Having owned a CL-77 for the past 38 years and been a member of this site for the past 6 years, I have heard, at least I think I have heard, of a chrome scrambler version that was something of a limited edition.
A friend of mine in the vintage bike club I belong to has just acquired a CL-77 that didin't quite look like any I had ever seen.
It appears to have had OEM chrome upper rear shock covers, chrome side covers and where the front fender is paint chipped, a chrome front fender. The rear fender is missing.
Was there an original chrome version of the CL-77? If so, do the features I have described seem to fit the features of such a version?
Is there any other distinguishing features of such a version that I might look for?
Thanks for your help in advance,
Gary Gray
Chrome ScramblerChrome Scrambler'65 CL77 Owner
No expert on the subject, but I would think that shocks with chrome upper covers could be obtained back then (as now) and possibly are from another bike of similar vintage. I've seen chrome side covers on several bikes. Chroming side covers was a typical "customizing" touch done back then.
Front and rear fenders on late 67 bikes and on were chrome. I saw a '66 last year with a chrome headlight shell which I would expect is a custom touch. It was the only shiny part on the bike, by the way. regards, Rob
chrome clGary,
Rumor has it that some high volume dealers back in the day were presented with chrome cl77s as a token of appreciation. I saw one on c/l in Tacoma last year and it went for $1500 in not good shape. A call to a friend and former dealer/owner of South Sound Honda to verify the rumor turned up nothing. He said he too had heard that one but never saw one his self so we are still in the dark. I'm still checking on some other sources for more info. Rusty I don't know if Honda ever did a chrome CL or not. What I do know is that the bikes they did do were all chrome. Frame, tank, h/l bucket etc. Everything that would normally have been painted, was chromed. A lot of people had side covers etc chromed after purchasing the bikes back in the day.
Davo davomoto
64 CB77 63-7 CB77 Cafe' 67 CL77 64 CL72 66 CL77 big bore flat tracker Many others! chrome 305'sYes there are some all chrome ones out there, I was offered one along with hawk for $1100, here in washington, every thing that was metal was chromed, I mean every thing, I past on it cause the chrome was bad and to redo it would be a fortune, not to mention the damage plating can do Hydrogen embrittlement {Spelling???}not really my thing, it was in response to an add I placed on craigslist
Chrome CL77 ScramblerHey fellas.... greetings.
I'm a newbie to this forum (and to vintage cycle collecting)... but I felt I should chime-in on this one. I believe I recently acquired one of these fabled "Chrome CL77's". I can't say for a fact that it's stock or if the original owner just went chrome crazy. I would imagine that it would've cost quite a bit to get pieces "chromed" 45yrs ago... ? Anyone know for a fact? It's a '67 and it had been rather molested by the time I found it. No key and not running. I got a key made but I haven't got it running quite yet. I've only had it for a week or so. Okay, get this.... It seems the original owner wanted to turn it into a bobber. (HUH?!?!?) It had stomach turning "ape hangers" on it complete with very poor and unpresentable wiring, a horrendously re-covered bulbous seat, no rear fender no tail light or rear chrome grab bar, high-pipes removed and replaced with 2 into 2 short slashes.... and for some unthinkable reason he chopped the tail-end of the frame (?!?!?) It was such a unique looking Scrambler and I had to have it! I've been wanting an old Honda 305 for a long time now, unfortunately finding one in good condition for a decent price is getting harder to do. I knew I couldn't pass this one up though. Here's what is chrome... -Headlight bucket -Fork ears -Bottom triple tree and steering lock -Starter cover plate -Tank -Side covers (including mounting brackets) -Tool box -Chain guard -Brush guards (underneath and side... missing one side guard) And the usuals... rims, pipes, shifter/brake pedals, etc. She's one hell of a looker with a very heavy vintage/patina vibe. I have seen a few similar but not exactly like her. If you google "Chrome CL77 Scrambler" (images) a similar bike appears but it has several Red accents. I've also seen chrome tank models that had black fork ears and headlight buckets. Are these the "Street Scramblers"??? As I mentioned previously, I'm a newbie here... I'll post some photos if anyone is interested AND I'm sure I'll have my share of questions as time goes by. Thanks There is no limit to what people would chrome back then and even before. Browie Betar, local Indian dealer and legend owned a complete chrome Indian Chief. A guy that lived across the street from my family and was a hot rodder from the time he could walk had a BSA 441 Victor that he completely chromed. Then just last week I looked at a '70 CB750 with a vintage Tracy body kit on it. The bike was almost all chrome. Engine parts were shedding their chrome quite uniformly. Looked more like crumpled aluminum foil than a chrome engine. Frame was chromed and still looked very good. Owner was original owner and he said the chromer had to do the frame 3 times before it came out right. Would have been a neat bike except it was stored poorly and the chrome as described above was being rejected by the aluminum.
Before the EPA existed, there were not a lot of controls over things like hexavalent Chromium and plating shops were everywhere. It was pretty easy to get your bike bits chromed locally. When the EPA starting making them follow specific regulations, most of them closed up under the cover of darkness and left down. There was a local shop that was a good sized operation and did all kinds of plating, copper, zinc, tin and of course chrome. That place was actually shut down by the EPA and last time I drove by it in the early 90's it was still all fenced off with hazardous waste warning signs posted all over the place. There were 55 gal drums of chemicals in bad shape all over the place, many of them leaking and sitting in pools of chemicals. It was only a few blocks from the Mohawk River. I often wornder if they cleaned that place up or just capped it and walked away. Might take a ride down that way one of these days to see what's there now. regards, Rob
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