[Slafa]

Hey all, thanks for creating such a great forum. Stumbled upon 3 bikes in the Utah desert while picking antiques with my GF (she owns a small antique store). The owner/hoarder had passed at the ripe age of 92 and his son had spent a month just cleaning out the upstairs alone. It was ridiculous, I helped clear a path into the basement and 3 of us spent an entire week just taking out what was in there.

During a break in the action I wandered the back yard and found 2 bikes under a tarp that had weathered completely through on the west facing side and a 50's Tote Goat on its side next to them, went back and made a deal, all three for $500.

I rode an XL175 as a kid (heavy bike for a 14 y/o) and my dad rode the XL350 so I have fond memories of these bikes before I got let loose on the 125 and 250 Elsinores of the mid 70's era.

The bikes I got are the '78 XL125 and a '72 CL350, the old guy bought both brand new according to his son and put 3525 miles on the 350 and 2026 on the 125. both are in factory condition, no mods and both are suffering from inevitable surface rust. the tank on the 125 seems pretty clean but the tank on the 350 has a varnish and residue that stinks like hell in it so I'll have to tumble that one for sure.

I have a ''76 BMW 75/6 barn find that a buddy tore down and got back up running for me as a trade deal, I ride it here in Utah on the back roads and enjoy it. I'm planning on doing the same with these bikes but since we are in the desert near old mining and ghost towns it just makes sense to have a couple of enduros (I know, 350 not a true enduro but can handle the many dirt roads out here) to explore with the GF.

All that being said I am not a mechanic nor do I pretend to be. I have a shop with tools and space to tear these down and leave them for an extended period of time, I grew up in an auto body shop but I was a painter and spent my time prepping, painting and detailing so I know that side but the mechanical side I'll leave to the pros. Ive been perusing many threads here but I might ask for help finding one that is specific about tear downs and rebuilds for someone not totally hip on sequencing?

Anyway thanks again and I am open to any help or constructive criticism as I am a newb at this for sure.

Slafa

ps. I'm not incapable, this is a project I've had for over a decade, you know how these things go...
("slafa") Roadster.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=338895

 

[TheoR]

Congrats, looks like you had a good find.

Just looking at the pictures, the bikes look to be in a fairly good condition.

I've gone through a restoration process myself, in my case a CB500T, and I can tell you that the engineering of the bikes from the era is pretty basic and as a result pretty easy to work on.

With my bike, I've had a seized piston, so the work involved was more than I planned on. However, the restoration process was a success and the bike is a runner now.

 

[Slafa]

Thanks, last registration date on the newer bike was 1985 so they have been under that tarp for about 35 years or possibly more for the scrambler, Ive been doing the easy stuff, steel wool and such, I'll start a progress thread in a bit.

 

[singletooth]

Congrats on the great find and deal. The blue one is a 73. For 73 they had a red & white and a blue & white. It may say 72 on the head tube, but it is a 73. There are minor differences between the 72's & 3's. Enjoy. Pic of my 73 below.

 

[Slafa]

Thanks for the correction ST, I thought it was a '73 from the paint but when I saw 7/72 on the headstock I just figured I was wrong. Also I believe the -5 on the vin makes this a K5, is that correct? I am ordering parts now and don't want to make any more blunders than I have to... Here is the bike just after I drug it from under the tarp.

 

[Slafa]

BTW, when my bike ends up looking as good as yours I will be one happy Honda owner, you've done an amazing job on it! Gorgeous.

 

[singletooth]

Thanks. Mine was a hundred dollar special when I found it. Yours looks a lot better than mine did. Yes, it is a K5. Its getting harder and harder to find decent parts for these bikes. Took me 3 years to find a set of pipes that did not have rust holes in them.