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Barn Find price check

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sharkey

sharkey

Joined
Aug 7, 2003
Messages
13,076
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Location
Ft Worth, TX
First Name
Chris
Last Name
Tamez
My wife's aunt has a cycle that use to belong to my wife's dad in a barn. Hasn't turned over in a decade. Hasn't been on the road in a long time. Her son would come down and start it when he visited. :doh:

1972 Honda CB450 with 5501 miles on it. My mother in law bought it new when she was married to my wife's dad. What do you think the value is in the condition it is in?

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How is the tank? Stored inside the seat pan along is most likely in good to very good condition. You can value the bike two ways, as a whole or the sum of its parts. For the fair valuations check e-bay. Dependent upon condition this unit would value as a rolling restoration in good condition, all original. SL350 can give you an idea of the parts values, he does that sort of stuff. You know throw money at old Hondas, :mrgreen:
 
Love it.

Please don't part out a complete bike. Too hard to find.

be real careful with the sidecovers. Those grommets are probably rock hard and the covers with split. Those are expensive. I sold one of mine (SL350 sidecover) 5 years ago for $400 to a guy in Austrailia.

Lots of work though. Hard to estimate all that it takes. Sell it for $1K maybe $1200 or dump it quick for half that.


Title?
 
Last edited:
SL350 said:
Love it.
Click to expand...

As it sits, what would be a fair price? It's in MI so it would need to be shipped here. I was actually kinda surprised it wasn't in worse shape.

I'm figuring, new tires, drain the tank and other fluids, new chain, new battery, adjust carbs, new hoses, etc.

Aunt says it if for sale since her daughter didn't want it (her husband has a HD), and her son wasn't interested either since he took a truck. My wife's dad might be able to do some of the restore stuff. I'm surprised he hasn't grabbed it.

I just want to give her a fair price but don't want to screw myself over either. I'm guessing $500 just to ship it here.
 
See my edit. I had posted and then saw the new messages.

Lots of time lost learning doing it the first time.

First thing I would do is have someone take the plugs out and put and ounce of Marvel Mystery oil in the cylinders. Then I would press the kick start gently and see if it is locked up. If they did any prep, which a lot of northerners do each winter, the engine will not need much.

Chances are the clutch plates are bad, they stick together over time.

Gaskets.

Even the sidecover screws are a couple of days work and allen head kits are about $35. Gasket kits another $30.

Rear brake pads are bad. The glue goes bad after 40 years. I never did rebuild a disk brake like that cause all my old hondas are drum but I would warn you NOT to try them cause the piston goes out and does not retract locking up the wheel.

Expect front and back wheel bearings. Tires. Fork seals are cheap if you can do them.

Take the battery out now and ditch it.

Needs new air filters and I think the CB450 air filters are getting hard to find as I remember someone on the Honda Twins forum building a filter by cutting and gluing.

The carbs will most likely be the most difficult to fix. Some guys struggle for years getting them right. You can probably find new replacements but they would be at least $350 for a pair.

Hand grips, rubber bits on the kick starter and grommets, it all adds up.

If you love it do it. If not, let someone who does have a go. And don't let anyone who wants a bobber touch it.

This one really looks like an ideal project starter bike. I have seen much worse,
especially rust.

Oh yea, pipes are a couple hundred and I would check to see if these are rusted at their lowest point. The headers can rust and be ok.
 
nice. being it was stored in MI, it spent most of its time in the cold, rather than baking for 6 months out of the year.
 
A guick question for someone in the know...

Without hardened valve seats won't the modern gas ruin the engine?
 
jsb223 said:
A guick question for someone in the know...

Without hardened valve seats won't the modern gas ruin the engine?
Click to expand...

That was a concern when the unleaded gas first appeared but as I understand it, the Honda valves were up to it. I run the same valves in several old Hondas and it is not a problem. But it takes me a century to put 10 or 15K on most vintage bikes and any valve wear would be over time. The kind of miles I see on new bikes you just never see on old Hondas with few exceptions. The valves hold up for that.
 
If it starts and runs, I'd say about $400 as it sits. Cleaned up and with the needed mechanical work done to make it roadworthy, about a grand. Note: Don't be surprised if the fork seals decide to weep. Also, I was cautioned when I bought my '79 CB650 that all old barn find Hondas end up leaking oil around the cylinder head; and mine did.

That is the ugliest sissy bar I've ever seen. But -- if you're a traveling musician, at least you'd have a place to strap your upright bass.
 
