Topic: New guy in Mexico with a '75 CB400F

[Jore]

Hi all,

I'm the new owner of a 1975 cb400f. The name´s Jorge, but you all can call Jore if you like. I'm located in Mexico and it's to my understanding that I have one of the 400/4's around here (they were not imported here) Mine's been in the country since the late 80's.

The bike is in somewhat of a neglected state, and the wiring's a mess. I think I may have a problem with the charging system, because last saturday the battery went flat and the bike was dead on the spot. Not even with the kick starter could I get it running. But today I hooked up another battery and it fired away I also disconnected the battery and the bike kept on running.

Besides all the electrical gremlins, there's smoke coming out from the case, after the bikes warm. But I like challenges and want to do a resto-mod of the bike.

[Stev-o]

Welcome from Texas.  Where in Mex are you?

Check all your wiring connections. Had a similar issue and found my voltage regulator was not connected.

[Jore]

I'm in a town called Tepic, which is part of the pacific coastal region even thou I'm up in the mountain. The nearest cities are Guadalajara about 2 hours south, Puerto Vallarta also about 2 hours away and Mazatlan about 4 hours up north. i'll take a look on that thanks. But for tje most part my wiring is shot, in order to turn on the lights I have to twist 3 wires togheter which are located near the starter solenoid btw, also in order to start it with the e-starter, I have to stick something metallic between the solenoid posts.

[Stev-o]

I know that area, very beautiful. My wife loves Lake Chapala. (I haven't been).

If your wiring is that bad, may be best to get a new harness and start fresh.

[Jore]

I'll try my hand at some DIY wiring, but also I'll be going to the states by mid january, so i'll try and bring some stuff for the bike, at least some side covers.

[MoMo]

Here is an Ebay seller that has repro side covers for a great price      z1900-parts is the seller id.  Quality is good and the set is about 80 USD.  Welcome...Larry

[Jore]

Thanks Larry!

[Jore]

Messing around with the bike I found some parts of the tank in a dark blue colour, so maybe the bike was originally blue, currently it's flat black.

[Jore]

Here's the bike btw:

[straat-toe]

Rad Bike man, compared to mine it's in mint condition. Those pipes are still lovely. Is that a square headlight you have on there?

[Jore]

Thanks mate, it was, but I changed it to a round one with a lower watt rating, the square one was running around near the 70-80 watt range, so you now, the system was up to the task, now i'm running a 30 or 35 watt headlight and things seem much smoother.

The pipes are in an ok condition, the far right one has some road rash, and the others seem to have plastic melted on or something like that, but for now the plan's to get running in tip-top condition and then doing aesthetics to it.

As you can see, it wasn't very oil tight or for that matter brake fluid tight. But now it sort of is, the master cylinder just needed a new gasket for the cap, and on the oil side, I used one of those additives that softens up old dry gaskets, I haven't ridden it that much as for the thing to work correctly but for now, it seems to be working, at least the leak is a lot smaller.