1965-1968 Honda CL77 Scrambler 305 | Retro Review
1967 Honda CL77 Scrambler 305. Owner: John Lundberg, Santa Margarita, California.
Here we have the last of Honda?s 305 models, which began with the dry-sump CA76 in 1959, moving on to the wet-sump CA77 Dream in 1960, then the CB77 Super Hawk in ?61, and finally, the model we are dealing with here, the CL77 Scrambler. Nobody seems to know where the 77 came from.
Curiously, Honda?s 250 version of the Scrambler, the CL72, had come out in 1962, and why Honda waited three years to scramblize the 305 has never really been explained. Again, leaving us to wonder. Though it may have had something to do with Yamaha?s 305cc Big Bear Scrambler, which appeared in 1965.
The CL77’s off-road capability was limited, with less than 4 inches of suspension travel. Scrambler styling, with those upswept exhaust pipes, was the desirable look in the ?60s?not that such bikes were much good in serious competition. Stripped down two-strokes were the hot item for anyone hoping to get the checkered flag. What the CL77 had was a great engine, a reasonably sporty chassis?by 1965 standards?and a rather high price, $720, about $5,500 in today?s dollars, which does not look terribly good when compared with today?s CB300F at $4,149.
The motor was a very decent piece of work, the aluminum crankcase split horizontally so the oil contained had no way to leak. When Honda had originally developed the motor in the ?50s, the C75 being on the Japanese market in 1956, it had a dry sump, the oil in its own conta...
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