Essentially, we rebuilt this motorcycle from the ground up. Every nut and bolt was replaced with new hardware. The motor was rebuilt using 80 mm Pistons taking it to a whopping 744cc. We installed oversized titanium valves and seats, a performance cam and blueprinted the crank. Then fitted the motor with 34mm Mikuni carburetor.
In the early 70s, Moto Guzzi was longing to manufacture a motorcycle outside the realm of touring. They had been successful with the V-twin touring bikes but had an itch for something more compact and agile. A sportbike.
Here at Dime City Cycles, we have been blessed with a multifaceted collection of customers who continue to amaze us with their extraordinary skills and passion. The most recent thing of beauty to hit our inbox is courtesy of a father-daughter team from the land of ten thousand lakes.
Woodend Customs' 1972 Honda CL350
Everybody loves a feel-good story, right?
If you had to choose, what is the single feature of a motorcycle that draws you in?
The beautiful thing about motorcycles is how it brings people together from all different walks of life, all corners of the Earth. Some have been riding and wrenching since they could walk, while others take on a newfound passion in the later stages of life. DCC customer Rene-Yves Cote finds himself somewhere in between and we find ourselves besotted at the sight of his '72 CB350.
Widely known as the "little brother" of the ever-legendary CB750, the Honda CB550 is considered by some to be one of the most balanced motorcycles that came out of Japan in the 1970s. At the time, Honda Motor Company was in need of a motorcycle that could fill the mid-capacity vacancy in their product line. The overall performance of the forerunning CB500 left the company and its fanbase with a lot to be desired. The CB750 was too powerful and bulky for the average rider, while the smaller CB350's and CB400F were too small and handling was not ideal at top speed. In 1974, the CB550 was born and Honda had found its happy medium, producing the model through 1978 with minor tweaks along the way...
Often outshined by its Honda siblings of various displacements, the CB650 is the perfect mid-sized standard motorcycle. Revered for its ideal handling and Honda-esque reliability, these bikes have cruised into the 21st Century with style and grace. In addition to being a more-than-sufficient stock motorcycle, the CB650 Custom is a nice canvas for customization...(pun intended). Look no further than DCC Customer, Scott Wilkinson and his ridiculously cool CB650 Custom bobber...
He found the bike on Craigslist and his initial idea was to do a complete teardown; powder-coat everything, rebuild the engine, add a brat-style seat, etc. But, as he started to work on it, Sean soon realized that he loved the way the fuel tank aged and patinaed. "I didn't have the heart to sand it down and paint it," admits Hughes. "Some bikes want to be restored. Some bikes want to be cut up with seat hoops and mods. But, some just want to show their age so this became more of a resto-mod." And so it began...
Often compared to its Japanese predecessors like the Yamaha XJ650 and Kawasaki GPz550, the "LS" was a snazzier take on the original standard R65. The "LS" housed the same frame, engine, and suspension as the standard model with the only difference being found at the front of the bike; dual disc brakes with Brembo calipers. These bikes had a short production life, due to the polarity of opinions about its design and performance. Now, some 35 years later, DCC customer Rod Maralit put his paintbrush on this Beamer and it's hard not to love it.
