1965 Honda CB450 "Black Bomber"
No Reserve

Registration No: YRD 424C
Frame No: CB4501001901
MOT: Exempt

• Two-collector ownership since being imported in 2012
• Engine rebored and overhauled in 2018 for over £4,500
• In occasional use during the present ownership

• The Road and Race Collection

The Honda Motor Company was founded by Soichiro Honda in 1937, initially producing piston rings for Toyota. They made their first motorcycle in 1949 and within 10 years had become the biggest motorcycle manufacturer in the world and have gone on to produce over 400 million two-wheelers as well as millions of other powered products. Some would say the Honda CB450, popularly known as the “Black Bomber,” was the bike which caused the downfall of the British motorcycle industry, but we can’t begrudge Honda for making a smooth, reliable and long-legged machine. First shown in Britain at the Brighton Speed Trials of September, 1965, with its engine not yet run-in it achieved a standing-start kilometre time of 30.1secs. and a terminal speed of 100mph. In December, 1965, Motor Cycle magazine reported that British sales were planned from February, 1966, with price tag of £360, about the same as a British 650cc pushrod parallel-twin. Honda entered a bike to be ridden by Mike Hailwood in the 1966 500-mile production race at Brands Hatch, but he was only allowed to do demonstration laps as the bike was barred from competing because the organisers deemed it “could not be classified as a production machine as it had two overhead camshafts”!

Although produced only from 1965 to 1966, the CB450 did much to establish the upstart Japanese manufacturer’s reputation for quality. Previously, Honda built nothing larger than 305cc, but its 444cc twin gave British makers reason to worry. Its double overhead cams, 180deg. crankshaft, horizontally-split crankcase and torsion-bar valve springing rendered it far more sophisticated than British 500s, and it loved to be revved. Electric-start made it an obliging bike for year-round use. The usual checks would be advised before placing it back on the road.

This 1965 CB450 was imported in 2012 by the previous collector owner and registered in 2013, though intended for static display. Our vendor, another collector, bought it in 2017, with the fuel tank newly repainted. In 2018, the engine was overhauled and the cylinders rebored by D. & M. Engineering, the cost exceeding £4,500. In 2019, the clutch was replaced by a local garage. While most of the vendor’s bikes were bought for display, this one was in regular use up to last summer and is said to start "on the button." It is supplied with the V5C, import documents, a dating certificate, old tax discs and M.O.T.s, many invoices, an original Honda 450 Super Sports owner’s manual, and spare keys.

For more information, please contact:
Mike Davis
mike.davis@handh.co.uk
07718 584217