Project: CB160 New odds and ends...

13780 Views 49 Replies 11 Participants Last post by Minnesota Driver, Jun 2, 2010

Minnesota Driver

Discussion Starter · Jun 12, 2009

I've owned many bikes in my 30 some years, but this is my first complete restoration. Its a 1966 CB160 with 7400 miles.

A guy I work with had it sitting in his barn for the last 27 years. I was telling him how I was looking for a project and he said he had just the bike for me! He was only the second owner, and had the bike since '69. The original owner painted it, had ape hanger bars on it and had mutilated the oringinal seat for a "custom" look, hence the non-original parts.

Apparently the starter went out (what exactly happened i don't know, as the chain and sprocket are both m.i.a.) followed by the kicker shaft stripping out. He lost interest and bought a bigger bike, and the lil Honda found a new home in the barn with his sheep.

When I came to the rescue the bike was under a pile of boxes and tools and various farm implement parts, and of course, 27 years worth of barn dust! You can see where I had to scratch through the dirt to see the odometer. It was 99% complete, and he claimed it ran great when he parked it, so two $100 bills later we were throwing it in the back of my pick-up.

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tbpmusic

· #4 · Jun 12, 2009

Re: Project CB160

Very cool, does it even have a title?? Or does that matter much in your state?

Brings up a lot of questions for me, as this is one of those models which the literature is very confusing about.

Hopefully Steve can weigh in on this.........

What are your engine/frame numbers, first of all?

The fiches (as well as memory) indicate there was a 1965 CB160, a Sloper.
But the literature suggests that CB160 started with 1968, serial number CB160-100xxxx
Looks exactly like the '65 to me, a Sloper.

The Honda Manual I have for CB125/160 is wonderful (one of the better 60's manuals), but is not dated, and makes no mention of serial numbers.
According to the literature, the 160 had a little brother Twin, the 125, available as a single-carb Sloper in '67-'69, and as the upright engine type (like a baby 175 K3) '68-'70.
I've seen them in photos only.

Also, there was always a LOT of variation in models exported to different countries.

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tbpmusic

· #7 · Jun 12, 2009

Re: Project CB160

Yoiks, I forgot you live in one of the states that Title on the engine number !!!
More and more interesting - though I don't remember anything about broken engine mount points, I'm sure it happened. Doesn't the top crankcase only contact the frame at the rear????

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tbpmusic

· #9 · Jun 12, 2009

Re: Project CB160

66Sprint said:
Bill....My two cents..... Yes, the top cases only mount at the upper rear... But when the engine's top mount gets loose two things happen... the engine no longer is a "stressed member", so the frame flexes, AND without the added stability, the countershaft sprocket pull on the chain "rocks the engine, wallowing the mount holes (at best) or cracking the mounts... I (the Honda shop I worked at) replaced several cases back in the day.....
BTW, 68 was the first year for the 175's (and overlapped the 160's), the CB and CL 160 were available in late 65 as a 66 model year bike.... :lol:

Ok, what about the serial number inconsistencies in the literature - suggesting the 68 began with 100xxx.
That obviously must be incorrect??
It will be interesting to see what this one's frame number might be........

And the '68 175 was a sloper, which has been determined here before. More closely related to the 160 and 250/305 than the later 175's.

I'll have to confess to never working on 160's all that much, mainly I did the "bigger" ones.

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