1973 Honda CB

CB350F1022743

Clear

*** 1973 Honda CB350 FOUR ***VIN: CB350F1022743 This is my own personal 1973Honda CB350F. It’s mostly all original - factory quad exhaust, seat, odometer /tachometer cluster, gas tank, turn signals, etc. I did replace the mirrors withfactor OEM ones. I also put a brand new battery in. Tank is clean and appearsto be rust free. Over all the bike doesn't appear to have much rust if any tospeak of. Please take a close look at the photos of the actual bike. I wouldrecommend getting new tires, but thats all I can think of now. She's a delight to ride – besidesthe pride I have in riding such a beautiful bike, it provides excellenthandling, acceleration, and even speed (I can easily get her up to 90mph but Idon't ride fast so 50-60 is fine for me – top speed is rated at 98.8 –see specsbelow). She stops well as both brakes are in very good condition. When properly set up, this 350 Fourstarts easily, especially once it’s warmed up. With the carbs adjusted and theelectrics just right (which they are), you hardly hear the starter engage andit fires up that quickly. The 350 Four is a balancedbike. All its systems work in harmony and make it a joy to ride. The amplepower does the right thing through the butter-smooth, five-speed transmission.Gears engage with feel and when the clutch engages, a light winks on to helpyou find neutral. The neutral light, incidentally, shares a small light panelwith multi-colored lights for the high beam indicator, oil warning and turnindicators. At idle, the engine transmits virtually no vibration at all. Itmerely burbles away underneath you, waiting for action on your part. Cometically, the bikelooks great. A real head turner. Paint is nice and shiny with the originalFlake Matador Red and factory whiteand orange stripes. Side covers arealso in good original condition with the factory red and white stripes. This bike has the typical wear you wouldexpect on a 40 year old motorcycle, but is a wonderful unmolested survivor. I have not stripped the clear coat off some of thealuminum parts to polish them. This bike is in original survivor condition andruns EXCELLTLY. It will start by just pointing your finger at the starter. Being that the status of thisbike is a “vintage classic” its value will and has been appreciating. When I rideher, everywhere I go people come up and asked about the bike. I have only everseen one other identical model in the flesh. I firmly believe in originalityrather than restoration. They’re only original once, and when applied tomotorcycles that means they all have some nicks and scratches, but I love thatpatina. It's nice having something sounique. There aresome small marks on the paint. And as I’ve already mentioned, this one doeshave the original exhaust on it and mechanically works as it should. Anyone whoknows these bikes knows how rare it is to have an original exhaust still on it!!!They are extremely hard to find. This one has the usual scratches and a somedents (again, please see photos). But the exhaust is fully functional with noissues that I know of. Over all they look really good and sound great. I have seenpipes in much worse condition than this oneBay and there are very few. If there are, the bids for an original CB350F exhaustsystem seem to start at about $500 with several days left before the auctionends. Later the winning bid for the exhausts is around $1,600 - this justillustrates how sought after they are! The bike was just gone through bymy ace vintage Honda mechanic Saul (you can have his phone number if you’d liketo speak to him). Everything works as it should. She starts easily (in anyweather) - whether using the electric or kick start. Idles nice and evenly.Rides very smooth with excellent acceleration, smooth shifting, and nohesitation. Choke works fine too. She is quite road worthy. Thefollowing has recently been done to this bike: New fork seals Petcock rebuilt Oil filter and oil change Valve adjustment Carb synchronization Front caliper cleaning and rebuild Battery tender pigtail off battery New BatteryI'm sure there's more and some things I've forgotten, butthis bike has always been properly maintained and well taken care of. I have a clean title in hand (not salvage, flood, etc.) I've been riding her only in nicedry weather for a couple of years and have found her to be a pleasure to ride bothon long and short trips. And she’s a pleasure to behold. These bikes – and thisone in particular, is very practical, versatile, comfortable, reliable, and notto mention a real attention