CB77 mystery

[leiflarsen]

Hi everyone,

I recently bought a CB77 near Winnipeg, Manitoba. I was told I'm the third owner and the second guy rarely rode it. It just sat in his barn for 10 years.

It is registered as a 1968...but has a serial number lower than my friend's, which is a 1965 or 66.

The bike may have been a demonstrator or something like that...because it was only sold in 1971. Or the story I was told about me being the third owner is a bit off the mark and the real first owner traded it in and the guy who bought it in 1971 bought it secondhand.

Anywho, the frame serial number is 1047565. The engine serial number is 1047693.

The bike was rattle-canned silver when I got it, but appears to have been originally red.

Is there anything here that would give you a hint as to what year this bike actually is...and possibly why it's registered as a 68, and first put on the road in '71?

Since I bought it the bike has been totally taken apart and rebuilt by me (not the engine though, it was in good order and has good compression and is leak-free). Here's a "how it began and how it's going" photo for you. And yes, I do know I got the paint wrong on the fender and side covers. That's on the list to fix in the fall, after some riding.

[Tim Allman]

These bikes have no model year. You really have only the production year and the year it was sold or registered to go on. The wiring harness should have a tag with a year on it too. This is, of course, the year of manufacture of the wiring harness but the dates correlate closely.

I can't find my list of dates of manufacture by serial number but it is certainly one of the late ones. The serial number of my 1966 CB77 engine is CB77E-1042738 so yours could well have been in a showroom in 1967 and your friend's must be a late model as well. The really late ones had chromed side covers and fenders so that's something to look for. According to Bill Silver, those later than CB77-1050970 had one piece exhaust systems but yours has separate pipes and mufflers. I see that the tail light is of the old style. Those after CB77-1056084 have a more rounded shape.

So, It seems that yours is not one of the very latest but it must be a 66 or 67. I'll update this if I can find my list.

[leiflarsen]

Thanks, this is helpful.

Unfortunately, the tag on the wiring harness is long gone. The silver cover over the wires was in petty bad shape, so I stripped it all off and re-wrapped the loom. I don't remember seeing a tag there before I tore into it.

Cheers