there are a lot of people have opinions on everything.
i am going to look at a 1985 Honda V65 saber this weekend. a V65 saber is 1100cc liquid cooled V4 with shaft drive. the bike is CHEAP in my mind..
i always wanted one. i almost bought one new. instead i bought a Suzuki GSX 1150F that had been in a light drop and the owner got to many speeding tickets with it so his parents made him sell it. that was the fastest motorcycle i have ever ridden.
i found several message boards on these bikes. after searching i couldn't find any real values on it without signing up.
according to the seller and pics it hasn't been on the road since 2015. pics show expired plates on that year. bike has 11K miles on it.
supposedly the seller relative owned it. been stored inside until he got it 3 months ago. now stored outside.
seller says he removed the tank, flushed it out and got bike running.it runs so so needs the carbs cleaned. and things freshened up. he lost his work space so bike is for sale.
the pics show a pretty clean bike. the polished side covers look clean and no oxidation on them. the seat looks mint along with the gauge cluster.
i know outside storage causes bikes to go downhill fast. so the pics are probably deceiving.

if i do a quick going thru. basically replacing everything rubber. clean the carbs. a good cleaning and buff or possibly a decent paint job. i am a body man so this is no big deal to me.
a online search says there parts are reasonably priced. would cost about $1K in parts.

i figure fix it, ride it for a bit then sell for a small profit.
what would a really nice looking bike sell for these days in riding saeson.? my gut says about $3500. am i carzy?

Check what some are going for here: https://www.cycletrader.com/

Then check out Facebook Market Place and Craigslist.

NADA has a Motorcycle Value book and I think KBB too.

Mike

i have checked both facebook and craigs list, actually search tempest. there are no nice ones for sale. only projects. also checked Ebay. no comparables.
the 3 listed guides don't go back to the 80's.

Without being able to ride it I would be cautious on money. Those bikes were parked a lot because of transmission issues, usually 2nd gear out. With what you know it needs already you'd be better off in it at about $2K.

2 bikes I’m looking for are the Honda 6 cylinder (80s I think) and Harley XLCH (early 60s) Both are hard to find but maybe someday. Like said if it can’t be ridden low ball it. Pig in a poke deal. My first ‘wheels’ was a year old 67 305 Super Hawk. the ladies loved that bike!

I parted out one of those 10 years ago, it had a supercharger on it and destroyed the valve train. Still have the tank and fenders and a bunch of misc. They were cool bikes in the day. I have no idea what they are worth today... Here is one on FBM. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/189151174143709/? Mine was just like this one: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/316041164422256/?

Stabbing the carbs is a lot of fun on those V4's between the V of the cylinders. I did a V45 Sabre restore that had been sitting and I was not very impressed with the bike so I soon sold it. The 65 is supposed to be better. Just guessing I wouldn't pay over $1,500 if its pretty clean. Make sure the tank is not rusty. When it comes to street bikes I like inline 4 cylinders to work on and ride.

If everything mechanical is good and the tank is not rusted internally - in other words the bike truly needs only a rider I think $3500 is not bad-although Id try and negotiate it down. It really needs to be ridden to rule out serious issues like the mentioned transmission problems. In 2021 I sold a very very clean and nice 1983 Suzuki GS1100E for $3,000. It had 19,000 miles and ran flawlessly.

THANKS for the replies.
first off IF i buy it it will be significantly less than the $3500 i mentioned. this # is what i figure it will be worth once it's finished and looking new again. actually i can buy if for $600.
i figure i will have to pay about $1000 in parts to make it nice. i figure it will take about 50-60 hours to do the work.
if it turns out to be a turd i can easily sell it off in parts and still make a few $$$.
during my searches i have found a lot of bad 2nd gear problems. also clutch master and brake master cylinder leaks. these seem to be the biggest weak spots on these bikes.


have done some searching and i can't find any real sales of nice bikes.
i guess i should have phrased the question differently.
what would you pay or what do you think it will be worth for a nicely restored V65 saber with 11K miles on it during riding season.

At $600 I'd go for it. As you said you can easily make more back as a parts bike even if you find another for a little more to use the parts for that project.

For sure, the Super Hawk was a great looking bike, still is. I had a new '67 305 Scrambler back then as my second bike. I have two 305 Scramblers now. Just found a perfect 5200 mile garage find 305 Scrambler. Found on FBMP by accident looking for another bike. Was a "make offer" so I threw out a stupid really low offer and the person took it. Thought it might be a scam but it turned out the person was absolutely a great guy. He was helping an older woman from his church to clear out her garage as her husband owned it and just want to get her some money quickly. Was missing the ignition key but you can get keys cut by the lock number stamped into it. $12 bucks a key and works perfect. Here's the seller when he was loading it up at the woman's home, EVERYTHING is there except the rubber footpeg covers, all of the original air in the tires and off course the keys Even has an original 1971 Michigan license plate still on it.


