Saw a CB400 sold on TV show

[bajakirch]

I was flipping through the channels tonight and caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a Honda CB on one of the myriad auction shows now littering the airwaves. It turned out to be something called Big Brian the Fortune Seller. The CB got my attention enough to watch a bit of the show.

It pretty much followed the formula:  Grumpy, no-nonsense boss yelling at his employees, at least one goof-ball worker that doesn't appear able to eat and breathe at the same time much less work a job, lots of back-and-forth 'negotiating' (most of which appeared to be purely for the benefit of the producers), etc.

Anyway, the bike turned out to be a 1979 CB400. However, I didn't catch the show early enough to learn  if it was a Hawk or a Hondamatic. The bike appeared to be in good shape and pretty clean. The kicker was that it had no key and no title. The best part about the whole scene was the guy trying to sell the bike: "You can get a new key at any dealer. And a title? Just call the guys at the DMV; they'll help you get a new title." I don't know what state they were in, but unless their DMV operates in a separate universe from ours, the 'guys at the DMV' are not known for their willingness to 'help you get a new title'.

And of course, with no key they couldn't even start the bike up to show it ran.

After a bit of haggling, some guy ended up buying it for $1250. I'm no expert, but that seems like a ridiculous amount to spend for a pig in a poke. I did a quick nationwide CL check, and CB400 were typically going for $1000 to $1900, with the Hondatics being closer to the top end. There's no way I'd be putting down that kind of money on a bike in those circumstances. Heck, a good steam cleaning and some finishing compound will make most bikes that age look like they've been properly cared for. For all the buyer knew the bike was missing every internal engine part.

I don't get it.

[Brittles]

I don't get it either. Guess it goes back to what PT Barnum said. 

[JB1290]

Either its just good editing on the shows part or there really is a sucker born every minute.   

[ariwhiteboy]

How priceless would it be if the guy showed up on this forum asking questions? 

[fortyhourdays]

How priceless would it be if the guy showed up on this forum asking questions?  

Hawkward!

[tbante]

Hi all!
I recently acquired a very nice CB400 but I have a couple of issues...................

[JB1290]

^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^