1965 Honda CB160 Cold Start Walk-Around

[@MichaelSeddon-c6r]

I had a 160 for my 16th birthday in 1968. That was the minimum legal age you could ride a motorbike in the UK. It was a lively little bike for its small engine. I clocked around 75 mph tops. Twin cylinder twin carbs electric starter. You didnt get those things on smaller British bikes back then. I easily burned my mate off who had a BSA C15 which had a bigger 250cc engine. Those old British bikes were heavy and slow compared to the Honda's. I had a lot of fun and have fond memories of that little bike. They were happy days.

[@retro_grade]

Nice! That's awesome story. It's funny how much further ahead Honda's were back then compared to the British stuff, which was so much more crude at the time. (Fun to appreciate them now, though, for what they were). A CB160 would run like a swiss watch compared to a 250 BSA (I've also had a BSA 250 Starfire as well for a period of time) lol. Also, in terms of the larger bikes, when Honda came out with the CB450 Black Bombers, they were a major disruption to the UK motorcycle market, where the 650 twins had been dominating at the time. From my understanding, had the same or better performance (although, I'd need to do some reading on on that to confirm). I have had a couple CB450's and BSA lightings, however, and I'd say that's probably a fair statment :)

[@caribman10]

I bought a new CB160 in 1965. When I sold it in 1967 so I could pay for my first NYC apartment it had 52,488 miles on it. Living in Harrisburg PA I rode it every day it wasn't snowing (and rode it home from school a few times after it had). On one trip I did Harrisburg to Toronto/Toronto to Montreal/Montreal to Newport RI/ Newport RI to Harrisburg. It was about 1700 miles total. Great motorcycle. Minimal maintenance, but be ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU CLEAN THE OIL SLINGER. And I would advise any rider over 5'8" to try the flat SuperHawk bar from a contemporary 305 instead of that mini-ape-hanger setup.

[@retro_grade]

Cool story! That's a crazy amount of miles for a little bike like that and a testament to Honda's quality for sure. The nice thing about these older ones, is that they have the cover which is removable specifically for cleaning the centrifugal filter out, whereas some of the later ones required removal of the entire clutch cover.

[@WilcoxGarageRecovery]

Another clean vintage Honda. Gotta love the little figurine guy keychain too 👌🏻

[@retro_grade]

That's the CSMNL keychain - they send free stuff every time you order. We now have a hat as well :)

[@ROCKINGMAN]

Since childhood, loved old buses, cars and motorcycles. Especially british ones. Dad had a Triumph Tiger Cub he bought in 1964 for £8. Then I saw the Elvis film Roustabout and he rides a Honda Superhawk. Loved old Japanese bikes since then. This is the baby brother. Somehow I like it more. A real nice bike.

[@retro_grade]

@ROCKINGMAN - nice! Two Honda's that were always on my list whenever I first saw one was a CB77 Superhawk and a CB450 Black Bomber. I had bought a CB160 with scrambler exhaust years ago that I found for a deal, and finally also had a CB77 (305) and CB450 some years after that. While the Superhawk and Black Bomber were certainly cool, I can tell you that the CB160 was definteily a more fun ride and grin worthy bike. Andrew (the one riding in the video) would agree as well. And judging from the comments on here, alot of those who have ridden both the 305 and 160 would agree. 160's, I think, are easier to come by than the Superhawk as they don't have a much hype. At least not here anyways. If you have the opportunity to try one you should!

[@Shornandkenny]

Beauty dude. I detailed mine today im going to upload a short video of it with with its makeup on tmrw. Just needs some front brake work a starter maybe a flywheel unfortunately. Starter doesn't engage well lol.

[@retro_grade]

Thanks! The starters don't engage well on alot of these older Honda's it seems lol

[@Shornandkenny]

@@retro_grade mine kick starts just fine, even cold.😁

[@eddylloyd7413]

❤

[@retro_grade]

Thanks!

[@cerealtiller]

IIRC the Europe model CB 160 had a Tachometer as well?

[@retro_grade]

From what I'm seeing on CMSNL in General Export, it looks like I'm only seeing a speedometer. I can't find an original tachometer for the 160 anywhere Googling it. So not sure?

[@davidparsons4625]

The CB160 is the greatest motorcycle Honda ever made. They were absolutely bulletproof

[@retro_grade]

We would 100 percent agree with that! Defintely the best older Honda for fun factor, hands down!!! So much fun to wind out!

[@CAGraphics576]

The electric start on my 66' never seemed to have enough power to start it. I always kick start it.

[@retro_grade]

Interesting! This one never seemed to have an issue spinning over the starter. Seemed like a CB77 I had awhile ago turned over a little slower though from what I remember.