1971 Honda SL175

Hmmmmmmm…….. Maybe it’s a board track racer?

1978 Honda CB550 Cafe Racer

This is an interesting bike with a mix of cool/new parts and a couple of relatively major things that need to be fixed. Easily, the best aesthetic feature is the cafe-style seat with the frenched taillight. And the paint looks really deep and glossy on the seat, tank, and the one side-panel that is visible in the pictures. I personally don’t really get the upside-down superbike bars, but there are a fair number of “cafe-style” bikes out there with them. The motor has a number of internal performance parts, and there are a lot of new consumables that come with the bike. It does, however, need a new stator and a ring job (according to the seller). I am pasting a full list of the mods and parts after the pictures.

I’m not quite sure what to make of the Buy-It-Now price of $2,500 for this bike given the re-ringing and stator replacement that the buyer will have to do. But the auction is currently at around $700 with 4 bidders and a little less than a day left. I would guess the bike won’t pass the reserve price, but we shall see where the sale of this bike ends up…

Hand made “Frenched” Tail light Café Racer Seat
Chrome mini Bullet Turn Signals
Gloss Black Single Stage Paint
“Kreemed” Gas Tank
Flanders Café Bars
MAC 4:1 Exhaust System
Web Cam Springs & Titanium Retainers
Web 58B Camshaft
Ported and Polished Head
Head Decked for Higher compression
New Old Stock BETOR Racing Shocks
New EBC Clutch and Spring Set
New Sunstar Sprockets
New EBC Brakes, Front and Rear
New Wheel Bearings Front and Rear
New Fork Seals and Bushings
New Battery
New Petcock
Carbs have new needles, seats, and gaskets in them
New points and condenser

Needs to be done:
Stator has an issue on charging side, works sometimes, needs to be replaced.
Will need new rings, smokes at start up, goes away as engine warms.

A Couple Of eBay Relists…

I noticed these two relists on eBay this morning, and I wonder if they will sell this time around. I am kind of surprised that the Honda has 20 bids thus far (but still not meeting reserve), whilst the XS650 has zero bids. I get that the Yamaha needs a small amount of completion work, but still…

1975 Honda CB400 Cafe Racer

This is one of the more modified cafe racers to come up on eBay in a long time. Whether you love or hate the seat, the rest of the bike is built to the hilt. The seller claims the bike “runs super strong”, and from the spec list we have no reason to doubt him. Check out some of the modifications…

Yoshimura Racing 466cc pistons and rings
A.P.E. Racing block and ported heads
Race camshaft
Titanium valve spring retainers
Keihin 26mm smooth bore
Dyna ignition
Triple clamps from 1979 CBX
35mm CB550F forks, clear powder coated, 10 wt oil, new seals
Works Suspension front dual spring kit (#230XH)
Daytona aluminum front fork brace
B900F Koni shocks NOS, #7610, 14″ (+1.5″ of std)
Dual CB550F rotors and calipers, trailing mounted (as opposed to stock forward mounted)
Baker Precision stainless steel brake lines
CBR900RR master cylinder and adjustable level
stretched aluminum tank custom made in England
Pro Flo 35mm clip-ons
CBR900RR footpegs and linkages

So what’s the good? Lots of cool modifications that should make this one of the fastest CB400’s around. And what’s the bad? That seat. Oh yeah. The bike ain’t cheap, either. With about a day and a half left in the auction, there are no bidders and the starting price is $3,900. However, there is no reserve, so if there’s one bid, the bike will sell.

1970 Honda CB350 Cafe Racer

There isn’t much that needs to be said regarding this bike. It is just plain beautiful. This is pretty much the epitome of the small-bore Japanese cafe racer. There’s a ding on the tank, but the seller seems to be very honest about the bike. The price is only at $2K with 24 hours left in the auction, and reserve has been met. It might be a good chance to get a well done cafe racer for a reasonable price…

1973 Honda CB750 (Stock Bike For Project)

If you are looking for a decent starting point for a cafe racer project, this might be a good bike to begin your work. It’s a 1973 Honda CB750 that is basically stock and in good shape. The seller provided a good list of his recent upgrades to the mechanicals, so I just cut and pasted the list shown below. There are a few more pictures on eBay of some of the details on the bike, but these give you an overall idea of what this bike has in store for you…

