As you all have noticed, this bike has a lot of incorrect parts and it screams amateur restoration by someone who obviously doesn't know what they are doing. And that's precisely why I bought it. It was originally posted on eBay on mid November with a starting bid of $25K (see my earlier post on November 18). When there were no bids, for obvious reasons, the seller relisted the bike for $18,750 or best offer. I got it for $16,595. In retrospect, I think Sam is right. The seller probably would have sold it for $15K. But maybe not. I don't know what he paid for it, but he did spend some money buying real Honda parts like the front fender and switch that I can use on a K1 that I have.
Here's the story... The bike was used as a daily commuter between Hollywood and Burbank for about 14 years, which produced the high mileage. In 1983 the owner blew out a tire and had a come-to-Jesus-moment, after which the bike was parked. It was last registered in 1989 and has been sitting in his garage for the last 31 years. He then sold it to a friend of one his employees - a young guy in his mid twenties who is into model trains. He is quite mechanically adept but not a motorcycle guy and he knows very little about sandcasts. Many of the parts that he described to me as "original" were on the bike when he got it, so he thought they were original. But most of these parts had been replaced decades earlier by the original owner. Keep in mind, at the time, the original owner didn't realize that the bike was destined to become a collector. To him, it was just his daily rider, so he probably thought it was cool to replace the side covers and seat with those from a later model.
So the plan is to restore the bike properly, but using lots of Yamiya parts. The one item that frustrates me is the double-cut front fender. The photo below shows how the original owner cut it down to be cool and that's going to be expensive to replace. The second photo is also rather interesting. I couldn't figure out why the top edge of the oil tank side cover was so wide. I had never seen anything like it. When I took it off, the third photo shows that someone had done some serious fiberglass modification. Are the oil tanks that different? Apparently so...
Having said all of that, I liked the bike because it's a California bike with very little rust which makes the whole restoration much easier. As kp notes, all I really have to do is replace the side covers, seat, front fender and tires; and repaint or replace the tank (new winkle from David Silvers), airbox, fork ears and headlight case. With that and a few other smaller items, I should have a good rider. The seller rebuilt the carbs and the front brake and he did a decent job. Despite all of the incorrect parts and paint, the bike actually runs quite well. As some stage down the line, I will probably want to rebuild the engine - but for now, it's all good.