1968 Honda 350 SCrambler

[Hedge]

First of all I fucked up and didn't bring my camera and on this forum that is inexcusable; for that I apologize! I went to look at a 1968 Honda 350 Scrambler with my younger brother a possible first bike for him. The bike was at a motorcycle shop up on Route 22 in Brewster NY. The preliminary info was it was from a guy who had around 15 bikes and was thinning out his herd. All I knew was that my brother loved it and that it was for $2250. I thought that was a little steep so I called Good Ole UncleCharlie and he agreed that this was an $800 - $1250 bike. He said that at $2250 it should be in Museum condition. I asked him if he wanted to take a ride up there with my brother, Cyrus and myself but he was already committed to the Norwalk Boat show. So off we went at 9:30am Saturday morning and we got up there to find the bike in what I would say as a 7 out of 10 condition. It had 12,000 miles on it. It had a little pitting on the chrome rims and chrome fenders and a couple of dents on each fender as well. The guy said that the bike doesn't run because the owner never properly winterized it and the carbs needed to be re-freshed - I suspect that it has the Green Slime of Death from ethanol sitting in the carbs. Anyway he said that some guy from Italy emailed him and said he was going to take it and that he had wired the money to the shop's bank account. However, the shop said they hadn't received anything yet. He said if my brother wanted to leave a deposit he could have it on Tuesday if the money doesn't come through. I said never mind, you know he wants it and you also know it is well over-priced. If the bike is available on Tuesday give my brother a call and we can negotiate after you get the bike running perfectly! That was the end of that.

On our way home we stopped at Alex's World Famous Triumph rip-off dealership in Branchville CT. I just wanted to show my brother what Triumph Scrambler looked like and then if he liked it we could hunt around for a used one for him. I was over-whelmed when we walked into the showroom to find an Army Green 2010 on the floor. It looked awesome! Although he is in no position to buy a new one nor would I let him get the EFI version I did have him sit on it and he got the fever! I even sat on it myself and it was nice. He was concerned that it was too much engine for his first bike but I told him after riding it for a week it would be very manageable. Anyway, if anyone has any leads or input please feel free to chime in.

One question . . . when did Triumph re-introduce the Scrambler - 2005? Does anyone know of a good deal on a Triumph Scrambler or any kind of Scrambler type bike for my brother?

Thx - John aka Hedge

BTW - I UncleCharlie found this link of the Honda -
http://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/mcy/1388455807.html
Link to info:
http://www.livablelandscape.org/CYCLES/350hist.htm

 

[Motley]

Be very careful when looking at bikes of that vintage. I have a '71 CB450 that I'm working on and it isn't easy to get parts for these things. Simple things like seals aren't even carried by Honda any more.

 

[TC_Dick]

Be very careful when looking at bikes of that vintage. I have a '71 CB450 that I'm working on and it isn't easy to get parts for these things. Simple things like seals aren't even carried by Honda any more.

I have a '73 cl-350 that I got for $500 in almost exactly the same condition. Non-running, but in good cosmetic shape. That dealer's price is outlandish.

It's strange.. they sold a TON of those bikes, but there are almost no parts to be found for 'em.. Coils are the worst..

 

[drlapo]

I've been working on a 64 Ducati 160 single for many years now
Ducati offers no parts or support
BMW will supply any part for any bike they ever built
parts for old Triumphs and BSAs are everywhere

 

[OregonThruxton]

I paid $500 last summer for a '73 CL350. Had to rebuild the carbs and fix some wiring issues to get er runnin. I've had no problems finding parts from a local mc salvage yard and BikeBandit.com. Here's a pic just after we bought it and another after a new paint job.

 

[Rocker]

. One question . . . when did Triumph re-introduce the Scrambler - 2005? Does anyone know of a good deal on a Triumph Scrambler or any kind of Scrambler type bike for my brother?

Thx - John aka Hedge

BTW - I UncleCharlie found this link of the Honda -
http://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/mcy/1388455807.html
Link to info:
http://www.livablelandscape.org/CYCLES/350hist.htm

Scrambler came out as a 2006, red/white and blue/white, 2006 had the polished/laquered cases. 2007s on went with black cases and more colours, green/silver and orange/silver, then the black ones and the khaki ones are within the last couple of years.
For some reason they aren't as popular as one might think, which works both ways I guess. Hope you get your brother fixed up.

