New member from the UK

[chrispyduck]

how stringent are the road safety compliance laws in the UK, would a bike imported into the UK from the USA need to be brought to UK standards before being approved for use there? ...

I know here I had to have all original equipment working as they did in the day of manufacture or it wouldn't pass inspection, once approval I can do various modification, seemed silly to me but what can you do...

For the UK it would have to pass a road worthiness test for safety called MoT (Ministry of Transport) nothing like your laws it seems.

[wyly]

how stringent are the road safety compliance laws in the UK, would a bike imported into the UK from the USA need to be brought to UK standards before being approved for use there? ...

I know here I had to have all original equipment working as they did in the day of manufacture or it wouldn't pass inspection, once approval I can do various modification, seemed silly to me but what can you do...

For the UK it would have to pass a road worthiness test for safety called MoT (Ministry of Transport) nothing like your laws it seems.

I was required to take any out of province purchase to government approved mechanic for mechanical inspection and road test...the cbx was easy (no mods at the time) my GS1150ef had a failed battery sensor light that didn't work and would never work because the battery it was intended hook up to was no longer available...so that single non function light was sufficient to fail the inspection , luckily the shop where I took it for inspection knows me well so they ignored the problem and didn't write it up...

[jnnngs]

The exhausts are stamped Sankei 2040. and HM 422 on the top.
No cross overs i can see.
and yes the rear fender can be seen below the number plate when viewed from the rear.

All the euro bikes had the longer rear mudguard with reflector at the bottom.

The ED bikes had what looked like a mudflap bolted on the bottom of the guard - it may have been removed, but you may still see the mounting holes.

I also have a 422 exhaust with the EPA "essay" written on the side.

Paul.

[EMS]

The exhausts are stamped Sankei 2040. and HM 422 on the top.
No cross overs i can see.
and yes the rear fender can be seen below the number plate when viewed from the rear.

Maybe i am not explaining this correctly. The rear fender extension is exactly what it says, an extension. It is a piece of the same plastic as the rear fender, about 15cm long that bolts to the stock rear fender. If it is not there and was there at one time, you should see some remnants of the fastening methods, i.e.: two additional holes to the elft and right of the rear reflector mounting hole.
The exhaust is a later original replacement for the stock exhaust. It is the correct exhaust for a 1979 model CBX.

[chrispyduck]

The exhausts are stamped Sankei 2040. and HM 422 on the top.
No cross overs i can see.
and yes the rear fender can be seen below the number plate when viewed from the rear.

Maybe i am not explaining this correctly. The rear fender extension is exactly what it says, an extension. It is a piece of the same plastic as the rear fender, about 15cm long that bolts to the stock rear fender. If it is not there and was there at one time, you should see some remnants of the fastening methods, i.e.: two additional holes to the elft and right of the rear reflector mounting hole.
The exhaust is a later original replacement for the stock exhaust. It is the correct exhaust for a 1979 model CBX.

Great thanks, i was starting to think i had bought a bit of a mixed up bike. i can confirm there are no holes or brackets that are to the side of the rear reflector.
If you see one of my previous posts you can see little bit of information about Gerald Davison the previous owner and boss of Honda UK.
I have few old receipts with bike some have an email address for him so i will contact him.

[EMS]

The previous owner may be able to shed some light on this, but I will have to pass here. If the bike does not have and never had a fender extension, it is not an ED bike and the serial numbers would make it a French or German spec bike. The alternator is still an odd item for these applications.

[chrispyduck]

The previous owner may be able to shed some light on this, but I will have to pass here. If the bike does not have and never had a fender extension, it is not an ED bike and the serial numbers would make it a French or German spec bike. The alternator is still an odd item for these applications.

Just had this reply from the previous owner. Hope this solves the puzzle. Looks like it was a UK market bike that was shipped to the US as they didn't sell well here.

Hello Chris,

Pleased to hear that it has ended up in a good home. I don't have a complete history for it as I bought it from an H & H auction a few years ago.

