Topic: 1977 CB400F Super Sport

[Gixxerusa]

Hi guys. This is my Cafe racer project using a 77 CB400F.

These pictures are from the first day we got the little Honda from my wife's uncle. He bought the bike brand new in 1977 from a Honda dealership in Iowa. The last time the bike was registered was in 1985. We got the bike in December 2009.

When we tried to start the bike it only ran on two cylinders. Much later I found out that the contact points were isolated.

From a distance the bike really seemed to be in excellent shape. Once I started taking apart it showed the typical signs of a vehicle that has been sitting for some time. Nothing in too bad of a condition. At least the parts that I will keep on the bike anyway.
Here are some of the first pics.

[Gixxerusa]

Here the work begins. At that time we were not sure yet what kind of project it would be. Maybe a modern cafe racer or maybe a classic one. Maybe even a full blown restoration project. At least we knew that we have to start taking the little Honda apart.

[Gixxerusa]

Spending some time with the carbs.

Judging by the way they looked I had my doubts if they could come back to life. Like I said before, the bike sat for several years, I would guess at least 15 years. So the gas left in the tank did some damage to the carbs as expected. I think that was the first bike I’ve seen to run on some kind of varnish. Though little Honda.

Taking the carbs apart was not a big deal. I had to deal with some stubborn little screws, but in the end they all gave up on fighting. I addressed one carb at a time, otherwise I would have had a bunch of unnecessary parts left over.
I got the carb kit from Jerry Cycles. Great place to find parts for the little Honda. The kit came with a stock main jet (#75) which I used to do the rebuild at the time. Since I will be eliminating the stock air box completely and going with the single pods from K&N, I will need to replace the main jets, probably a #90 or #95. There will be a lot of mantling, dismantling, testing and adjusting in the future for sure.
Well. Enough talking. Some before and after are interesting, not to say scary!!

[Gixxerusa]

The bike now is completely taken apart. Priority #1 was to work on the tank so I will know if it could be repairable or if I had to order a new one.

Once the tank was done it was time to clean the engine to remove all the grime and nasty stuff on it. Some more before and after pics are cool. It's ready for priming and painting. It will become a satin black engine with some copper accents (if I can find the right color).

[Gixxerusa]

Engine has been primed and painted.  Cleaning the engine was a pain in the butt. But after a couple of days fighting with that it was time to get the spray can out.
There are still a few touch ups and I am sure there will be a lot more once it goes back in the frame.

The alternator cover badge will be replaced but I went ahead and painted the old one just to see how it would look. Exhaust pipe, carburetors and brake calipers will match.

BTW. The engine hoist I borrowed form my brother-in-law has been a life saver.

[Gixxerusa]

This is the rolling chassis with the tank and seat.
Ninja EX250 front end and both wheels. Now the CB will have disk break in the rear and a better system at the front as well.

The headlight with H4 bulb is from China. Will see if that's gonna last.
New 16" Pirelli Diablo Scooter tires. They seem to be soft, which is a good thing.
The instrument cluster is original showing the 9,333 original miles on the bike. Just got the woodcraft clip-ons last week and they worked really well.
The bar end mirrors are kinda small but who needs to look back anyway?
Rear shocks are new also. The stock ones not only were old but also chromed.

Next step is to take it all apart and send the frame to be powder coated and the tank, seat and front fender to be painted.

I think this will do it for now. That's the current stage of the project (May 2011).  Can't wait to ride the little honda.

[Toxic]

love the copper ascents with the black

Looking for the end result. Should be beautiful

[Gixxerusa]

love the copper ascents with the black

Looking for the end result. Should be beautiful

Thanks Toxic. Planning on painting it yellow with black/copper racing stripes on the top of the tank. Not sure yet about that. Never painted a bike before but the local shops here are asking too much for it (+/- $800). I guess I will have to give it a try.

[RickB]

That parts cleaner did a great job on the carb bodies. Did you do anything else to get those some nice looking?

[Gixxerusa]

That parts cleaner did a great job on the carb bodies. Did you do anything else to get those some nice looking?

Not with the carb bodies RickB. I just soaked them for at least 12hrs and then used some nylon brush to remove the excess grime. Rinsed with water for several minutes to get rid of the residue.

[magconpres]

How easy did the ex250 parts bolt up? I may want to do.that with my 75.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[luceja]

I'd also love to hear about mounting that front end into the 400f neck. Thanks for any info there!

[Gixxerusa]

The Ninja 250 front end installation was pretty easy after a lot of research. The CB and EX steeering stem bearings pretty close in size.

I got the bearing from www.allballsracing.com. They have a conversion chart on their website and tell you what bearings are similar to the ones you have. In my case the CB and EX250 only the top bearing ID was different.


Make     Model      Year       ID      OD       Width   Top Bearing       ID  OD  Width Bottom Bearing
Honda   CB400F     1977     26   48.5   15   99-3511-5                 30   50   14.25   99-3512-5   
Kawasaki   EX250    1999   30   48.5   15   99-3541                    30   50   14.25   99-3512-5   


The new bearings are tapered also so it works better than the stock balls and races. Other than that the entire triple clamp assembly bolts right on.
                                           
                                           
                                           

[TPColgett]

Looking good! Yours started off almost identical to mine, great looking ant the 15ft mark  Now you've got a real looker on your hands!

[kajtek]

awesome work, with the 16 inch wheels it looks like a mini bike, love it!

ive been considering an r6 front end, but the ex250 forks look like a good idea too. did you consider omunting the stock hub to the ninja forks? do you know offhand the axle diameter?

thanks

ashley

[Gixxerusa]

Looking good! Yours started off almost identical to mine, great looking ant the 15ft mark  Now you've got a real looker on your hands!

Thanks TP. I hope it will run as well as it will look. 

