I got a new (to me) bike!!!!! Honda CL450 - Motorcycle-Journal Forums

donny662 · 08-24-2008, 12:01 AM

I've been looking to get a new motorcycle because the Marauder I have been riding is actually my dad's. Both of my parents and I got out endorsements last August after taking the MSF course. This spring, we bought the Marauder for my dad to ride.

Since this is his first bike, he took a few weeks to first get the proper gear. Then, he spent some time getting used to the bike; I drove the bike to a parking lot and allowed him to practice there. During the next few months he rode it sporadically while I rode it often and racked up about 3,000 miles compared to my dad's <500 miles.

In the past few weeks, he has started riding it to work and is now pretty comfortable with riding. The other day, my mother and he went for a ride, and he came back saying that he was in the 'zone' and had a great time.

So, good for him

, but that also means I should probably get a bike of my own

. Since I finally got myself a full-time job a few weeks ago, I don't really have much saved up for my current favorite motorcycle: a WR250X.

The plan: get an older, good running bike for around $1000, put a few thousand miles on it, either clean up/restore it over the winter, and buy my WR250X next spring when I'll have enough to pay cash, that is, if I haven't moved on from the WR and found a new crush. In February, it was the Harley Nightster after I saw it at the motorcycle show in Novi; a little later, it was the Suzuki M50 (which brought me here

) because I hadn't found a job yet, and the M was a more reasonable goal to achieve before the end of the summer; after more idleness and research, I came across the WR250X, the latest love of my life.

Anyway, onto the current plan. After looking around craigslist, I decided I wanted an older bike with some character. The old CB750 inline fours don't count. First up was a Yamaha XS650 for $1100. The write up about that experience is here: So I looked at a bike this evening . . . - MJ; executive summary: I didn't get it.

Next, I found a '75 Honda CL360 Scrambler for $1100. I called the guy selling it and set up an appointment to see it the next day. Later, I saw another Scrambler for sale on Craigslist: a '73 CL350 for $900. For the '75, the guy called me up to let me know it had sold, which I really appreciated because that didn't mean I had to drive 40 minutes to find that out (when we were looking at bikes for my dad, we drove 30 minutes just to find out that the bike had sold even though on the day before we had made the arrangements to see it). Some of CL350/360 is here: Quick, '73 CL350 or '75 CL360? - ADVrider

Today, a '72 CL450 showed up on craigslist for $1500. I called the guy up and made an appointment to see it this evening. When me, my dad, and my mom got to his house, he showed me his new Yamaha RD80. He had to buy the CL to get the RD. The RD was in beautiful condition, but the engine was seized. Also, he had an old Moto Guzzi in that garage. Next he showed me his daily driver, a '74? BMW R75/6. He had some pretty cool bikes and was a great guy to talk to. I surprised him every time I would mention something about the old motorcycles or ask a question about them.

The Scrambler was in his father's barn 2 miles down the road. In there he had a CL125, CL160, a couple of CL350s, an old Honda Dream, and an Elsinore; I may have forgotten a few of them.

The 450 is in pretty good condition and is much cleaner than the 350 I looked at a couple days ago. The rear tire is nearly to the wear indicators, but the front tire has a lot of life left in it, neither are weather checked. An O-ring chain had been put on, and it has a lot of life left in it. There is a little bit of rust in the gas tank, but the rust isn't built up and floating around in the gas. Aftermarket suspension was added in the rear which should be pretty nice.

We started the bike up with the electric start. It took a little while for him to warm it up to where it would idle on its own. There are a couple of problems we noticed here: the left cylinder's exhaust is cold and the engine likes to stick around 3000rpms when you let off the throttle after revving it. The guy mentioned that the spark plugs need to be changed, and the exhaust will heat up noticeably when the engine has warmed up and is revved. So, I'm hoping new spark plugs and carb cleaning will get it running right.

I asked him about a test ride, and he said that he could ride it around for me but wouldn't let me ride it. He was selling an old bike that had the shifter and brake lever on opposite sides of modern bikes, and he let the potential buyer take it for a spin. The buyer didn't know what he was doing and either wrecked the bike or nearly did (I don't remember). Anyway, he rode it around and shifted through a few gears, and that was good enough for me.

We settled on a price of $1300. He asked me how I was going to get it home. I had planned on riding it the 15-20 miles home. It had just stopped raining, and it was getting dark, so he offered to drive it back to my house in his trailer. Of course, I took him up on his offer.

At 7:30, we arrived at his house, and by the time I put the bike in my garage, it was 10:30. It was a great experience getting to know the seller and looking at all the old motorcycles he had.

Oh yeah, you guys probably want pics. I've kept you waiting long enough.

It looks better in the pictures than what it is, especially in the flash photos, but it's still very clean, and this winter/spring, I wouldn't need to do much to make it close to immaculate if I didn't want to do a complete restore. The seller even gave me a pair of original rear shocks from another CL450 that he couldn't get running and parted out, so I could say "completely original" if I wanted to sell it.

I love the Scrambler high pipes.