Cost to restore this Honda CB750

A friend looking at this badly neglected CB and I'm curious about restoration cost. It's a 77 with 26K miles. Hasn't run in 8 years but purportedly was running then. Engine turns and most parts are then. Guesstimates to do a home restoration to driver quality? The seller wants $700 for it as it sits.

[herr_oberst]

I can't answer the restoration question, but to me that would be a great candidate for a cafe racer. I'm not seeing a ton of rust, and it looks pretty straight from this side.

Is the sidecover around?

I would give him 7 and have a ton of fun building something cheap.

I love the idea of a minimal cafe bike, but buddy wants a stocker. Seems like this is a perfect candidate for mods.

[Steve Carlton]

C'mon, 500 quid. Hold out your hand!

[Nostril Cheese]

Pretty much all the parts are still available. Carb kits might be a little hard to get. IIRC, the idle jets are pressed in on the '77, makes it hard to refresh the carbs.

I'd offer $500 and expect $3-400 in parts/supplies to get it back on the road. Get new tires as well.

[speeder]

Probably goes without saying but price out what a nice one goes for, calculate number of weekends left on earth and do the math.

[asphaltgambler]

My experience: These are great bikes but those years a dime a dozen. Even an amateur restoration done thoroughly and properly will exceed the market value. Like a lot of things, it's a slippery slope and you can get buried in it. Personally I really like them.

[s_morrison57]

I'm not a bike guy and this isn't a 750 but I sure do like it

[nynor]

it will be $$$.

[jhynesrockmtn]

77 is not the year to restore to a stock bike, café yes. I see nice running bikes on CL, post 75 for $1,500. $700 is over priced for what that is and its condition.

[motion]

Yeah, that's a $300 bike, sorry to say.

[sugarwood]

Funny, how stuff that was considered literal garbage for decades now has a market value, apparently.
People used to toss this type of stuff to the curb all the time. In fact, you'd have to pay to get someone to remove it.

[911SauCy]

give him the $300, get it running, remove stupid windscreen thing and all other extraneous garbage, add motocross rubber...you're welcome

OK - buddy passed. I threw out $500 offer and seller bit. Picking it up this week. What the hell did I just do?

Maybe?

[bri450sl]

There's a huge cult following restoring these into resto mods or cafe racers here in Milwaukee. I used to see them a dime a dozen and could pick them up for a couple of hundred bucks. Back in the 80's, my brother even got one for free which I dove all summer and it's still running. They are now going up in price and after a restoration, they're quite pricy.

[nynor]

Originally Posted by Mark Wilson

OK - buddy passed. I threw out $500 offer and seller bit. Picking it up this week. What the hell did I just do?

you opened up your wallet to a whole lot of 'while you are in there'.

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by Mark Wilson

OK - buddy passed. I threw out $500 offer and seller bit. Picking it up this week. What the hell did I just do?

Some inspiration for you.. This '78 looked like yours when I got it. I put roughly $500 into it.

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by Mark Wilson

OK - buddy passed. I threw out $500 offer and seller bit. Picking it up this week. What the hell did I just do?

LOL. If I were you, I'd wash it, change all the fluids, clean out the carbs, replace the battery/plugs, lube everything you can reach and just ride it, see if you like it.

I bought a 750-4 of about that era in the early 80's and rode it for a while.

Just got bored with wringing it through the gears in the end. That's fun and all - it does it pretty well, and makes some nice noises - but it's pretty much a one-trick pony.

I eventually decided the 750-4 was a tedious overweight pig with a stupidly high seat height/CoG and not much fun to ride slowly (e.g. legal speeds).

If you just wanted to go really fast, there were far better choices (I came about this ><.close to buying the original 180-degree crank Jota - but didn't, which is probably why I'm still alive).

[ledhedsymbols]

I don't think you did wrong. Keep the right attitude and if you spin your own wrenches you can have a fun ride for cheap. Should be a good ride, a cb750 is a lot of bike still and should be fun. (Says the guy with less than two years on two wheels.)