UPDATE 7/17/2019 – So, we just heard from Tom and he has an update for us! He was the title for the bike in hand and ready to sign over. He also checked to see if the engine will turn over and he hooked up a battery to test the lights. The motor turns over great and all the lights work as they should! Now it just needs a new home, so be sure to message him with your questions and best offer.
FROM 7/17/2019 – Having been stashed away in the back of the garage for the past 27 years, this first year Honda V45 Magna is in really nice cosmetic condition. According to Tom B, it was running when it was parked in 1992, but he hasn’t attempted to start it. It’s a one owner bike that is definitely worth reviving! He’s asking just $750 for it and it is located in Valatie, New York. If you are interested in buying this garage find, be sure to message Tom via the form below!
Tom notes that there is some surface rust and corrosion in a few spots, but he hasn’t found any serious rust. It’s all original and has covered just 2,111 miles. The bike rolls easily, so it shouldn’t be difficult to load up. You might be able to get it running with nothing more than a tune-up, but Tom didn’t want to risk damaging anything or taking away from the excitement of getting it running again.
Shipping a motorcycle is a bit different than shipping a car, but there a few companies out there that specialize in it and aren’t terribly expensive. Personally, if I were anywhere near New York, I’d get a buddy to make the trip over to see it with me. If the engine has compression and spark I’d do a fluid change, get it running and ride it home. It sure would be an amazing adventure! There really is only one hangup with that plan and it’s that the title is missing. As long as it was in Tom’s name, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get a replacement. And depending on what state you live in, you might only need a bill of sale to register it anyways.
These Honda’s are great bikes! This one has the water-cooled 748cc 16-valve V4. Between it’s high compression, 10k rpm redline and 6-speed transmission, it will cruise at highway speed comfortably. This one really does appear to be in good shape and cleaned up nicely! If you’d love to have, be sure to contact Tom.
- Asking Price: $750.00
- Location: Valatie, NY
- Mileage: 2111
- Title Status: Clean
- VIN: JH2RC071XCM007894
List your car here on Barn Finds for only $50!
I had a guy come up to me when these first came out. He was quite confident that it was going to replace the Harley. I replied that although it was impressive in many ways, it was still NOT going to replace MY Harley. However I was very impressed. And when the V65 came out I compared it to a warhead. My late friend left a V45 in his garage for about 10 years prior to his passing. The family has finally decided to sell it. The carbs are jammed solid with skunky gas and varnish so there is going to be a major challenge getting them working properly. I’m still looking forward to a wild ride when I get it running…
I have two carbs up for grabs
This may sound strange but I have the exact same motorcycle same color and everything I had quit riding it for a while after a pack of hoodlums tried knocking me off of it with a branch one day coming home from work. I’d let it shut for a couple of years and then when I finally decided I wanted to write it again I realized the carburetors and everything was gummed up I suggest draining it putting fresh in and sea foam ah just read the instructions on it you may have to put maybe a cup a seafoam in there and it’ll clean the whole system up once you get it up and running also change the oil with good synthetic oil and change the antifreeze and once I cleaned those carburetors that thing was really something to hold on to while I was riding
Too bad that in NY and NJ it’s hell to retitle a vehicle
82 V45s had oiling problems which ate the cams and rockers.
It’s not if they would fail but when.
They are liquid cooled as well and not storing them properly will result in serious corrosion damage.
Not a bad bike for the price, but it’s pretty ugly. I hate the seat and sissy bar look on these I’m not to fond of the wheel styling either and the colour would have to go.cleaning up those carbs is not rocket science getting rebuild kits might be tricky but hey I can still get kits for the carbs on my 1977 gl 1000 so I’m sure there still out there for this too.
The carbs themselves don’t bother me; it’s synchronizing them afterward. I’ve spent as much time dialing them in as I’ve spent rebuilding them. That’s why I prefer just one carburetor.
That is true but your external settings are idle speed and idle mixture. I try not to mess with idle speed settings on the individual carbs, and I reference the idle mixture screws before I take them out so I have a starting point. A good set of vacuum gauges is also a must. Your sure right about single carbs being easier though. Think of the time needed to set up a v12 jag. I guess there aren’t to many modern mechanics that know how to work with carbs these days. I always enjoyed building carbs did a lot of that back in the 80’s and I have my favourites.
