1974 HONDA CL360

Bill’s CL360 was definitely a fun build for the shop to take part in, and was a really cool opportunity to show the variety and diversity of builds that we’re able to provide for our clients. Although we are traditionally known for doing mostly Triumph or Harley-Davidson chopper builds, this bike shows our array of capabilities in creating a no-holds-barred, beautifully executed Japanese café, which is definitely something that we would love to do more of. It was also really cool to see a Honda CL, originally manufactured as a gritter, in-the-dirt scrambler turned into a more street-focused café that could easily stand next to any CB, Honda’s sister line that was originally manufactured to be the road bike of the class.

Starting at the bottom and moving up towards the front end of the bike, we started by putting on new tires which are definitely a nod to the scrambler origins of the bike in the mid-70s, but are also fit for the more urban, surface-streets riding this bike is most likely going to see a lot more of presently. We also made sure to re-do brakes, ensuring that the old drums and discs would still have some good stopping power in city traffic.

Moving up a bit, we also installed a custom headlight, which required a custom-fabricated bracket and mount, as well as the clean and streamlined front turn signals. And to clean up the debatably messy stock handlebar controls, we also installed some custom Motone switches, which were integrated into an M-Unit system from Motogadget, which required a significant re-working of the bike’s electrical system that came factory.

Moving further back, you can get a good view of the beautiful green tank, painted by J’Daar Customs, which maintains the classic Honda character while also bringing in a brighter, more modern color to the classic aesthetic. And, moving lower around the engine (which took some minor refreshing and carb rebuilding to get running smoothly), you can also clearly see the in-house custom wrapping job on the exhaust, a nice touch and an ode to the famous café racer bikes of the era, which this build definitely takes some aesthetic queues from.

Next we have the absolutely beautiful brown seat on Bill’s bike, which was made from an in-house fabricated seat pan, and then upholstered by Cheryl Lyons Upholstery. Cheryl is also responsible for putting together the really creative saddlebag mounting system right below the seat, which was made as a set of plating, clips, rings, and fasteners that attach the bags to where the side panels would have come on the stock bike. This saddlebag system also necessitated us fabricating a hidden battery box, as well as doing some minor frame modification to make the new battery box and custom seat pan fit cleanly.

At the rear end of the bike, you can also see the custom license plate bracket that we fabricated in-house, which really cleans up the rear of the bike, especially considering how bulky the rear fenders and plate setups came on these old Japanese standard bikes of the era.

Article by Hannah.

BILL'S CL360