A 450 that’s seen it all
Seeing your article in the January/Feburary 2025 issue of Motorcycle Classics regarding the 1967 450D immediately caught my eye. The first bike I ever owned was this ’67 450 (pictured here). My oldest brother gave me this bike the year I moved to Montana from Minnesota. I was 17 and that was 1971.
This bike, at least for the first of my 53-year ownership, was ridden hard, put away wet, slid across the asphalt twice, woke up in the hospital once, attempted a hill climb with a street tread tire once, thankful to make it back down in one piece, and left shaking from my exertions, never to be repeated. I finally grew up and the bike is still intact and still runs like a Swiss watch. In August, I took it along in the back of my ’51 Chevy pickup on a 50 year return trip to a Colorado ranch where I worked as a 19 year old, thinking I might need it if I broke down. Along the way, I encountered many people who just had to visit over the bike and the pickup, but two German tourists were especially drawn to the old iron with two wheels, with hopes someday to return and experience America’s open roads in the West.
Over the years, I have never seen another 450 with a tank like mine, until your magazine article. Thank you for that. I now have a new appreciation for this bike that has always had my heart.
-Mark Gluth, Kalispell, MT
Thanks for the remembrances, Mark. With your mention of your desire to put the exhaust back to stock, we ask our readers to contact the magazine if you have CB450K0 mufflers available. –Ed.
Back to the 350s
The May/June and July/August 2024 issues hit my heart strings. The story of Neil Rodrigues’ Honda CB750F Super Sport took me back to my first big bike, an orange ’75 CB750F that I purchased new after college. It was a comfortable cruising bike while getting 50mpg. After some super-tuning it ran the 1/4 mile in the 13.20s in stock trim with the muffler. Removing the muffler netted a 12.91 et @ 101mph at Milan Dragway just south of Ann Arbor. I sold this bike in ’79 when I purchased the new DOHC 750F SS.
The Honda CB350 K4 story in the May/June issue is where I am now, back to the 350s. My first bike is my current ’71 CB350 K3 that I’ve had since buying it as a 1-year-old used bike at a local Honda dealer in Ann Arbor. This is my street/strip race bike which has run 13.11 @ 99mph in the late ’70s, but now runs mid-13s with a softer tune for long life.
My ’68 CL350 K0 “Scrambler” was my brother’s bike and the bike that I learned to ride motorcycles on in ’68 when I got my license. I tore it down to the frame, cleaned, polished and replaced some nasty parts with better used items that I had. It retains much of its original parts such as the tank, seat, fenders, side-covers, etc. Patina is ever present with dents, dings and scrapes on the tank and other parts which gives it the true survivor character.
The ’72 CB350 K4 is my daily rider with over 52K on it and is cleanest of the 350s. I got it in ’92 and since then, I repainted the bike in the late ’90s to its red/white color. It still has most of the original main parts on it. This bike has a standard plate on it while the other two have historical plates on them.
-Carl Knieper via email
The Honda CB350 and CL350 twins were a good upgrade from the 1961 to 1967 Hawks/Dreams/Scramblers. It’s great you are able to maintain originality on the 1968 CL350, probably the most difficult to find of those 350 twins. –Ed.
Correcting the P11 shift pattern
I enjoyed reading the article on the Norton P11 in the January/February 2025 Motorcycle Classics, but I think there’s an error in the description of the shift pattern. I owned a 70 Commando, which had what looks like the same gearbox as the P11, and the shift pattern was 1st up, neutral, and 2, 3 and 4 down, which, when exercising my Norton’s prodigious hole shot, seemed very natural and easy while hanging on. I’ve lived long enough to regret selling that wonderful beast.
Joe Boehler via email
In addition to our mention of the shift pattern, we made other Norton P11 clarifications/corrections, and you can find the complete story on our website at www.MotorcycleClassics.com/NortonP11A. –Ed.