grabber. When I'm not riding it, I always keep herin my garage usually on a trickle charger.Please remember you are bidding on a 40 year old bike!I have tried to be as accurate as possible in my description of this bike. This bike is entirely too nice to "café"or chop.All shippingcosts are the responsibility of the buyer. I will accept PayPal only undercertain conditions. The winning bidder must contact me immediately toset up payment arrangements. Once full payment is received, I will release thetitle to the buyer and the bike to the shipper. I highly recommend goingthrough USHIP.com as they are fast, inexpensive, and easy to deal with.I am notdesperate to sell, am not a dealer, I don't do this for a living, I'm anenthusiast. If you'd like any detailed photos of a specific area of the bike,just ask! I have many photos of it but will be glad to take more if needed.Please ask any questions you’d like before bidding. You will be answeredquickly and honestly. I will not sugarcoat anything for the sake of a few extradollars and am not in the business to screw anyone. With all the bikes I haveowned over the years, I know how disappointing it is when someone over-sells abike’s condition so you may be sure I won't do that to you. I have disclosedand will gladly provide photos of all known defects for your inspection. This isan AWESOME motorcycle!At thebottom of this listing, I’ve provided some information about the bike – factoryspecs, reviews, etc. You are welcomed and encouraged topersonally inspect the bike and test drive it prior to bidding.Ifyou have any questions, please ask them now before you bid or buy!Althoughthis bike is sold "As Is" and "Without Warranty", I wantyou to be as happy with her as I have been, and I will do anything withinreason to see that you are. Please checkmy 100% Positive Feedback and bid with confidence.Thank you forlooking…_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The 1973 Honda CB350F was a four-cylinder four-stroke348cc Road Bike When youbuy an old bike, you're also buying a lifetime of history… The HondaCB350F was based on the larger fours. Thought of as Honda’s "one-up"to the other Motorcycle companies. It was only produced from 1972-74, itwas replaced by the larger and sportier 400 four the following year. AlthoughHonda had a 350 Twin that was more powerful, lighter, cheaper, and faster. Thefour-cylinder version was much smoother running and stylish and remains one ofthe smallest and most sophisticated mass produced four-cylinder designs.Internal frictionallosses sapped a lot of the power. The 350F and 400F models have since gained acult following in the Motorcycle community. TheHonda CB350 Four was sold in 1972-73. Two colors were available: CandyBacchus Olive and Flake Matador Red. The fuel tank stripes were white andorange. The "350 Four" side cover emblem was red and white. Theexhaust system was a 4-into-4 (two pipes and mufflers on each side of thebike). The engine was a 347cc 4-stroke inline four cylinder with 4 carburetors.The transmission was a 5-speed. The serial numbers began CB350F-1000001. In1971, Honda introduced the smaller CB500 Four. Cycle Guide magazine thought theCB500 was quite the package, as its August 1971 issue headline blared: “They’veDone It Again: Honda has unleashed another new standard for the motorcycleindustry to follow.” If thatwasn’t amazing enough, Honda’s next magic act was to decrease the size of itsfour-cylinder engine package even farther. In the spring of 1972, Hondaintroduced the CB350F, a statement as to what Honda engineers could do. Sheet metal— including the fuel tank — is unique to the Honda CB350F, and it’s a bit moreangular in appearance than the tanks found on the large capacity machines. Allbodywork including the tank, side covers and fork covers is painted, whilefront and rear fenders are chrome plated. One of themost distinctive features of the early Honda four-cylinder motorcycles was thefour-into-four exhaust system. With its four header pipes dumping into fourpleasingly- shaped conical mufflers, the bike looks stunning from both profileand rear views. Score Honda high in themuffler department! Survivingexamples of the 350F are almost always found with aftermarket sets offour-into-two pipes or other non original variations. 