The Honda CL77, also known as the Scrambler 305, was the scrambler version of the CB77 Super Hawk. The bike had a larger-diameter frame than the CB, and the starter was eliminated to reduce weight and run a larger front downtube. The 305cc parallel twin offered 28.5 horsepower, with a redline of 9000 rpm, and the machine’s off-road prowess was proven when Larry Berquist and Gary Griffen won the 1968 Baja 1000 astride a CL77.
Today, we have a very special 1965 Honda CL77 tracker built by Dillon Sheppard of San Rafael, California, who is just 20 years old! Obviously, we have a bit of a prodigy on our hands. We’ll let Dillon give you the full scoop.
CL77 Street Tracker: In the Builder’s Words
My names Dillon Sheppard and I’m 20 years old and have just finished restoring my first vintage bike. I’m great friends with Davo Giusti, one of the best Honda guys around the Bay Area and he inspired me to build my own bike one day while I was just sitting around his hobby shop. He brought me over to his trailer and rolled out a rusty beat up cl 77.
It wasn’t a pretty sight but over the next few months with the help from friends I brought it back to life. And there was a boat load of amazing stories along the way, from having to use an air chisel to get the pistons out, to trying to pop wheelies with one motor mount bolt in and no tank or seat cause I couldn’t wait to ride it.
When it comes to custom parts the biggest aspect that stands out at first glance would have to be the exhaust. When I started out I wanted an exhaust no one else with a Honda scrambler had. Davo and I bounced ideas off each other until one day I was given a shortened GSXR muffler from a friend Richard building his own tracker, a Yamaha XS 650, and once I saw it I knew I was going to make the 2 into 1 work.
From there I took some pieces of stainless exhaust pipe and started figuring out the routing. That was the easy part however. Davo gave me two super hawk downpipes that I had to make fit into the stainless collector, they were nicely chromed though so I didn’t want to cut them too much. In the end it worked out, but not without a lot of marking and cutting and welding!
Other than the exhaust the bike is put together with lots of different parts. The tank, off an SL175 wouldn’t fit the original petcock because it hit one of the carburetors. So I made a block off plate and silver soldered it on and instead used the crossover tubes to individually feed the carbs, using inline petcocks.
For the XR seat kit I wanted a sub frame that was sturdy and easy to work on and could hide the wiring. Which leads to the electronics. I didn’t want a battery or really anything but the very basics. The wiring includes a regulator and capacitor so the headlight can be run. Otherwise it’s very basic, only three wires run from the cap to the front of the bike, power to the coils, headlight, and ground.
The bikes been a lot of fun to build and is even more fun to ride and I couldn’t have done it without the help of Davo and everyone else down at his shop in San Rafael.
