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In early 1969, Honda's guys hand-built four
pre-production CB750's. This is one, V.I.N. 2113. Owner at the time and person
responsible for refurbishing this wonderful machine, Vic World,
proprietor of World Motorcycles.
At first glance, it could be any first-generation, Candy Blue-Green Honda CB750. But if you know CB750s, and you look closely, you’ll see things that simply do not jibe. Obvious items such as the front master cylinder and brake caliper are different than the expected pieces. Engine covers and rough-cast carburetors aren’t the same, either. And if you could peer into the big four’s cases you’d see a hand-made billet crankshaft—certainly nothing like the production item.
The realization would then hit you: This isn’t just any first-gen CB750. What it
is, really, is the father of all CB750s—a hand-assembled
(using many non-production parts) and is one of the most
important motorcycles ever built. That makes it very, very
special indeed!
Vic
World decided to let the bike go and used eBay Motors to get the
maximum worldwide exposure. The 10-day auction this past
February garnered some amazing numbers: The opening bid—placed
by World—was for $1,969, wholly appropriate given the bike’s
roots. Within two days, bidding stood at $120,000, where it
stayed for a week. On the final day, with just 22 minutes left,
it jumped to $135,000. With two minutes left, it went to
$142,000, and then, finally, to the winning bid of $148,100. The
auction generated nearly 100,000 page views, 102 bids from all
over the world, and an astounding 5,243 people “watching” the
auction—all huge numbers for an eBay motorcycle listing.
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