The first (Moto Review) feature dated March '69 is of an unmodified late pre-production bike, to the same spec as the VW Blue one recently sold. Whether it is the Gold one or Green one which came to Europe is near impossible to work out.
A date for the other feature would help. The Gold one was modified sometime after the April '69 Brighton show and before it was UK registered and sold off in September '69, exactly as per the bike in this second feature (lower bars, production style master cylinder, UK spec CB450 black bomber painted rear lamp bracket and UK oval rear light).
The Gold one is quoted as having spent time in France after Brighton and before returning to the UK to be road tested on the Isle of Man mid '69 (see Motorcycle Sport magazine test dated August '69) . So this may well be the Gold one, or maybe the Green one was similarly modified. For some reason the Gold one also had (and still has) more pointed (C50) front winker lens' than standard CB750. The curious thing is the French license plate fitted, or maybe a temporary plate had to be used to enable road testing in France?
There was only one Gold bike, nor were there European spec pp bikes. The changed appearance was carried out locally. There is also a great colour shot of the modified Gold bike on the cover of a Norwegian magazine feature published in '69.
The above is my view on things based on available features and recollections, and having been fortunate to be able to see the Gold bike, and discuss its history with the current owner (who was also at the Brighton Show in '69), and also meet briefly with the Honda employee who carry out the '69 modifications of the Gold pp bike.
Cheers - Chris R.
