"What is the difference between a crocodile?" "The greener, the more swimming." That's a bit bland. But what is the difference between a Honda CB750 Four? The price!
A Honda CB750 Four? Worth nothing!
Almost everything that is now being paid for money has known a moment when it was worth almost nothing. Drawing from my own memory: A very neat Suzuki T500 for 800 guilders, a beautiful Yamaha XS1 for 1.150 guilders, an almost perfect Honda CB 750 K2 for two thousand guilders. And those were sold for less after services rendered. Because: "Not worth anything to the old shit."
What is good remains long
The Honda CB10 Four, produced for 750 years, has quite rightly become the Motor of the (previous) Century. And recently, someone for a gas tank (with wrinkles from the initial mismatched mold) dropped $ 3.500. For what would become the K-line nothing line, the price is already above € 10.000 for a topper. Of the Honda CB750 Four with sand-cast crankcases, not only a few hundred, but about 8000 were made. After engine number 1007414, the crankcases are injection molded. But that aside. Just as much as the number of small adjustments that were made to the most early series. Therefore, order / buy only on engine number and part number. For those very early copies, a lot of specific parts are no longer available.
The Honda CB750 K2, a Real European
Most of the Honda CB750 Fours sold here in Europe were (the golden yellow) K2's. They differed in detail with the K3's, pay attention to the splash guard at the brake disc if you find that important. For the coming winter evenings you can read on the site of CMSNL, where all models including part numbers are listed. Then you will see that there are quite a few (small) differences through the types and the years. That is interesting reading! And meanwhile those Hondas have been sought by traders, investors and enthusiasts.
The older, the better. RECOVERY: More expensive
Collecting worth always starts with the earliest models. When (almost) all of them have found shelter or have become unaffordable, the demand shifts to the next series. The models with the four carburettors operated by separate cables, the smooth air filter, the unique counter glasses, the non-finned oil filter housing and the tip on the buddy are the toppers. We saw one at a meeting that arrived by trailer. The owner cleared the tires of unsightly grains of sand after setting up. We could not imagine the bike and the owner during a rain shower in the Vosges.
It's the little things that do it to him
The Honda CB750 Four changed due to technical detail and minor appearance differences. But the K2s have been sold so massively that they are 'the norm'. Getting a machine completely 'pure' is quite a job. But the 'value' of the early Honda CB750 Four has meanwhile become such that a completely correct restoration has become fairly self-evident. Beautiful survivors can still be found. The parts supply is good. The prices of the parts are stiff. Color parts and NOS chrome are simply expensive. In any case, the restoration of Japanese four-burner is no party for your wallet.
Become priceless?
So have the Honda CB750 Fours priced itself out of the market? That's kind of not that bad when you leave mainstream thinking. We found a very neat CB750 K7 from 1977 at the motorcycle dealer / demolition Joost Woesthoff from Brummen. The exhaust is not original. But an exhaust set for such a 'late' CB750 does not have to cost two grand. € 2.750 is asked for the entire motorcycle. So driving the Honda CB750 Four is not structurally unaffordable yet,
By the way, see if you can get hold of Mick Duckworth's Honda CB 750 book
Also interesting to read:
- Honda CB400A (Automatic) (1976-1977)
- The Honda CB 750 OHC - K3? Not the girls.
- Also classic: The Honda CB750 K6
- The Honda CB750 'Seven Fifty' DOHC
- The Honda CB 77, Laverda's example