2003-2004 was the lasttime Honda listed original pipes as available, and by then a set of four costmore than $1,000. A set of original pipes is now a coveted prize for theenthusiast-collector who wants the original bike look — meaning even if a setcould be found they’d likely be mounted on a display-only machine. We’ve heardof owners paying as much — or more — for a set of perfect pipes as for anentire CB350 Four. The 350F issilky smooth, with some vibration showing up at about 5,500 to 6,000rpm butquickly disappearing beyond that. Thedifference in price — in 1972, the Honda twin was about $800 retail, while the350 Four was about $1,100 — which got you a lot of sophistication, refinementand neatness. Road Test Cycle 1973 Overall rating: (Details below) 75.2 66.8 63.9Detailed rating Engine performance: 78.4 70.2 68.1Reliability and problem-free driving: 87.6 70.4 68.2Fun-factor: 89.0 77.6 71.0Value for money: 94.0 73.1 67.0Repair and maintenance costs: 79.1 64.7 60.3Design and look: 83.2 75.2 70.1Offroad capabilities: 40.2 49.2 51.2Racing track capabilities: 48.4 54.1 56.4Touring capabilities: 68.5 65.7 62.6Accident risk: (excellent= low risk) 83.3 68.2 64.4Bar explanation 1973 Honda CB 350 F Average for classic bikes Average for all bikes Press Reports “We areagain reminded that some motorcycles have an appeal transcending mere numbers.Honda’s new 350cc Four is easily the heaviest, most expensive thing in itsdisplacement class ... But there is some indefinable something about thisnewest Honda that gets people turned-on and lusting after its shiny littlecarcass.” – Cycle, August1972 “The 350 Four, least expensive of Honda’smulti-cylindered line, is going to create a new clique of super fans.” – Cycle World,April 1973 1973 Honda CB350 Four Honda, as ithas done so many times in the past, went on to monopolize the headlines withthe new machine and brought flagging attention back on itself in one masterfulstroke. On thesubject of instrumentation, the fine Honda speedometer/tachometer combinationis rubber-mounted in tilted easy view. The speedo has odometer and resettabletrip odometer and both worked smoothly and easily without any wild gyrationsfrom the pointer needles. You feel thepower building in a rush and it's very pleasant indeed. Each gear change servesto make the bike jet ahead even faster and you're absolutely flying by the timefifth is engaged. But we'd better bring back that concept of balance herebefore the power/ acceleration syndrome takes over. Sure, the 350 Four can moveout with gusto. What's more impressive, however, is how it does it. AHarley-Davidson Sportster flat gets with it and little thought is given to howit goes about raising the hairs on the back of your neck. With theHonda, how is almost more important than the mere fact that it performs quitewell. The Honda has no mechanical whining or screaming to unnerve you. Themufflers don't emit a grinding bellow. Just a soft chuff-chuff-chuff-chuffcoming in rapid-fire succession to let you know that you're getting with theprogram. Adding to the package of balanced power are the brakes and the spot-onhandling. Perhaps we should say brake. Most of the bike's stopping ability isfocused on the superb (funny how that word pops up in Honda tests!) 10 1/4-inchfront disc. Hydraulically actuated, it brings rider and machine to an immediatehalt and the rear drum unit, 6 inches in diameter, serves only as a backup,really. It is a super brake in the tradition of Honda discs and even featuresits own mini-splash fender to control water spray in wet weather riding. The handlingunifies the bike. The power and the braking are merely ideas until they aremelded with the chassis—and what a fine-handling chassis Honda has come upwith. A well-designed double down-tube cradle frame, finished in black with theusual quality Japanese welds evident. The 350 Fourcan easily breed overconfidence in a new rider. It handles that well. Yet, theeasy power characteristics make it seem smooth and controllable. To dip intothe four-wheeled world for a comparison: the 350 Four is like driving aPorsche. The bigger superbikes, like a highly-tuned Corvette, have oodles ofhorsepower and you almost feel like you're riding a guided missile. Not so the350 Four. Just that Porsche kind of smoothnessand control. Very nice. Very civilized. Balanced. The rest ofthe package serves merely to accent the engine, braking, and handling. Thecurrent color scheme is a nicely applied Sparkling Flaked Matador Red withwhite and yellow accent stripes. Chrome fenders are fitted. The seat locks downto prevent thefts. Nice touch. Balance,then, is the key to the sales story on this latest product from Honda, mostlybecause the 350cc Honda Four is an excellent motorcycle. Road TestCycle 1973 On Oct-26-12 at 21:08:47 PDT, seller added the following information: