1974 Honda XL350

1974 was the first year for the XL350 and it was well received. Stone reliable, torque that made it feel like a much bigger bike, it was easy to ride and would go just about anywhere. 

This one has something of a lengthy and tragic story. Prepped by Mike Bell for the owner of Long Beach Honda, it and an identical twin pre-ran the Baja 1000 in 74. Afterwards it was relegated to hanger shuttle at the Torrance field and eventually fell into disrepair. It then sat for 15 years until the owner passed. His widow gave it to a friend who was something of a vintage bike fan (BSA) with the caveat that he never sell it.  He got it running well enough for he and his college age son to get their MC license and it was then passed onto the son for a future restoration project. The son died tragically in a pole vaulting accident and dad could no longer take the motorized reminder of his lost son. Sad, sad and sad. It came to me with the same promise and I vowed to keep it. A first for me as I rarely hang onto any machine.  

Still sporting much of the baja prep it was in pretty rough shape. 19" front wheel, S&W suspension and Preston Petty fender and box are nice touches! 

Double cabled so racer could do a quick cable swap without having to reroute them through the bike. 

Preston Petty box, had never seen one before. 

Notes from Mike Bell as where the spares where. 

Shifter still duct taped to the frame. Had a set of Honda bars from a previous resto, so those went on, but otherwise not much has changed. 

Found a spanky fresh NOS carb! Thanks Ebay. Runs much better now. 

The evening it came home my oldest asked to ride it, I said sure if you can get that heap running, go ahead. Half hour later it fired and he was blasting around the block. Made him wear the period helmet. He hated that.  He's now college bound and making noises about taking it with him. Probably needs some exorcism first.