2000 miles? Someone will scarf this up and get a deal. Figure battery, tires, carbs rebuilt, and brake system at least flushed and more likely rebuilding calipers and 2 master cylinders. Got to also look for rust in the gas tank. If you DIY it’s not a lot of money.
As well, you Definitely want to look very closely at the hoses.
Sorry, nobody going to want this. Bikes like this were so popular at one time, that’s why you see on shows like American Pickers, some guy has a farm field full of them, they were throw away bikes. Electrics were primitive, and I bet most of the bikes in those farm fields have electrical problems, and good luck finding new original parts for vintage Asian bikes. Dealers were instructed to throw away spare parts, and unless someone dug them out of a dumpster, you are screwed. I know, I’ve tried finding parts for vintage Asian machines. Cool bikes,,,for when they were new in ’82. Wasn’t the V65 the fast one?
V45 was plenty fast. The V65 was SCARY FAST.
In ’83 (I bought an ’83 V45 new from dealer), I made a run from ABQ to Emporia, KS in a bit under 8 hours. Considering a fuel stop approximately every 100 miles, that trip saw a lot of triple digit mph.
Road my 83 V65 for 20 years til I got taken out by a minivan and nearly died.
Yes, the cams wore prematurely but there was an aftermarket kit to fix that.
And yes it was the fastest production bike sold that year. 117 hp and enough zero-to-60 grin inducing grunt to make you question your sanity if you weren’t holding on really tight when you twisted that throttle. It could STILL scare me after 20 years.
And damn reliable! I did work on the cams, but other than that, changed oil and drove. 20 years and only one repair. What other machine is that reliable but a Honda?
Even ended up putting a custom hitch on it, and a bigger fairing and pulled a little trailer from Canada to San Diego and back up in two weeks.
My wife’s butt hurt so bad, she got off the back and said, “I will NEVER ride a bike again”. And she never did. Oh well, I like solo :)
Just sold a 1984 V65 Sabre for $1000 and felt lucky. Scary fast is the description I also use. These were great bikes. In city driving they overheat quickly. They need to go fast. Never had any electrical problems and clean fresh fuel is a must in any motorcycle.
I recently sold my ’81 GoldWing, and was as happy as a clown. Great bike, like this one, but without any diagnostic equipment, and no dealer around,( not that I’d pay them $100/hr anyway) I didn’t feel justified spending hundreds of dollars for parts, usually in vain, for a $800 dollar motorcycle. It seems the electrics deteriorate over time when not used and new ones still in the box, if you can find them are bad.
Have to respectfully disagree in part, Rube-I’ve a huge stash of KZ1000-P parts (used and NOS) for rebuilding old Kawi police bikes and I’ve had far fewer issues with electrical stuff failing than my friends that are rebuilding old Moto Guzzis and HD police bikes but most all bike electrics are fixable anyway..
But maybe it’s just my stuff in a garage.
My wife had only comment. “If I bring this this home,she knows the number of a good divorce lawyer”, enough said.
A friend of mine bought one of these exactly like this: a neglected garaged bike. He did some minor maintenance then rode it from SF to Honduras!
Parts for older Honda’s are often difficult to find and even more difficult to afford. I finally quit messing with them because every time I bought parts l felt like I had got ripped off! Also you have to wonder what happens to the titles on so many vehicles; l have never “lost” the title to a vehicle that I’ve owned! Just wondering!!
I’ve had a tornado take everything I owned. So lost titles happen.
Me either, they go in my “important paper” file. Same with owners manuals missing, why would you take the owners manual out of the vehicle?
Maybe, reading material in the library with the flushing porcelain chair..?
😳😁
Not running, no title = no value
Tom has the title for it now and the engine turns over freely, so getting it back on the road shouldn’t be too difficult!
Easy peasy. Lots of places to buy almost all the parts new plus all the wrecking yards for bikes around the country-this looks really good and if it were closer I’d clean it up then flip it to someone that would appreciate it for what it is all about. Frankly it’s been my anecdotal experience that longtime riders with serious yearly mileage under their behind are far more attentive drivers-generally out of necessity.
