1967 Honda CB450D Super Sport

Soon after he began riding a scruffy 1962 Honda CA77 Dream, our editor, Mark Mederski, started visiting a new Honda shop in his hometown. This was around 1967, when the Honda CB450 was a newer, bigger bike from Honda. Mederski remembers that the 250 Scramblers, the Super Hawks and especially CB160s flew out the door, but the CB450K0s (colloquially known later as Black Bombers) just… sat there.

Prospective buyers of middleweight machinery looked at the not-so-sporty looking CB450s, shook their heads and went down the street to look at the Harley Sportsters, the Triumph 650s and 500s, even BSA Victors. The mechanic at the shop found the DOHC design interesting, but he was skeptical with rumors of oiling problems.

Back at the Honda factory in Japan, management was becoming increasingly concerned about the many K0 CB450s gathering dust in a warehouse. Management tasked Honda’s engineers with designing a fix.

Hungry for something exciting

The first years of the 1960s were springtime for Honda in America. The country was prosperous, and the burgeoning Baby Boomer generation was getting into their teens and hungry for something new and exciting. The small, technologically advanced, reliable and oil-tight Hondas were just the ticket. The British companies that had owned what there was of the United States motorcycle market during the 1950s, had systematically distributed profits to shareholders at the expense of upgrading their factories, and the machinery was starting to age, a problem that became increasingly apparent in the early 1970s. The British manufacturers could not match Honda’s ability to build state-of-the-art two-wheelers at an affordable price. However, England built larger displacement machines than Honda and sold increasing quantities of 500cc and 650cc twins to riders who had outgrown the small displacement bikes Honda sold. This was about to change.

Not your average Honda

The first Honda 450s appeared in America in the summer of 1965, after a year of rumors that Honda was about to introduce something new. This was the first time Honda built a motorcycle over 305cc. Press reports were full of excitement over the technical specifications. This 444cc twin had chain-driven double overhead camshafts, which were not seen on motorcycles in 1965 unless they were factory racers. Torsion bars had replaced valve springs, the twin carburetors were constant velocity, vacuum operated, and a geared primary drive transmitted 43 horsepower at 8500rpm to the rear wheel. The four gears forward were all indirect, with the final drive taken off a second gear-shaft instead of a layshaft. These features were unheard of on contemporary motorcycles, and the engineering of this 17-year-old motorcycle manufacturer sparked much interest outside the motorcycle world.

Although almost all CB450K0s imported to the United States were painted black and silver (hence the nickname), many imported to Canada were red and silver, and there is evidence that the Honda factory painted some early bikes a medium blue as was used on other models. Fewer than 500 white CB450K0s were sold to police departments, each with numerous pieces of police equipment such as emergency lights, sirens, a solo seat and a steel top box. There is also evidence that some dealers in both the U.S. and England painted CB450K0s red, a popular motorcycle color in both countries. Sales were slow worldwide, and dealers thought that “Red Bombers” would sell faster than the less striking Black Bombers.

A not-so-smooth start

After the press introduction, the CB450 headed for dealers’ showrooms. In the 1960s, Honda dealers were used to selling inventory as fast as it was delivered, and they were surprised when the 450 didn’t move as quickly as the Super Cubs and the Super Hawks. Research by classic Honda enthusiasts has shown that the K0 version of the 450 did sell in reasonable numbers, but compared to the rest of the lineup, it was slow. An article in the September 1967 Cycle magazine stated that half of the original run was sitting in warehouses.

The article also gives clues as to what went wrong — a very unusual thing in the days when most motorcycle magazines lived by the maxim, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” The constant velocity vacuum carburetors did not provide consistent output at all rpm ranges, leading to stumbles. The bike was heavier than others in its class. Folks in 1965 did not like the looks of the beast, though present-day enthusiasts think it is beautiful and pay well for good examples. Some felt the transmission gear ratios were not well chosen. Finally, the early CB450s vibrated. Now, most bikes vibrated in 1965 (for example, the Norton Atlas, the “Dentist’s Friend”), but the CB450K0’s top selling point was advanced technology. Yet, it vibrated like all the other bikes did.

Another issue, which was not mentioned in the Cycle magazine article, was a problem with the oil intake port in some early CB450K0s, which, if not fixed, could lead to oil pump and top-end failure. Honda sent a service bulletin out to dealers shortly after this issue surfaced.

Kits to save the day

Honda’s engineers got busy on two fronts. First, they undertook a redesign of the Bomber. The K1 version of the 450 had a five-speed transmission with better gear ratios and second-generation Keihin constant velocity carburetors that didn’t stumble. The engine was updated with a higher compression ratio and bigger valves, which increased horsepower. The rear shocks were improved, and the tank, seat, side-covers and fenders were now sleeker. Bodywork came in candy red, candy blue and black. The CB450K1 came out in April 1968 and was well received.

Second, the engineers designed a kit to improve the visual desirability of the CB450K0 and get all those unsold four-speed units out of warehouses before the K1 hit showroom floors. At the time, scramblers (basically on-road bikes with off-road capability) were very popular, and Honda thought that a 450 in scrambler guise would clear out the dealerships at a faster clip. These kits were first advertised in the late summer of 1967. The kits included chrome fenders, a smaller and more shapely tank, cross-braced handlebars, a different seat with gold welting, footpegs, upswept dual mufflers and associated hardware, a longer kickstarter and side covers with the Super Sport checkered field. The replacement tanks and side covers included in these kits were described as candy red (actually “Candytone Orange,” as seen on Clay Baker’s bike and the example in the Honda Collection Hall in Japan), candy blue and metallic silver.

