Honda CL77
Encyclopedia
The CL77 Scrambler 305 was a close relative of the Honda
C77 Dream and the CB77 Super Hawk
of the 1960s.
Scramblers (designated CL by Honda) differed from the sport bikes (designated CB) to allow for some off-road riding. The CL77 differed from the CB77 Super Hawk in a number of ways. To increase ground clearance, it had upswept exhaust pipes running along the bike's left side. A bigger tube frame with a front downtube gave extra strength and ran through the space where the electric starter was mounted in the CB and CA models. Eliminating the starter not only gave clearance in the frame, but lightened the total weight of the bike.
It had a small-capacity painted fuel tank, fork boots, 19-inch front and rear wheels, coarser-tread tires (called universals), a taller handlebar with cross-brace, and abbreviated fenders. Early models featured aluminum fenders that were painted.
The 305 cc overhead cam engine had a redline of 9000 rpm and contrasted sharply from the low-revving European and American bikes of the day. Running straight pipes with small internal baffles, CL77s featured a loud and very distinct sound from the 180 degree firing order of this parallel twin. Many of these motorcycles often featured aftermarket snuff-or-nots (commonly misspoken as "snuffer nuts"), which featured a flat washer like piece of metal which pivoted just inside the tips of the exhaust pipes to quiet or increase the sound of the motor at any time during operation simply by twisting the external knob.
In later years Honda joined together the end of the exhaust pipes into an external factory installed muffler to help quiet down the noise level of the exhaust. At first it was a slip-on device which was slipped on and clamped. Popularly called a slip-on muffler or just "slip on".
Later models came with only one of the twin side pipes welded onto the slip on muffler. The last version came with both pipes welded to the slip-on muffler.
Apparently Honda was pressured to make the slip-on muffler permanently attached do to the loud level of exhaust noise made without it. Its overall sound however was one of the features that sold a lot of these popular motorcycles.
In 1968, Larry Berquist and Gary Griffen won the second official Baja 1000
race on a CL77 to give the model off-road credibility.
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
C77 Dream and the CB77 Super Hawk
Honda CB77
The Super Hawk CB77 was a twin-cylinder Honda motorcycle produced from 1961 until 1967. Honda also produced a version called the CB72 Dream Sport, while various advertisements referred to the 305 cc CB77 as the Dream Super Sport. The CB77 is also known as the Honda Super Hawk, or Honda305...
of the 1960s.
Scramblers (designated CL by Honda) differed from the sport bikes (designated CB) to allow for some off-road riding. The CL77 differed from the CB77 Super Hawk in a number of ways. To increase ground clearance, it had upswept exhaust pipes running along the bike's left side. A bigger tube frame with a front downtube gave extra strength and ran through the space where the electric starter was mounted in the CB and CA models. Eliminating the starter not only gave clearance in the frame, but lightened the total weight of the bike.
It had a small-capacity painted fuel tank, fork boots, 19-inch front and rear wheels, coarser-tread tires (called universals), a taller handlebar with cross-brace, and abbreviated fenders. Early models featured aluminum fenders that were painted.
The 305 cc overhead cam engine had a redline of 9000 rpm and contrasted sharply from the low-revving European and American bikes of the day. Running straight pipes with small internal baffles, CL77s featured a loud and very distinct sound from the 180 degree firing order of this parallel twin. Many of these motorcycles often featured aftermarket snuff-or-nots (commonly misspoken as "snuffer nuts"), which featured a flat washer like piece of metal which pivoted just inside the tips of the exhaust pipes to quiet or increase the sound of the motor at any time during operation simply by twisting the external knob.
In later years Honda joined together the end of the exhaust pipes into an external factory installed muffler to help quiet down the noise level of the exhaust. At first it was a slip-on device which was slipped on and clamped. Popularly called a slip-on muffler or just "slip on".
Later models came with only one of the twin side pipes welded onto the slip on muffler. The last version came with both pipes welded to the slip-on muffler.
Apparently Honda was pressured to make the slip-on muffler permanently attached do to the loud level of exhaust noise made without it. Its overall sound however was one of the features that sold a lot of these popular motorcycles.
In 1968, Larry Berquist and Gary Griffen won the second official Baja 1000
Baja 1000
SCORE Baja 1000 is an off-road race that takes place on Mexico's Baja California Peninsula in November. The Baja 1000 is part of the SCORE Championship Desert Racing Series that include the Baja 500, San Felipe 250 and the new San Felipe Challenge of Champions in place of the Primm 300 which had...
race on a CL77 to give the model off-road credibility.