Complete Collection of Marbles Motors 1971 Honda SL

Up for auction is a complete collection of professionally-restored vintage Motosport dual-purpose bikes. Honda's 1971 SL family consisted of a 70, 90, 100, 125, 175 and 350 – offered here is the entire line of 1971 Honda SL motorcycles. They are to be sold as a lot.

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Marbles Motors out of north Texas has lovingly restored each of these machines to as close as its original glory as possible.

As a young boy, the founder of Marble Motors, Randy Marble, fell in love with an SL70. Inspired later in life, he purchased another SL70 when he was older. This purchase needed a restoration, and that led to another. Marble says "It was never intended to be a career. It was a love of motorcycles as a child—I always wanted to be out and free, to roam and ride. One thing led to another and now it's a full-fledged business restoring old bikes." The SL70 was the bike which started the shop.

Locating and restoring one of each of the entire SL line for this collection became a project of passion for Marble. He used as many NOS parts as possible. He rebuilt and tested each of the engines before they went on display – except for the rarest bike in the lot, the Candy Sapphire Blue SL175—with only 1100 original miles, it just needed its paint job restored.

The SL90 is a rare addition, since it was a Japanese domestic model that was never sold in the U.S. The Candy Emerald Green 90 has a black-painted frame, acutely upswept muffler, a centerstand, and tachometer.

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Ahead of its time, the SL70 was a fully featured small motorcycle with a hand clutch and a foot-shift giving it a "big bike" feel. The SL was a unique line of bikes at the time, as they were outfitted with four-stroke engines among a sea of 2-stroke competitors. The editors at Cycle World called the 70 "An ideal beginner's mount,” but added “its appeal is much broader than that...if this multi-age appeal is any indication, Honda has another marketing success on their hands. … It's getting to the point where we will have to admit that Honda has built a real dirtbike." Cycle World Magazine specifically praised the 350cc machine: "Honda's new SL350 is not yet a motocross machine, but it is not intended for that purpose. Rather it is a beautifully conceived, tractable, reliable playbike with newfound rough-terrain capability. It's amiable and has great potential."

Source: Bonhams

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