About the pouring MMO into the cylinder and pressing the kickstart, it will splash some out so be ready with a couple of rags.

Tim - that is fair for CL but I think he can get more if he advertises it where the vintage guys are. Title would also factor in but the big question is whether it was put up right with oil in the cylinder. If it is locked up these many years it almost certainly means pistons, rings, boring... Lots more $.

If you watch CL long enough you can find someone who has already done all the above and is selling road ready. They can't get much over $2K.

The most valuable CB450s are the black bombers a few model years earlier.
 
tshelfer said:
snip

That is the ugliest sissy bar I've ever seen. But -- if you're a traveling musician, at least you'd have a place to strap your upright bass.
Click to expand...

+1, Also works for us old trombone players, too. :lol2:

old story. When I was in junior high and high school, my parents were incredibly "mean". They expected me to walk or ride a bicycle to school before I got my license, even though I had to carry a trombone. I strapped a trombone case on the old el cheapo aluminum bike luggage racks available at the time with that trombone hanging a good 2 foot off the back of the rack. I'm sure it was a funny sight, but for me, it was just life. I think I went through 3 racks that failed from the stress. Not only that, but I was expected to do the repair/replacement myself. Poor kids today--they miss out on character building responsibilities like that. :mrgreen:
 
My first "big" bike. If the motor is not stuck, easily worth 500 bucks. Good luck with it.
 
Tracker said:
+1, Also works for us old trombone players, too. :lol2:

old story. When I was in junior high and high school, my parents were incredibly "mean". They expected me to walk or ride a bicycle to school before I got my license, even though I had to carry a trombone. I strapped a trombone case on the old el cheapo aluminum bike luggage racks available at the time with that trombone hanging a good 2 foot off the back of the rack. I'm sure it was a funny sight, but for me, it was just life. I think I went through 3 racks that failed from the stress. Not only that, but I was expected to do the repair/replacement myself. Poor kids today--they miss out on character building responsibilities like that. :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

Don't be so sure... a kid in my neighborhood plays the tuba, and he bikes to school with one of those baby trailers that clamps to the seat post with the tuba in it. I used to have to carry my tuba on the bus so I'm sure he's a much happier kid for it (no end of grief from the other kids with the amount of time it took me to put it in/get it out of the back door of the bus.) I thought his solution was rather elegant- and from the looks of it, it's a used one off of Craigslist that he got cheaply.

I think all generations think all kids have it easier, and that all kids face all the same challenges but have a different toolset with which to address those challenges.

Edit: Sorry for the tangent- NICE FIND! If I were in the market for (another) project we'd be talking- a mid-70s CB*** is right up my alley.
 
The good news is it is the second
Generation 450 with the disc brake.
Also, In a great storage location. As
is bike worth $4-500. You can take
Wheels off the bike, stick in a crate
and ship cheap. Honda plastic coated
Parts on motor to survive shipping
Corrosion across the ocean. That is
The discoloration you see on the cases.
With time and patience this could be a
Great project. More cb350's were made
Than 450's, and in my opinion, the 450
Was better than the later 500 twins...
 
Cool. Thanks for the info. If I lived in MI, maybe I'd get it. I am not mechanical and would still have to ship to TX. I will let my aunt in law know what you'll think. She wanted to know what it was worth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I wish I was the son or grandson of
This barn find and would jump on it
For the fun of resurrecting it. Like
Some one commented earlier, by
The time you spent the resources
To make it 100 per cent restored,
You would spend way more than
It is worth. It would have to be
Restored for the fun of it or
"Because you owned one once".
 
tshelfer said:
Note: Don't be surprised if the fork seals decide to weep.
Click to expand...

I think they already made up their mind to leak.:giveup: In the picture of the front wheel at the beginning of this thread, you can see that a long time ago all the fork oil leaked out and dried up on the front rim. Fork boots are oiled up too.

"Restoring" that bike would be sort of silly to me, but getting it in running condition just to do it might be fun. Even just getting it running will cost much more than that bike it worth. Parts like carb manifolds are going to be hard as a rock, and hard to find. BTDT.
 
Those are actually quite collectible being the only production Honda to use torsion valve springs instead of coils. That was the top of the line Honda before the 750-4 came out. Check with collectors and museums, I have seen DOHC 450s in rougher shape go for over two grand. Running/riding examples can approach the value of brand new bikes.
 
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