Rarest CBX version

[Sosart]

Hello

Can you please tell me the rarest version of a CBX 1000 and the rarest color ?. Also if the European version is more desirable than the American version.


Thanks

[NobleHops]

That is open to some interpretation.

By model year it is the 1982 model, in Pearl Altair White - roughly 2,700 of those were produced.

However the 1980 model was produced in two locations: The first 1,800 or so were produced in Japan (including my black 80, #49), the remainder in Marysville, Ohio USA. By that standard, the Japanese 1980 are the rarest. A total of 4,600 of the 80 bike were thought to be produced, including the Japanese variant. Those came in black and red.

None of these numbers can be definitively audited, this old survey is frequently referenced though.

http://www.cbxclub.com/xvital.html#vital

There is more info in Ian Foster's "The CBX Book" of which there are two editions.

P.S. In terms of collectibility or value, I do not know of any difference between the European bike and the USA bike. I"ll say the European bike with its lower bars and slightly rearset footpegs is thought to be the "as designed" version of the bike, and the USA version is said to have been created at the request of American Honda for the sensibilities of the American market. The European versions are, IMO, significantly better ergonomically and easier to ride fast.

N.

[daves79x]

Pretty good summation Nils. Yes, getting into the subsets of the various years, the Japanese '80s are the rarest, with some thinking the red ones the most rare. That's just supposition from observations since they were new. You just see far more black '80s than red ones.

I'm working on an original red Japanese '80 right now. It indeed has satin side covers, a topic of some debate. Something else I've noted on the Japanese bikes - the front caliper hanger bolts are the same socket head ones from the '79. On the Marysville '80s, those bolts are just regular 14mm hex-head bolts. The caliper mounting bolts on all '80s are regular hex-head bolts. Couple of other small differences between Japan and Marysville
bikes.

There are a couple of other difference in the Euro versions - the alternator is smaller as the bikes had a headlight off switch. The rear fender is longer with a reflector in the middle. The turn signals had a different locking feature to the stem. The mirrors had little 'acorns' that mounted the mirrors. Honda also offered to the world market (all except US and Canada) a vacuum valve retrofit to the '79 models.

Also, late in the '79 production run, some black '79s were built, for perhaps German and South Africa import. Not verified as far as I know, but some think a few silver '80 models were made early on as well.

Dave