I don’t know if this bike is going to sell or not. It has zero bidders with just over a day left in the auction, but the starting price is at $2,500. Buy-It-Now is set at $3,200. If everything works as stated by the seller, this bike appears to be in line with what a decent CB750 is currently worth. I’d love to see pics of this bike after it gets the cafe treatment…

Had a Honda mechanic replace all the gaskets in the upper half of the engine. Head gasket, valve cover gasket, etc…
Carbs have been cleaned, rebuilt and synched
Valves have been timed
Gas tank has been lined
New OEM petcock fuel valve
Clutch has been rebuilt with OEM Honda parts, OEM clutch cable is new also
Brakes have been serviced and checked out
Original air box replaced with pod filter, carbs were re-jetted at this time with 120’s, i also have the original air box with a new K&N filter
Rear fender has been removed and replaced with a fender eliminator kit and LED rear light. Looks great on the bike. Turn signals were flush mounted and look better this way
New EMGO rear shocks have been added to replace the originals that were pretty useless. I still have them though
Low (super) bars have been added to give it more of the cafe racer look. Note- these are not “clubman” bars because i found them to be uncomfortable
Added a headlight visor to front light
Original chain has been replaced with an o-ring chain
New battery added last summer
Original paint on the gas tank (pretty sure side covers are repro)
I have the original tool kit and original manual from Honda
I also have 3 additional manuals, including the official Honda service manual which is amazing
Tires have plenty of tread on them
Electric ignition and kick start both work great
All lights, guages and electronics function perfectly

1975 Honda CB750 (Good Project Bike)

If you’re looking for a good starting point for a cafe racer project, this might be just the ticket. It’s being auctioned on eBay, although the price is a bit high. However, the seller is stating what needs to be done to it (wheel and steering bearings), so if you were to utilize the Best Offer function, you might be able to get the bike for well less than the $2,900 asking price. Ask questions of this 100% Feedback seller ahead of time if you have questions about anything not mentioned in the listing…

1976 Honda CB750 from Lossa Engineering

I’ve posted several Lossa Engineering bikes in the past, and this is probably my least favorite of the ones that have been auctioned off on eBay. Overall, it is a nicely done cafe racer of sorts, but I think the style just isn’t my cup of tea.

Likes: I love all the detail work on the mechanicals. The drilled sprocket cover and shifter are a great touch. The double front discs are well done. The exhaust is unique and cool looking. The street tracker tail section is always nice to see, and I like the dual taillight treatment. And all the powder coating and nickel plating looks really good.

Dislikes: The upside down superbike bars. The paint job (personal taste, ymmv). That funky sprocket cover on the rear wheel. And the Pirelli Scorpion A/T tires (I had them on my KTM :-/ ).

There are lots more pictures and more info on the build and parts on eBay if you’re interested. I doubt this bike is going to meet reserve, though, as there are only 20 hours left and the price is only about $2K at this time. I think if you look at some of the other Lossa bikes that I’ve posted or on their website, you’ll see that this CB750 is a bit different in direction from most of the other bikes to come out of the shop. I’m sure this one will find a home, but it might not be quite as easy as with a more classically-styled builds…

1976 Honda CB400F Super Sport

There have been bikes I have posted before where I have implored everyone who might possibly buy the bike not to modify the bike. This is another one of those motorcycles. I don’t know if the 298.7 miles that the odometer shows are the true miles, but it is either true or the restoration job is masterful. Check out the pictures as there isn’t much to say about this bike given its stock condition.

There are about 17 hours left in the auction, and the price is approaching $5K with 22 bidders. This is a nice bike that could very easily end up in someone’s never-ridden collection, but I hope I see it up at Alice’s Restaurant or the Rock Store some time…

1974 Honda CB750 Project Bike

“Hey, Billy Jack!”

“Hi, Frank. How you doing?”

“Just great. You know that CB750 I picked up last month?” asked Billy Jack.

“Yeah,” said Frank, rubbing his chin.

“I’m gonna add on some new suspension parts from that old CBR I’ve got sitting in the shed. It’ll be wicked cool!”

“You sure you wanna do that?” Frank asked. Silence greeted his question…