Looks great Rob! 
-
Enjoy XS650.com? Consider making a donation to help support the site.
XS650.com receives a small share of sales from some links on this page, but direct donations have a much greater impact on keeping this site going.
Honda CL77 Scrambler project
- Thread starter willis
- Start date
I may have a problemā¦
I picked this up yesterday on Marketplace. It was on there for about a week and just over an hour away from me. I picked it up for $160 thinking itās always good to have extra parts. The motor was disassembled at some point and all is loosely reassembled. Motor spins free but PO removed the cam chain and tensioner. The fork assembly is some sort of Suzuki with a 21ā wheel. Rear wheel is questionable. Itās a 19ā and hub/drum looks correct but the rim does not.
Overall it was a good score for the price I paid.
I picked this up yesterday on Marketplace. It was on there for about a week and just over an hour away from me. I picked it up for $160 thinking itās always good to have extra parts. The motor was disassembled at some point and all is loosely reassembled. Motor spins free but PO removed the cam chain and tensioner. The fork assembly is some sort of Suzuki with a 21ā wheel. Rear wheel is questionable. Itās a 19ā and hub/drum looks correct but the rim does not.
Overall it was a good score for the price I paid.
Plugging away at this one piece at a time. Iāve been working on the wiring harness the last few days. A lot of it is salvageable so I dug into it. The gray sheathing was very hard and brittle so I cut it off to give the wires a good inspection. Found a couple old splices I didnāt like along with a few home wiring nuts. I can never understand why people use those on motorcycles. After I replaced a few wires and soldered some new connections I replaced the sheathing with some nice mesh split loom and some heat shrink to tidy it up. Also gave the ignition switch a good cleaning too. I did a test fit on the bike to be sure things were lining up and things were looking good. Still got a few more pieces to tackle before Iām ready to fully install it though. Happy with my progress. Hoping to get the coils and condensers installed tomorrow then I can start laying the harness out.
Nice work!
RE Wire nuts: I've found a few when working on old bikes. In most cases I suspect it was exigent circumstances - gotta splice it and this is all I have. Then it becomes "If it works, it ain't stoopid." In other cases the culprit just didn't know any better and/or thought "It's better than twist and tape." On that Suzuki GT550 I rescued, there was actually a couple of feet of orange extension cord spliced in with wire nuts!
I'm one of those sick fucks that actually enjoys wiring and I have a drawer full of Vintage Connections connectors in various styles and sizes and the associated crimpers.
I haven't looked at VC, but where did you get the mesh split loom? That's some nice looking stuff!
RE Wire nuts: I've found a few when working on old bikes. In most cases I suspect it was exigent circumstances - gotta splice it and this is all I have. Then it becomes "If it works, it ain't stoopid." In other cases the culprit just didn't know any better and/or thought "It's better than twist and tape." On that Suzuki GT550 I rescued, there was actually a couple of feet of orange extension cord spliced in with wire nuts!
I'm one of those sick fucks that actually enjoys wiring and I have a drawer full of Vintage Connections connectors in various styles and sizes and the associated crimpers.
I haven't looked at VC, but where did you get the mesh split loom? That's some nice looking stuff!
I got it on amazon years ago. I bought two different sized rolls. I have a tote full of wiring goodies. Iāve also used VC for their crimping tool and supplies. My first go at wiring I used the mesh loom that wasnāt split. After re-doing my wiring the third time I realized just how nice that split loom and good cloth electrical tape is when you need to make repairs or changes.
Well now I know I have a problem. I officially have more Honda 305 parts than xs650 parts.
Iāve been watching this one on MP for a few weeks. I couldnāt beat the price. The tank and seat are in nice shape, but also now have many spare parts. The project has still been stalled, but now Iām running out of places to hide my parts.
Iāve been watching this one on MP for a few weeks. I couldnāt beat the price. The tank and seat are in nice shape, but also now have many spare parts. The project has still been stalled, but now Iām running out of places to hide my parts.
Sucks to be you, eh?
I really just bought it for the center stand and a few other odds and ends. The rest is just bonus.
Yeah, still cheaper than drugs and hookers, not to mention healthier.You could have worse obsessions!
I expect itās also cheaper than golf!
Hey Rob! Just saw this on BAT and thought of you. I thought the Snuff or Nots in the exhaust tips was a nice touch.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1966-honda-cl77-scrambler-10/
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1966-honda-cl77-scrambler-10/
When it's all said and done, I bet it fetches 10k.
Yes, that belongs to one of the members over on the VHT forum. Hoping to get some work done on mine in the next few days. The heat here has been unbearable in the garage. Iām off work this next week so hoping to get some shop time in. Here she is in her current state. Been playing with ideas for seat and rear fender with parts I have laying around.
Last edited:
Spent some time this last weekend working on the Honda. I bit the bullet and tore down the seat from the later model CL77 I had to transfer the foam and cover onto the early seat pan to fit this project. That was a chore and my fingers are still hurting two days later!. It is not perfect but I am overall happy. I used Dogbunny's seat repair thread for inspiration to fix the one little hole in the seat. I backed it with some old denim from a pair of work jeans so I could fill the hole from the top. Also put a small patch on the back of an area that looked like it could rip soon for a little fortification.
I also tried to get it to fire up. So i filled with oil only to find I have two leaks. One on the clutch cover (left side) and the other on the bottom of the motor at the rear of the oil pump housing right behind the drain plug. I pulled the covers off twice and don't see why they are leaking. I replaced both gaskets on the oil pump (they are stacked) with gaskets I had on hand. Both leaks slowed but not fixed. I have some Hylomar Blue on order and will try a third time to seal up those leaks later this week. With the motor still leaking I tried to fire it up, but was unsuccessful. I have great spark but was only getting an occasional backfire, and did not sound like it wanted to start. I am going to have to go over everything and try to find out where my issues are. I gave up as it was very humid out in the shop and i had enough for one day. Hope to follow up with better results later this week.
I also tried to get it to fire up. So i filled with oil only to find I have two leaks. One on the clutch cover (left side) and the other on the bottom of the motor at the rear of the oil pump housing right behind the drain plug. I pulled the covers off twice and don't see why they are leaking. I replaced both gaskets on the oil pump (they are stacked) with gaskets I had on hand. Both leaks slowed but not fixed. I have some Hylomar Blue on order and will try a third time to seal up those leaks later this week. With the motor still leaking I tried to fire it up, but was unsuccessful. I have great spark but was only getting an occasional backfire, and did not sound like it wanted to start. I am going to have to go over everything and try to find out where my issues are. I gave up as it was very humid out in the shop and i had enough for one day. Hope to follow up with better results later this week.
Your seat repair came out great! 
I think you're now in the category where you need to call Houston and let them know abut your problem
