The SL 350 gets a 'get running' and evaluation...

Still playing around with the videos and the phone. This was another little test vid done as the sunlight was fading...after I got a fresh battery and fresh fuel into the SL. This will be a short little post to see how this works...or not. I finally figured out how to link my phone to the laptop for the downloading of pics and vids...which sure beats e-mailing to yourself. So, I should be able to take longer videos, and post them....well....we shall see eh?  Let's post this and see what we got, should be amusing...

Back to Honda 350's...

Been seeing a lot of 350's on the internet these days...seem to be coming out of the woodwork. Actually I like seeing them being returned to service, just shows you what you can get by with. Got my trusty,rusty old '71 SL 350 running yesterday. The battery is finally shot, and even though the gas has turned into mostly varnish...it actually started on a battery charger...and promptly fouled both plugs. So I drained the greenish stuff that was in the float bowls and changed to some old plugs I had laying around and it fired again, this time I kept it running a while to see what it sounded like. Actually the whole reason for posting this is to see if a short video I made with the new 'awesome phone' as GBC calls them, would be able to be sent via phone and then used on the blog. So far it seems only very short ones can be sent via e-mail on the phone. A lot to learn about getting a longer one through...

The video quality on these new phones is pretty good. I was holding the throttle with my right hand and trying to film with my left, so the quality of the camera work is a fail...the microphones are very sensitive and pick up every sound it seems. This motor actually is still pretty tight and is not as rattley as it sounds here. At this point it was starting to foul out the plugs...

Been debating about what to do with this particular bike, but after hearing it run again I've decided to keep it and get it back on the road. Have a new battery coming in the morning, picked up some new plugs, and going to see about getting some points and condensers for it, if I don't have some spares stashed somewhere. After some tuning up and such, a look at wheel bearings and brakes....and then some beautification and 'customizing'. We'll see, stay tuned.  

Time traveling....

.....with SL 350's. 'Old Blue' and "Old Orange', a tale of two 'identical' bikes...

 

This is a pic of one of my '71 Honda SL 350's...taken around...1988  perhaps...? At this point I was still using this bike on the street. Shortly after, it was stripped down for dirt only with another '71, a blue one. I have owned many 350 Hondas, and still own several 350 Hondas. My second bike, after the  first bike I owned which was a '69 CL 175 K3, was a used '71 CB 350. Rode it for several years then moved up to a '71 CB 500.  It's interesting how people are acquiring  Honda 350's to restore or turn into 'Cafe Racers' or odd ideas of a 'Flattrack' look. Not putting anyone down for that, just that for me they were affordable and fairly reliable bikes over the years. And too ,people are also turning them into 'Classic' Racers. I tended to lean towards a 'Cafe-Racer' style in those days. Most of the guys I worked with in the 70's had 'Choppers', or 'Customs'.

Speaking of really identical bikes,Norman of 'You can't tour on a Single' and Iain of 'Auld Kawas and Stuff' both recently purchased CL 350's. It was not a model imported to the UK. They are both based in Scotland. Interestingly they have found bikes of the same color and year, I believe. I never owned a CL model, but several friends of mine did. They have a larger front wheel , different exhausts, pegs, tanks and side covers...but are very similar in spec to the CB models. By the looks of them they are in pretty good shape for the year that they were built. You can follow restoration progress on their blogs, which have links here at this blog.

The early SL 350 was based on the CB/CL frame and motor. I owned and restored a 1969 SL 350 in the 70's and sold it.  The '71 SL 350, and later, had a completely different frame, engine castings, no electric start, transmission gearing differences and so on . They were tuned differently with smaller carbs and were more 'user-friendly' on the dirt. I have three of them now. One is in near running condition (the originally orange one), the blue one is in pieces here and there. The 'Blue' one was thrashed so hard by my friends and myself that it has broken motor mounts on the cases and the frame. The 'Orange' one is still trucking along. It was always slower but it got you there. The third one has a running motor, that curiously has a replacement engine case that has the previous owners name stamped where the engine numbers would go. Speaking to the brother of that man, the one who sold me the bike, it goes back to the time when dirt bikes were not required to be registered. He broke the original cases and when he installed the new cases he only had a set of letter stamps, so he stamped his name in the cases. It will be interesting to see what DMV has to say, for these days dirt bikes are required to be registered...

Yeah, it was 1988 when I took these pics. This is a shot of "Old Blue' next to a CB 100 that was turned into an of off road bike. The camo '68 Bug was given to me by a friend who had turned it into a flat bed pickup truck. I ended up trading it for a BSA B-40 motor that will be the basis of a trials bike, some time...

A friend of mine who used to go dirt riding with me named the bikes 'Old Blue' and 'Old Orange'. After the blue one was retired when the motor mounts expired...the orange bike acquired the blue tank, when it's tank became too rusty and full of holes to continue. Jay then started calling this bike 'Blorange'.

