Topic: What age?

[TvL]

Hi everyone, first post! This bike, cb650, has been in my family since I was at least 4 years old and now finally I have gone from the small child pillion passenger to being the 40 year old rider who passed his test two weeks ago. Having emigrated with the bike from the Netherlands in 1993 the dvla have the bike registered in 2007 as a 1981 model although the chassis is RC03e2005360 which at a google guess shows it as being 1979. Is 1979 correct and was the import registration flawed or is it in fact a 1981 bike? The DVLA and I would both like the V5 to be accurate and the plate to be from the year of manufacture hence the question.

[robvangulik]

That bike stood the test of time better than the people on it!
Oftewel, die motor ziet er heel goed uit voor z'n leeftijd!
Wat de registratie betreft moet je toch echt bij je nieuwe landgenoten zijn, daar weet ik natuurlijk niets vanaf. Welkom op dit gezellige en informatieve forum!

[newday777]

Welcome aboard the forum TvL
And congratulations on getting your certification.
I don't know the CB650 so I can't verify the age, though I know that some countries allowed leftover vehicles to be titled in the year they were 1st sold and plated. There was a lawsuit here in the states during mid 70s that ended up that Honda had to put the model year on the vin plate as well as the manufacture date, until then they just had to put the manufacture date.

[TvL]

That bike stood the test of time better than the people on it!
Oftewel, die motor ziet er heel goed uit voor z'n leeftijd!
Wat de registratie betreft moet je toch echt bij je nieuwe landgenoten zijn, daar weet ik natuurlijk niets vanaf. Welkom op dit gezellige en informatieve forum!

Haha dankje wel Rob - ik weet wat je bedoelt. 😅

[TvL]

Welcome aboard the forum TvL
And congratulations on getting your certification.
I don't know the CB650 so I can't verify the age, though I know that some countries allowed leftover vehicles to be titled in the year they were 1st sold and plated. There was a lawsuit here in the states during mid 70s that ended up that Honda had to put the model year on the vin plate as well as the manufacture date, until then they just had to put the manufacture date.

Thanks Old Timer - the registration document has some other anomalies. Such as, it has my father as the 1st owner of the vehicle making me the 2nd although we know that he was in fact the 2nd owner and the bike was already 2nd hand in the early 80s. It has been crashed twice in the 90s but not badly and is still original except the exhaust, auxiliary lights, seat and tyres. Until I passed my test it had only been ridden a couple of times in 30 years being stored inside and kept restored all the while. The heirloom is now mine to keep going- EEK!! Quite the responsibility.

[bryanj]

The dvla register the 1st UK owner as first owner but usually endorse the v5 as " previously registered overseas".
It may well have been in stock before registration as they were not that popular a model, if you can get a dating letter stating year of MANUFACTURE dvla MIGHT alter the paperwork.
Honda uk will probably not do it but vjmcc might

[TvL]

The dvla register the 1st UK owner as first owner but usually endorse the v5 as " previously registered overseas".
It may well have been in stock before registration as they were not that popular a model, if you can get a dating letter stating year of MANUFACTURE dvla MIGHT alter the paperwork.
Honda uk will probably not do it but vjmcc might

Thanks Bryanj that helps - apologies who is vjmcc?

[robvangulik]

Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club.
And the Dutch RDW might still have some records if you know the old Dutch registration number.
BTW I sent you a Personal Message....

[TvL]

Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club.
And the Dutch RDW might still have some records if you know the old Dutch registration number.
BTW I sent you a Personal Message....

Got your message Rob - thanks for all your help. Lots to go on for me. I'll check with dad if he still has the old plate or details of it. T

[Kelly E]

I think they only used that style of Comstar wheel in 79', after that the centers were reversed so the edges were on the outside. I had an 80' CB 650 with the reversed Comstar wheels. We just sold the 79' CB 750F with the same wheels as yours.

[ekpent]

Excellent pictures !!

[jlh3rd]

appears to be a 1979....tank striping looks different?

[newday777]

Here's a video of a 1979

And some detailed information on the different years specifications

https://www.motorbikecatalog.com/model/honda/cb650.html

[RAFster122s]

Several examples of the standard frame CB650 like the US has in 79 was sold overseas after that time in later model years.
Which carbs are fitted to the bike. The US 79 and 80 had standard carbs while the head redesign in US 81 and 82 models fitted the Keihin CV constant velocity carbs.

STD comstars were fitted to 78 model year CX500, while 79 and later model years had reverse comstars

[grcamna2]

This one is a CB650Z model ?

[jlh3rd]

...not in the U.S. book...you are correct!

not a U.S. import?

[Nurse Julie]

It may be better if you join us on the UK branch of the forum as you're in Scotland. No disrespect to our USA friends but they don't know who DVLA are ☺️☺️☺️
www.sohc.co.uk

[Cruiser]

appears to be a 1979....tank striping looks different?

Curious to know what book that is.

[bryanj]

That ia a US model ID book that has a honda part number and used to be orderable from any dealer at reasonable cost BUT i believe it is now discontinued and when available is expensive PLUS it is only US models and you cant guarantee numbers run in line with other countries

[jlh3rd]

appears to be a 1979....tank striping looks different?

Curious to know what book that is.

here.....and bryan is correct . But I went to HELMS  last december and they had them for around $50 with shipping running around $20....I bought one for my son. It is NOT a reproduction.
Believe it or not, I got mine from amazon years ago for $39+/- ..

[jlh3rd]

says it's still available.

[bryanj]

Put the part number into any Honda on line supplier and it says discontinued. Helm did have a deal with Honda to reproduce any Honda manual or book that was out of print.
Put the number into ebay and price goes as far as $150 when available.
Again i must reiterate it covers ONLY models imported to USA and as such you will find anomallies with other countries imports

[jlh3rd]

or go to amazon for $129

[jlh3rd]

appears to be a 1979....tank striping looks different?

Curious to know what book that is.

my definition of reproduction: some yahoo with a printer making unreadable text and unrecognizable pics.

HELMS is a quality Co.
the current amazon one, dunno....mine is nice...

[Deltarider]

Don't you love that line in the add: "quality black and white photographs for every model"? That's some way of putting it.