1971. But the front fender looks earlier and (I think, not positive) the horn looks newer.

1:31 PM, May 09, 2014
The Old Coach said...

CB-200. Back the mid '70s I was selling those out of a big Honda dealership in Boston. I also liked them much more than the 350s, but they didn't sell well. After 40 years I'm rusty on the color/model-year matrix. Might be a 175. A long rack in the rear like that was a major no-no. Screwed up the steering something awful if there was an weight on it, and in some cases could make the bike wobble.

6:18 PM, May 09, 2014
mostly cajun said...

Had a CL-350 myself. Road it back and forth to work, rain or shine, winter and summer in Louisiana.

Also had several Beetles. That's a Type 113 - 'SuperBeetle', not the classic Type 111. Many Beetle afficionados considered them to be an abomination.

MC

7:32 PM, May 09, 2014
rbmcmjr said...

Ventilated running boards on the Bug? What is that 13.1 sticker in the side/rear window?

Half Marathon distance.

I took my driver's exam in a '74 CJ-5 just like that, right down to the side-mounted spare. When you went around right-hand corners at speed, it would rub the drive tire and you could smell the rubber burning.

8:35 PM, May 09, 2014
Anonymous said...

I don't think that's a 350. 250, maybe. It only has 2 cylinders, and the engine isn't big enough to be a CB77. Front disc brakes didn't become an option until after 1971, I think.

Should have a kickstarter AND an electric.

12:25 AM, May 11, 2014

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