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.
IMHO if I was to purchase a CBX, the 81-82 is the one I’d buy.
I was at the Honda Heritage Center in Marysville Ohio this afternoon. They have a perfect 1980 CBX supersport on display…wicked looking bike, 6 cylinder straight across…no faring, bags, etc. I wish I could post a picture.
Finally, an accurate write-up about the CBX. The early ones were faster, but it was never the fastest bike produced, it’s handling was only fair and its width was excessive compared to the other six cylinder bikes of the time. I’d argue the Kawasaki 1300 (which I once owned) and Benelli Sei 900 were both better all around motorcycles. These days the CBX brings a small fortune if its in good shape, mainly because they are fairly scarce, and they do look and sound nice especially with aftermarket pipes.. However, as a lifelong rider, would I own one of these? No, not really my cup of tea.
Yeah, we haven’t even discussed European bikes with just as much steam. I believe it was the Suzuki GS 1000 that eventually took the CBX down. So much so, it’s practically the only bike left in NHRA.
when a sports (cafe racer) bike fan (late 70s) the itilians were buying those to ship their way, strip out the motors & make their own frames. Still, quitea bike ‘as is’ in its day (or for 2day in my mind).
When bikes were being dumped on the market around 1985, I went in search for an ‘82 CBX (white with blue striping) at all the bike shops within a 150 mile radius.
Alas, I was told that they were no more, that any leftovers were either given to local HS/community college auto shops or just dumped in the ocean (was that true about being dumped??!!).
However, I did score a brand new 1981 KZ1000J still in the crate that carried me on many long distance vacations with nary an issue for many years.
Miss that bike, but an ‘82 CBX poster outlasted it in the garage.
You really know how to hit that set of right hand throttle endorphins, Scotty. Great feature as always as your love for the eclectic 2 wheel world shines brightly most especially on cold winter nights here in the desert.
I knew that we would hear from Nevadahalfrack about this post! And I rode his KZ1000.It was a,great bike!
The sound of a CBX is like a symphony. That, and a V12 anything on song with performance/racing exhaust is just music to my ears. I could listen all day!
I really miss riding these days. But not sure that I should climb aboard anymore.
That’s a very good deal indeed. I would suggest the bags / fairing add value simply because you see very few of them now. The fact that they are in good shape? Even better. The fork tubes are a little ‘flexy” and make the handling more typical of the years but what an awesomely fast ride.
They do sound nice with a hot exhaust system but good luck finding one.
This is a bunch like my first bike! A Silverwing. And fun fact, my Silverwing came with a CBX owners manual lol, also all the faring stuff was missing.
2nd fun fact, I had an absolute POS ’84 Berlinetta (3rd gen Camaro) that the trans was slipping hard-core, so that’s what I traded for the bike….dude says, “dang this shifts funny” and I said “yea it’s got a shift kit” lol I guess he never expected an 18yo girl would lie to him in such a way. I’ve felt bad ever since tbh but he’s still my fb friend and he was happy anyway to get a car for a bike.
I had the ’77 Yamaha XS750 in maroon with gold stripe. That was a gorgeous bike! Bought it in England when stationed there. Went to a motorcycle race and when my girl and I went back to the bike there was a crowd of about 30 people in a circle around it, just staring at it, not saying a word. I should have engaged the crowd to see what they were thinking but I was worried about taking off with a passenger on wet grass and dumping it in front of them! Haha..All went well until I didn’t recognize a berm and we sailed into a farmers field. This is when I learned the lady on back was a maniac, just screaming in excitement at how fun that was! She was beautiful and she was British and she dumped me for an A-10 pilot with an ’81 Suzuki Katana..
Sorry to hear! But made me laugh! Sorry about the laugh!
Hey that’s life, we all gotta laugh. Always wonder what happened to that girl and what she did to that poor guy!
I love that story. I wonder if she thinks of that ride once in awhile too, I bet she does 🥰 I’m a born romantic lol but that’s just a lovely story! She’s a gearhead dame too so I get it; some…nay, MOST of my most treasured memories have either a bike or especially a car playing a big role in the tale.
Wouldn’t it be cool to have our old cars and bikes back, our favorite jams in the tape deck..fill in the blanks.
She might remember but that was 55 yrs ago and I have fonder memories of the bike then of her! LOL
Scotty, I always love seeing pics of your XS750. I wish I still had pics of my ’79 XS750F – good memories of that bike.
