A Confession 1973 500/4

[Nasher]

Good evening all, I’ll start with an apology and confession.

I’m a Ducati guy, and bring greetings from the Ducati Monster Owners forum and club.

Unfortunately late last year one of our members passed away suddenly, and I’ve spent the last couple of months helping his widow to dispose of several Ducatis’ and a garage full of spares.

All I can do is assure you I’m genuine, please check out the DMOC forum for posts by me if you need some clarification.

I’m well on the way to dealing with everything, except the 1973 CB500/4 that he started restoring @25yrs ago and stopped @20yrs ago.



I have lots of images of the mountain of parts, including two engines, one of which is partially stripped.




There are a load of small brand new spares still in Honda packaging.

A big plus in the bikes favour is the Brand new still in a Honda box tank which his widow believes he purchased when he first got the bike.



I’m reaching out for help, one owners group to another, to help value it and possibly make a sale.
But we must do the best for his widow and not let it go for a silly low price.

Please note however that it must all go as a job lot.

Many thanks.

[Bryanj]

OK lets start with the obvious, tank worth at least £300, more if badges,cap,tap and trim are all good.
Exhaust  looks to be new, if so and Honda thats £750+.
The engine you show is a 550 not a 500 and needs different parts to fit in a 500 frame but they are about the 500 bottom end does look a bit rough
Rear mudguard looks very good, if so thats £100 with light.

Does it have a V5 and where is it situated as that makes a big difference to value, with a V5 and somewhere easy to get to, as a "job lot" i would guess £1500, without and somewhere difficult £900 which is less than the visible parts but time and distance cost devalue it, as a fully restored, all original and perfect i would guess £4 to 6 000, maybe more on a very good day
Hope that helps a bit.
Bryan

[Oddjob]

I'd sort of agree, it's unclear however how much of the 500 is actually still there. There looks to be most of it but I can't see any side panels to match the new tank for instance. Some parts are really hard to find as well, like fork ears, I can see one in a box but it would depend on it's condition etc to see whether it's usable. Just spotted the bike already has a pair fitted so lets hope these are ok.

I don't think the exhausts are new, could be wrong of course but there is some corrosion I think in the inner bend just as it comes out of the engine which points to me as meaning just cleaned up second hand. If so it would then depend on what the baffles are like, have they rotted out through age etc as most do.

The tank if new, and it certainly looks that way, should come with cap already on, they'll be no badges or tap fitted. If it was gold I'd say £400 plus but the brown isn't as popular for some reason ( I never liked that colour even when it was new, just looked muddy to me)

There are also certain parts I can see right away are not off the 500, the bank of carbs for instance sticking out of one box is not off a 500, wrong bowls, look like CB650 to me. The front caliper is also not off the 500.

You could really do with an expert on these bikes to go through the boxes and isolate what's good and what's not. If I was local I'd certainly do it for you but I doubt I am.

It's worth more as a project to complete the bike rather than split all the parts and sell separately, then sell of what's left.

For me, maybe £2000 if some of the parts are new, like the exhausts.

It will need a fair amount spending on it to complete the bike even though most looks to be there, if it was complete I'd say £4000 plus maybe another £500 or so for what's left.

[Nasher]

Bryan, Oddjob

Many thanks for your comments.

I wasn't aware that the complete engine was a 550, so I've learnt something today.
the rest of the partly dismantled engine is in one of the boxes, but obviously I have no idea of it’s condition.

The bike does have a V5 in the deceased owners name, so the paperwork has to go through the DVLA Sensitive Casework Team, but that's already been OK with 3 other bikes.

It's on the South Coast near Winchester, very close to the A34, so I'd say easy to get to.

I have to say I've not completely unwrapped the tank, but there are what look like new badges and side panels with it.:





The rear mudguard fitted looks like it was new when fitted @20yrs ago, as does the rear light.

I'll post up a load more images over the next 10mins or so.

[Nasher]

Some more images:









Watch this space

[Nasher]

Some more:









Watch this space

[Nasher]

Some more:











Watch this space

[Nasher]

And the last of the images I have:











Your help is really appreciated.

[Nasher]

The bike is @3/4hr away from me, and unfortunately the Widow involved really doesn't want to deal with showing it to people herself.
But I can get there at most times of the week.
bear in mind though that it took us 1/2hr just to lay all the boxes out so we wouldn't want to do it every day.

Plus as mentioned it really needs to go as a job lot.
I do not have the knowledge of these bikes to sort through everything like I am the huge pile of Ducati spares I'll be listing on EBAY for her.

the 4 into 4 exhausts do look new to me, but like everything on the bike have been in a DRY garage putting up with a load of Italians for 20 years.

I apologise again to the Mods and forum in general for rocking up and asking for help with little chance of me returning the favour, but as I'm sure you'll understand we are a little stuck with knowledge on this bike.

[Nasher]

And I've just noticed a Ducati Clutch basket and hub have sneaked into one of the boxes.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Sad circumstances but looks like a decent hoard of parts even though its a mixture of Honda models. I would be very tempted if you were close to Derby.
Best of luck finding a buyer.

[Nasher]

Thanks (Ted)

Derby isn't that far in a hire van, and it's a long weekend next week 

[Bryanj]

There are quite a few 550K3 parts in that lot including the carbs in the box which the PD type and of absolutely no use on a 500, so a set of carbs need to be found.
There are a lot of new parts there but like the exhausts may be tarnished a bit far.

[Oddjob]

Quite a few different models of Hondas in those boxes, as Bryan says some 550K3 parts, some SS50 parts, some C90 parts even. It's a weird mix if he didn't have any other Hondas, like it's a shop clearance or something. That's not to say these parts aren't worth anything but even that's up for debate.

The exhausts are second hand not new, you can see the exhaust collet marks on some, even some bluing of the chrome and one in a plastic bag has what looks to be a mark from sliding down the road, looks to be upper left exhaust.

It's a LONG way from me, I'd have to hire a van etc but I'd be interested if the price was right.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I've sent you a PM.