Over at another blog called "Thistledown" was a post labeled "Fixer-upper". You can visit that blog from the right over there, where there is a list of blogs...by clickin' on it of course...
It's a pic of the same model and color that my first bike was. I've posted this pic before, and probably said I'd be posting some more of it. Yeah, as soon as I find them and scan them in...
It's a 1969 CL 175 K3, brand new with the temp reg taped to the rear fender. It's late 1968. The 1969 models are out. It was an interesting time to buy a Honda. They still had 160's and 175's with the slanted motors . They also still had CB 305 Superhawks,CL 305 Scramblers and 4 speed 450's in the shops for sale. And of course the mind blower was the CB 750 Four. If my memory serves, my 175 was $640.00 out the door, and I talked the sales man into a red metal flake "Skid Lid" and a very cheap pair of imitation leather gloves. I remember some friends saying you gotta talk them into giving you a helmet and anything else you can get them to throw in to seal the deal...gift of gab I guess. The 350's were about $735.00, and the 750 went for about 1295.00, don't quote me, but I believe that is about right. I was angling for a 750, had the old man convinced I could handle the payments...but my mother put an end to that fantasy. The prices on 750's started going up about 200 dollars a year after that and were always just out of my reach. I did finally pick up a 1972 CB 750 years later, which I still own.
I sold my 175 to my brother, who "big- bored" it into a 200 and ran open megaphones with a smidgeon of baffling . This is the same brother that now owns the Sportster with the Nitrous set up... He sold it on to a friend and away it went.
A while back I was given a similar bike, an SL 175. Also picked up a stack of 175 motors at a meet for 15 dollars each, 4 or 5 of them. Had some idea about racing the bike...who knows?
They were fun bikes, 20 horsepower at 10,000 RPM.....YeeeHawww!