Just one tiny bit to pick about the authors history lesson on the CBX. While you could possibly buy a CBX in 1978, they were designated as 79 models. So, all CBX 6’s are 79 through 82 models. As far as one commentator stating the Kawasaki 1300 and the Benelli Sei being better bikes? I strongly disagree. The design and engineering built into the CBX is much more refined. For example Honda tucked the alternator in behind the cylinder head verses just sticking it on the end of the crankshaft like the Kawasaki and Benelli. This resulted in an engine that was only about two inches wider than the CB750. Additionally honda used six carbs with equal length intake manifolds versus the other two manufacturers using a couple carbs and unequal length intakes which comprised performance. Subjectivity, the Kawasaki seemed to get many of the unfortunate styling ques of the era which resulted in a quite chunky appearance. To paraphrase Jay Leno, the Benelli engine looks like a Honda 750 with two more cylinders added on to it.
I bought an 82 CBX crate bike about ten years ago and I finished putting it together. It was a thrill to fire it up for the first time since it left the factory. That bike had 1.3 factory test miles when I bought it. I did a close up walk around of it back then. It’s on YouTube. I sold that bike to finance a nut and bolt restoration of a 79. The 79’s are dearest to my heart. I love the candy glory red paint, the hotter motor and the 150 speedo, the 1980-82’s models got that stupid 80 mile per hour. Talk about ham handed government overreach. I currently have two 79’s which look like twins. One is the nut and bolt restored 68,000 mile bike and the other is a 4,000 mile survivor. Side by side they are nearly impossible to tell them apart.
You are correct, sir, but I didn’t say they were made for model year 1978, only that they were made from 1978 to 1982. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t. I normally say “made in 1978 for the 1979 model year,” and I guess I’ll have to do that from now on.
Everybody gets one and etc. lol
Autocorrect got me. I tried to say I was nit picking.
So you were right the first time, Scotty-they WERE made in 1978 regardless of what the designated model year was intended to be.
IIRC the Mustang was a first produced in 1964 but they were marketed as 1965 models as with so many other rigs that have been made accordingly.
If you have never ridden one of these, you missed the thrill of a lifetime.
About the whole Is it chain or shaft drive? thing. If it’s got a longitudinal engine like a BMW Airhead or the flat four and six Goldwings they’re going to be shaft drive. Can anybody come up with a longitudinal bike that isn’t shaft drive? And, off the top of my head I can’t think of a single transverse bike that isn’t chain drive.
Responding to Steve S. About shaft drive bikes, that is transverse, Kawasaki made inline four cylinder bike with shaft drive based on the kz 1000 model, so did Yamaha too, and Suzuki and early MV Augusta 750,
I’m thinkin Indian Four-Cylinder motorcycles (produced 1928–1942) used a chain drive, not a drive shaft. Duz that fit ur criteria?
Good point. It does. I’m surprised Indian would want the added complexity of a transfer box to get the power rotating transversely. Pierce used shaft drive.
As a young man of 21 I bought a ’79 CBX, from a local dealer in Varna Ontario. It had 300 klms on it, returned by someone who traded it in on two two dirt bikes. Without question it was my lucky day. I put a Windjammer IV, back rest and luggage rack on it and left Ontario for the West Coast. I never had a complaint with the bike and could only wish it was still in my garage.
i would out run a cbx with my 1983 v 65 magna . straight line rocket ship.not many comments on the v65.
My thrill of a lifetime was on a BSA 500cc single with Daytona cams and an Amal TT carb (or so I was told by Hillary Heaton, “Mr. Peepers,” who was an absolute bike nut and one helluva rider) Hillary had a bike shop in Nyack, NY, (?) and had built it. It would do a wheelie in 3rd (of 4). Scared the **** out of me and I had Hillary swap it back to stock.
I “inherited” it when a buddy joined USAF (eventually a F-104 jockey who died when he tried an Immelmann in a Stearman with a full load (700 lbs.) of crop dust in the front seat hopper. He survived the crash but the dust got him in about 30 seconds. First pass after taking a ten minute familiarization run with no load.
Hank tried to save time by eliminating the 180 degree turn at the end of a pass by doing the half loop with a turn to right-side-up at the top, dive down, make the return pass. But, the ol’ Pratt just didn’t have the balls to pull it off with that load.
Scared myself silly a couple of times on the Beeza and dis-inherited it. The most fun was watching a Hog rider show me how to start without using the compression release. That sucker would kick back and guess where the straight-legged guy would go… straight up!