[Gixxerusa]

awesome work, with the 16 inch wheels it looks like a mini bike, love it!

ive been considering an r6 front end, but the ex250 forks look like a good idea too. did you consider omunting the stock hub to the ninja forks? do you know offhand the axle diameter?
thanks
ashley

Haha, it does look like a mini bike with those wheels.
At the beginning of the project I had really radical ideas on how to make a modern cafe racer. I even got an R6 front end from a friend and a single sided swing arm off of a VFR400. The problem is the 400 is a really small bike compared to the 500s and 750s, so it looked odd. Besides, I am not a fabricator at all and it would have cost me a lot more than it did. I friend of mine had 4 ninja 250's and he was parting one out. I got the front end and wheels pretty cheap.
I didn't try to use the stock hubs because I wanted the 250 wheels on it. I think the 250 hub is a tad wider than the CB but I would have to actually measure to be sure. Do you need the diameter for the 250 axle? If so I can give you some dimensions later when I get back home from work.
Thanks for the comments.

[Gixxerusa]

I think I finally have the rearsets issue resolved. It was an issue because since I have started this project, there was no other component that I spend the most time thinking about than the rearsets.

I really thought at some point that I would be able to hacksaw the 3/8 aluminum plate and make my own without compromising the alloy. I am not talented enough for that, so it didn't happen. Also no one I know has a CNC machine to do it for me.

The last option would be to get the ones on the 400fourstore.com. Beautiful pieces of art but the cost was almost prohibitive for a budget built and considering that I only paid $500 for the bike. I even got to order but they were out of stock and would not be available for several weeks.

Due to my impatience, I came up with a simple but so far functional solution. A lot cheaper than the $480 rearsets I almost got. 1" P Clamps ordered from Precision Cycle here in Sarasota ($20 each), a pair of my good old gixxer 1000 stock rearsets and it finally seems to be done. It looks structurally sound but some testing will be required.

The beautiful rearsets from TTR400:


The $20 P Clamps

















__________________

[Gixxerusa]

Got the frame back from the Powder Coating Company. It took them 28 days, instead of the 10 days promised. At least the parts are here and ready to begin assembly.



Assembly begun last Saturday (7/23). Engine placed in the frame.
Not a lot of progress that day since I had to order a pair of swing arm bushings. The powder coating company left them there and they got destroyed. Luckily Haps had the parts in stock (they were there since 1978). Haha:



Front suspension in place. New steering stem bearings were a pain to install but they got there with some persuasion. Forks in place as well. Kick stand also in place.



After I got the bushings for the swing arm it was an easy install. New shock in place too.



The rolling chassis with the engine and front end. Still deciding on the location of the clip ons. Now under the top triple clamp.



Getting there. Brake calipers and new pads installed. Still need the braided lines. This is all the progress for this weekend.



As naked as she can be.

[tbarnhart]

I'm really liking the color combo. Good idea on the 250 stuff. I might be picking up a cb350 one of these days. Might have to look into it for that bike.

[gnarlycharlie4u]

well... i can't say no to a cafe 400F but you do realize that there were like half as many of that year made then there were sandcast K0's right?

[Gixxerusa]

I'm really liking the color combo. Good idea on the 250 stuff. I might be picking up a cb350 one of these days. Might have to look into it for that bike.

Thanks TB.

well... i can't say no to a cafe 400F but you do realize that there were like half as many of that year made then there were sandcast K0's right?

I do realize that gnarly. I thought about just doing a full on restoration project but I would not be happy with it. I do respect the ones fully restored and they have all my respect for doing so. It was just not for me.
I am also not really interested on the monetary value of the bike once is complete. The bike has been in the family since brand new and will stay in the family until the end of its days. So why not build something that I will enjoy riding?

[gnarlycharlie4u]

I do realize that gnarly. I thought about just doing a full on restoration project but I would not be happy with it. I do respect the ones fully restored and they have all my respect for doing so. It was just not for me.
I am also not really interested on the monetary value of the bike once is complete. The bike has been in the family since brand new and will stay in the family until the end of its days. So why not build something that I will enjoy riding?

Ditto. I'm not knocking you for your build, I just like to make sure 400-4 owners know what they've got on their hands.

I actually just picked up a terribly "cafe'd" '75 400F that is going to need a lot of love.
Am I going to restore it? Nope.
Am I going to cafe it properly? Damn straight.

great bike btw.

[Gixxerusa]

Ditto. I'm not knocking you for your build, I just like to make sure 400-4 owners know what they've got on their hands.

I actually just picked up a terribly "cafe'd" '75 400F that is going to need a lot of love.
Am I going to restore it? Nope.
Am I going to cafe it properly? Damn straight.

great bike btw.

I understood your remark, and it is important for us to know how rare these little ones are. I am keeping all the stock parts, at least the ones that  are still in good shape. My wife is 7 months pregnant now, so who knows what my daughter will do with it when she gets to own it?

Good luck on your project and keep us posted on the progress as well.

[gnarlycharlie4u]

Ditto. I'm not knocking you for your build, I just like to make sure 400-4 owners know what they've got on their hands.

I actually just picked up a terribly "cafe'd" '75 400F that is going to need a lot of love.
Am I going to restore it? Nope.
Am I going to cafe it properly? Damn straight.

great bike btw.

I understood your remark, and it is important for us to know how rare these little ones are. I am keeping all the stock parts, at least the ones that  are still in good shape. My wife is 7 months pregnant now, so who knows what my daughter will do with it when she gets to own it?

Good luck on your project and keep us posted on the progress as well.

CONGRATS~!

yea I've been terrible about chronicling my bikes since I took on projects for other people.

how do you feel about putting some keihin FCR's on that thing? I really don't think I could justify the expense but I get the feeling that this little bike would really make good use of them.