30th Apr 2010, 04:56

Just bought a 1978 CB750k $1800 off ebay. I was planning on making it a cafe, but after I got it I cannot bring myself to cut it up. It is in mint condition, and starts every kick (battery dead). It drives out great; a little sluggish, think it needs some tuning. My friends with their $15000 Harleys can have there payments and clothes. Love this bike!

16th May 2010, 21:04

Had a new 74 SOHC in '74. Most fun bike I ever had. I made the mistake of selling it to buy a new 75 Goldwing. That too was a great bike, but always missed my k4.

I agree with the 120-125mph top end, that's what was the norm for me and two others that also had new 74's we all bought the same time. I never had anything break in the year I owned it and put about 15k miles of really really rough riding on it (I was in the Philippines).

Just recently bought a 72-k2. Spent a ton getting it back in shape, but again a really fun bike to ride. My other two bikes, both Goldwings, stay parked a lot more now that I have the CB750/k2 to play on.

25th May 2010, 15:50

Wow... memories. I bought a new CB750 K4 in '74 for about $1,400. For its time it was a great bike. A few of us did a lot of touring in the mid to late 70's and did three cross country trips from Philadelphia to California. We hit Sturgis, Aspencade during that time and hit all 48 contiguous states. One of the best trips was a visit to the offices of Road Rider magazine and we got to meet Roger Hull and sign the wall.

Three 7,000 mile trips across the country and two shorter 5,000 mile trips, and a ton of short rides gave the bike close to 60,000 miles in six years.

On one return leg we went over 1,100 straight miles from Shamrock Tx to Bristol Va. Only one flat tire in New Mexico and zero mechanical problems during all that time. My main ride friend had a couple of Wings and I had to give him a ride back from Vicksburg Mississippi when he broke a U joint. You couldn't ask for a better bike.

1st Jun 2010, 19:24

I just bought a 78 Honda 750k. I put a new battery in, and after sitting for 10 years, it started right up... ran for about 5 minutes, then stopped... I cleaned the carbs and now no gas is getting to them... I really like the looks of the bike, but I can't seem to get things working... any suggestions?

21st Jun 2010, 05:14

This may be the first thing to look for, but did you turn on the gas valve? Second, I think that the 78's had CV carbs; it's possible that the sliding throttle valves are sticking, try some carb cleaner.

Good luck.

16th Feb 2011, 19:23

I had 2 Honda 750 fours, and found both of them very reliable.

The first one that I bought was a 1989 CB750. This was the model that had the four cables into the carbs, one cable for each carb, and not a good design. The speedo was in miles, and I put many miles up on this bike. I had it regularly tuned up, and it never let me down.

The fastest that I had this bike up to was 125 miles per hour, but the frame started to flex a bit.

The second 750 four that I owned was a 1974 model, and this bike had the single cable carbs on it. I was young and stupid, and decided to put a 905cc rebore kit in it. This made the bike very fast, and at one time I had it up to 130 MPH, but the frame flex was so bad that I could not safely control the bike.

I started riding with a bike club where everybody decided to ride either a Harley or a Triumph, and so I traded the Honda on a new 1978 model Triumph Bonneville. Boy was that a bad mistake. After the Honda, the Triumph was like a slow unreliable tractor, and my mates with Harleys were in a worse situation than I was.

After 2 years of putting up with the Triumph, I sold it and it was still as new. I really looked after this bike, but it was never as good as the Honda 750 four. The Honda was better second hand than a Triumph or a Harley was brand new.

I ended up going back to Japanese motorcycles, and I was in the land of reliability again. I am always on the look out for another 750 four, as I would like to have another one to bring back those 1970s memories.

12th Mar 2011, 09:20

Great machine the CB 750. Just finished restoring a 77, and had several growing up. Unlike hogs, they held oil well, and you always knew it would get you back home without breaking down.

As for driving it at high speeds, it was fine, it just took a long time to break out past the 110mph mark. If the machine is in good condition, it has no bad habits on the highway at faster speeds.

It has about 60 hp, so it is what it is. Unlike the faster two cycle 10,000 mile H-2s of the day, this bike kept on ticking well past 50,000 miles. It has been raced successfully on road race tracks of the day, in events where hogs could not be competitive. Put a modern day hog with it on the same track, and the CB 750 likely would still win. The CB is old tech, and any modern crotch rockets will leave it in the dust.

23rd Apr 2011, 20:38

I disagree. Assuming you have THOROUGHLY inspected the machine and have driven it for a couple weeks to be sure it's solid and reliable, there's no reason not to ton-up. Not daily, but an occasional 100+ mph blast won't hurt you or the bike. I have touched 120 mph for maybe 5 miles on my 73 SOHC.

The CB 750 is considered the first superbike; if you want to cruise, maybe it's time to profile on a Harley? Oh, and I wrung out my 1960 Triumph 500 Tiger (rigid) to 95 mph and lived. just sayin... LOL.

31st Aug 2011, 22:05

You won't have to pay that much. Depending on the condition, you can get one from anywhere from $400-$3500. My Dad picked his up for 400 bucks, and all he needed to do to get it running was clean the carbs. He got another identical bike for 600 that has electrical problems that need to be traced. I have seen them on craigslist ready to ride for a grand.