1968 Honda CB750 Prototype sells for huge sum in the US

This one-of-a-kind 1968 Honda CB750 Prototype, and the very first to arrive in the United States, has been sold at an auction for $285,000 (around £208,620).

That’s an incredible amount of money, of that there’s no doubt. But when you know the history behind this bike, it does make it a bit easier to understand why someone would want to spend a lot of money to become its owner.

This Honda CB750 Prototype was built in October 1968 and sent to the United States that very same month. However, it’s not to be confused with the four pre-production sample models that quickly followed. They were produced and delivered to the US in January 1969.

According to the bike’s listing by Mecum Auctions, the four pre-production models were “sometimes mistakenly called ‘prototypes’.” But it’s the 1968 model that is the first to have landed on US soil, and it was sent by Soichiro Honda to Bob Hansen, who was a race promoter for Honda in America. 

Mecum Auction says the 1968 Honda CB750 Prototype is the “only CB750 to have ‘Honda’ cast into the valve cover rather than ‘OHC 750’ as seen on all other CB750s.”

There are many other details that make the bike stand out, including its build process which was done entirely by hand. During the mid 1990s the bike was acquired by Vic World, and it was restored at his World Motorcycles shop in San Bruno, California. The prototype ended up sharing very little resemblance to the final production model. 

Powering this model is a 736cc four-cylinder engine, which is mated to a five-speed transmission. Other known specs include a telescopic front fork set-up and a 295mm single brake disc at the front, which is paired with a single-piston caliper.

Photo credit - Mecum Auctions

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