It is very pleasant to notice that Auto Motor Klassiek there is for concerned people and not for blank consumers. We know that because we regularly receive pleasant feedback from readers.
A special Honda CB750
One of the people who responded recently was our Belgian reader Jean Paul Wille. And Jean Paul also has a Honda CB750, a very special one: A police CB.
That former 'service bicycle' has done a nice errand. He has 'done' 300.000 or 400.000 kilometers. But it was completely restored two years ago. It turned out that the production of these bicycles was in any case so serious that 'new old stock' is also available for the specific 'spare parts'.
It costs something, but then you also have something. We responded to the enclosed photo that, in our experience in the Netherlands, it is not very convenient to go on public roads with an ex-government motorcycle in 'combat uniform' (blue flashing lights). Jean Paul responded:
hey dolf,
I take to the track with this machine. I must say that the blue lamps are off (here in Belgium they do not laugh with it). I am one of the few road captains in Ghent, so guidance of convoys, in my case old-timer motorcycles and cars.
I also travel with it, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, England and it has never failed me. A few times a few days a year.
Usually I am the oldest in the gang, so myself and the bike. I have no idea how many were made, but there must have been quite a few. You can recognize them by the white frame.
The history of this engine is as strange as machining. 12 police-style motorcycles have been sent to America as test and acquaintance motorcycles. This in 1977. The Americans did not know about it and crashed 2 of them. The remaining 10 have been returned to Japan and returned to new condition.
Honda came to Ostend
In 1979 Honda came to settle in the port of Ghent (and still is) and as a present they brought 10 police motorcycles with them !!! In the same year, Ghent ordered another 12, but no policeman liked to ride it.
I bought this bike from a policeman who bought his own bike at the end of shift. So he already had a serious track record. I technically restored it. Otherwise maintenance and replace worn parts.
The engine opened completely two years ago and almost everything was renewed. (clutch, pistons, light drilling, gears, the valves have been repaired, etc.) To my knowledge there is only 1 such engine registered in Belgium.
More flavors
I am now working on a second police motorcycle, a completely different story. Not from the city police, but from the federal police (the “swans”). It is an American model, only produced for America, it ended up in Belgium as a test engine.
Honda CB750K from 1982, so already with the double overhead camshaft, which they later made the Bol d'Or, 900cc with oil cooler. Problem of this engine is that the frame number is nowhere known and I get no explanation from Honda, mss because it was an army vehicle?
We enjoy these kinds of 'conversations'. And go see if we can do something with the frame number.
Maybe something for you Dolf. Until a few years ago I had contact with a Guzzi rider in uniform. Don't know if he still has it. At least de Guzzi was in uniform, he always wore a lab coat during working hours. Was, I thought, a V50
The CB750 was legendary in its time. A motorcyclist was then someone with dirty nails and a set of tools under the saddle. Helping each other with breakdowns and exchanging repair tips was part of the motorcycle hobby.
Not so with the CB750. It was as reliable as a city bus. It was also a neat four-stroke, in contrast to the somewhat indomitable two-stroke Suzuki GT750 (the Water Buffalo) and Kawasaki 750 H2 (the Kamikaze). Although those wild two-stroke machines are naturally delicious.
No, the Honda CB750 was a neat gentleman, without needing to be screwed and tinkered, with no drop of oil underneath and which performed well without raising the voice.
Amen! And the vote was raised by the most open 4 in 1 🙂