Advice on realistic value of these Hondas

What they are:
1980 CB750 Custom with saddle bags (hard cases)-20,000 miles
1979 CM400T------ with saddle bags (hard cases)-13,000 miles--has oil leak
197? Trail 90--------1,300 miles

The owner of these bikes recently passed away and his widow asked me if I would be interested in buying them. They were all running when parked but have been sitting for several years. They are garage kept and appear to be in good condition. She has clear titles to all of them. I'm sure they would, at the very least, need a battery and fuel system gone through to run again. The tires looked ok but they are several years old. I think I am capable of doing all the work myself with a little help from the internet.---Any input would be appreciated...Thanks--Dave

slowindown said:

What they are:
1980 CB750 Custom with saddle bags (hard cases)-20,000 miles
1979 CM400T------ with saddle bags (hard cases)-13,000 miles--has oil leak
197? Trail 90--------1,300 miles

The owner of these bikes recently passed away and his widow asked me if I would be interested in buying them. They were all running when parked but have been sitting for several years. They are garage kept and appear to be in good condition. She has clear titles to all of them. I'm sure they would, at the very least, need a battery and fuel system gone through to run again. The tires looked ok but they are several years old. I think I am capable of doing all the work myself with a little help from the internet.---Any input would be appreciated...Thanks--Dave

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Apart from the Trail 90 which has a charm all it's own, to my mind the others are just blah bikes. You'll almost certainly need a complete carb rebuild on all of them (on the 90 that's a simple task) and as you say tires plus probably dealing with a lot of little electrical gremlins (plus that battery) caused by Texas heat and brittle insulation.

Once you've done all that you'll have 2 blah bikes and a nice little Trail 90.

I am fond of the trail 90s too but it really is not bringing in any real $.

There is no way to value these without a picture of each and some idea of whether the engines are frozen but we can look on the maximum value if it is in good running shape and work down. These are my guesses for titled and current riders:

CM400T - $1200
78 CB750 - $1500
CT90 - $800

I can't imagine any of them getting into the $2K range without being rebuilt and painted. I agree with Phillip, only the 90 will sell quickly. They were really escalating in value before the 2008 economic crash and have never completely recovered.

Work down from these numbers for tires more than 4 years old, stuck engines, no spark, carb rebuilds ... you almost have to give them away.

SL350 has the numbers down pretty good I think. You might be able to eke out a little more for the 90 if it's running well, clean & has all the goodies (rack, side covers etc.).

Thanks for the input.That's what I was afraid of but I wanted to hear from someone who knew more than I did about them before I got back in touch with her. There was to much stuff around them to get any good pics. Not sure I know how to post pictures anyway. I may try to pick up the trail 90. Might be a fun project. Thanks again...

slowindown said:

I may try to pick up the trail 90. Might be a fun project. Thanks again...

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Post a pic. Perfect bike for the Big Bend Dos X Dos.

I had a '79 CM 400A (automatic). The only problem I ever had was the coil part of the alt windings died. Rather than buy new, I actually rewound it, used that trigger signal to fire a separate coil. It is a known weak spot on all this line.

Yeah, I think SL350's numbers are probably pretty good. You might push as hard as $2k on the 750; you can always drop the price later. None are high-value bikes, but they are bonafide vintage. As far as oil leaks, that's pretty much par for the course for old Hondas; I'm told that if they sit for a while, a leak around the head gasket is almost inevitable.

The desire for 70s bikes is purely emotional, usually nostalgic, and you just never know what the reaction will be. When I sold my '79 CB650 (not in particularly good condition) a few years back, I was surprised to find myself with an online bidding war from people who hadn't even seen it. And that's why I think you might be able to squeeze the 750 a little higher - 1978 is not the most collectible year by far. But still, it's a 750, one of the most popular bikes of that quarter century. Just be realistic and don't get your feelings hurt if you have to drop the price back to Mike's recommendation.

I also think Mike has "about right" prices listed. But, that's what you can expect to sell them for. If you want to break even, after your work, you won't want to pay that for them. Except maybe to help out a widow. Even then, I don't expect she'd want you to be out anything...she just wants them gone, and maybe you can do something with them. It's happened to me more than once.