Friday, March 28, 2008

The 1972 Honda CL-70

I mentioned in a previous post that my parents bought a Honda CL-70 motorcycle for me in the summer of 1972, when I was thirteen years old. Here's a photo of the cover of the brochure that Honda published that year for that particular model. I remember that I wanted an SL-70, but when we went to the dealer (the old "Wheel World" Honda dealership down on Carlisle north of Menaul), it was too small for me, as I was already about 5'10" even at that tender age. Therefore, the salesman suggested either the CL-70 or the SL-100, which would have to be de-tuned to 5 horsepower to qualify as a "motor scooter" under then-existing New Mexico law. If I'd been possessed of any patience at all, I'd have gone with the SL-100, which was better-suited not only to my body frame but also to the off-road riding I wanted to do; however, it cost $502, in contrast with the CL-70's $363 price tag, and my mother said she'd have to wait and save a little more. No way was I going home empty-handed, so I immediately warmed to the CL-70. (I guess I did go home empty-handed in a literal sense, given that the dealer didn't actually deliver the bike to our house until a couple of days later.)


The CL-70 wasn't exactly Honda's finest engineering achievement -- it had wiring issues and burned through points and condensers on an annoyingly regular basis -- but it would be nice to have something similarly fuel-efficient to ride to work these days. (It got something like 150 miles per gallon and generally could stay up with normal in-town traffic, although it probably wouldn't do so with today's 215-lb. version of me sitting on it.) Inasmuch as gasoline in those days cost $.25/gallon, I often found sufficient gas money in one of the living-room sofas!

As much as I loved to ride my CL-70 as a young teenager, I've never really felt the desire to own a motorcycle as an adult; I haven't stopped and thought about why, but I'm sure it's primarily a matter of safety. But man, was it exhilarating to ride all around the "mesa" (undeveloped, and generally unrestricted, open space) that used to exist east of Tramway Road!