Barn find: 1971 Honda CB750K1 I'm not a Honda guy

Got offered "an old motorcycle" by somebody cleaning out a barn.

Turns out it's a 1971 CB750 Honda that's been slightly "customized" (rusted out 4-2 and pods) and had its wiring "creatively re-engineered" but otherwise looks solid. The only thing missing are the side covers, and its former dignity (ape hangers with leather fringie-things on the bar ends.)

With 9400 miles on it.

Tank looks pretty much done (massive dents, rust) and the fork tubes are beyond salvage but otherwise everything else looks halfway decent; carbs obviously cleaned relatively recently (compared to rest of bike.)

Worth semi-resurrecting to sell? It turns over (early enough bike for a kick starter) and looks like it was possibly running when parked.

I'm thinking a quick compression check will tell me how much effort to put into it. I'm NOT a Honda guy and don't want to become one, but this thing is too rare and too complete to sell for scrap.

 

if your wanting to fix it to sell hopefully it has a title knocks alout off what its worth without a title. honestly with the parts it needs and your time probably wont be worth it unless you like to do it. if im correct the parts are different the first few years they were made and harder to find . the motor might be worth something l but the price is right

 

No title but this is Michigan, easy to get.

Yep, this is a 3rd model year CB750 (SOHC) and as such is pretty rare. As complete as this one is, it could be relatively easily restored if the mill is good.

To a Honda guy, this is probably a real find; I just don't know.

 

problem i always have with a bike thats worth any money is finding the right buyer. nobody else wants to spend the money . but for someone looking for 1 its worth bucks. i gathered that the rest of the chrome was rusted usually the forks are 1 of the last things to start rusting but if its just the forks and tank and the rest of the bike is good would definately be worth it

 

I've been researching the K1. It's actually the SECOND model CB750, there was no "1970" model; and apparently they're a tad more valuable than our XJs.

I found a couple of fully restored low-mileage examples for sale in the $12000 range; and a couple of "complete-original" bikes in the $5K-$6K range.

I'm going to do a more thorough evaluation of this thing, get a compression test.

 

very nice find fitz, yes, that bike sure is worth ALOT. i bet if you toss a few hundo at it and work your magic, you could fully fund your seca 650 resto

 

also, is that bike a "sandcast" bike? because the price of that stuff is stupid on ebay

 

Nice find. I'm a Honda guy. Like schooter said, put a few hundred bucks and some time then sell it and you'll have a nice chunk o' change to put towards the xj.

 

if you got it fully restored back to factory it might be worth something. but that's going to take a lot of work. and a LOT of hunting for parts. and a LOT OF MONEY. back in them days they had brass floats. gauranteed that'll be the first thing you buy to get the carbs running. along with float bowl gaskets.

another thing is the bike is almost 40 years old. that's A LOT OF SITTING with no oil on the cylinder walls. can you say SCRATCH.

it's a rare bike becuase it's old. just like our xj's will be rare in another 10 years.

the bike is free. so that's a good start. but worth something. your all kidding yourselves. a norton or triumph maybe. but honda's are a dime a dozen. everyone rides em, but no one wants a dinosaur. that bike needs to be like it was off the showroom floor to be worth something. and finding a buyer would probably be just as difficult.

i c lots of OLD OLD bikes on ebay. i don't see a lot of people getting what they want for them. they get relisted over and over.

 

I sold one a couple years ago to a fellow a few towns away. He was looking for a parts bike to finish a restoration of his own so that he could give it to his son when finished. I sold it to him w/ no title. I had it in the yard for best offer. He stopped and offered me $500.00 for it the way it sat. Sold, done.

Something to check out.....some of those were two-stroke, those would be worth a lot more.


FWIW,

Dave Fox

 

Hey, shouldn't you start working on that 650 by now ??

 

A good one goes for good money over here, admittedly they are not sold, but you get th idea.
http://www.bikesales.com.au/all-bikes/p ... &silo=1400
http://www.bikesales.com.au/all-bikes/p ... &silo=1400

 

bust your piggy bank 'cause this is the one you want Fitz, ebay # 150461332861

 

...so....what was your final decision on this Fitz? Got any pics??

 

Nothing yet; was going to finally get a chance to dig a bit deeper this weekend. If I do there will be pics.

 

Polock, nice looking Wing! Opening bid was $25,000 when the scheister claimed there were only 200 of them built. Shouldn't the opening bid drop to $2500 now that the word is out there were actually 2000 of them imported to the US?

What a wad!

Loren

BTW, I had a black one close to the same year. It was a great open bike. Fast, smooth, quiet, and a blast to ride.

 

shoot, i shoulda asked around, I just spent a weekend with around 15 SOHC cb750s

 

CB's have got to be best sellers. I find them getting picked up fairly quick on craigslist around here. If you have any questions regarding that bike I have a ton of CB/CL knowlege to share.

Don't let that bike get away from you.
Don't be a Yamaha or a Honda guy Be a Motorcycle guy.
Good luck with that.