Low-Mile Living Room Find! 1972 Honda CB500F
There are all sorts of collectors around the world. Some collect items and stack them up in the back of their garden for them to rot away over the years. Others create homes and garages around their car or bike collections to proudly display to friends and family, or for their own enjoyment. And some – leave these parked in their living room to enjoy looking at them, but perhaps don’t quite have the budget for a full-on glass cube for them to display. This is the case with today’s ‘Living Room find’ – a 1972 Honda CB500F which used to sit in the owner’s living room, meaning it has an exceptionally low 1706 miles on the clock. It’s currently listed on eBay here for $4,700, with the reserve not yet met and just 2 days to go. Should you be the lucky winner, you can head over to Upland, California for its next living room adventure.
Having spent most of its life in a climate-controlled environment, it’s wholly original and almost in brand new condition. However, given it traveled on average 34 miles per year for the past 50 years, the engine probably needs a good clean-out and some basic maintenance on the hoses. And that’s the issue with these – unless they are in regular use, you will either have to leave it as a static display with its low miles or start replacing a lot of the old parts which may have gone rotten, especially anything rubber.
The Honda is actually a very middle-of-the-road bike at the time, without frills but reliable and cheap to buy and fix. Reviews at the time were not particularly forthcoming with praise, but did talk about it being a comfortable bike. They came with a 498cc engine with a top speed of 101mph thanks to the epic 34hp. There isn’t much more to say about this bike as it was pretty standard for the road. If you look at the photos carefully, this bike will need a bit of work. The leather is splitting on the seat and there are some scratches on the paint.
So you would need to be a huge fan of these bikes to consider bidding for this. Yes, it’s 50 years old and in amazing condition, so perhaps Honda should buy it and stick it in a museum. For those die-hard fans, it seems a shame to fix up and get on the road again considering it has so few miles – you can get another drivable bike for less than this without paying over the odds. So would you like to own this unique Living Room find and would you take it back on the road – or set it up in your own living room?
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Comments
I doubt the miles indicated in the Speedo. The 5 is not aligned with the other digits… although the 1/10 miles is already between 1 and 2. Hondas instruments didn’t have that huge difference shifting the miles after passing 9/10….
I can see the from boots are dry rotted and split from the pics.
Pretty much correct on replacing all the soft parts. Not to mention if the brake fluid was ever changed. Rebuild the carbs… is the gas tank rusty….
It’s a lot more work than some might think to get this thing road ready.
But I’d love to have it
Edit typo ” fork boots”
The bike has been protected from the sun, as the gauges still have red on the faces. That red usually faded to orange or yellow after a few years outdoors.
I’m sure many folks roll their eyes, and think, what cockamamie story am I going to conjure up THIS time, but, all my stories are true, the names may have been changed to protect,,,, well, anyway, I had a friend, haven’t seen him in 30 years, I suppose, if he’s alive, he’s still my friend, he had bike exactly like this. The 500 is a bit rare, as most were the 550, a whole different bike, I think. This motor was the foundation for the Benelli 750, 6 cylinder, or t’other way ’round, and was a stout motor. I’m amazed at the original pipes, those were the 1st to go, many of these had aftermarket pipes. They were great cruisers, dependable as a wash machine, and cheap, I read, $1,460 in 1972, that’s like paperboy wages, and never needed gas or repairs, it was dang near cost free travel. Yep, didn’t need some plastic crotch rocket that looks silly, this was good enough, can you imagine? What a find, as most of these are at the bottom of some motorcycle pile somewhere.
https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/wrecked-motorcycles.html
Howard, you’re spot-on as usual. The 500 and 550’s were nearly identical and reliable as all get-out. Both bikes main cosmetic problem was the tanks quickly faded if left out in the sun for only a short time. The weep holes on the mufflers would plug up and quickly rust them to nothing. I have about a dozen of 500/550’s in my salvage yard, as well as several 450/500 twins. Just rough parts bikes. I should say I ‘had’ lots of them because the British (DK Spares) have bought many of them this summer for a pittance. They even bought my ’40 DeSoto! That was a shock. I have two crotch rockets and yes, they look silly and are much too new for my taste. Ninja is a goofy name, IMHO. Uh, I’m a bit ashamed of myself as a couple months ago I bought a ‘reputation ruiner’ ’76 Harley Superglide, ugh. Trying to talk the Brits into buying it even if I lose money. Get it outta here!
There ain’t no leather to split on that seat…
I went & looked at one of these that was for sale
in our neighborhood about eight years ago.The seller
wanted something like $1250 for it,& I told that his price
was too high,& walked away from it.
That must have ticked him off,as one time he flipped-
me off while driving by.There was no need for that,but I faced
the fact that I was wrong.
I had one of theses in college (same color even). It was a good bike, but I liked the bike that replaced it much better (a Yamaha XS650).
You meet the nicest people on a Honda.
It’s a CB500-4 ‘K’, not ‘F’. The F first came out on the CB550F Super Sport. It had 4 into 1 exhaust and the frame was different than the CB550K. The K models had 4 into 4 exhaust.
CB500-4 K 1971-73
CB550’s 1974-78
Again…Again??!! With the “misaligned” odometer numerals indicating possible tampering. Please get past this myth and do yourself a favor. Buy an old analog spedo and dissect it to put your mind to rest. These things aren’t Rolex watches. “Lots of play” is a generous description of how these tumblers are constructed. Additionally, quite often the printed numerals on the tumblers rub off and smear when they’re handled. Or so I’ve been told.
I owned that bike, well not that bike but the same year, model, and brown. Dang did I ever have a good time with it. It was the first new vehicle of any kind that I bought new. Thanks Barn Finds for every now and again waking up some good memories for old guys like me.