Mike

You probably already know this, but the website CommonMotorCollective specializes in parts for old Honda twins, your bike isn't listed specifically, but they do stock the square style footpeg rubber that it looks like your bike has. I just got a shipment from them last week to redo my '75 Scrambler's bars, rebuild the petcock, and replace the throttle cables. They also have an electronic ignition conversion kit that would probably also work on your 305's.

Those V65s had camshaft issues that were never resolved. Lifetime parts warranty for the original owner but I don't know about future owners or if parts are even available now.

My cousin had one and went for his first warranty claim at 25,000 miles. The dealer thought he wasn't aware of the warranty policy and wanted his receipts for the 2 previous sets of cams he must have bought so he could get him a refund.

When it was confirmed there had been no others, Honda Corporate called to ask how he had managed to get 25k out of a part that was guaranteed to fail before 7500. The short answer was Mobil1 and they said thank you and never called again.

That bike was the Hayabusa of its day.

Kevin

I am envious to say the least, I wanted one of those so bad too. I weighed 150 then lol now 250 might look funny on it now! My buddy had one then, no muffler just the little throttle blades thing he could turn to make quite

Being a long-time Harley owner, I turned up my nose at the Japanese offerings until the liquid-cooled V4's appeared. Rode the V65, V-Max and settled on the Suzuki GV1200 Madura.

The 85 Sabre, Magna and Interceptor Hondas with the V4 engine were known to have camshaft problems. The cam lobe were not hardened properly and suffered cam wear issues. If this bike has the Honda updated cams in it, its a typical reliable Honda engine. But it is also a complicated bike to work on, and if you do the work yourself its just time consuming. If you need work done that you can't do yourself, better find yourself a very good independent shop. Most Honda dealers won't even touch a vintage complicated bike over ten years old. These days labor rates at cycle shops are in the $125/hour. If that bike requires carb work, it can take an hour just to get the carbs out and ready for service. A complete carb cleaning/tuning could cost you nearly $500. Regardless of low miles, a near perfect 1985 Magna is at most a $1500 motorcycle, I wouldn't offer a dime more.

Don't get me wrong, I always thought the Honda V4 engines were fascinating. I've been involved in cycles since the early 70s, and I recall when the Honda V4s came out, like WOW! But just be ready for what you may be getting into. Also, a bike with low miles for its age is not always the best. Average yearly miles nationwide is about 2,500, so a bike 37 years old if ridden normally would have something well over 50,000 miles. If a bike sits for many years and is not regularly ridden and maintained the internal rubber parts dry out, fuel pumps get gummed up and rusty. Hondas require specific coolant to make sure the water pump seals don't fail, so the bike should be checked for the cooling system. Don't be too certain that buying it and parting it out is a money gain. There just is very little market for the mid 80's V4 Hondas other than the very desireable 500 Interceptor, maybe the 750 Interceptor (not the 700).

I have always done all my own work on my bikes. If I buy a bike I fully expect to get deep into it to make sure everything is right, and I'll buy a non-runner with the intent to make it run again. I bought a 64 Honda 305 Superhawk about eight years ago, engine rusted stuck, but near complete, for $250. Its a project in waiting for my shop, cylinders soaked in 50/50 Acetone/ATF. Along with the 72 CB350F (had one in hig schol back in 74) that I bought, running, near complete, with title for $300. My rough guide price wise is $1 per CC.

i don't have a clue !
i haven't ridden a bike for over 25 years because of my MS, but i still have the MC rider on my license.
if i was on one, when i came to a stop i would fall over and couldn't get up.

"Snuff-or-Not" they were called, had the too. The 305 Scrambler exhaust with the big muffler on the end removed and nothing in the end of both pipes was "MUSIC".

I would love to find a decent used Kawasaki (SP?) 750 CC three cylinder two stroke to ride now and then,, I would probably end up killing myself on it
I've never ridden one of them, I have ridden the 1969,1970 and 1971 Kawasaki 3 cylinder 500 cc two stroke bikes, I liked them a lot but they had no low end power below 5000 RPM, I was told that the 750 CC motors fix that but none of the dealer I went to in SO CA back then would let you ride one before buying it Oh well Probably was the best thing for me, that might have saved my life or a lot of tickets and pain from crashing on one of them

There's a few nice 3-wheeler Harleys and Honda Gold Wings, just saying