Hey guys, Thanks for the encouragement and yes this bike was on CL for $650 being sold by a local charity.
I emailed them and asked if the motor was seized and were they open to offers?
They did not respond then about a month later I get an email saying it is being junked tomorrow come and get it for $300. I responded can you go any lower and he responded OK $200.00 come get it!
For anyone that is interested, I wanted to find out more of the history of this bike.
I tracked down the previous owner to the LA area and gave him a call, he picked up the phone and said that's right I did own a 1976 CB750F blah blah. He didn't seem to happy about being bothered but after using a bit of my Cockney charm he came around and told me about the bike.
He said today he is 48 years old but he bought the bike when he was 22 years old going to college and working 3 jobs. He saved his money for it and bought it from his buddy who was into drag racing, hence the rear sets, 811 kit, double chain, pods and a 4 into one pipe.
The bike was his sole form of transportation and he loved it! The only problem being were the neighbors would complain about being woken up in the early hours to the sound of him taking off to work. Because of this he would coast the bike down the hill he lived at the top of. One morning he was screwing around coasting slalom down the hill in the early hours and got to close to the curb and smashed the Stator cover against the curb causing the oil to pour out. He pushed the bike back up the hill and that was that. That was 1984 the same year as the tags still on the bike.
The owner told me the stator cover was very expensive and so he put it on hold until the summer. The summer came and went and the years slowly started to roll by. Eventually getting married and raising kids, still with the intention of getting the bike running.
2010 comes by and he is 48 years old and his wife makes him finally realize the bike will never be fixed so he lists it on LA Craigs list for $650. He gets a call from a prospective buyer asking if the bike is seized? The buyer says if it is not seized he will pay $500. cash for it. The seller agrees but when the buyer shows up they cannot get any movement out of the kickstart so the buyer says its seized and no good to him and does not buy the bike.
The owners wife then convinces him to give it to charity and get the tax right off which he reluctantly does.
There I am dream shopping on Craigs list and I come across this bike for sale by the charity, asking price $650.
After negotiating her for $200 I drive up there and cross my fingers, pop her into neutral, put my foot on the kickstart and I feel those lovely pistons in motion as the kickstart comes down.
Music to my ears. So I guess the bike was meant to be mine, I have no idea why they thought it was seized, it must of been in gear for them. Lucky for me and I'm going to give her a new life and turn her into a beautiful Cafe racer.
It is really nice to know the history of a bike, especially when you put a piece of yourself into the project. I got my first bike at 16 years old the first day I was legal to ride on the road in London, that was 1984 and I remember it like it was yesterday. Ironically the same year and spring this CB750 was parked on the side of the house left there to wait for me to come along for 26 years!
I will post some more pics!
