Over the years, Honda’s marketing department hit a lot of home runs. “You meet the nicest people on a Honda” was one of the first, but they came thick and fast through the 60s and 70s.
Take this Honda CL350 for example. Over 150,000 units of the CL72 and CL77 had been sold when the 1968 CL350 became the replacement. It wasn’t just a beefed 305 CC motor, it was an all new 325 CC motor marketed as a 350. In the period brochure it was called “One of the sharpest scramblers on or off road”. The next sentence gave all the street performance numbers including ¼ mile time (14.3 seconds).
In truth, it really wasn’t a good off road choice. Cycle World called it ‘a gentleman’s scrambler’. Too heavy and geared for the street, it was a marketing dream that sold really well for a long time.
The 1969 Honda CL350 used a 325 CC air cooled four stroke overhead cam parallel twin motor that made 33 HP. Pushed through a five speed transmission with good suspension and brakes top speed was listed at 100 MPH. Honda used a pressed steel backbone and tube steel cradle which contributed to the overall weight of 346 LBS.
This particular 1969 Honda CL350 (VIN # CL35010443625) is in Murrieta, California and is listed as a 60,368 mile ‘very clean, unmolested original bike’. The current bid is $1,225 in an auction that ends Sunday, February 5th
Sources:
Motorcycle Classics
Livable Landscape
Motorera
Bikez