Honda CB450 K1 restored by Jean-Claude Barrois

In the days before the horsepower race, the Honda CB450 was one of the most desirable bikes you could buy. You had the choice of charismatic, cantankerous British iron, which would invariably mark its territory with a little puddle of oil, heavyweight American cruisers, or the jewel-like build quality and supreme reliability of a Honda. This 1968 CB450 is one of the 6,000-or-so early K1 models, with a simple ‘450’ badge on the side panels, beneath a textured black vinyl seat with delicate white piping. The fuel tank was different to the ‘Black Bomber’ K0 models introduced in 1965, and...