82 CB900? Ever hear of one?

[jdvorchak]

I just found this on craigslist and before now had never heard of a cb900. supposed to be the predecessor of the super bike. Any info?

For the price I am interested unless it's the "money pit" of all motorcycles.

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/mcy/1531505244.html

[shupnfish]

John, when I had my CB650 I came across a few of the 900s. Everybody I talked to really liked them and they are supposed to be very fast and very reliable. Just my.02

[Neil]

Think the 900 had 10 speeds, very dependable and parts are available on the bay.

Check it out HERE

[Hoosier Daddy]

(shakes head) What has happened to the english language?

But, back on topic, when I was looking for a new bike back in '82, CB900F's were one of the fastest bikes out there....
www.bikez.com is a cool source for old bikes spec / pics http://www.bikez.com/motorcycles/honda_ ... r_1982.php

[robin1731]

That looks like CB900C or Custom. They have a hi/lo transmission. Five gears in the hi range and of course five in the lo range. Nuch like some of Hondas early 3-wheelers. You could put it in lo range around town and it would be a decent light to light racer. Hi range was good on the highway. The Custom is a heavy bike but I don't think it would be a money pit. It is a Honda after all. In fact I am emailing back and forth with a guy about one near me. He wants $500 also. Said he would take $450. I don't think I'd offer over $300 but then I don't need it either. If it's all there, in decent shape, runs, with a good title it is probably worth it. KBB lists sell value at just over $1000 I think it was.

[roncar]

I picked up an '81 CB900C for parts ($10), then found some parts commonality with the GL1100's (ie final drive is exactly the same part number.)

[Cookie]

I have a friend who has had one since new. He ignores it most of the time but runs it now and again and keeps service up. Last year he just hauled it out of the garage and rode it to Vegas when he moved.
He has had luck very comparable to my Goldwing friends, fork seals, maintenance, nothing big at all.
As an ex truck driver he has mechanical sympathy for it as a nice day rider bike and it has been very good.

[Hoosier Daddy]

mechanical sympathy

[guy plain]

yup i have one now...the cb900f with the 5 speed trans and chain drive...the cb900c had a dual range trans and a shaft...the trans was a real week spot......oh my 900f is stuffed into a cb750f frame...easy cross over and makes for cheaper insurance here in canada..lol

[Papa Bear]

I know a couple of guys who ride the CB900 w/the dual speed gear box. Never looking for an additional gear with it. They are awesome bikes. Relaible, good handlng and comfortable. My one friend rode his to Alaska and now that he is a snowbird, rides it Arizona every fall. This is a 28 year old bike he's had since new.

[guy plain]

oh the trans was only week if you mistakenly shifted from high range to low at speed....so yes it was week due to driver error

[winston]

I read my tail off about CB900 Customs (and CX650 E's) as alternatives to OldWings when I first started looking at moving from up CB750 SOHC's a few years back....here's what I know:

The motorcycle magazines HATED the CB900 Custom when it was released. The only good thing they said about it was that "it has a pretty gas tank".

(The press panned the cb900 c for not being as "Custom" as the Kaw LTD's etc....for not being as Standard as the KZ900...and for being too big and heavy to corner well like the Suzuki GS series or anything else. The CB1000 was the answer and a bit faster, but by that time the KZ1300 and Yamaha XS1100 were on the street and were way faster.)

It was a "parts bin" bike...Honda needed something around 1 liter with a shaft drive to fight off the 900-1000cc metric standards that were hurting the CB750.

Something to slot in between the CB750K and the GL1100.

So they used a de-tuned CB900F motor, which was really a bored out 750, and added the GL1100 shaft drive.

However, the 900 motor ran a chain drive down the left and the GL used a shaft out the right.

So....Honda engineers devised a jack-shaft to cross the chassis to get the power over to the right side.

This meant a secondary gear box for the jack shaft with its own oil supply....which meant a longer frame to hold it.

But the bike could not be longer than the more expensive Goldwing, so the CB900 swingarm design was shortened and the GL1100 gas shocks added to make up for the choppy ride the short swingarm makes.

This is why a CB900 Custom has the same wheelbase as a GL1100.

The engineers also decided that since they had a jackshaft in a gearbox behind the motor to transfer power....they could add a second sprocket in there...like the front two sprokets on a ten speed bike.

That's where the Hi-Lo range transmission came in... it was a marketing gimmick to make the cludgey power transfer design seem innovative.

So, a parts bin bike designed to slot in and fill a hole in the product range.

That being said, people love them, they last, they're big, reliable, quick in a straight line....they're a Honda.

Just keep the second gearbox oil fresh and don't mess with the second gearbox, because if it should ever break (unlikely), most mechanics haven't a clue how to fix them.

OEM 4-4 exhausts are hard to find, just like all older Hondas.

Other than that, cam chains and valves are the things to check and listen for on a used CB900 Custom.

[Jetubet]

I owned an '82 900 Custom and Winston is right on with his info. Honda made a 1000 Custom one year only in '83 with cast wheels then went to the V4 motored bikes in '84. The 900/1000 is a 16 valve motor with the shims on top of the lifters so you don't have to pull the cams to adjust the valves like you do on some Kawasaki's. They hold their adjustment well. The 10 speed customs were heavy and complex but also smooth, though the 1000 was rumored to be less so, and reliable. I remember thinking to myself how smooth it was, the engine being rubber mounted. You never do look for that extra gear. I'd buy another low mileage one in a heartbeat. In my experience the only thing smoother is a Goldwing.

[revolution]

20 years ago was my dream bike. 1st time ride was suprise. Accelerate like rocket, cornering like axe and braking like boat....at least F1

[detdrbuzzard]

my '79 750k has an '82 900f motor in the frame. it was more motor than the single front disc could handle so i swapped out the front and rear for '79 cb750 parts, now i have dual disc up front and a disc out back