Idea = Win / Execution = Fail

Here’s a bike into which somebody has put a fair amount of time and effort. It’s a 1975 Honda CL360 that has a Ninja 250 motor stuffed into it. Stuffed is probably the wrong word, as the motor itself appears to fit quite nicely in the frame. Stuffed might apply to a Ninja 500 or 650 motor stuffed into the frame. But I digress…

The idea seen here is kind of unique for the cafe racer scene. Stuff a quarter-liter late-model liquid-cooled engine in a fairly small bike, and then you’ll have a bike that screams like a banshee, but probably isn’t much (if any) faster than the original. In fact, the Ninja motor probably puts out less horsepower and torque than an in-tune CL/CB360/350 motor. But boy would this surprise anyone who happened to hear it scream by. The idea equals a potential win. And another plus: rear-sets!

The execution, however, is a fail. I think this is mainly driven by two things. First off, a simple driveway tip-over is going to crush the hell out of that radiator hung out over the side of the bike. Ouch. Secondly, the muffler. Aesthetics and ground clearance. Enough said…