Selling my (mostly) early Honda CB750 (Atlanta, GA)

[MiniDitka]

So I have listed my bike that I've only owned for a month and a half on Ebay. I am not convinced I want to sell it though.

Here's my story. I fell in love with this bike:

So I bought this bike:

Which now looks like this:

However I took the bike to a local expert who has worked on nothing but SOHC4 Hondas for 40 years. He thinks it's junk and need to get rid of it and buy something more original. I had agreed, but am having second thoughts upon getting it to fire up. It needs the front brake redone to be ride-able. However I see people going with different fork/brake (double disc) combos.

What is the sensible thing to do? I am not a mechanic by trade but do most of the work on my BMW 3 series myself and almost all of the work on my 1978 Land Cruiser. How much would it cost to do the front end right? With what combo of parts?

Thanks for looking,
-MD

 

[MiniDitka]

Ha, I guess that shows my priorities... Here is the Ebay ad.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&&item=330860454983

-MD

 

[VonYinzer]

I'm not sure exactly what's happening here... Haha.

You're selling it for sure?

 

[lingo]

Decide what you are going to do. I am in decatur and would be more than happy to lend a hand. I also have an addiction to fj40s. I have two.

 

[halekai]

This is what I would do...keeping in mind that it may take a while to find the parts at low prices...

Gsxr1000 front end with triple trees, clipons, steering dampener and brakes - $150-$250

All-Balls tapered bearing conversion set - $43

Some minor machining of spacers to get discs in the right place - $50 or free if you do it yourself.

Run only one disc and keep your current master cylinder.

CBR disc rotor - $25-$50 or trade for the gsxr rotor you got with your front end...

Custom axle gromets to convert honda to gsxr - $50-$100

Some minor machining/fab of steering stops.

New seat - Make it yourself

Sell your current front end - $50-100

Thats potentially $375 minus whatever you sell your front end for and you have yourself as badass machine.

I have done this conversion on 2 cb350's. I am constantly amazed at how cheap some of these parts go for. Be patient and work on the stuff that you can do yourself like the seatpan, motor polish, rear hub/brake overhaul etc. Maybe get a cheap set of ace drop bars in the meantime.

Your bike runs and I presume has a title so you are most of the way there already...seems a shame to sell it and look for something "pre-built" which you will never be totally happy with anyway...

Make what you want.

 

[skatetheame]

The bike in the first pic is no where near original, so why would want a more original bike if your gonna do all that modimification.

 

[SONICJK]

The bike in the first pic is no where near original, so why would want a more original bike if your gonna do all that modimification.

This
I don't understand this thread

 

[MiniDitka]

Apologize for the confusion. My thinking is as follows:

Option 1)
Sell Frankenbike on ebay use money to buy a stocker and ride and learn and at some later time buy a different bike to build.

Option 2)
Keep Frankenbike and build bike and not ride anything in between.

My motivation is mostly around wanting to ride what I have and that makes option 1 more palatable.

Regardless of the varying advice I have received, the one common piece of wisdom throughout is that no one gets by on a single bike.

-MD

 

[SONICJK]

I think the confusion lies in: what's wrong with riding and tinkering on the one you have? Who says a bike needs to e original or a full on build to ride? Most of us ride our half finished (in our eyes at least haha) bikes all season then tear them down in the winter and finish them (well, continue them I suppose because it starts again the next winter haha)

 

[whynot]

The first pic is what I bought for 100 bux:::::::

The second is after a couple hundred bux later:::::::

I ride the crap out of it when I can.......doesn't run the best, 38 mpg, won't idle on it's own.

Front brake squeals like crazy.................leaks oil down the kick stand, and one line.

So keep that bike, enjoy it, work it as needed................it'll mean more to you.

Besides.....we live in Georgia.......where you can register a half finished bike and legally ride it on the streets........for test riding, of course.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

....wins the largest most obscure pix on e-bay award!

 

[SONICJK]

Well it's too late now anyway haha he has 18 bids

Good luck with it

 

[MiniDitka]

Bud, impressive looking bike but I find the $100 later figure hard to believe even if your abilities (wrenching, painting, sourcing parts) are all above mine.

-MD

 

[MiniDitka]

....wins the largest most obscure pix on e-bay award!

Don't like my pictures?

 

[MiniDitka]

Well it's too late now anyway haha he has 18 bids

Good luck with it

eBay motors allows you to pull the listing at anytime because I presume they account for sellers listing their bike/car at other spots and meeting with various buyers.

 

[MiniDitka]

This is what I would do...keeping in mind that it may take a while to find the parts at low prices...

Gsxr1000 front end with triple trees, clipons, steering dampener and brakes - $150-$250

All-Balls tapered bearing conversion set - $43

Some minor machining of spacers to get discs in the right place - $50 or free if you do it yourself.

Run only one disc and keep your current master cylinder.

CBR disc rotor - $25-$50 or trade for the gsxr rotor you got with your front end...

Custom axle gromets to convert honda to gsxr - $50-$100

Some minor machining/fab of steering stops.

New seat - Make it yourself

Sell your current front end - $50-100

Thats potentially $375 minus whatever you sell your front end for and you have yourself as badass machine.

I have done this conversion on 2 cb350's. I am constantly amazed at how cheap some of these parts go for. Be patient and work on the stuff that you can do yourself like the seatpan, motor polish, rear hub/brake overhaul etc. Maybe get a cheap set of ace drop bars in the meantime.

Your bike runs and I presume has a title so you are most of the way there already...seems a shame to sell it and look for something "pre-built" which you will never be totally happy with anyway...

Make what you want.

This is the exact info I was looking for. I have spent the whole day reading about gsxr fork swaps. I am thinking about pulling the auction now.

-MD

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Don't like my pictures?

You'll have to excuse me... I was still a little drunk when I woke up and started posting. :
They just struck me as odd... and huge. I mean a key? Granted you were very thurough, it just seemed to be random shots of odd bits.
Good luck on your auction! I hope there is a bidding war in the final minutes that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

 

[teazer]

The question is what do you want and what's that worth to you? If a bike is a fun toy and you have the time to get it working right, keep it and massage it over time. There's no set timetable.

On the other hand, if you want/need a reliable economical bike to ride everywhere and anywhere and this one isn't running right, maybe it's teh wrong place to start.

It's mainly a question of where do you want to end up and is this (bike) a good place to start that journey from, or are there more suitable staring points?

 

[halekai]

About the gsxr swap. I am not an expert here but I do know a little more than nothing...If you decide to go this route let me know and Ill tell you what I know. I am also an amature machinist with a bridgeport and a southbend so some of the fab of small parts is possible too.

I am looking at a 750 today in my area for that magic #...$100

 

[MiniDitka]

About the gsxr swap. I am not an expert here but I do know a little more than nothing...If you decide to go this route let me know and Ill tell you what I know. I am also an amature machinist with a bridgeport and a southbend so some of the fab of small parts is possible too.

I am looking at a 750 today in my area for that magic #...$100

Will keep you abridged of my decision. $100 sounds too damn good to be true.

As for looking for GSXR parts and other parts. EBAY parts are pricey. Where is the best place to look? GSXR forum for part outs? Is this an upgrade piece that those guys would then toss the oem forks?

-MD