It came to H & H from a German museum where it had been for 8 years. I was able to confirm that it was an original UK market bike. It did not sell as well as expected here and Honda UK exported some to American Honda which is probably why it has the US type exhaust. It had a km speedo fitted when I bought it and I was fortunate to find a NOS one to fit.

It is scheduled to be in a feature in CMM in a couple of months time to celebrate its 40th birthday. Some of the photos they will use were taken about a year ago by BIKE magazine but not used. Others came form me.

[EMS]

The high VIN number speaks against this being a U.K. market bike. According to Honda documents, highest VIN for U.K. market bike was CB1-20 20525, highest engine serial number was CB1E-20 20670. I would buy into it being a German market bike, if it was in a German museum. The U.S. connection is still confusing. Was it here, or was it not? The exhaust is post-1983 or 84. If the bike did not sell when it was new, there was no need to put a replacement exhaust on it to export it to the U.S., especially if this was done by Honda U.K.

[daves79x]

Very interesting discussion by all. The obvious question I have now is what is the true mileage on the bike? Surely there were some KMs run on the original? Another nagging thing is the paint on the tank, more specifically the stripes. The top stripes appear to meet the front stripes and they should not. This application of striping is common, but not correct. It results in the lower stripe being too high, which it is. Still has the moles though! I know this is nitpicking, but the tank thing is a real pet peeve of mine. A dead ringer for a repaint as Honda didn't make them that way on original factory bikes. Although a batch or two of Honda replacement tanks in the '80s were reported to have incorrect striping.

Very nice bike, however, and you'll go far to find a nicer one!

Dave

[wyly]

Very interesting discussion by all. The obvious question I have now is what is the true mileage on the bike? Surely there were some KMs run on the original? Another nagging thing is the paint on the tank, more specifically the stripes. The top stripes appear to meet the front stripes and they should not. This application of striping is common, but not correct. It results in the lower stripe being too high, which it is. Still has the moles though! I know this is nitpicking, but the tank thing is a real pet peeve of mine. A dead ringer for a repaint as Honda didn't make them that way. Although a batch or two of Honda replacement tanks in the '80s were reported to have incorrect striping.

Very nice bike, however, and you'll go far to find a nicer one!

Dave

that's interesting Dave, a local shop had silver '79 UK import for sale last year which they claimed had never been painted...I pointed out the exact same stripe issue to them but they stuck to their claim and said it had been in storage for the past 20 yrs...I still think the paint looked suspect but maybe it was a replacement tank ...

[jnnngs]

Hi,

We may never know, but seems unlikely it was a UK bike which was shipped to the US - why would it end up with a KPH speedo? Given the Honda records, more likely a German bike as Mike says.

Not that it matters, but it has been painted at some point - the front mudguard has had the rivets painted over which is not how Honda did it originally.

A really nice bike tho', should be a keeper!

Paul.

[wyly]

Hi,

We may never know, but seems unlikely it was a UK bike which was shipped to the US - why would it end up with a KPH speedo? Given the Honda records, more likely a German bike as Mike says.

Not that it matters, but it has been painted at some point - the front mudguard has had the rivets painted over which is not how Honda did it originally.

A really nice bike tho', should be a keeper!

Paul.

you must have a larger monitor than I do Paul, the rivets don't look painted on my laptop...and as Dave pointed out the moles are still on the tank, they're often not replaced on repaints...

despite our nitpicking I agree it's a very nice find...

[jnnngs]

you must have a larger monitor than I do Paul, the rivets don't look painted on my laptop

You may be right - could be my eyesight!

Paul.

[chrispyduck]

Hi,

We may never know, but seems unlikely it was a UK bike which was shipped to the US - why would it end up with a KPH speedo? Given the Honda records, more likely a German bike as Mike says.

Not that it matters, but it has been painted at some point - the front mudguard has had the rivets painted over which is not how Honda did it originally.

A really nice bike tho', should be a keeper!

Paul.

Just checked the front mudguard and it definitely has Not been painted over the rivets !

[jnnngs]

Just checked the front mudguard and it definitely has Not been painted over the rivets !

yep - was my eyesight!