Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

The Honda XL-175 is a great bike for the kid who wants to have transportation to high school, and maybe cut across the big vacant lot on his way home. It's a machine for the casual trail rider who doesn't want to offend anyone ...it's very quiet. It will work quite well for the beginner, the novice, or even the harried business executive worried that he will not be able to get enough gas to commute to work next year in his BeJchfire Eight Detroit pig (oink). The bike is a low·key, fun machine. It is not a fire breathing rooster·tai1 special, but for just that reason it is rather refreshing. It's kind of nice to go riding once in a while and not worry about getting in trouble by not being careful enough with the gas. F or example, look at the street use of- the bike. We jumped off a 750 and onto the 175 for the street portion of the test. When riding a 750 on surface streets, you have to watch very carefully what you're doing or you'l be busted fot. speeding before you know what happened. It's easy to speed. When on the 175 it was a different story. It was kind of nice to be able to drop from fourth to third into a corner, stuff it in, and wind up to the redline in third coming out, all with no fear of exceeding the speed limit. With that little narrow bike between your legs,· and that engine winding towards nine . grand, it seems like you're going a lot faster than you are. Fun! Riding in the desert along trails was also fun if you didn't try to play Mitch Mayes in Baja. It doesn't ht1rt to forget the go.fast stuff for awhile and plonk along, taking a good look at the scenery. And when you get right down to it, the Honda was built with the dude who wants to do that, (not the racer), in mind. Taken in the context of what it was designed to do, the Honda is a pretty Ime motorcycle. Taken out of context, it is a failure. But the same thing goes for a Maico 50 I if you try to ride trials with it! The bike comes with battery ignition, headlight, turn signals, and a massive tail ligh t. Along wi th the gearing, these factors indicate- that the bike was built with a street/dirt balance in favor of the street. The tires reflect this street leaning. The Nitto brand trials universals are acceptable for riding on street and hard trails, but do not have the penetration or traction needed in other situations. This is easy to see in the desert, especially· on uphills and in sand washes. On the street, the tires will creep slightly when the machine is stuffed into a corner, before breaking loose, so you have fairly good warning before you drop the bike by exceeding the tires' limits. However, that's on dry pavement. On wet streets and rainy days, it's necessary to exercise a· good deal of caution if you own a Honda 175 with stock tires. The suspension continually amazed us when we had the Honda along while testing other, more dirt oriented bikes. The damping was very good for a Japanese bike. The shocks and forks both were perfectly matched to the bike, and soaked up the bumps without bottoming out better than any test bike we had at the time, including a Yamaha SC-500, a Yamaha 250 Enduro, and a Montesa 250 Enduro. There was plenty of travel in both the front and rear, too. With its broad powerband, it is easy to slide without a scary surge midway through the affair. The bike performs best between five and eight grand, but will move (slowly) below five. It didn't have enough power to keep the front end up and skimming over high·speed whoops, so anybody with an XL 175 will have to deal wi th them differently. The gearing is definitely street oriented, being too tall for most other applications, and having a sizable gap between llrst and second. Hills in the desert were strictly a first gear affair and combined with the tires, pushing ~ the order of the day if the Honda meets a real live Southern California family enduro uphill. The horn was a poor joke. Weight considerations or no weight considerations, there is something imm oral abeut sending people out onto the roads of car·loving America on a machine sold with a horn that wouldn't faze a fly sitting inside it. Some bikes have a horn that can't be heard by car drivers at 65 MPH. This one has a horn that can't be heard by car drivers at 35 MPH. If it is to have one at all, it should do more. The tool kit lived in a nice little niche under the locking seat, as usual with Hondas, but the tools were only up to general industry standards...poor and hard to usc. Too bad it doesn't have a locking rearward opening, and recessed gas cap for safety reasons. The electrics were just Ime, and the standard Honda spare fuse holder was present under-the sett next to the tool kit bag. The brakes worked adequately in the dirt, but the front could use a bit more power for the street. (Ah, compromise!) Of course, street braking abiljty would also be increased with the use of street tires. The Honda controls we all know were there, and the improved grips suited us just fine. Lever joint covers are provided - very in. Lighting was fair for a machine its size, but in strict terms, the headlight was not strong enough for safe travel on unlit streets at speeds over 45-50 MPH. The turn signals would not blink (after riding sporadically for a few weeks) unless the engine revs were kept above the four thousand mark. The tail light was large and easily seen, but placed so that it was easy to catch your boot unexpectedly and bring you up short while mounting, unless you watched it. Unlike the bigger Honda four stroke singles, the 175 does not have a four·valve cylinder head. As small as the 175 is, an extra two valves wouldn't help much like they do in larger engine sizes. Riding the little Honda to work or school is a gas. After leaving your freeway flyer home in the garage, the Honda seems very dinky. Its slim profile makes threading through traffic jams at intersections easy. You thread through one such jam, and come to a halt to wait for the green ligh t. A Cadillac is on your left, and a dump truck on your right, its front left tire almost at your shoulder. The truck driver glares down at you with a nasty smirk on his face, revving the engine that's probably bigger than the entire machine you're on. It's almost like he wants to drag. You're on this little tiny motorcycle among highway giants, and it just sits there going put·put·put. The ligh t changes. You wind it up to seven grand and dump the clutch, hit second at nine, third, fourth, and fifth the same way. A glance in the excellent mirrors, and they're far bebiJ)d. That's the secret of survival on the highway with the 175 ...wind the hell out of it, and you'll do alright. High revs are part of the appeal of the Honda. You can thrash the hell ou t of it and still not get very close to breaking the speed limits on medium size suburban streets in the llrst four gears. Where bigger bikes loaf, the 175 screams. And even when you thrash it, it still gets about 60 miles per gallon. It's hard to beat for an economy mount. The bike cruises smoothly at 35 and 50 MPH. At speeds between or above that set, it shakes and causes tingly Imgers and feet, and numb butt. SiXty.five hundred RPM in fifth gives you 50 MPH. For residential streets, lIVe grand in third produces an indicated 25 MPH. If you're brave enough to try a faster highway, it will take eight grand in fifth for 60 MPH (indicated), and nine grand (redline) is good for about 66 MPH (indicated). It is stable at any speed it will reach. A· freeway flyer it isn't, but after Nixon gets his 50 MPH national speed limit, the Honda will make a great commuting bike: light and narrow enough to flit through those infamous rush hour bumper·ta-bumper specials on the local freeways leading to MetroviIle, and comfortable at the maximUm legal speed of 50 MPH. Used as intended, the Honda XL-175 is a pretty nifty motorcycle for the people who like to do the things it was made to do. For other people, either some modification or another bike is the an_er. You can't please everybody every time, but, as Honda has shown in the past, you can please an awful lot of them, and make lome money, too. America just isn't all racers. • The "Trick" XIr175 Honda By Larry Langley The stock XL-l 75 IS a good little trail bike. It has the potential' to be a very good enduro bike with a few simple modifications. Barbara Po s t 0 f the United Racing Association recently purchased an XL-175, and since both she and husband Gary ride enduros, they decided to "trick" it up a little. Two g<>als were set. The first was to increase the power and ·irr.prove the throttle response without sacrificing the reliability Hondas are noted for. The second was to improve the handling. The stock bike doesn't handle all that bad if you keep in mind it was designed as a trail bike, not a itre breathing racer as one of the monthly comic books thought it should be. Also, Gary and Barbara wanted to get as much out of their limited bike budget as possible. The first thing Gary did was to strip off all the non-

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