Honda CL77 Scrambler project

[willis]

I hope it’s ok to post this here as I’ve seen other off brand builds in the past. I just thought this might be a good spot to document my progress. I’ve been wanting and watching for a Honda CL77 305 Scrambler for a few years now. There’s just something about the sound of those open straight pipes that I love. Anyway, last week I saw an ad for a vintage bike shop listing a handful of various bikes, one of which was a pic of a cl77. I’d never heard of the shop before but it was just over an hour away. That’s the closest I’ve seen one of these in a long time. I reached out and made an appointment to go have a look. All I knew is that it does not run but motor is free, and there is no title. After a good inspection and a little haggling, we made a deal.

The bike is pretty complete and only appears to be missing a few parts. I really don’t know much about these bikes, so I’ve got a lot of learning to do to identify what is right and wrong. Initial inspection is that it’s fairly rough. The sheet metal is pretty straight and the tank is very clean inside. I believe this is a ‘65 model based on the low serial number and early style tank mounts. The obvious parts missing are the center stand, steering stabilizer, tool box and intake boots. The sheet metal was painted with a brush but fenders are steel underneath. The frame and headlight bucket show the original red peeking through a layer of black and rust. The rims are pretty rusty too. At best I can sand and paint them. This is not going to be a restoration!!!! I’ve got a limited budget and my hopes are to just get it running and leave the cosmetics mostly alone for now.

 

[willis]

Priority one is going to be getting a title before I put any money into it. I’ve done a court order title in the past, but I knew a bit more about the history on that bike. The back story on this bike is that the guy bought it at Barber swap meet last year. Prior to that the bike was from PA. There is an inspection sticker on the rear fender over the brushed paint job that expired in 1976. For this bike I am considering using Saints Title Service out of Chattanooga. It’s $400 and takes about 4 weeks to process. I’ll make a decision in the next week which direction I choose to go.

A few new observations regarding the condition. First off, I cannot get it to shift into gear. Second,after removing the seat and tank I found some household wire nuts used to put an inline fuse in. But the biggest issue I found was in the freed up motor. We did a rotation of the kicker at purchase to verify it wasn’t stuck. At home I went to kick it through again and it got stuck. I left it alone as i had other issues pressing. Today I pulled the plugs out in hopes of doing a compression test. The plugs unscrewed with resistance. I was not pleased to find these.

It’s no wonder there was resistance! Look at the impact marks from the valves. A quick cross reference reveals that these plugs are for a CB and not a CL. They are a full 6mm longer reach. What the hell? With the plugs out I got about a half rotation until the motor stopped again. I didnt push it any more. With a peak in the plug hole it looked somewhat decent in there. On the crown of one of the pistons I could see a laser etch of 6025g. It was made of little dimples and not a stamp like I’m familiar with. My best guess is they are +1 over, but I can find and other pistons marked like that on the web. At any rate, I’m looking at at least a top end job, if not a full blown rebuild $. That’s it for now. Still shaking my head wondering what I’ve gotten myself into.

 

[Mailman]

That’s it for now. Still shaking my head wondering what I’ve gotten myself into.

Fingers crossed you’ll figure it out quick. I’m having fun watching, thanks for starting this thread!

 

[Jim]

There’s just something about the sound of those open straight pipes that I love.

Ain't much sounds sweeter than a 180° twin on it's way to 9000 revs.
Sends a chill down my spine just thinking about it.

following!

 

[Kevin Werner]

Truth is that those CL77s captured my 7-8 year old fascination. I was certain at that age that I could capture a Hare and Hounds, Scrambles, Road race championship on one bike.

 

[Wingedwheel]

I’m watching this one as I would also love to find one of those!

 

[WideAWAKE]

Nice!!!

Those plugs look YUMMY!!!

Hahaha

 

[cycleranger]

Nice project. Those scramblers are sought-after.
Pop over to https://www.vintagehondatwins.com/forums/index.php
Lots of CB/CL77 knowledge there.

 

[JJames]

Realy nice example of one of the coolest Japaneese motorbikes. Yes, the soundtrack is fantastic. Shame about those plugs.

 

[willis]

I just bought a cheap bore scope on Amazon that plugs into my iPhone to have a look inside those cylinders. I’m really intrigued by the markings on top of the pistons. Also ordered a few sets of the correct plugs from Rock Auto. They were half the price of local auto parts or online retailers.

 

[willis]

My cheap borescope arrived today. I had mixed results using it and will need some more time to play with it to get better results. But, initial finding are good. Still see crosshatch and what appear to be relatively clean forged pistons. I can’t entirely tell the condition of the cylinders from these pics. The left side looked better than the right. The red liquid is penetrating fluid I sprayed in yesterday. I won’t know anything for sure until I open the motor up, which will be a while.

I also spent a little time with the tank. The gray latex paint was coming off in a few places, so I picked at it a little and revealed what appears to be a sweet set of homemade flames. Got to be good for and extra 10 horsepower!

Now that I know this I can also see a flame outline on the front fender too. But the good news is the tank is incredibly clean inside. Just a few spots of surface rust here and there. These pics are of the petcock and fuel crossover in the bottom rear of tank, but represents how the rest of it looks too.

And lastly, I popped off the float bowls for a quick inspection. Despite the carbs being pretty grimy, the floats and bowls are pretty clean. Giving me some positive hopes! This bowl was the dirtier of the two

Thinking of investing in an ultrasonic cleaner for the shop. I’m sure it will be a worthy purchase.

Oh and one more last thing, today I submitted for a title. I am trying Saints Title Service out of Chattanooga, TN. They have good reviews so I’m going out on a limb. $400 and I am supposed to get a transferable title and bill of sale in about 4 weeks.

