CB-Less

Glenardo · Post by **Glenardo** » Sun Oct 17, 2010 11:03 am

I'm pretty happy w/ the deal. Fortunately (for me) the seller was this out-of-work bike mech, who was desperate to sell. It was listed for quite some time, each time the price was lower so I knew he needed to sell. Not someone who'll just sit and wait for the right buyer to meet his price.

Craigslist is probably the best for deals, anyone who would list their bike in a cycle mag or a paid listing is probably trying to get "their" best price. You need to check the listings daily, be ready w/ cash, know what you want, what it's worth and when to walk away. In these economic times, there are deals to be made. People are out of work and/or moving.

Also, if you can, look outside of LA; San Diego, Fresno/Bakersfield, Ventura, OC, Central Ca., etc.. Vintage bikes are really popular here in LA.

If I see/hear of anything, I'll PM you

fab60 · Post by **fab60** » Sun May 08, 2011 9:13 pm

hey guys so its been quite some time and still no HAWK! haha. Well anyways theres this CB77 that up for sale but the problem is its the same one that i went to go look at a year ago. The bike initially was going for about 2900 and when i came there it had a few problems. One of the carbs wasn't the correct one and also one of the cylinders seemed to have a problem as it would smoke alot when he started it up for me. I think it was the right side exhaust that had the bad smoke. Ok now fast forward a year and this bike is back up for sale. I called the guy and hes asking 3500 for the bike. I told him that i knew of the bike he had and asked if he address the issues of the problems from the PO. He said that he hadn't done anything to the bike, just rode it around town on the weekends. He said there wasn't really any smoking coming out but said sometimes it would smoke and sometimes it wouldn't. To make a long story short should i give this bike another shot? Im still weary about the smoking issue and that the new owner added another 600 bucks on top of the bike thats not been touched/fixed. What you guys think??

mca2 · Post by **mca2** » Mon May 09, 2011 4:17 pm

I was always under the impression that classic Honda's were more easily found there in the US: CB72r's on every street corner, sandcasts never far away, Benly's readily available, black bombers as common barn find... Here in The Netherlands it's pretty hard to find any pre-1970 Honda's and sandcasts were never officially imported, even k0's are difficult to get by.

Yet your story seems to prove different. Now i do not need to plan a trip to the US, fill up a container and import a dozen of classic Honda's ;)

cyclon36 · Post by **cyclon36** » Mon May 09, 2011 5:36 pm

fab60 wrote:hey guys so its been quite some time and still no HAWK! haha. Well anyways theres this CB77 that up for sale but the problem is its the same one that i went to go look at a year ago. The bike initially was going for about 2900 and when i came there it had a few problems. One of the carbs wasn't the correct one and also one of the cylinders seemed to have a problem as it would smoke alot when he started it up for me. I think it was the right side exhaust that had the bad smoke. Ok now fast forward a year and this bike is back up for sale. I called the guy and hes asking 3500 for the bike. I told him that i knew of the bike he had and asked if he address the issues of the problems from the PO. He said that he hadn't done anything to the bike, just rode it around town on the weekends. He said there wasn't really any smoking coming out but said sometimes it would smoke and sometimes it wouldn't. To make a long story short should i give this bike another shot? Im still weary about the smoking issue and that the new owner added another 600 bucks on top of the bike thats not been touched/fixed. What you guys think??

What condition bike are you looking for? For that price, the bike had better be in great shape overall. I wouldn't pay that much for a smoker.

Dana01 · Post by **Dana01** » Mon May 09, 2011 6:23 pm

Hmmm

CB72r's on every street corner

I did find my 1976 CB550F on a street corner last year with a For Sale sign on it. Called the owner, met him, took it for a spin, gave him $1000 cash and took it home (to collect dust).

I'm thinking a small container might work.

fab60 · Post by **fab60** » Mon May 09, 2011 7:18 pm

Yeh im not sure what to expect as far as prices go. Im here on the westcoast and so maybe the vintage hondas are more popular here. I've seen some around 2500-3000 range but yes i think at 3500 the bike should be in tip top shape. It does look good and clean just the motor seems to be suspect to me hence the reason for my passing it up the first time around. How much does it usually cost to do a engine tear down? From what i can guess if its smokes it must be a seal/gasket that needs to be replaced...just dont want to get a bike and then having to put out anohter 1000k to make it worthy.

davomoto · Post by **davomoto** » Tue May 10, 2011 8:46 am

Fab, a complete engine rebuild, doing it all your self, will run close to a grand if you do it right. Keep looking, they are a bit pricey on the left coast here, but there is also a good supply of them kicking around.

Davo