Please indulge me while I beat this poor old Scrambler 160 dead horse one more time. Once and for all, I think I have a good grip on this model's illustrious, but mysterious, production history.
I always enjoy communicating with fellow enthusiasts of the Honda Scramblers. Allow me to add more details concerning this subject matter. First of all, I assume that you have carefully searched through Tiddlerosis and seen everything that is here, particularly the Scrambler Chart, the story of the CL-160 colors, the overall history of the Scramblers, the blue '63 CL-72, and the very clear photo of a late model CL-77. Since I have been unsuccessful so far in locating any photos of the elusive machines I seek, I cannot prove what I am about to tell you about the CL-160. The referenced photos and information will help you to extrapolate the information you seek. At this point in time, I cannot offer a better way.
Here is what I think actually happened in America in 1962-68. The CL-72 was introduced as a model created especially for the American market in 1962, and it was an immediate success here. These models were sold in red, black, and blue (in that order of production numbers). The blue ones are extremely rare. The CL-77 picked up production in higher numbers with the same colors in about the same production ratios. The CB-160 was introduced as the little brother of the CB-77 in 1965. It was produced in black, red, white, and blue (probably in that order). Although I have an early-release brochure showing the CB-160 with the CB-125, the 125 was never imported here. The CL-160 was released in 1966 in black only. Beginning in late '67, Honda had been selling CL-160's like hotcakes, leaving the CB's holding down the showroom floors, so they ceased production of the CL and had the dealers convert whatever CB's they wished to CL's with the CL kits.
When you examine the models closely, you will see specific components. Of course the CB had an electric starter and the CL had a skid plate. The CL had black rubber gaiters covering the front springs and the CB had painted plastic covers. The CL was geared slightly lower, but I am not certain if one or both sprockets were different, and if only one, which one. The front fender was obviously much longer than the one on the CL. The tank, bars, and pipes are the three items everyone's eyes notice, so this makes even my memories of forty years ago a little hazy! I think I remember the earliest kitted CL's as looking exactly like the true CL's in every way except for the electric starter / skid plate swap. Now as a much more mature adult, I am not so sure the dealers ever disassembled the front forks to change to the rubber gaiters. Did they change to a shorter CL front fender? This certainly seems more likely than the fork cover change, so I think there is a good chance that the front fenders were changed. Did these kitted CL's come in white, blue, red, and black? Absolutely. Was white the rarest color, with blue close behind? Yes. Did they continue to build a lot of black ones that looked very much like the true originals? Yes, but I actually remember seeing more red ones, both on the showroom floor and on the street. Remember, I said that the original CL-72 and CL-77 numbers were higher in red than black. I also think the CB numbers for all three displacements were higher for black than red. Every one of all these models used what I call body colored frames. In other words, what we call a black or red CB or CL had a black or red frame. This also included the chain guard, rear shock covers, headlight shell, and upper fork tubes. Some models had silver lower fork legs, no matter what the frame color. The lower fork legs were either body color or silver, depending on the model and year. The front spring covers were either body colored plastic on the CB's or black rubber gaiters on the true CL's.
Now comes the hard part. In '67 and '68, Honda was in the process of phasing out the 160, the 305, and the old way of styling their machines. As we all know, by 1970, Hondas had an all-new look that coordinated the 175, 350, and 450, and even the smaller models to a somewhat lesser extent. This new look included painted tanks on all models, chrome rear springs and upper shock covers, chrome fenders, and matching candy paint colors on the tanks, side covers, and miscellaneous other items. All frames were now black, with no exceptions but the silver ones on the SL's. I think the 160/175 sizes were never as big sellers in the U. S. as the 305/350 sizes. This encouraged the company to phase in the smaller category more gradually as it sold out of the older components. The generation break between the older and newer larger models seemed to be more consistent and abrupt.
The sole exception to this is the last version of the CL-77, and I think the photo I have shown of this bike is key to understanding some of the styling issues. This machine was built in small numbers in the short space of time when the company had switched to chrome fenders, black frames, and candy paint on everything, but the CL-350 was not yet fully up to production speed. This machine came in the same styling of the last of the CL-160D's: candy painted tanks and matching side covers with black frames. If you look closely at the photo, you will notice a different seat and a few other details that also distinguish it stylistically from its earlier, more common CL-77's.