It is thought by experts that the Honda factory installed the blue and Candytone Orange kits, and the kits sent to dealers were all silver. However, more evidence is needed, and more information would be welcomed. Bikes with the kits installed were given a new model name: CB450D, and were also referred to by Honda as CB450 Super Sports.

Dealers didn’t always install all the items in the kit, as customers would pick and choose the items they liked. One bike has turned up with just the tank installed, and others just had the tank and fenders replaced. Surviving CB450Ds are very rare. An international registry lists 44 bikes, and Clay Baker’s own registry (www.TheBakerCollection.com/CB450D-Registry) lists only 35 examples he could confirm. In contrast, although Honda is still not releasing the number of CB450K0s built, estimates range from 29,000 to over 30,000.

Clay Baker’s classic motorcyle passion

By day, Clay Baker is a stock analyst and manages an investment portfolio, but his passion is restoring, collecting and riding classic motorcycles, especially Hondas. He had a gold Honda CB750 in college, which he remembers fondly. In 2015, he stayed at the Quail Lodge with his wife, Lara, and happened upon the show catalog for The Quail Motorcycle Gathering, a premier concours event for motorcycles on the West Coast. The photos of Don Stockett’s award-winning 1970 CB750 caught his eye. Baker decided to find a CB750K2 like he had in college, restore it, and pursue a trophy at The Quail.

Baker found his bike and, in 2018, he won the Japanese class at The Quail Gathering. Along the way, he learned that restoring and riding motorcycles is much more fun than chasing awards. Baker has acquired a collection of Hondas from the 1960s and 1970s, along with three BMWs, a Norton Commando 750 “Combat” and a GS1000S Suzuki. There are about 24 bikes in his collection so far. Baker has met numerous people in the vintage bike world who have become good friends of his, and he co-hosts a classic motorcycle show in Scotts Valley, California. He has educated himself about vintage bikes, especially classic Hondas.

So ridiculously rare

The education effort paid off several years ago. Baker was leafing through an auction catalog when he saw a 1967 Honda CB450D. This bike is not front of brain for most vintage bike enthusiasts. He went online to look at more photos. The Honda had a bad paint job in the wrong color and needed a general cleanup, but it appeared to be complete and original. Completeness and originality are essential when considering a rare machine like the “D,” since spare parts are almost impossible to find. Baker went to the auction and started bidding. There was only one other person who was competing for the motorcycle. They matched bids for a while, then Baker asked the floor auctioneer, “Is this guy the owner?” Shortly afterward, the hammer went down, and Baker finally had his “D.”

He hauled it home and inspected it carefully. The bike had been part of a private collection before it was sold to a museum, which put it up for auction. “It had just about no mileage — 11 miles on the clock from pushing it around.” Someone had been none too careful with this very rare Honda, and there was a big dent in the irreplaceable tank, which had been repaired with Bondo and painted over. Clay took the tank and side covers to Scotty’s Workshop (Scotty Sharpe in Murphys, California) for metal finishing and new paint. Scotty TIG welded holes in the bottom of the tank, pulled the dents out, sealed the interior and agreed to paint it with original Honda paint.

Baker wanted to ensure the paint was the same as the original, so he hunted around for touch-up cans of Honda Candytone Orange paint, the same color as the “D” in the Honda Collection Hall. Many sources say the paint is “red,” but this might be a typo or a mistranslation. Touch-up cans of Honda paint were provided to dealers and can be found on eBay and similar sites, although prices are climbing as interest in accurate restoration of vintage Japanese motorcycles has grown. The paint in these cans is entirely usable if it’s still liquid. Eventually, Baker collected enough cans to cover the tank and side covers. The next question was how to apply the paint. Scotty and Baker experimented with different numbers of coats of silver undercoat and Candytone Orange. They created color cards and sent them to a friend of Baker’s who lives near the Honda Collection Hall. He checked the cards against the “D” in the museum and reported that two thin coats of silver and two thin coats of orange were an exact match.

The one part of the bike that was not original was the horn, which should have been the same as the horn on the CB450K0. Parts for Black Bombers are not thick on the ground. Trying to find parts is difficult. Baker started looking for an original K0 horn, but the only one he could find was not working. He took it apart, made new gaskets, removed the rust and restored the finish. The seat foam, which usually becomes hard with age, and the seat cover, which often cracks, were both in excellent condition, but the seat pan was starting to rust. Using a hair dryer to soften the cover, Baker managed to get the cover and the pink Honda foam off without damaging either, sanded off the rust and painted the pan with a two-part paint that matched the original black. He then performed the feat of getting the foam and the cover back on the pan, again without damaging either of them.

With the horn, tank, side covers and seat problems solved, the rest of the restoration consisted of a good polish, replacing the old fuel lines and an oil change. Baker says the bike runs great. He has ridden it for just a few blocks near his home, only enough to go through the four gears, but the tires are the 57-year-old originals, and the bike is so rare that if he broke anything, he probably couldn’t replace it. “Riding it is like riding a Bomber, but the off-road bars make you sit more upright.”

“There are so few of these machines, but people want to talk about them, and I find them to be the most interesting stories. The CB450D is interesting, and it is so ridiculously rare.” MC