Over this past Summer, I have been parting out three different CB650's here on this forum... a 1980 CB650C Custom, a CB500/CB650 Hybrid (72 CB500 frame, 81 CB650 engine), and a 1982 CB650 standard. During that time, I have learned quite a bit about these bikes and am becoming quite familiar with the CB650 in general. I have also learned that they share a lot of common parts with other Honda models of that era, such as an 82 CB750 that I bought, repaired, and sold; and a CB450 Nighthawk that I'm parting out (although maybe not as much in common with the CB450). Honda (and I guess all the Japanese manufacturers) were pretty sneaky with building bikes in the 70's and 80's with off-the-shelf parts.
So today, I bought a 1979 Honda CB650 'Project' bike. Despite it having a title and that I am told it runs, I bought it with the intent of parting it out. It was pretty much came disassembled with lots of spares. Three seats, a couple tanks, real COMSTAR wheels, and a storage tub full of spares. When loading all of these parts up, I was coming across parts (such as the fuel tank) that did not look like CB650 stuff to me, but rather DOHC CB750 parts. When I got it home, I pieced it back together to see what I had. What I thought was a CB750 tank, I'm now thinking is probably the stock tank (it matches the side covers, the key fits the lock, etc). The more I mess with this bike, the more differences that I'm seeing from the other CB650 bikes that I've been dealing with. I knew that the 79 supposedly has a hotter cam, but it appears that the frame is different, the tank is different, the sidecovers are different. It's almost like a different bike entirely, and 'Feels' like a bigger bike than the later model CB650's.
...and now that I look at the bike sort-kinda reassembled, I'm questioning of I really want to part this bike out or put it back on the road.
Is that the stock tank for a 79?