 

[cycleranger]

Looks like a valve hit the piston.
The flames are cool and you lucked out on that clean tank.

 

[Adamc]

My cheap borescope arrived today. I had mixed results using it and will need some more time to play with it to get better results. But, initial finding are good. Still see crosshatch and what appear to be relatively clean forged pistons. I can’t entirely tell the condition of the cylinders from these pics. The left side looked better than the right. The red liquid is penetrating fluid I sprayed in yesterday. I won’t know anything for sure until I open the motor up, which will be a while.
View attachment 331706View attachment 331707View attachment 331707View attachment 331708

I also spent a little time with the tank. The gray latex paint was coming off in a few places, so I picked at it a little and revealed what appears to be a sweet set of homemade flames. Got to be good for and extra 10 horsepower!
View attachment 331711

Now that I know this I can also see a flame outline on the front fender too. But the good news is the tank is incredibly clean inside. Just a few spots of surface rust here and there. These pics are of the petcock and fuel crossover in the bottom rear of tank, but represents how the rest of it looks too.
View attachment 331709View attachment 331710

And lastly, I popped off the float bowls for a quick inspection. Despite the carbs being pretty grimy, the floats and bowls are pretty clean. Giving me some positive hopes! This bowl was the dirtier of the two View attachment 331712View attachment 331713

Thinking of investing in an ultrasonic cleaner for the shop. I’m sure it will be a worthy purchase.

Oh and one more last thing, today I submitted for a title. I am trying Saints Title Service out of Chattanooga, TN. They have good reviews so I’m going out on a limb. $400 and I am supposed to get a transferable title and bill of sale in about 4 weeks.

Hey Willis do you get your safety footware from the same shop as @Jim ?

 

[willis]

Looks like a valve hit the piston.
The flames are cool and you lucked out on that clean tank.

Both pistons appear to have that mark. Not sure if it’s an impact mark or a strange glare from the borescope LED lights.

 

[willis]

Hey Willis do you get your safety footware from the same shop as @Jim ?

It’s the preferred workplace footwear of the Midwest!

 

[willis]

The story of my life…. Today I met a guy through a friend that has a CL77 that he wants to sell. We stopped by his house after a nice ride with my new friends to check it out. It is mostly complete and pretty good shape, with title. Also has lots of spare parts with it. The motor does need rebuilt but it also comes with a spare, in addition to two extra complete front ends. The unfortunate thing is I only have half of what he’s asking. Where was he 3 weeks ago? On a positive side he’s not in a hurry to sell it and is not advertising it for sale. He has a garage full of bikes including another CL77 that he’s keeping. Guess I need to sell the xs2?

 

[46th Georgia]

My cheap borescope arrived today. I had mixed results using it and will need some more time to play with it to get better results. But, initial finding are good. Still see crosshatch and what appear to be relatively clean forged pistons. I can’t entirely tell the condition of the cylinders from these pics. The left side looked better than the right. The red liquid is penetrating fluid I sprayed in yesterday. I won’t know anything for sure until I open the motor up, which will be a while.
View attachment 331706View attachment 331707View attachment 331707View attachment 331708

I also spent a little time with the tank. The gray latex paint was coming off in a few places, so I picked at it a little and revealed what appears to be a sweet set of homemade flames. Got to be good for and extra 10 horsepower!
View attachment 331711

Now that I know this I can also see a flame outline on the front fender too. But the good news is the tank is incredibly clean inside. Just a few spots of surface rust here and there. These pics are of the petcock and fuel crossover in the bottom rear of tank, but represents how the rest of it looks too.
View attachment 331709View attachment 331710

And lastly, I popped off the float bowls for a quick inspection. Despite the carbs being pretty grimy, the floats and bowls are pretty clean. Giving me some positive hopes! This bowl was the dirtier of the two View attachment 331712View attachment 331713

Thinking of investing in an ultrasonic cleaner for the shop. I’m sure it will be a worthy purchase.

Oh and one more last thing, today I submitted for a title. I am trying Saints Title Service out of Chattanooga, TN. They have good reviews so I’m going out on a limb. $400 and I am supposed to get a transferable title and bill of sale in about 4 weeks.

As to the flames, I'm a little surprised at you. The 10 extra H.P. isn't nearly as important as the extra 8 ft. lbs. of torque. Jeeeesh!!!

 

[cycleranger]

The story of my life…. Today I met a guy through a friend that has a CL77 that he wants to sell. We stopped by his house after a nice ride with my new friends to check it out. It is mostly complete and pretty good shape, with title. Also has lots of spare parts with it. The motor does need rebuilt but it also comes with a spare, in addition to two extra complete front ends. The unfortunate thing is I only have half of what he’s asking. Where was he 3 weeks ago? On a positive side he’s not in a hurry to sell it and is not advertising it for sale. He has a garage full of bikes including another CL77 that he’s keeping. Guess I need to sell the xs2?

That seems to have potential. How far the down the sloper rabbit hole are you willing to go?

 

[willis]

This one is in much, much nicer shape than the one I bought. He showed me the reciept for what he paid for it years ago, which is the same price he’s asking for it now. I’m very interested in this and trying to figure out how to swing the money. One way or another, one of my current bikes will have to go.

 

[willis]

A good week! To start I got my title back from Saints Engine and Title Services. Now I just need to transfer it into my name. Also, I made a deal with the guy I met a few weeks ago and bought some of his spares. Originally I was just getting his spare motor and one of his front ends. He was feeling generous and said it was a Super Saturday Deal and gave me the second fork set too. The forks were previously rebuilt a few years ago and other than the ripped fork gators they are in great shape. The VIN on the spare motor is within 250 digits of my frame too. So technically it is within factory ranges to be considered original. It turns free but will need a rebuild.