A superbike with a faring and bags?! Yes. Think of this motorcycle sort of as Clark Kent and Superman all rolled into one, without it having to find a phone booth to change clothes. Or to remove the travel gear, in this case. This 1981 Honda CBX is posted here on Facebook Marketplace in Clermont, Florida, and they’re asking $13,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Patrick S. for the tip!
I’ve mentioned probably too many times that I have a 1978 Yamaha XS750E that I haven’t ridden in, gulp, four decades now. That’s bordering on criminal, but now it’s a true barn find and is actually in a barn, or a shed. I need to dig it out. All that nonsense being said, I only mention it – since it’s like comparing a Subaru 360 to a Lamborghini – because my Yamaha was set up similarly to this CBX with factory bags. It had a clear windshield on it when I got it in the early 80s, but I put a regular ol’ Windjammer on it rather than the factory fairing made by Pacifica, and a different seat, which was much more comfortable. I also added a trunk and tried to match the factory paint as much as I could, which, for an 18-year-old punk, turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Enough of that, sorry.
Otherwise, there really is no comparison between my 750 Yamaha and this CBX. They both have two mag wheels, an engine (mine is a triple, so half the cylinders), a seat, and a gas tank, but a Subaru 360 has four wheels and an engine, and so does a Gallardo. Enough of that. Honda made the six-cylinder CBX for a handful of years, from 1978 through 1982, and it wasn’t the first six-cylinder motorcycle, but some would argue that it was the best. The seller says this bike is in very good condition, was just serviced, and has good tires.
For the 1981 model year, a year after Honda lowered the horsepower and tweaked the chassis, they added the bike seen here. The venerable CBX became a sports touring bike. Partly due to the popularity of their Gold Wing, and also because other makers had superbikes for the street that were competitive with the lightning-fast CBX, Honda went in a different direction for the last two years of production.
The engine is Honda’s 1,047-cc twin-cam inline-six with 105 horsepower and 63 lb-ft of torque. Backed by a 5-speed manual transmission that sends power through a chain to the rear wheel (no shaft drive on this model), these are fast, smooth motorcycles. Are they the best touring bikes? Maybe not. Are they the ultimate sport or superbikes? Maybe not, but Hagerty is at $12,400 for a #3 good-condition example and $20,500 for a #2 excellent bike. At $13,000, this doesn’t seem like a bad deal to me. What do you think?
We’ve talked about the CBX on several occasions, and the consensus is usually the same, it was too much. Actually, I remember more CBX “baggers” than any other CBX. It seems, while Honda was touting the 11 second 1/4 mile times, unheard of in a factory production bike, people found out, it actually made a decent cruiser, if you could keep your knuckles out of it, that is. They weren’t cheap, however, and a new CBX cost almost $5200. Not the $8,000 of an Electra-Glide, but almost a grand more than the GoldWing Interstate. Most went with the GoldWing. Awesome bike, leave it to Honda to out do them all.
Two of my friends bought these when the first came out 1 black and 1 red. These were amazing sport bike they both put Vance & Hines headers no mistaking the sound these six cylinder monsters made even more so with the baffles out. One of my other friends bought a GS eleven hundred Suzuki they all bought them the same day. Myself i stuck to four wheels i was very happy with my 69 mustang Mach one those bikes scared the hell out of me.
to be fair I wouldn’t mind any of these 3 bikes or the mach1 giving me a good scare lol.
Hi Scotty, that Yamaha of yours looks pretty good ! I bought my CBX new in 81. Howard is right on with with the price. Going from my 71 Shovelhead to this let me know I had a lot to learn about riding. I still have both, LOL.