Parts are easy to find, Ditner says, and there are plenty of aftermarket components that greatly enhance the bike. He suggests replacing the factory windshield on the ’81 and ’82 models and adding customized exhaust pipes.

"The windshield isn’t worth a damn, because you ride right in an eddy and there’s a lot of helmet noise. And if you put on aftermarket pipes, that engine sounds like a Ferrari. It’s got this nice growl to it. It’s like hearing God sing."

Star power

Wassenberg says the CBX offers a mix of performance, reliability and notoriety he hasn’t found in any other bike. "A lot of people want to know if it’s a custom engine. Then, when you tell them that it was a production bike made by Honda, they’ll say, ‘I had no idea Honda made a bike like that."’

Ditner spent decades climbing Honda’s ladder, starting with a CB160 and progressing to a two-cylinder 350, a four-cylinder 500 and then a CB750F.

But from the first time he twisted the throttle on a CBX, he knew he’d reached the top. "I started looking at getting one as a collector bike. But after I rode one, the 750 hasn’t been out of the garage but once since. There is nothing as smooth as that engine. They’re one hell of a machine."

Read more about the motorcycles mentioned in this article: 
• Honda CB750: A Classic for the Masses 
• Yahama XS1100  
• Kawasaki Z1-R