Worth it?

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn310/brentz250/IMG_1815.jpg

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn310/brentz250/IMG_1804.jpg

£975 for the both wanted (advertised on the RD forum).

Are these worth doing up? I know next to eff all about old Hondas.

 

CB7x, or what?

If you want these done nicely, you'll be pissing cash away like there's
no tomorrow. The chrome looks more or less dead (and I'd expect it to
be made from unobtanium), the paint's dead, the engine needs a good
clean and possibly ripping apart and overhauling, the wheels are dead
and so on and so on...

Unless they've got some massively sought after parts on it that I
didn't spot, I don't see 900 quids' worth of bikes here. Possibly
300-400 if there are *some* parts that are worth rescueing.

*If* you want a Honda twin that's worth restoring *and* has all the
necessary bits with it, ping me regarding the CB450 because I doubt
I'll finish it this side of the current millenium.

 

CB72 I think.

What state is that 450 in then? If it's in bits and I can get it in the
back of my car I might be interested.

House sale is going nowhere, so I need something to occupy my time.

 

Bad form and all that - just found your Cb450 pages, think I'm after
something in need of more work - yours just looks like it needs a couple
of hours to finish it off ;-)

 

It's mostly back together, actually. It needs some of the bodywork
refitting, (it's all been repainted to a decent standard, it's just
that you have to take the forks apart to change over the 'ears') and
then it needs a headlight fitting (the original went missing and
someone bodged in a H4 light with plenty of bathroom silicone, which
fried the loom). I think it may need a replacement chrome ring with
fittings for the headlight but other than that, all the parts should be
there. It's even got brand spanking new OEM switchgear that just needs
fitting.

Mechanically it was fine, the 'leccy foot is disconnected as usual, but
it was running OK when I took it off the road, mainly to sort out the
cosmetics. I've managed to track down pretty much all of the bits that
were missing off it when I got it, including a set of OEM airfilters
(no longer available) and plenty of other bits.

If you hit the link for the FAQ you can get to the write-up I did for
the ongoing resto until I moved house down here. Never got to restart
the resto.

This one should really take a weekend or three of full-time fettleing
to get it back together so it may not be long-term enough.

 

Well, it'll be a few days finishing it off. But unless I take a week
off and just get stuck in the garage it's unlikely to happen anytime
soon.

 

They're either CA72s (250cc) or CA77s 305cc).

The CA was the economy single-carb version of what was a very desirable
bike, in either capacity. So worth restoring, but worth vastly less than
the CBs.

Worth breaking - one bike has a very good nick OE exhaust system, which
is a real rarity. The other has a superb seat, so ditto. A lot of engine
parts are common to CB and CA as well.

I sold a CA77 in worse nick than either of these for £450 a few years
ago, so I daresay they've appreciated since then. I'd say the price is
fair. You'd certainly make a profit if you broke them.

What I'd do is put the tank badges and exhausts from one onto KPD843C,
clean and polish it up as best I could, and sell it in its entirety. Or
if the other actually looks better in the flesh, put the seat from
KPD843C on it, and do likewise. Then break the other.

Incidentally, when did you last see a Jap bike with the chain run on the
right???

 

My fucking god - not too long ago such piles of shite were a fiver if
the seller could persuade anyone to take them away.

 

It was ever thus.

Thinking of something suitable for Chimay[1] next year. Almost anything
4 stroke being considered.


[1] Definitely. Probably.

 

Any other differences? Seller is adamant they are CB's. Pics I can find
on the Internet seem inconclusive about a single or twin carb.

 

Absolutely certain. Single carb means the less desirable CA model, no
argument. The seller is wrong if he thinks they're CBs.

"The CA77 Dream Touring 305 "Early" model was sold from 1960 to 1963 in
one of four colors: White, Black, Blue, or Scarlet Red. The gas tank
shape was the same as the C76 with rubber knee pads. The gas tank was
larger than the early CA72. The headlight was square with an integrated
speedometer. The engine was a 305cc OHC wet sump parallel twin with a
single carburetor and the transmission was a 4-speed. The serial number
began CA77-100001."

http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Honda_C77


"In the early '60s, it was the biggest Honda available, propelling the
rider into a full-blown adrenaline rush with unsurpassed power and
speed. The 1961 CB77 Super Hawkâ„¢ was the beginning of something
spectacular-the Honda sport bike. With speeds approaching the 100-mph
mark, this was not a machine for the weak of heart. But the addition of
telescopic forks, dual carbs and twin leading shoe brakes greatly
enhanced..."

http://thomasrwalsh.com/honda305.htm

Both these refernces refer to the bigger 77 (305cc) model, but the same
applies to the 250 (the 72). They're identical in appearance.

 

OK Thanks, I've asked him for the chassis numbers. I did see that link
you posted but wasn't sure whether that just applied to the US market as
the CB isn't mentioned at all.

They're in North London, so lengthy van trip called for.

 

Yamaha YDS6

 

AAaaaarrrrgggghhhh

 

Aha, confirmed by the seller, they are both definitely twin carb - so
taking these to be CBs, how much extra are they worth than the CA model?
Not matching numbers on at least one of them though, the other one only
has the buff logbook, so could lose the reg number.

 

At least 30%. Maybe 50%. Buy them.

(They looked like single carb models in the pix).

 

Yeah, a closer look at one makes it look likely it could be two carbs,
second one is inconclusive, but it looks like I've maybe got them both
for 875, so I shouldn't lose out. Won't know for sure til I turn up
with a van, but the guy has a good history on the rd forum, which counts
for something.

 

With the factory tyres and brakes of the day, I'd say not.