1974 Honda Other

Clear

I got my first XL-175 new in 75' and decided to give it a well deserved full restoration a few years ago. During the restoration, many questions arose that were not addressed in the numerous manuals I searched through. Exact routing of control cables, wiring harnesses, re-keying locks, correct assembly of the clutch-pack and lots more. I have authored several restoration manuals. Many on early super-bikes. I decided to do a book covering all of the original XL-175 designs (1973-1976). The plan was to get and restore each year model of the XL-175 and present the subtle differences and unanswered questions in a new XL-175 restoration manual. I now have 3 of these classic XL's, a 1973,1974 and my original 1975. Recently I was diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer. Not knowing my future and not wanting to burden my wife and kids with having to dispose of all my worldly possessions, I've decided to start liquidating many of my collectable's. Now onto the bike here for auction. During my search for every year model of the XL-175, I found a very low-mileage 1974. It looked like someone took a good spill on it. Bent shifter, foot peg, broken clutch lever and speedo. A perfect candidate for a restoration and it was all there. It was a little faded, but no rust. Flat tires with a few dings and scratches from almost 40 years of storage. As with all my restorations, I decided to make it showroom fresh, so I stripped it down to the bare bone and rebuilt it from the ground up. I sandblasted every spot of paint down to the bare metal as the photographs show. Sandblasting is a much better method than paint striping and leaves tooth on the finished metal surface. Tooth gives paint and platings a much better surface to adhere to. I'm sure you have all seen how easily newly painted surfaces chip. This is usually because the surface was not prepped right. The freshly blasted frame was solvent cleaned and spray coated with rock-hard epoxy just like the original Honda finish. Coming from a racing background, I rarely powder-coat frames for 3 important reasons: 1. Powder coating was not the original finish. This matters to us purest. 2. Powder coating often times conceals hairline cracks making potential problems hard to spot. 3. Most professional racer's tear their machines down every season and magna-flux crucial frame and suspension members. When a component has been power-coated, the magna-flux process for locating possible cracks seldom works. This bike has undergone a full restoration with exception of the motor. There was no reason to touch the motor as it was barely broken-in. I would be happy to pull open an engine cover to prove this. The inside of the motor is so bright and shiny, no carbon soot, sludge, stains from dirty oil or anything that shows on motors having more than a thousand miles. I now have 3 of these classic XL's, a 1973, 1974 and my original 1975. This 1974 is the cleanest of all. Prospective buyer's are welcome to come ride all 3, so you can see what I mean. This bike is 'Cherry'. I'm torn having to sell this, health issues say I must. I have a ton of money into all of these bikes as anyone buying 'new old stock' parts knows. These restoration parts don't come cheap. The original instruments were faded so I spent over $400 on a NOS speedo & tach. Then I spent over $200 on all new rubber. All new grommets, grips, control boots tires, battery bumpers, seat, cables, everything ! I had Route 66 restorations custom mix the original Tahitian Red at a cost of over $100 just for the material. This, like all my restorations was done right with no corners were cut. The exhaust is original is in great shape. I put a NOS stainless heatshield & hardware on costing over $100 because I wanted a perfect bike. All brand new, not counterfeit Taiwan junk. Real Honda parts from real Honda dealerships. Still have the receipts and original packaging. If you're looking for a flawless XL-175 suitable for showing or adding to a collection, here you are. I guess you could ride it, I don't.... It's way to clean. I ride my 75 as my daily driver and my 73 is fun too, but still somewhat virgin. The inside of the tank looks like a bike that just rolled off the showroom floor. Perfect. I will pull the bike out tomorrow and post more close-up photos. Happy to answer any questions. Not really willing to haggle on the price, so serious bidders only please.