The Honda CL77 (aka the Scrambler 305) was the more off-road oriented version of the popular C77 Dream. While these machines never really fell out of popularity, the recent spike in all things Scrambler has undoubtedly made the CL77 a more coveted find. The Scrambler 305 is considered a fantastic little runner with its 305.4cc parallel Twin power plant that makes 28.5hp (@ 9000rpm, which is also the bike’s redline) and 17.6ft/lbs of torque @ 6500rpm. Married to the relatively small displacement engine is a four-speed transmission with gearing that’s more appropriate for off-road.
Though it was pretty common to see CL models on the street, these were inarguably machines that catered to dirt, sand, gravel, mud, and whatever else you could throw at it with its additional ground clearance (compared to CB models), its upswept exhaust running along the bike’s left side, fork boots, abbreviated fenders, a taller handlebar (with cross-brace) resulted in a more upright, off-road friendly riding position and 19″ front and rear wheels that came from the factory wrapped in coarser-tread tires (also known as universals). The CL 77 was also lighter than its road going counterpart with a dry weight of 352lbs.
Less than half a decade after these three examples would roll out of the factory, Gary Griffen and Larry Bernquist would win the ’68 Baja 1000 race aboard a CL350 which helped the little CL scoots to better establish themselves in the motorcycling world. These machines were in a lot of ways the epitome of a bike from the mid 1960’s, the rubber kneepads on the tank, the reinforced fenders, the headlight that houses instrumentation and indicator lights, these are characteristics that today’s builders draw from when piecing together retro-inspired modern builds. The small internal baffles inside the straight pipe helped the little Honda’s produce a distinguishable characteristic roar thanks to its parallel twin’s 180 degree firing order.
Despite the CL 77 not being the rarest of machines – as the fact three from the same era are all currently for sale demonstrates – but these are very highly regarded machines as evidenced by their boasting a price tag that’s much bigger than your typical small displacement Japanese machine of the ’60’s and ’70’s. None of these bikes are what I would call pristine, but these are machines that continue to increase in value making them a justifiable investment that also enables you to add one awesome classic Honda to your stable, or two, or three.
You can find the cleanest of the three CL 77’s which is a 1965 model for sale here on Craigslist in Orange County, California with a price of $5,100.
The next example is also from ’65 and boasts low miles (under 7k) but is registered non-op. You can find this example for sale here on Craigslist also in Orange County, California with a price of $5,200.
The final CL77 example is on the other side of the country and sports a slightly more reasonable price tag. This example is from 1967 so it doesn’t feature the painted fenders but is still a great little machine. You can find it for sale here on Craigslist in Providence, Rhode Island with a price of $4,200.