Topic: which is more desirable - sohc or dohc cb750

[jabs83]

Just curious as to which years of cb750 are the most desirable from a general sense? And by general I mean amount of after market parts and support available, resale value, power in a stock engine, desirability for cafe or bobber project, and easier to work on. Other criteria is welcomed as well.

[fatmatt650]

My personal preference is for the 75-78 F models. Since you're posting on SOHC4 it's a pretty safe bet most people here are gonna be partial to the 69 through 78 SOHC bikes as opposed to the later DOHC bikes.

[the technological J]

i think the dohc have more horses but lack the class and style of the sohcs
 the beauty and simplicity of the sohc is what attracts me to them

[dhall57]

Even though the dohc 750's had more horses and where faster bikes they were never anywhere close to being as popular with the public as the original sohc 750's. The styling and the ease of maintenance of the sohc set them apart. If you have sohc and a dohc side by side more than likely all the attention and talk will be about the sohc CB750. A good example of this is when last year I found out that my neighbor across the street had a very nice first year 1979 CB750 dohc bike. I rode my 1976 CB750 sohc to his house to check out his dohc. When he saw my sohc 750 he was totally focused for the next hour on it even though his dohc 750 was parked just a few feet away.

[KingCustomCycles.com]

If sale price is any indication of "value" check eBay past sales and how little DOHC bikes will bring.  They are very slow to sell on Craigs.  I won't have another one unless someone gave it to me.  They are that hard to sell, even in awesome condition.  I sold a frame off restoration, new chrome exhaust, with fairing, Ducati red, and everything working excellent for $1600. 

[dusterdude]

a)because its a honda,there is little to no aftermarket support for either of these bikes
b)of course the sohc is the bike of choice and out of those the k1 is the preferred model.

[Bido]

I own a 78 750 Supersport and an 81 750K. To me they are totally different the 78 is not quite as fast but handles quick and gives a much stiffer ride I like to ride it for short trips and around town. The 81 I have been working on for a few years now and I have it tuned in pretty good it pulls like a train and runs much smoother. I have to say that once you get a DOHC running right and that takes some doing it is a joy on a long trip. I added a Corbin seat to my 78 and that helps with the ride. The bottom line for me is that I like to ride and having two bikes is better than one. Now that I have both done I am looking at an 83 1100F I like working on them as much as riding.

Bido

[Retro Rocket]

a)because its a honda,there is little to no aftermarket support for either of these bikes

I beg to differ. There are mountains of aftermarket parts for the SOHC 750, actually, probably more now than in the 70's when these were highly popular.

[KRONUS0100]

well, i have my 76 750F and i love it.  i also rode a 900 and 750 DOHC that belonged to a buddy.  both very nice and more power, but not my SOHC F model.    I have a 81GS1100E to satisfy my power needs, and my DOHC needs at that.

[KingCustomCycles.com]

a)because its a honda,there is little to no aftermarket support for either of these bikes

I beg to differ. There are mountains of aftermarket parts for the SOHC 750, actually, probably more now than in the 70's when these were highly popular.

+1, and I do hate to agree with you Rocket, but where did he get this idea?

[Terry in Australia]

In recent years with the advent of the Cafe Racer/Bobber/Chopper revival, parts for the SOHC4's have become much easier to find, but there was a time (pre-internet) when it was impossibly expensive to find very much at all for a SOHC CB.

I restored a 350F in 1996 and would walk dejectedly out of my local Honda dealer with a small handfull of parts and be several hundred dollars poorer on a regular basis, and the sharks that ran the motorcycle wrecking yards would demand exorbitant prices for the crappiest used parts.

The birth of EBay and other similar internet sites have been an absolute godsend for restorers, I can buy stuff cheaper (way cheaper) now than I could when I restored that baby 4 15 years ago. For example, a NOS exhaust system for the 350F was 2200 dollars at me Honda dealer, and I bartered with another dealer who wanted 900 bucks for a seat, I eventually got it for 300, but I almost came to blows with the fat slug before he'd hand it over. (long story)

Nowadays I can go to several different sites and buy what I want, and the only negative is the cost of shipping. Which model is better, has a race-proven pedigree, and has a huge international following? The SOHC CB750 by far.

The DOHC bike was a disappointment on many levels, and was totally ignored by the motorcycling world. At that stage Honda almost stopped production of motorcycles completely, due to horrifying sales figures, while the other Japanese manufacturers (particularly Kawasaki and Suzuki) couldn't keep up with the demand for their DOHC4's which were winning races on a Sunday, and selling like hot cakes on a Monday. Nowadays, the DOHC Honda's that survived the 1980's are a reasonable bike when not compared to anything else, but definitely not a good investment. Cheers, Terry.    

[Spanner 1]

Said it before and like to say it again, when I can.... had an 81 DOHC with 10K miles almost showroom condition and I just didn't like it at all.... the 2 level seat will only work if your under 5-10 and the annoying buzzing of the motor, peaking right at 70 mph cruising speed was horrible.....along with the bad steering 'weave' above 80 mph..... and yes, the bike was serviced to the max..,...... felt cheap compared to an SOHC and poor quality metal throughout , inc. the motor..... IMHO. The 750 Fours never came back until the Nighthawk appeared, a much better bike.

[mrbreeze]

My personal preference is for the 75-78 F models. Since you're posting on SOHC4 it's a pretty safe bet most people here are gonna be partial to the 69 through 78 SOHC bikes as opposed to the later DOHC bikes.

................thats some funny sh!t right there Matt!!!!................I was gonna say DOHC rocks!!!!.......(yeah....right!!!)

[the technological J]

a)because its a honda,there is little to no aftermarket support for either of these bikes
b)of course the sohc is the bike of choice and out of those the k1 is the preferred model.

a)how does someone have 6000+ posts and come up with this and
b)the 69 sandcast will fetch more than a K1 on its worst day