"In the mid 1970s Japanese manufacturers seemed to find the market for a sporting middleweight motorcycle a little confusing. It was as if the they were not sure where their customers wanted them to go next. There were plenty of flashy 350 and 400 bikes from the big four but these were mostly two-strokes with the notable exception of Honda’s fours. Honda was also producing a middleweight four-stroke, four-cylinder sports tourer and, in the process, it created a whole genre. It had launched its CB500/4 in 1971 to complement the class leading CB750/4. Within a few years, Honda was competing with Suzuki and its softly tuned two-stroke GT550 triple. Honda increased the capacity of its four and the CB550/4 replaced the CB500/4 in 1974, producing a popular model that remained in production until 1978.
This 1974 Honda CB550/4 was purchased by a specialist film vehicle rental company in 2013 after it had been imported in to the UK early that year. The mileage showing, when purchased, was 31,916 miles, meaning that this motorcycle has only covered approximately 470 miles since 2013. The reason being that the bike has not been used on the road and only used on TV and film sets. Painted in the classic Honda brown, this CB550/4 is supplied with a V5 registration document and a couple of previous MoT test certificates from when it was imported. A true Honda classic offered to auction without a reserve."