Any <350 CC classic here?

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Just browsed over to this part of the forum. Plenty of talk about newer/bigger bikes, but who spends much time on the older, smaller bikes?

I have a '72 Honda CL175 I bought last June from my BIL when he moved up to an '81 CM400. After about a month of tweaking and riding it all over the place I blew the head gasket so it's currently in the final stages of a partial rebuild - just top-end gaskets with a hone job, new pistons/rings, and replacing a couple bent valves. (To be clear, BIL bought it as a basket case and, while he did an honorable job of reassembling it to running condition, he never got it in real good tune or rode it very hard - when I got it one carb. stayed at idle 'til about 3,000 RPM and the jetting/needle height was off - so as I got it in better tune and took it on subsequent hard test drives to gauge what else it needed the HG succumbed to the game of "find the next weakest part". Reading 130 PSI compression immediately before that and finding some bad scuffing on the pistons it really needed more than just the gaskets before it went back together.) Of course I get laughed at by a lot of people including the guys from church I ride with (next smallest bike being a 750 Shadow, followed up by two new Triumphs) but the little 175 is just what I was looking for - nimble, forgiving, economical (never put more than $8 of gas in it per week) yet it can still, in a pinch, keep up on the 2-lane and run my wife and I around the backroads for some fair weather fun. Not to mention, all those other beauties are 1/4 the age and still mostly get taken to the shop for service and sit on a oil-spot-free floor the rest of the time. (By golly, mine may be old and slow, and need work, but I know it inside and out and can limp it home rather than have to ride double and call somebody to pick it up when it has a hiccup!) It's part of the experience for me, especially on a motorcycle - knowing the machine and being able to work with it if something goes wrong; a kind of shared responsibility for the success of the journey, I suppose. My brother-in-law and I talk to a lot of people who are amazed we ride bikes as old and small as ours are, but contrary to some friends' exaggerations we don't spend more time on the side of the road wrenching on it than we do riding. Who else prefers the little old ones?

Oh, and because this is BITOG - BIL ran mostly Castrol 4-stroke 10w40 in it but changed to Amsoil just before I got it. After the break-in with Hondalube I'll go back to Ams 10/30 or 10/40 Metric formula.


With BIL's '81 400:
 
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I've got some smaller bikes. My '87 Honda TLR200 has seen a lot of use, I got it in a very bad state in 2002, a strip and rebuild and it was used in Twinshock Trials until a couple of years ago...it appears I may have stopped doing that...maybe. I have a TL125 too. And a TF100.

Currently I am riding my 1974 Moto Guzzi Stornello 160. I've had it from new, and stopped riding it in 1988, a few years ago I got it running again...new tyres and tubes, fixed holes in the now leaky tank, still not running as it used to, but then we had high octane leaded fuel back then. I'll try some race fuel sometime and see if there is an improvement. Not road legal, but I only go on back roads. WOT everywhere. Currently on SAE30.



The TLR200 a couple or more years ago after I moved the pegs down and back.


 
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I LOVE small bikes, so easy to maneuver and great on gas!!!

You guys got, beautiful bikes there
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I rocked a Virago 250 from 07 to 2011. Did a few mods to give it better highway gearing. Thing knocked down 80-85mpg at 55mph. I would still have it, but it was a nightmare on windy days to keep on the highway.
 
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I have the smallest BMW twin, 473cc to be exact. It's not as light as I would like it to be but low seat height makes it very easy to cope with as I get older. I have a soft spot for mid range bikes, this one goes as fast as I need and has averaged 69 MPG over the 10 years I've owned it.

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Really like the looks of the SYM Wolf 150! I'm riding a Ninja 300 now after taking a 30 year break from riding. Small, light and fun to ride around town.
 
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