Topic: New member with new (to me) CB400F

[jas67]

Hello, my name is Jay (rest of room: "Hi Jay").   It has been 10 hours since my last motorcycle purchase...

Up until now, all my class motorcycles have been twins (with two singles, a CL90 and an S90).   This is my first classic Four.  Up until now, I've mostly hung out at hondatwins, vfrworld and wildguzzi (I'm also a Moto Guzzi fan).

I just "won" it on ebay last night, and will, hopefully be picking it up in the next few days.  Meanwhile, here are some pics from the listing.

It looks pretty nice, but there is a small hole in the exhaust collector near where it connects to the muffler, so I'm open to suggestions as to the best way to repair it.     I hope that it is as nice as it looks in the pictures, as I know that these old bikes often look better in pictures than in person.

[Stev-o]

Welcome, Jas.  The 400F is great bike, you will love it. I only see 1 pic, the one of the hole in the pipe.  Those pipes are not easy to come by in good cond, I would go to a muffler shop and ask about getting it brazed.  Fix those pics!  And good luck.

[jas67]

Welcome, Jas.  The 400F is great bike, you will love it. I only see 1 pic, the one of the hole in the pipe.  Those pipes are not easy to come by in good cond, I would go to a muffler shop and ask about getting it brazed.  Fix those pics!  And good luck.

Thanks for pointing out the broken images, Steve.    Postimage.org seems to be a little flaky.   I uploaded the first four again, now they seem to work.   Funny thing is, they were displaying fine for me in Firefox, but not in Safari (I'm on a Mac).  Now they work in both.

The rest of the pipe looks good, just that one hole.   I certainly hope that the rest of the collector isn't real thin, waiting to rust through.   If that is the case, I may end up just getting a new collector made, and re-using the rest of the header pipes, as they appear to be in good shape.    I'll find out more when I pick the bike up.

Pardon my ignorance, but why, may I ask, to have it brazed, instead of welded?

Thanks,
Jay (jas is my initials).

[Stev-o]

Wow, that bike looks real clean. What thought was a large hole in the exhaust is not, some guys have used high temp JB Weld to temp repair holes. Brazing is a type of welding that is done on exhausts. Take a close look when you get it.

How are you getting it from DC? I just happened to be watching it on eBay!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1976-Honda-CB400-FOUR-Super-Sport-/190731841426?forcev4exp=true#ht_500wt_948

[jas67]

That would be the one I'm getting.   I hope it really is as nice in person as in pictures.   The seat has been replaced, so that isn't a good indicator of the condition of the rest of the bike.   The engine cases look good in the pictures, but the chrome bits, such as the fenders, you really never can tell until you see it in person.   I'm picking it up on Monday.      Fingers crossed.

[Stev-o]

As long as your not expecting a showroom-new bike, you'll be fine.

[dhall57]

Welcome from North Carolina. The CB400 is a good sohc4 to start off with. By the pics bike looks to be in good shape. Good luck with it. These sohc4 bikes are a blast to ride and plenty of help and info here when you need it

dhall

[jas67]

I bought it home today!


This thing is absolutely beautiful!      It was its owner's pride and joy, but he didn't have time to ride it enough (he has an R1150R too, which he doesn't ride enough either), so he decided to sell.    The owner was torn about  selling, but after meeting me and talking to me for a while was happy it was "going to a good home".    It was definitely his baby.   The left side case and countersprocket cover are BRAND NEW.    As are the mirrors, and the seat and seat grab handle.     The inside of the tank is 100% free of any rust and clean as a whistle.   The original paint on it is about an 8.5.     The only reason it isn't a 10 is a few minor scratches and one small chip repair.    The tank decals are excellent as well.

Cosmetic needs to make perfect: clean up, and maybe paint the right side engine cases (not bad, but look bad due to the new ones on the other side), same goes for the valve covers.    Wet sand and maybe polish the rear brake drum, and fork lowers. 

Other needs:
Battery is dead.
Small hole in exhaust collector as was shown in the pics.
Brake caliper is hanging.    We pushed up his uphill driveway and loaded it just fine, but when I applied the brake bringing it down off my trailer, it never released.    It was a real #$%* pushing it into the garage with the brake hanging like that.   I tried releasing pressure with the bleed screw in case the problem was a collapsed brake line but that didn't help.   I'll be having to rebuild or replace the caliper.

As for the engine, it starts and runs nicely, so I'm sure just an oil change, valve clearance check/adjust, and timing check/adjust, and it'll be all set.

[Stev-o]

Congrats.  That's too bad about the brake, but happens when a bike sits. 
Did he say how old the battery is? If over 2-3, may not be a bad idea to buy a new one.

[jas67]

Congrats.  That's too bad about the brake, but happens when a bike sits. 
Did he say how old the battery is? If over 2-3, may not be a bad idea to buy a new one.

No mention of how old the battery is.    I'm just going to replace it.

[jas67]

First ride!

I put a new battery on it, rebuilt the sticking caliper, and flushed out the from brake system, and took it for a ride yesterday!

I love this bike!    I love the sound, and the riding position is nice and sporty compared to pretty much anything else (stock) from this era that I've ridden.

It is so buttery smooth compared to my CB360T with has so much "buzz" vibration at speed it makes your hands numb on a longer ride.

The smoothness of these SOHC fours makes me appreciate how revolutionary the 1969 CB750 was, as nearly 100% of people riding then only had experience on thumpers and twins.    And, this was long before anyone started put counter-balance shafts in their twins.

The 400F takes this smoothness and applies it to a much lighter weight bike, and adds lower bars and rear sets for a nice sporting ride.

[Stev-o]

Great news

[jackseattle]

super find.  they are so smooth.  my son has a 360t and is always trying to borrow my 400f when he heads out of the city for longer ride.

are you riding michelins? try avons when you have to replace the tires.  they are sweet

[jas67]

I forget what brand tires they are, but something cheap, like IRCs or something like that.    They're in good shape, only a few years old, and good enough for as hard as I ride this bike.    If I really want to ride fast and hard, I'll ride my '96 VFR750 which has far better brakes and chassis (and incidentally, cost me less than what I paid for my 400F).