'Blorange'

This pic was taken in 2012 . This is the orange bike now sporting the blue tank.It also has a swap meet find recovered seat and some Dunstall 'clip-ons. At this point I was thinking of changing the tank to one off of a CB 500 twin...and going towards a 'Cafe' style. Thats the CB 550 now wearing a swap meet early 350 seat that was bought for 2 bucks.

On closer inspection you can see that 'Old Blorange' has suffered the passage of time, and being stored outdoors under a holey tarp...

Rust never sleeps...

Time for a new air cleaner...

This bike and I survived being run down by a three quarter ton van about 13-14 years ago. Bike had a bent frame which I straightened. My bent frame I wonder about...still have aches and pains from that one. It was hit and run...(yes I still harbor ill thoughts towards the driver of that van...)

The disc brake front end is from a CB 350G model. I added the disc brake when I had a side car attached. The sidecar was attached when I was hit by the van. It probably saved my life, since the rig behaved like a small car and spun before it threw me off. Without the side car I might have been drug under the front of the van with the bike...?

Last year I had the fantasy of getting a bike together for the Moto Melee run. As it turned out my '71 SL 350 was too 'new', and some unexpected dental problems put the kibosh to those plans. This year I might try again with an older Honda 450 I have. It's a 1969 'Black Bomber' that needs some attention, but would qualify as far as  the age requirement. So now I'm wondering if I should complete my "Cafe' plans for 'Blorange'...or return it to dirt service...?

A 'trading' card that came with a stick of chewing gum.

A Honda ad from 1971

The 'Duke', on a '69-70' SL 350 Honda...

To be continued...

This just in, another 'tough' guy on a Honda SL...Chuck Heston in 1971's 'Omega Man' Lot's of guns and zombies in sunglasses...

Sneaking in another pic for 'Mr.Combo'. I believe this is a bike I've been hoping to catch at it's home garage...on the way to my WiFi provider (McD's)...I spot this half a block from my place....

A Moto Melee bike...?

Well, I just went and looked at some Moto Melee sites and it says that the event is for Pre-71 machines. So it looks like I'll be looking at some of my older bikes. But , at least it got me motivated to work on the SL's.

Might have to get the old 1969 CB 450 4speed up and running again. Or, if I really want a challenge I have an old 60's CB 150 that hasn't run since the 70's when a friend of mine, Jim Ward drove it to college.(He's the one that planted a moped in his cactus garden...previous post)  Or, another challenge would be to get the old BSA 650 "Desert Sled" running and registered. Just sent off an e-mail to see what it takes to get entered.

  

Shot of  "Old Orange" circa 1985

"Old Blue" tucked between the bug/truck and a CB 100

(Wrote up the following before I realized the 71 Honda probably won't be eligible to enter)

The more I read about it, and look at pics and vids of past events....the more I want to participate. Been thinking about which of my bikes I'd use, and I keep coming back to one of my SL 350 Hondas.  I have three of them, all 1971 models. This is the first SL 350 that had it's own frame, that wasn't a modified CB/CL series frame. The engine cases were different (no electric start) and gearing was better suited to off-road. 

One of my off-road riding buddies named the bikes "Old Blue" and "Old Orange". The orange bike was stone stock and always started and always ran well. It wasn't as fast, but was one of the most reliable. Old Blue was fast. It had a front end from an XL 250 with a 21" wheel, after market shocks, a custom supertrapp exhaust, knobby tires, and would wheelie and spin the rear tire like nobodies biz. It wasn't as reliable and things were always breaking or falling off...but it was a screamer. I let everyone ride these bikes and they were never treated gently. The orange bike still runs, and I commuted to work on it for years. Even had a sidecar hitched to it. It's also the bike I almost got killed on, when a 3/4 ton van hit me when he ran a stop.( I posted about that earlier on here.)  The blue bike was finally crashed once too hard by my brother when he looped a wheelie on it. By that time the engine mounts were broken on the frame and bottom of the engine cases. The exhaust system was bent into a pretzel. So apart it came, and has been that way for years. The third bike is one I picked up about 4 years ago. It was a runner, but missing a lot of parts

So, I have a street legal runner, just need to decide how to outfit it for the Moto Melee. I'll probably fabricate   a high level scrambler exhaust and run the Supertrapp muffler. Possibly run a larger tank for better fuel capacity. And maybe some newer rubber, something suited for on and off road. .

So....if I end up getting into the 'Melee" and use the 450, I'd probably set it up as a "Scrambler"...I do have a scrambler exhaust system off of a later 450. There were dealer kits to make early 4 speed 450's into scramblers...but they are rare as hen's teeth I'm sure. Right now the bike is set up as a "Caferacer". I think it might be better set up with wider bars, dual purpose tires, and a higher exhaust. 

The event covers a variety of terrain. It lasts for three days and is approximately 800 miles, I believe. More info as I get it.