Rhapsody in Blue

Continuing with my obsession with the Honda CL-160, I want to feature this restored blue CL-160D owned by Dennis Nuernberger of Illinois. This is, of course, a black CB with a CL kit added by a dealer. You will note several key components of this machine. The luggage rack was a dealer-installed accessory. I had one identical to this one installed on my 1970 CL-350K2. The little black mudflap from the CB model is present, as are the color-matched (black) front and rear shock covers. I always prefer to post photos of the left side of any Honda CL to show off the pipes, but this happened to be the largest of the shots sent to me by Dennis, so I chose it instead of a smaller one showing the pipes, which on this machine are bone stock. As they always say about female fun parts, see one, seen 'em all, so you haven't missed anything from this angle. I pointed out the black rear shock covers because they are clearly visible from this angle. Just so you know, as I do from other poses of this beauty, the front fender is pure CB, there is no skid plate, and an electric starter is provided if you are too lazy to kick it.

This is the first blue kitted CB with a CL kit that I have ever seen, although I have always known they existed. As a Tiddlerosis fan who worked for a Honda dealership in the '60's pointed out long ago, the CL Kits were installed on CB's in many color combinations. These included a blue tank on a white frame, silver tank on a white frame, red tank on a white frame, and the same tank colors on a black frame. One of the things that has always confused me is that in the 1968 Honda brochure picturing a kitted CB, the bike shown has a red tank on a red frame, and the two shades of red do not exactly match! This stupid photo has been confusing me for decades! What dealer would do that? Keep in mind that Honda was changing to candy colors in 1968 and the tank was a candy red, whereas the CB frame and other components were in the old red/blue/black/white non-candy paint types.

Here is my true confession. My first real, official date was with Patty Hepner, the older sister of a very old friend of mine, a male bonding relationship that goes back to high school. Her brother would later even be the guy who introduced me to my first really long term relationship in college that would span nearly two years. Patty at the time was a shy, brainy type with long, straight, dark hair and large, bewitching eyes. Even my mom always knew that I was ga-ga over Paula Tardy from the First-Fifth Grads, and Paula had long, straight dark hair and big brown eyes, and she probably graduated Valedictorian from high school long after I lost contact with her. The point of this story is that I am still a sucker for big brains, long, dark straight hair, and big brown eyes. Pam Dawber and Jan Smithers still make me rise to attention, OK?

My first Honda brochure happened to be a little black and white thing from Al's Cycle Shop in Memphis. Yes, Gladys, the same shop where Elvis bought his Hondas. This 1962 brochure was the first year of the CL-72, and the first time I saw that machine, it was just like seeing Paula Tardy, Patty Hepner, Pam Dawber, or Jan Smithers for the first time. I am a sucker for skinny motorcycles with crossbrace bars and upswept pipes on the same side, just as I am a sucker for smart women with long, straight, dark hair and big brown eyes. Gloria Steinem, put on those big aviator glasses and I'll denounce the male sex just to get laid!

As I have also described in earlier posts, I have been a big fan of trail riding since the beginning of my motorcycle experience. The first really exciting, fast trail ride I experienced was on the back of a very special CL-160 in 1969. One of my pals and fellow Psychology Majors in college who was a lot more mechanically inclined than I was rebuilt old Hondas for a hobby/income, and he was particularly fond of the CL-160. When I first met him, he was riding the trails, believe it or not, on a Super Hawk with tall, ape-hanger bars, of all things! (This guy had a real knack for high speed riding. He would later graduate from what we now call Top Gun school and fly fighter jets for the U.S.A.F.) My favorite of all the old Hondas he rebuilt was a red, kitted CB-160. This bike had a red frame with silver tank and side covers. the most common, and probably the most attractive, CL-kitted combination of the era. He had replaced the klunky single muffler with a pair of big chrome megaphones, re-jetted the carbs respectively, and removed the electric starter. Did this howler outdo the sound of the original CL-72 with the baffles removed? No, but it was the second-best sound I have ever heard from a twin. Did it go like stink, even off-road? Absolutely. When I got him down to as low as $250 for this screamer and still did not buy it from him turn out to be the motorcycle mistake of my personal lifetime? Absolutely. Are you still reading about this obsession forty years later? Absolutely.