When did the Honda CB160 come out?
Honda made the CB160 for three short years, 1965, 1966, and 1967 and it was replaced by the CB175 after that. My first motorcycle was a late-60s Yamaha YL-1 Twin Jet 100 street bike so I have a thing for small-displacement street bikes. This CB160 reminds me of my 1965 Honda Sport 65 (or, 65S).
What was the cam timing like on the CB160?
At the large checking clearance of 1.1-mm, cam timing was 5/30, its modest overlap of 10-degrees putting it almost in Harley territory. CB160 was designed to carry the owner and a friend (the long bench seat leaves no doubt of this), to pull away easily from stoplights, to have usable torque everywhere.
How bad is the oil consumption on a CB160?
Oil consumption was rarely a problem, electrics pretty dependable. If you kept clean oil in your CB160 you could flog it for thousands of miles. The CB175 Super Sport followed with a few improvements and both are heavily road-raced today.
What kind of seats did the CB160 have?
The CB160 came in black, red, and white, and most had silver air cleaner covers and fenders. Sometimes, the white bikes were all white. There was also a blue one which sometimes had a blue seat. The photo above reminds me that I need to get a couple of mirrors for my Sport 65!
When did the CB160 come out?
1966 Honda CB160 Sport. The Honda CB160 Sport hit showrooms in 1965 about six years after Honda began exporting motorcycles to the United States. It followed the pressed steel framed 125cc CA92 and 150cc CA95 but used the tubular steel frame like the already successful CB72 and CB77 launched in 1961.
What color fenders are on a CB160?
But like this CB160, those with white frames usually received white fenders and air cleaner covers.
Is oil consumption a problem on a CB160?
Oil consumption was rarely a problem, electrics pretty dependable. If you kept clean oil in your CB160 you could flog it for thousands of miles. The CB175 Super Sport followed with a few improvements and both are heavily road-raced today.
Is a Honda 160cc bike small?
Honda was making lifetime motorcyclists in the 1960’s and all manufacturers have benefitted in the following five decades. By today’s standards, and like European bikes of the time, this 160cc bike is small.
When did the CB160 come out?
The CB160, hitting the market in 1965, was derived from earlier Honda practice and so even with its low 8.5-to-one compression, its combustion was none too fast; at full advance (achieved at 4200-rpm), spark timing was 45 BTDC. The remaining population of CB160s has supplied the basis for a vigorous vintage racing class.
Why did Honda CB160 need GP engines?
Cycle World. It might be supposed that the need of the ultra-high-revving GP engines for early ignition timing was because rpm was outrunning combustion flame speed.
When was the Honda CB160 road test?
In particular, the resemblance of the front fender to those of the company’s GP winners brought the bike into the present. Honda CB160 Road Test from the May 1965 issue of Cycle World. Cycle World.
What is a CB160?
CB160 was designed to carry the owner and a friend (the long bench seat leaves no doubt of this), to pull away easily from stoplights, to have usable torque everywhere. Given decent maintenance, such a mildly tuned engine could last a long time.
What is the Honda 160 engine?
The Honda 160 engine was a two-valve hemi with the rather large valve included angle common at the time Honda evolution began – 78-degrees. This was also the case with the 160’s big brother, the CB450.
CB160 history
Essentially growing out of Honda’s 1959 CB92 Benly with its parallel-twin cylinder 125cc powerplant, the CB160 was released in July of 1964 as a 1965 model. While the Benly featured a pressed steel frame with pressed steel swingarm and leading-link forks, the CB160 was updated with a steel-tube frame and swingarm and conventional telescopic forks.
Moving on up
By the time local kids turned 16, they often moved up to either a bigger bike or bought a car. That meant a robust trade in used small-bore motorcycles, and, as Jeff says, if you behaved yourself the local police were fairly lenient about upholding the 100cc size restriction for 14-year-old riders.
Built strong
During the CB160’s five-year production run that ended in 1969, Honda also marketed in 1966 the street-scrambler CL160, followed by the CL160D from 1967 to 1968.
Finding a CB160
With schoolboy memories of that red Honda CB160 in mind, Jeff didn’t find his own example until 1982. Bought for just $125, the 1968 CB160 he located in the small town of Millet, Alberta, was, he says, in better than average condition.
On the road
Once back together, the CB160 started without drama. As noted, the bike sees regular use, and Jeff says, “To really ‘ride’ a 160 you don’t spare the rpm. Of the approximately 1,100 miles that I have ridden the bike since its restoration the vast majority, probably 900 miles, have been on the MotoGiro.
The Giro lives on
The Rocky Mountain MotoGiro pays homage to the Motogiro d’Italia, an event that began in Italy in 1914 and reached its peak of popularity in the mid-1950s before it was halted in 1957 due to safety concerns.