I owned an 84 for 21 years. Loved that bike. Only changed the oil, tires and battery. Never gave me any trouble. Then I moved to southern Florida. No place to ride down here. The new owner kept it in his living room.
No place to ride in Florida? How come?
Back in the late 80,s early 90,s I owned both the 1982 CB Custom and a 1983 one year only 1,000 CB Custom. As far as I am concerned those bikes were ahead of there time. They were 4 cylinders with chrome quad mufflers, Air adjustable suspension, Comfortable step seat with back rest and parcel carrier above the rear fender. They also had dual 10 speed transmission. 5 low range, 5 high range. Shaft drive, Dunlap RWL Qualifier tires. They were very fast bikes back then and still are today especially in low gear range. When looking at a 37 Y O bike just think about all the rubber seals that dry rotted, and Deteriorated along with all the dry gas and varnish gook in the carbs. Then the original tires look good but are probably dry rotted and unsafe. Then who knows how deteriorated the electronics and wiring harness is. Also a radiator sitting unused for a longtime. Sooo, even though it is very low mileage, It will not be worth the cost of restoring it. If anyone is interested, I have late 70,s, early 80,s carburetor set and starter for sale plus extra carbs. and parts to rebuild. They will fit 750 CC to 900 and 1,000 CC Honda 4 cyl. bikes.
I have a 1977 gold wing with a custom side car, it’s a 42 year old bike that when I bought it had 36k miles on it. I ride it every summer and it give2 me no trouble all original seals and gaskets no leaks. The only thing that’s changed is the sidecar has dragged the fuel mileage down a bit.
We’re talking V45 Magna here..far cry from a CB…and most motorcycles from ’81-83 had very lean carburetors due to emissions requirements and made the bikes cold-blooded as h#ll. Magnas aren’t easy to work on..try to remove the carburetors to clean them, as an example. So this one should go to someone who knows how to work on motorcycles.
Have you ever driven around in Broward County? There are no open roads. Only red lights and clogged highways. Plus many of the people should not be given a license. One old man literally ran me off the road and had no idea what he did. Try it sometime, you will understand.
I bought a 1984 Honda Magna (700 model) brand new back then, and rode it for 30 years until I bought my 2013 Harley Road King. That Honda was simply bullet proof. Did my own paint job, replaced the exhaust with an after-market performance pipe, never had any major repair, hell, not sure I had a moderate. And being water cooled meant that engine runs and runs. Sold it last year for $1000. I’m pretty sure I got my money’s worth. Oh…and the 90-degree V-4 engine is still in production at Honda today – no need for counter-balancers.\
I own the big daddy of these bikes, the VF1000R, I am the original owner, and it is running fine. Fastest I had it up to was 170 mph, back when Montana had the reasonable and prudent speed limit. I bought it new in 1986, and used it to run the DC beltway, as it was fast enough to keep the damn lawyers in BMWs and Mercedes off my rear end.
mtshootist1 – we must have ran across each other at some point! I bought my 1984 Magna VF700C from the Honda dealer in Fairfax, VA and lived in Northern VA with that bike until 2000.
Kept mine until 2013 – bought my Harley – but gave “Maggie” to my nephew in Georgia.
Don C I was working in DC for a couple of years 1988-89, but bought the VF1000R at the Harley-Honda dealer in Cheyenne WY, it was an 85 model, however, I do remember going to the Honda dealer in Fairfax, I lived for a while in Vienna, the most memorable thing was when somebody stole the wyoming plate off the back of the VF1000R, and left the bolts and nuts. I guess they wanted them for a souvenir. it was parked at the Vienna Metro station right in front.
Hey mtshootist1 – I know the Vienna Metro very well. I worked in the Pentagon as well as CIA – so the trip through Vienna (Rte 123?) was very common. That’s too funny about the WY plate.
The V-45 Magna (750) was a very fast machine for a 750. I rode one of these, same color and all, and really enjoyed it. Their handling wasn’t great, but you could improve it by installing a fork brace.