'85 VF1000R vs. '79 CBX

All right, so out of the blue, I have a guy ask me if I'd be interested in trading my VF1000R for his seemingly beautiful, meticulously modded, bored and tweaked CBX.

It's certainly peaked my interest but now I'm left wondering which is the better long-term investment. I have always loved the sound of a CBX and this thing looks sweet! I'm thinking, even though his is modded, it might be apples-to-apples in terms of long term collectability...dunno.

1147 cc big bore, Supertrapp, K&N, Dyna Ignition, upgreaded valves, cams, steel brake lines and heavy duty clutch. Works suspension with Race Tech forks.

 

VFR 1000. No contest.

 

But got ya thinkin', amiright?

 

You are kidding, right??

The CBX is way more collectable and way more sweet. A freakin' buttery sweet inline six, it doesn't get any better than that!

 

I may bite...depending upon what he's figuring in terms of equity.

 

Depends on the rarity value of your VF1000, I personally have never seen one. The CBX may have been to heavily modified to be of value?

 

Thought it might be contrary, Bryan...as nicely done as it appears, modding may detract from value (certainly does with some bikes anyways).

 

I can find a clean CBX but a clean VFR1000 is much more difficult.

 

the cbx is beautiful. and they sound like early v12 racer ferrari's. maybe its because i spend a lot of time on vfrworld... but the cbx's seem to me, a lot more rare than vf1000r's. see if you can some how get both bikes appraised, maybe talk to your insurance company? i would love to own a cbx, but only if i still had another bike in the garage that could actually turn and brake lol. if you have a back up crotch rocket, go for it

 

kR, IMO, unless the CBX was something along these lines ;-)

 

The word collectible means different things to different people. I think most would agree that the ultimate collection would consist of bikes that enjoyed some significance either through racing history, some technical aspect that was adopted first or strayed from the norm, or had some emotional connection to the owner.

The R was touted as a technical wonder by Honda but was too heavy to be a race bike or street warrior. It was expensive and flashy and to a lot of teenagers of the day, a dream bike that sparked a feeling of "one day, I will own one". For some, that fortunately was a dream realized.

The CBX was a cool idea. 6 cylinders was certainly a departure from the sea of I4's but 2 cylinders added to a CB did not give it a long life in the spot light especially after they added hard bags to it. The '83 1100F had similar if not better performance/handling. But boy that CBX motor sure is nice to look at!!
I've seen showroom mint, low mile CBX's go for 5k plus and I've seen similar condition R's go for the same. So, I would say the "collectiblity" of each is the same. However, modding either will drop the price. People want the bike they've lusted after to look just like the one in the hundreds of photos, brochures, and posters they have collected over the years.

I would love to get my hands on a CBX, not a mint one, but a dusty old ratty one that I could turn into something way cooler than a stock one, but I'm kind of screwed up that way. But, if I had a fairly stock CBX in my garage along side of my R, the CBX would NEVER get ridden, the R's are just that cool... IMO.

My collection of cool stock Honda street bikes would be an '83 CB1100R, '89 RC30, '85 kR, '83 CX650 turbo, '79 CBX, '83 V45 Interceptor.

This would be a nice start, that 1100R is so damn gorgeous it makes me woozy.

[video=youtube;FNKpDG8h6I8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNKpDG8h6I8&feature=related[/video]

 

CB1100R is hot!

 

For '81-'83, you're damn right! Who was even close?

 

What invisable cities said.

 

It's been said already, but I think that the CBX would be worth more if it was stock. Being that old, a collector will want a stock bike. To me, the one you're looking at is pretty clean and looks cool, but it is so far away from stock that I wouldn't even consider it. I'd keep the R.

 

Good point, Stewart,

So, the two of us are feeling each other out but...so far, I've learned that he can substantiate a total, breathtaking cost of about $ 20K into the re-build alone with a (last done) 2008 appraisal of, gulp, $ 15,000! The motor alone must have been at least $ 3000-$ 5000...

He's a real stand-up guy with quite a collection (80's bikes his thing, not 70's) and knows his shizzle. Refreshingly, he also knows well that the North American market is severely, severely (yeah, I typed it twice) depressed for vintage bikes and autos alike.

I'm willing to come up with some type of difference, but, he'd have to walk away from thousands of invested dollars to make this deal happen...I think he's too wise a man to do so, so I guess we're done.

 

Well, the numbers are in...my bike and $ 4,500 cash will put the CBX in my garage.
In this scenario, he'd be walking away from the equivalent of about $ 10,000 that he invested in the big ol' Honda, but recognizes that he raheely went overboard without regard to cost when he did so.
From all accounts, the bike is astonishing - so I have to shit or get off the pot.

 

Keep the kR...

The CBX is not stock so it looses its collector value and to really enjoy the bike you'll need to invest in upgrading the front suspension and brakes. Trying to stop this (or any) CBX would be downright scary without, at the very least, a brake upgrade.