Hello... I am hoping that someone on this forum may be able to help me with a couple questions. I am looking at possibly purchasing a 1988 CBR 750 (yes... the one that was not released in the US). I have had an Interceptor and a Ninja in the past and have been looking for a CBR 600 for a few weeks now. I went and looked at the bike this morning and it is in exception condition. The person selling it purchased in Japan in the early 90's an is the second owner. It's always been garage kept and has 14k KM (about 9000 miles). Like I said, it is in great shape. The issue is that is hasn't been started in a couple years. The owner said that if I wanted, I could get a battery, bring over some gas and we can try to see if it fires up. It does have gas in the tank, which he put the gas stabilizer in before it sat. I did look in the tank and there isn't any rust or particles/flakes floating around.

I just wanted to get some feedback as to what I'm up against. When I purchased the Interceptor I used to have, it was a similar circumstance, but the bike wasn't nearly as nice as this. I did some basic maintenance stuff on that, and it fired right up without any problem and never gave me a single problem. I'm wondering now if I was just lucky or if that just how hondas are?

If anyone can shoot me back their opinion and what they think might be needed for me to get this started, I would greatly appreciate it or if you just think it's not worth it.

THANKS!

 

First off, definately try and get it running before buying it. I made that mistake and this bike has taken way longer then I anticipated to get running.

If the bike is in good condition the only thing it should need to get running is fuel. One other problem though is if it has been sitting that long without running then oil has completely drained out of the upper parts of the engine, and it's possible that starting it can do some damage to the components before they get adequately lubricated. Unfortunately, there is no way to easily pre-lube one of these engines. If you're getting it for a good deal, I'd say go for it, bring over some gas and a battery (If you have one of those portible jump starters, you can use that to get it started no problem) and see what happens.

 

Thanks... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it fires up. If it does, I'll probably get it, if not, I'll probably pass. Do you think I'll have any carb issues? Any other tips that I should do before attempting to start?

 

It's possible the carbs are gunked, and you'll want to clean them if you buy it, but if he put stabilizer in it the carbs should be clear enough that it will run.

 

If he has stabilizer in the gas, do I need to drain the gas tank before attempting to start it? Or can I just put a new battery in and see what happens?

 

I'd recommend dumping the gas and putting fresh gas in, no amount of stabilizer will make 2 year old gas run like new.

 

I'm going to have to pass on the bike. Put new gas in and actually got it started. Was idling really rough, which I would expect, but it also started leaking gas from the stopcock valve and also from a couple of the carbs. Seeing that this bike was never released in the US (CBR750F), I don't think it will be very easy to get parts for it.

 

It was probably best that you passed.