Jay asked:
I have an old ’71 Honda sl175, and I am EXTREMELY attached to the bike. I would like to turn it into a cruiser style motorcycle but I don’t even know where to start. I know I would have to take off the knobbies but how else would I make it look like a cruiser?
I have an old ’71 Honda sl175, and I am EXTREMELY attached to the bike. I would like to turn it into a cruiser style motorcycle but I don’t even know where to start. I know I would have to take off the knobbies but how else would I make it look like a cruiser?
First off, that is a great bike! Take care of it!
In order to get more of the cruiser style, to go all-out, you’d have to go through cutting the frame, putting longer forks, changing the rake all that. I’m assuming you want to keep it pretty much original other than bolt-on stuff.
I’d start off with some minor modifications like changing the headlight housing to a chrome one, dropping the front fender closer to the tire, and maybe putting some different handlebars on it.
Can’t be done (cheaply) in my opinion. Enduros are designed for ground clearance, and cruisers are designed to be low down to the ground. Two different frame designs here.
I’d say keep the enduro a enduro and buy a cheap cruiser.
put Harley emblems all over it
Turning it into a cruiser would require a heck of a lot more than a change of tires…
You can easily turn into a motard-style bike by fitting it with sticky street tires, better brakes, and a lower from fender.
You can sort of give it a cruiser(ish) look by fitting street tires, high-rise bars, a sissy bar, and some low-level exhaust pipes (pipes made for a CB175 or CD175 should fit). To complete the look you could shave the front part of the seat to make it look like a stepped saddle, or simply swap it out for a single tractor-style sprung seat. Then you need some type of peanut-style tank. But, the single biggest mod consists in raking out the front-end. The simplest and safest way to achieve this is by fitting longer fork sliders or a complete new and longer fork assembly.
My 2¢ worth, though, is that what you have is a very nice little bike which is now becoming quite rare and so might be worth preserving in stock condition. Why not leave it alone and instead just spend the money on an early mid-size cruiser like a Yamaha XS400 Special, or a Suzuki GS400L, or Honda’s own CB450SC Nighthawk. Decent examples of all these bikes can still be found for very little money. You’d have yourself a cruiser and your SL would remain unscathed… That’s just my 2¢; it’s your bike.
Yup, change the tires, clean it up, maybe even spring for newer paint if yours it looking bad.
Chrome handlebars and streamlined mirrors, I dont remember how your front fender is mounted but close to the tire looks a lot better for street than mounted high.
Low exhaust such as off the CB series of Hondas or perhpas some aftermarket slip-ons, Ebay has tons of that kind of stuff.
If you love the bike, let it’s true personality continue to show through. Change the tires. Look for a larger gas tank. Have a custom seat made up. Add a complete tune-up and fresh paint and you’re golden. If you REALLY want a cruiser, and like project bikes, I recommend you buy a used cruiser and rebuild THAT into something special.
If you want a nice little Honda cruiser, I would just sell what you have and buy a Honda Rebel 250. In fact, if you can afford to keep both, that’s what I would do. That is a sweet little classic Honda you have. Chopping it up would be a shame. If you wanted, you could look for a CB175 to keep it company. That’s another option. I bet you could get one for less than the price of any sort of conversion. My friend just scored a CL175 (not sure of the year) for $200 on Craig’s List. It needed to be honed, reringed, and the carbs cleaned, but once it was done, it ran really well.
There are tons of options out there.
Sell it and by a cruiser.