Let's finally cut to the chase. I cannot swear in court that I have ever actually seen a CL-160, either in the metal or in a photo, of this mysterious type. I may or may not have seen a CL-160 as it is pictured in the 1968 brochure and the ID Guide with CB front fender and side covers in silver and tank, headlamp shell, ears, and front spring covers in red. The frame and chain guard on this bike are also red, and I don't ever recall seeing any Honda frame in any candy color. The brochure does not claim this to be a candy color, but the ID Guide does. I finally got one of these much-heralded ID Guides this past Christmas, and my biggest complaint by far is that it leaves out a lot of model year detail changes in its descriptions. If I did not know for a swear-in-court fact that several of these detailed changes have been left out of the Honda Sport & Super Sport 50 category, then I would not be so certain that similar details have been omitted from the CL-160 description.
Did Honda paint a few CL-160 gas tanks in the old red color and have their dealers install them on CB-160's in the same old colors, as both the brochure and the ID Guide show? Yes. Were any of these in candy colors? No. Were any of them blue? No. Did Honda build a few very late CL-160's made with Candy Blue or Candy Orange tanks and side covers on black frames? Probably; however, I have personally never seen one, but one of my corresponding Tiddlerosis fans swears that he used to work in a Honda shop where these candy colored models were sold. The obvious inconsistency is that if no CB-160's were ever built with candy colored frames, how could they possibly convert them to CL-160's in as stated candy colors? The secret word is black. The stated color of the bikes has always been the color of the frame, up until the time of these last CL-160's with candy tanks and side covers. All of these had to have been built from black CB's. The ones with silver tanks have always hidden in the forest of the earlier CL's, but the orange and blue ones were all actually black CB's! Although I have been informed by a fellow enthusiast that dealers did convert a few white CB’s with the new candy tanks, I doubt that any red or blue CB’s were converted in this manner without suffering a serious barf attack as a result of the color clash!
When you are trying rebuild your machines, I suggest that you examine the following components: the serial number to determine the production sequence, the frame and chain guard color, the front spring covers, and the side covers. I personally don't think any were built with candy colors and silver side covers. I don't think there were ever any candy frames or chain guards, either. How could there be? There were never any Candy Blue or Candy Orange CB-160's!
Pictured here is a combination of the 1968 brochure photos of the CB-160, CL-160, and CL-175. Note that the red tank on the CL-160D looks just a bit off-color, but I would not make too much of this. I am quite sure I have seen CL-160's painted just like this one. Note, however, that the Candy Orange of the CL-175 is an altogether different shade, and the side covers match the tank. Since the candy colors are not listed in this brochure for the CL-160, I assume this is an early '68 brochure. Although not pictured here, according to the ID Guide, the obvious conclusion is that the CL-160 was apparently sold in CL-175 colors for a brief period in late 1968. This refers to the tank and side covers being in silver, Candy Blue, or Candy Orange, with everything else in black. Other than the colors, all 175's had chrome fenders, five-speed transmissions, and turn signals, and no 160's had these things. The CL 100 name refers to the resolution of the photo. I also scanned a 300, which of course is a huge file, to view the picture blown up, but you can see the details quite clearly enough in this smaller version.
In case you were not aware of this, I founded Tiddlerosis in about 2001 with a Windows 98 computer using W98 software. Last year the time had finally come for me to revamp the site into the new style blog that you see now. Most of the old material has already been rearranged onto the new site, but I still have plans to add a lot more. Over the coming months, I hope to add more about the CB and Dream Hondas, as well as a lot more about the various other Japanese brands. You can see that I have spent most of my energy so far getting at least one page about each brand posted so I can elaborate on each brand's models later as seems appropriate. Tiddlerosis is a work in progress that keeps developing. Honda will always probably have the most space because that's the brand most people want to know about, and the CL's will always be overly represented because they are my personal favorites.
See Also: Honda Scrambler Chart
A Sixties Icon from Honda
Honda Scramblers with a link to the Scrambler Photo Gallery
The CL-160D Color Mystery
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