1971 Honda Other

SL70-1022602

Clear

Remember When? In 1971 the movie On Any Sunday had just been released in theaters, and motorcycles were everywhere. Mini motocross was very popular, and if you wanted to win, an SL70 was the bike to be on. SL70’s were tearing up motocross tracks around the country. In Southern California riders such as AMA Hall of Fame member Jeff Ward, and legendary Brad Dutoit were racing on SL70’s. Chad and Terry McQueen, sons of actor Steve McQueen, rode and raced Honda SL70’s. Brian Myerscough, 1985 Four Stroke World Champion started on an SL70. In 1973 the SL70 was displaced by Honda’s own XR75. However, a well tuned SL70 with a good rider could still win races. This one did. It’s History... In the early spring of 1972, my dad gave me this 1971 SL70 as my first motorcycle. I was ten years old. I rode it during the summers of ’72 and ’73. In ’74 I moved on to a full sized bike. In 1975 this bike was stolen out of our garage. The police returned it a few weeks later without the engine. It sat in my mother’s garage until the early 90’s when my sister’s husband found a motor for it and used it for a few years to teach his kids to ride. After that it would be dusted off and tuned up every few years to be used to teach another member of my family how to ride. In early 2012 I decided to rebuild this bike. This was my first bike, and I wanted it to be special. Lot’s of SL70 enthusiasts like to restore their motorcycles to exact showroom condition. They spend a lot of time and money finding the correct lighting, speedometers, etc. Bikes like these can bring four to five thousand dollars at auction. However, in the real world most SL70’s didn’t fit that description for very long. Very few were ever licensed and ridden on the street. Many SL70’s, including this one, have a great racing heritage. The lights, speedometer and other non-essential equipment were gone from this motorcycle within days of taking delivery. Within the first month of ownership it had a performance exhaust pipe, racing cam, finned cast aluminum intake manifold and milled head for greater compression. It was a thrill to ride! And Today... I have been rebuilding and restoring old motorcycles for decades. It is my passion. With this bike I wanted to bring back the memories and emotions of everybody who remembers early 70’s motorcycle racing. Performance parts and equipment from that era are hard to come by. Also there are options today for more horsepower. Lots more horsepower! I decided to take this bike even farther down the performance path. This bike has a brand new, high performance 140cc Pitster Pro racing engine with a high compression, 23mm/27mm big valve head. It has a heavy duty four speed transmission with a rear five plate manual clutch. This engine puts out approximately three times the horsepower of a stock SL70. Talk about a thrill to ride! Engine Specs: Oil Cooled, Single-Cylinder, 2-valve, 4-stroke Displacement; 140.4cc Bore/Stroke; 52.4mm x 57mm Fuel Delivery; 26mm carb Ignition; CDI Transmission; Heavy duty 4-Speed manual Clutch; Heavy duty rear 5 plate manual Shift-Pattern; N-1-2-3-4, all up This bike has many custom and one-off parts to make this engine fit and work in the vintage chassis. It has a billet oil cooler, custom intake manifold, custom exhaust, and performance CDI ignition. There is less than five hours on this bike since the chassis rebuild and installation of the engine. It has spent most of it’s time on display in my living room. Additionally, the bike has brand new clutch and brake levers and their perches, a new billet throttle, all new cables, new factory seat pan with new foam and correct seat cover, new shocks, a new chain with new sprockets and many other new parts too numerous to even remember. It even has extremely hard to find, brand new side panels, and new factory rubber for mounting the gas tank, side panels, and fender. There are also brand new factory foot pegs and a new kick starter lever. The gas tank was cleaned, rust removed, and sealed with POR 15 gas tank restore system and a new factory correct petcock was installed. It has the original frame, fuel tank, fenders, handlebars, wheels, brakes and front suspension. The tires are about 80-90%. If I were to keep it, I’d only change the clutch and throttle cables for ones slightly shorter, and tune the carb. It runs a little lean at 6000 feet. If you’re at a lower elevation, put new jets in the carb before you ride it much. I am only selling to finance my other vintage projects. This bike is worth a lot more than I am selling it for. This bike would be a great addition to a collection, or as a pit bike that has real class, heritage and history. Or give it to your son or daughter. They can blow there friends’ bikes into the weeds! This is your chance to purchase a custom, one owner 1971 Honda SL70. The Terms... This motorcycle is being offered for sale as is, where is. I will try to help the buyer when possible, but shipping remains entirely the responsibility of the buyer. I can hold the bike for a week or two after the auction, if necessary. Payment is due via PayPal within 24 hours of the auction’s close. Any change to these terms must be agreed to by seller prior to bidding. I have done my best to describe this bike fairly and accurately. I have bought and sold bikes all over the country. As a buyer you never know the complete condition of a bike until you see it in person. I have been both pleased and disappointed after purchasing vintage bikes over the net. It’s the nature of the process. I believe you will be pleased when you see this bike, however, do not bid on this bike unless you understand this process. Collecting vintage vehicles is not for everyone. This is a used bike. It is over 40 years old. It has many brand new parts, as well as some original parts. There are no guarantees or warrantees on parts and/or bikes. Parts and/or bikes are not returnable or refundable. This bike never had a title, as far as I can remember. It is not street legal. It will be sold with a bill of sale.