Building My SCL500 For The Arctic Circle

This is my first real step toward riding to the Arctic Circle, and I wanted to start by talking about the bike I chose and why SCL500 aka CL500. I have not done many long rides, and even though I have put some miles on Sean’s shovelhead, most of my riding has been on my Honda Monkey, which I absolutely love. The problem is that the Monkey tops out around 55 to 60, and for a trip like this I needed something bigger. I looked at a few dual sports and even considered a KTM390 or a Himalayan, but being 5'2" adds some limits. In the end I wanted something that felt right for me, so I went with a scrambler and landed on the Honda SCL500. I want to make this scrambler do what scramblers were originally built for!

I am not an expert and I am usually behind the camera but I do know old bikes and I know what feels good to ride. So this video is me walking through the changes I want to make to get this bike ready. I am lowering it a little with shorter shocks and switching out the high scrambler exhaust for something smaller so I can actually run bags on both sides. I am adding crash bars, a skid plate, handguards, and a windshield. Sean will be building a custom pannier rack because everything I find only fits one side of the bike. I might even add fog lights.

I am excited and very ready to learn as I go. Let me know what you think of this setup and what I should consider adding for the Honda SCL500 (CL500)!
Channel where most of the builds happen: ‪@axtion88jackson‬