 

[Hedge]

Thx all - he found another Honda 350 Scrambler - 1970 with 6700 miles, runs perfectly for $1000. I told him I would go with him on Saturday to take a look. I'll have to let him know he should really be prepared to do his homework with parts and if he buys this bike start buying everything he can find for it in advance!

 

[GuyM]

Now that sounds great! A very low mileage, RUNNING bike at a good price.

Hope we're reading about him having a blast on it shortly!!!

 

[Hedge]

Now that sounds great! A very low mileage, RUNNING bike at a good price.

Hope we're reading about him having a blast on it shortly!!!

The guy hasn't contacted him back yet so we are in a holding pattern right now. I will keep you all updated with pix

 

[blacktiger]

Looks like Triumph copied that exhaust and just mirrored it for our Scrambler.

 

[curezee]

Looks like Triumph copied that exhaust and just mirrored it for our Scrambler.

Not really.

Here is a pic of a 62 TR6C..and i am sure you could go back with more

 

[Shorty]

Since we're showing pics...here's mine. A 72 CL450 with over 100,000 original miles on it (my second bike). It will fire-up but will need some work done to it (my retirement project...if I ever get a chance to retire in this economy). I haven't ridden on it since I took the pic. Believe it or not, I last seriously rode it in 76 and stored it for 22 years. After I moved to Texas I changed-out the plugs, new battery, cleaned the carbs with carb cleaner a little squirt of engine starter and the SOB fired right up using the kick start after about half a dozen kicks or so. Damn good bike.

Shorty

 

[pepper]

Be very careful when looking at bikes of that vintage. I have a '71 CB450 that I'm working on and it isn't easy to get parts for these things. Simple things like seals aren't even carried by Honda any more.

In the late 80's early 90's Honda was putting pressure on their dealers to sell them back the vintage NOS parts that the dealers had on the shelves. The dealership I was working for at the time (the largest in that part of the state) sold all of theirs back because they were afraid if they didn't it might somehow mess with their annual model allocations. Before the big buy back parts were easier to find and fairly inexpensive, afterwards, well, they got spendy and harder to find real fast.

If you can get the part numbers or dimensions off of the old seal/o-ring your local bearing house can usually cross reference and find you one that will work.

Here's the contact info to the largest m/c salvage yard in the state of Arizona. It's huge and has been around for a long, long time. Worth a shot if you're looking for vintage jap parts.

Bobs Used Motorcycle Parts
1325 E Elwood St
Phoenix, AZ 85040-1255
(602) 243-4241

 

[Sal Paradise]

Can someone with a 350 Honda let us know how the performance is?

I already have one slow bike in the garage...not the Bonneville. I don't know if putting yet another bike in the gargae that can't go on the highway is a good idea...

 

[Motley]

...............Here's the contact info to the largest m/c salvage yard in the state of Arizona. It's huge and has been around for a long, long time. Worth a shot if you're looking for vintage jap parts.

Bobs Used Motorcycle Parts
1325 E Elwood St
Phoenix, AZ 85040-1255
(602) 243-4241

Wow, thank you. Good information.

 

[pepper]

Can someone with a 350 Honda let us know how the performance is?

I already have one slow bike in the garage...not the Bonneville. I don't know if putting yet another bike in the gargae that can't go on the highway is a good idea...

I've never ridden a 350 but I did have a Honda CL360 come through the shop once. That one felt a bit spindly. I wouldn't put my wife on it for highway use.

 

[Fire Escape]

Cl 350

Can someone with a 350 Honda let us know how the performance is?

I already have one slow bike in the garage...not the Bonneville. I don't know if putting yet another bike in the gargae that can't go on the highway is a good idea...

I had a '72 SL 350 way back then, same basic engine without e-start more dirt oriented frame and suspension (still... NOT a dirtbike I learned once I had a real one). Anyway, it would handle highway/interstate travel without problem (other than seat/comfort issue). My idea of highway travel involves being relatively close to posted speed limits, if you want to cruise at 80 or so, look for something with more displacement.

Bruce