Hi, I'm from Richmond Ohio, and just started getting interested in the Honda fours. I bought 2 750's in pieces at a swap meet about a year ago, and the bug hit me from there. I currently have a 1973 CB500 that runs good but needs some TLC, a 1977 CB550 that I'm picking up soon, should be easy to get it road worthy, a 75 CB750 I'm restoring, and a 77 CB750 parts bike.
It's been hard to get much work done in the last year due to my garage situation, but within a few months I'll have that problem fixed. I'm building a new house, and the basement is going to be the workshop. I put a double door entering the basement, and there's a section about 15'x20' dedicated to project bikes, plus a 30'x20' for winter parking and maintenance. I'm pretty excited about having a heated area to work, it's going to be a huge step up from a dirt floor barn.
Plans are to put the 750 on hold and focus on the other two. All three bikes will be cleaned up but riders, I don't want museum pieces.
The 550 needs a good cleaning and it should be ready to go. Carbs, tank, that stuff needs gone through but nothing major. It was a rider until 3 years ago when the PO hurt his back. He sold it to me cheap, he's getting old and knows his son will probably just scrap it if the time comes.
The 500 only has 9,000 miles on it, I need to find an airbox to replace the pods, new exhaust, and some cleanup. I rode it the other day, it's not too bad. The Pods and drag pipes the PO installed are making jetting hard, I'm going to put a 4 into 1 exhaust on and a stock airbox. I don't know the history, only that it sat in the last owners garage for 15 years. The title had last been signed in 1977, so I imagine it sat since then. Pretty good find IMO.
The 750's I bought not knowing what I was getting into, and it kinda came back to bite me. Both bikes were in pieces, the guy had started selling parts off of them. The 77 had no title, but I figured between the two of them there was one good bike. I would have been right if parts were interchangeable. When I realised what I was getting myself into I kinda put everything on hold until I could get my garage figured out. Soon I'll be looking for a bunch of parts for a 75 and I'll have stuff for a 77 for sale.
This summer I hope to be able to go on a few road trips with the 500 and 550. I'm used to riding modern bikes so this should be an adventure. The 500 was bought from a friend on the assumption that he has borrowing rights, so the 550 will go to good use in that aspect. Him and I go on a few long rides every summer on our newer bikes (me an FJR1300 and him a VFR750) so this should be a fun change of pace.
It seems like every time I go out on the 500 I get a few older guys that tell me stories about riding these bikes back in the 70's. I'm pretty excited to own a piece of history like this. It really does seem like these bike are one of the first modern motorcycles. My dad has told me stories of 750's embarrassing the built Harley's he used to ride back then, then the Honda's being ready and willing to ride cross country the next day if you wanted. My girlfriend's dad saw the 500 and was amazed that I actually bought one, one of the first bikes he owned was a CB550.
Sorry for the long post, I tend to ramble sometimes. I'm looking foreward to having access to the knowledge on this site, and hopefully I can meet a few of you guys on rides when I get my junk together.
