Honda’s CB450 — The “Big” Twin: 1971 CB450 K4

Enlarge Image Image Gallery The CB450 carries its weight up high, making the bike look and fell bigger than it really is. Conservative styling aside, there's no denying the CB450's great classic looks. Photos by Nick Cedar

Honda CB450

Years produced: 1965-1974
U.S. sales: 73,000 (American Honda)
Claimed power: 43hp @ 8,500rpm (45hp @ 9,000rpm 1968-on)
Top speed: 95mph
Engine type: 444cc double-overheard cam, air-cooled parallel twin
Weight (dry): 195.5kg (430lb)
Price then: $1,050 (approx.)
Price now: $1,500-$3,000
MPG: 40-45mpg

For the better part of 50 years, the words “Honda” and “quality” have gone together like bread and butter. From the beginning, Honda knew that rigid quality control was critical to success. So imagine restorer Charlie O’Hanlon’s surprise when he opened up this 1971 CB450 and discovered it was missing parts the day it left the factory.

Years ago, the original owner of this bike dropped it off at Charlie’s San Francisco restoration shop, Charlie’s Place, complaining about a poorly-shifting transmission. Charlie gave it a going over, and when he sent it back out on the road the transmission seemed to work properly. Some time later a new owner turned up with the bike, frustrated because he couldn’t get first or second gear to engage. It was an otherwise nice looking and low mileage machine, but the owner couldn’t afford to have the transmission taken apart, so Charlie offered to buy the bike from him. Five years went by, and the CB450 gathered dust in the back of Charlie’s shop.

Not too long ago, Bob Lee turned up at Charlie’s Place, dragging along an early Seventies CB450 he had bought on eBay as a restoration project. As these things too often go, the bike wasn’t worth restoring: “It was rusted garbage,” Charlie recalls. “I showed this bike to Bob and we worked out a deal. I took the eBay bike and gave Bob a credit for the few things I could use off it, then sold Bob this bike with the agreement that I would fix it for him. He didn’t want a full bore concours restoration, so we agreed on a ‘restoration in moderation’ with performance upgrades.”

Inside the CB450

After Charlie and Bob worked out the details of what was to be done to this 450, Charlie started tearing down the engine and transmission. “I took apart the transmission and got a real surprise,” Charlie recalls. “First gear rides on a shaft, and there’s supposed to be a bronze bushing in the center of the gear to keep it aligned. When I took the transmission apart, the bushing wasn’t there — I couldn’t believe it. Remember, this was a low mileage bike and the transmission had never been opened up before. It must have been made the day after a major holiday.”