Value of a 1973 Honda CB350F?

[loonymoon]

I own a 1973 Honda CB350F - the forerunner to the very popular 400/4, and baby brother to the CB750F and CB500F. I've had said bike for 9 years and you can see it in this link.

I may have to think about selling my beloved 350 at around the end of Summer as my partner and I are hoping to finally get on the property ladder and as you all know that is very difficult in the current climate without a deposit. So basically I'm wondering what it's worth and whether it's worth selling..

A bit more info:

It's on about 11,500 miles.
It was manufactured Jan 1973 in Japan. (unfortunately not tax exempt)
It was imported to the UK in 1996.
I am in contact with the original owner who bought the bike in 1974.
It has non-original 4-4 exhaust silencers(downpipes are original) and an after market rack (fitted by original owner) but the rest of the bike is all original.

It has not been restored but I did a little work to bring the engine casings back up in 2006 and it then won a first prize in the classic 70's section of a local historic vehicle rally.

It's recently had a go over including a new front tyre, new chain, new front brake pads and has had electronic ignition system fitted which has smoothed out the timing. The mechanic who was working on it still has it and says that it's running as sweet as anything.

I have many manuals and other books about this bike and it comes with the original owners manual, toolkit and all receipts from my ownership and some before.


I don't really want to sell, but if necessary I may need to to help us scrape together a deposit.

Any thoughts on value welcome. I realise this is a very hard bike to value given it's rarity in this country but then it's not going to be as popular a buy as say a 400/4 as no-one here will have had one in their youth as the 350 was never officially imported.

[Blue]

what a wonderful little machine! in my opinion the most underrated motorcycle in the world.

i cant honestly give a value for the UK market where i expect there's a larger demand for small capapcity bikes, but i can give you an idea of australian market prices.
unfortunately i've seen these gems in literally factory-fresh condition fail to sell for AU$2,000 (about 950 pounds).  i paid $600 (275 quid) for a 350-4 with 6,000 miles on the clock; the only problem with it being a blown fuse
so if the market here is anything to go by i would be surprised if your bike sold for 1,000 pounds or more, even given the excellent condition - BUT having said that the potential buyers in britain should also be more numerous and less miserly given the popularity of the sub 350cc class of machine

i hope this helps, although it probably doesnt unless you want to sell in australia! more to the point however is i hope you needn't sell that pearl of a motorcycle at all!

good luck,
Blue

[loonymoon]

Hi Blue,

Yes the 350 is much more common in Australia, in fact I think it was more popular there than anywhere else.

I have a friend in Brisbane who has a tatty 350F she's doing up, her husband and her are fans of the SOHC4's.

I have an agreed value on my insurance of £1500, I probably wouldn't sell if it were to go for much less than this as it's hardly worth it, I wouldn't want to lose my lovely bike for  money that wouldn't make much dent in a deposit! To me it's worth every penny of the £1500 if not more as it's a very special bike, and this particular example has a fairly complete history known (i've personally put 9000 of its 11,500 miles on it.

It's a difficult one as it really depends if an enthusiast is present at the time I sell (IF I have to). A friend of mine sold her 1978 400/4 on ebay a few months ago for £1800, it had about 11,000 miles and was in very good condition but the engine and frame numbers weren't matching. I thought that was a very good price to get, but then the 400's have lots of fans.

The 350 is a little known commodity here in the UK. Only a few people know about them, but having said that if there was someone who particularly wanted one, getting one here would be a hard task so they may be willing to pay more.  Or perhaps import one from Australia!!!

[Grizzly]

Hi

What a beautifull bike.

Don't sell it, keep it. It is far to nice to sell for that kind of money!

[loonymoon]

Thanks Grizzly. It is a very lovely bike.

I've pretty much decided that the only reason I'll sell is if I end up moving somewhere where there's nowhere to keep it as there's nothing that would upset me more than seeing that lovely bike deteriorate.

So unless that happens, or I'm in a totally desperate situation, the old 350 will stay with me.

Who knows, after the 40th anniversary of the 750 four next year, there may well be a resurgence of interest in the smaller fours too, and my little swiss-watch like 350 may be a desirable collectors item and worth a bit more than it is now. Fingers crossed hey!! But even then I'd be sad to see her go - no matter what the price!