[madtempest]

Hi everyone, brand spankin' new to the board. First post!

My uncle passed away two years ago. He was 80, retired, and a snow bird, with houses in Florida and Long Island. I lived next door to him growing up in the 70's, and I remember his blue Honda growing up, but it was always part of the background noise of things you don't really pay attention to when you are a kid.

I've helped my aunt quite a bit with the house, cleaning out all his stuff and doing what I can to help her with the house. Recently I found out he still had his old blue Honda, and my aunt, knowing my interest in motorcycles these days, let me have it. She told me as of 2 or 3 years ago, it was still running, although he didn't do much more than fire it up in the driveway.

When I found it in the garage, sitting next to his old Ford F150 and a ton of "junk", I had no idea what I was really looking at. It looked like an old CB, which is something I have been interested in getting, but I'd never seen anything quite like this bike. I took some pictures and got online to start my research.

It was a little confusing at first, I kept seeing bikes that kinda/sorta looked like this bike. I kept seeing CL450K0 but that didn't look quite right. When I saw something called a CB450D and googled that, I knew I was on the right path.

I know he is the original owner and bought the bike from a dealership at the end of 1967, and that it was always garage kept. I have attached some bad photos. When I have time to get back there and clean it up a bit I will take some new photos. Not sure why some of the photos uploaded upside-down.

Anyway, I have to say I am really excited by this bike! Not 100% sure what to do with it right now... originally I wanted to do a restore or upgrade with newer parts, but I think right now I want to clean it up and see if I can get it running and go from there!

 

[ancientdad]

Welcome - this nice first post should have been in the Introduction area, but we'll give you a pass since you've done all the right things... back story, pictures and your recount of the research you did to find out what you now have. You may not realize what a rare machine you inherited... and as such you should, for future value's sake, keep it just as it is (well, maybe take the bags and rack off it, that combo is very unusual in the way it was added). Great story and good luck getting it running. If it were mine, I'd keep it as both a prized inheritance and a very valuable vintage bike that one day will be worth even more than it is already.

Edit: here's something to help understand the issue with the picture orientation

https://www.hondatwins.net/forums/25-website-issues/120382-pictures-post-upside-down.html#post1008568

 

[tbpmusic]

Holy cow - looks like you were gifted a real 4-speed D-kit.
You need to restore what's there, including the original HondaLine luggage rack.
The saddlebags and windshield and roll bar are fairly worthless, unless they turn out to be from Honda.
But the bike is worth plenty, especially restored.

 

[Rothafella]

Welcome and love that bike! The luggage rack with saddlebags look pretty good too.

 

[J-T]

Moved to the member intro area.

The 450D and an original 450 police bike pretty much define the holy grails of the Honda world, other than maybe some of the real early ones. A bike with the documented history of this one is something really special. If you place a lot of importance on retaining value you might want to leave it as it is (other than cleaning it up).

How many miles?

Do you happen to have the original title?

 

[ctrider]

Well, welcome aboard. You are in the right place!
As Rothafella says, I kinda like those saddlebags.
Good luck with it.
looking forward to seeing it cleaned up.
where are you located?

 

[12ozPBR]

As the other have said you may be realizing how lucky you are and what a gift your grandfather has left to you. A K0 450 D kit is a rare and valuable Honda. Please leave the bike in it’s original condition. Proceed slowly and ask questions here, the individuals who have responded so far are some of the experts on these particular bikes and will help steer you in the right direction. Thanks for joining the forum and posting your story and photos. I can’t wait to see more of this awesome bike!

 

[jays100]

all i can say is "Wow"!

 

[Rayfromtheuk]

What a great legacy. Rare and valuable.

If that were mine I would just get it as clean and shiny as I could. It looks to be on great condition.

I like restored bikes but a good condition original in my opinion with the patina is nicer to own and more valuable.

Keep it until you really know what you have.

If you were in the UK I would try anything to get that from you. It's the only K0 version I don't have!

 

[madtempest]

Thanks for all the advice! At this point, all I am going to do is clean it up and try to get it started. If I get it in good running condition I might get a new set of mirrors, but I would keep the originals. I actually had someone contact me about doing some kind of "barn find" show, but who knows.