THE SPOKES MAN THE STREET SCRAMBLER Motorcycles have always been ridden “off road.” As a matter of fact, in the early years, there were almost no paved roads to be found, and the dirt paths that served as roads were almost always either a sea of mud or lined with hardened tracks and ruts. As pavement started to find its way onto roads around the country to accommodate the rapidly growing number of motor vehicles, the construction of both cars and motorcycles was configured for pavement or all-weather driving, for the most part, although many owners continued to adapt them to suit their needs. Sometime in the 1950s, manufacturers began to offer off-roadable versions of their GREG ARNOLD A lifetime motorcycle-collecting hobbyist, Greg purchased his first motorbike at 11 years old from a neighbor in 1965 for $10. With his career background primarily rooted in the construction industry, Greg initially joined the Mecum team in 2011 to help remodel and expand Mecum Auctions’ Headquarters. In 2014, he put his passion for motorcycles to good use joining the Mecum motorcycle division as auction manager. Greg has two grown children, Ben and Violet, and lives with his wife, Cindy, in Mecum’s original hometown of Marengo, Illinois. street lineup, mostly “desert” racers aimed mainly at the U.S. market. The motorcycling public liked the idea of a bike they could veer off the pavement with if they chose to; they also liked the more rugged look of a motorcycle outfitted to do so: Harley-Davidson, with its early high-pipe XLCHs, BSA with the Spitfire Scrambler, the Triumph “C” series motorcycles, knobby-tired offerings from Matchless, etc.—all found willing customers. It was really Honda, though, that started a mass market for what would become known as the Street Scrambler, beginning with its immediately popular CL72 Scrambler in 1962. It was a 250cc machine, so it could be entered in desert races in that class, but the majority sold were used primarily on pavement. Handsomely styled, a 305cc version was introduced in 1965, and sales really took off. Yamaha brought out its “Big Bear” 250 in 1965, named after a popular SoCal off-road race but aimed squarely at the Street Scrambler market, soon followed by Suzuki’s X6 Scrambler and Kawasaki’s high-pipe versions of its Avenger and Samurai. British and even European companies followed suit. What makes a Street Scrambler? Mainly mid- or high-level exhaust pipes, tires with a knobbier tread, a skid plate and slightly higher wide-set handlebars, often just grafted onto a street model, all to give the impression of off-road capability. Very soon, even 50cc models were getting this treatment, because anything that looked like a scrambler was selling. Eventually, buyers wanted more actual off-road capability, so at the close of the 1960s into the early ‘70s, companies began to offer true Dual-Purpose, or Enduro, motorcycles, while the popularity of the Street Scrambler began to fall off. Even the broad-range Honda CL Series that began in 1962 was discontinued by 1976. There’s been a fairly recent resurgence in Scrambler models with retro looks offered by various companies recalling their past, and their actual off-pavement ability is far superior to the old ones. Vintage and antique examples of the venerable Street Scrambler are very popular with collectors now, as the wonderful history they carry cannot be replicated. There are a host of them ready to be offered at the 2022 Las Vegas Motorcycle auction in virtually every price range, so come on out and let’s take a look at them together this January. 86 // MECUM.COM
