Honda scrambler: Cobra USA’s retro-themed CL750

Honda scrambler: Cobra USA’s retro-themed CL750

From David Edwards—Honda’s most important motorcycles? Tough question but the Super Hawk 305 and Scrambler 305 have to be in the conversation. These were the two that put Honda on the big-bike map in the mid-1960s, each more than a match for British 500s of the day.

And now the aftermarket firm Cobra USA has just paid homage to the CL77 Scrambler, with a new scrambler showbike that started life as a 2010-model Shadow RS750.

Cobra’s Denny Berg is the man responsible for building the Scrambler, which amazingly isn’t all that changed from stock. The mid-level twice-pipes are an obvious addition, as is the bench seat, but the rest is an exercise in paint and some nice detail touches.

Notice the old Honda taillight, faux steering damper knob and the stock gas tank all retro’d out with a seam down the middle, plus rubber knee grips—from a GB250—and round “Wing” badges. Berg’s affinity for Scramblers goes way back; one of his first customs was a 305 that had been run into the rear of a pickup truck.

“Before this build began, I got out my old snapshots, some bike magazines from back in the day and I went on the Internet, immersing myself in Honda Scramblers,” says Berg. “But when I began construction, I never looked at shots of the old bikes again. I was after the feel, the flavor, of a Scrambler, not an exact replica.”

Goal met, we’d say. Find find out more about the CL750 Scrambler in Rider magazine—and if you want to see Cobra’s Honda street tracker version, inspired by Bubba Shobert’s RS750, head over to our Facebook page.)

Specifications

Project name: Cobra CL750 Scrambler

Design: Ken Boyko & Denny Berg, Cobra Special Projects Division

Fabrication: Denny Berg

Paint: Scott “Chivo” Harrington, Lead Sled Customs

Chrome/polishing: Precision Plating & Metal Finishing

Assembly time: 4 months

Engine mods: Cobra Fi2000 fuel module, custom air cleaner, silver paint

Pipes: Twin upswept by Berg

Chassis: Stock, smoothed and painted, relocated shock mounts, footpegs

Forks: Stock, shortened 0.75-in., rubber boots

Shocks: Progressive Suspension #14 series