Topic: Project 13 CB400F. Now putting on the miles...

[traveler]

Good to hear.

Now go clean her up and dust her off!

Now it's time for a 550K!

~Joe

[hoodellyhoo]

Congrats!!!! You deffinitely earned it!

[TommyRocket]

Drain the gas, build a short hardwood platform for it, and put it in the living room. Tell the S/O she can sit on it and watch TV. But only if she sits on it carefully!

Nice bike.

The 300 series-rear tire, long as a Suburban choppers have run their course.  SOHC4s are where it's at - it's just that not everyone knows it yet.

Man I hate those things. I'll take a clean classic Honda over one any day.

[steamnjn23]

wow!. 
i've followed this story right to the end.
Cudos are definatly in order...and a great looking bike too

congradulations[/color][/b]

[Ecosse]

i love it!! you sure showed all those cream puffs what the sohc/4 is made of!

a heart felt congratulations to a masterful rebuild and successful (re)debut! 

[Retro Rocket]

Beautiful bike...

Mick

[supersports400]

congrats,

looking forward to your next project,

Jensen

[theofam]

I just read about the 1st Place Award, and I'm doing a little jig back here in Denver for you!

Safe to say you won the SCGWL2RSOHC4s Club's first ever award!

PM me your address, and I'd be glad to make good on my toothbrush offering for having ridden 13!

Way to go!!

[77cafe750]

ok so now i am uber motivated to finish project sarah (still wiping drool off of my face) beatiful bike excellent work

[fasturd]

Hey guys AND gals thanks again for all the support. Knowing all you experts like it is as rewarding as the trophy!

I could not resist and had to take 13 out tonight. But not before getting my S/Os 400 out for the season. She has a pretty nice mostly stock example except for gearing, clutch springs a Bassani pipe and jetting. I always forget how friggen fast hers is! It will lift the front wheel and top the ton in a heart beat. On the same stretch of road 13 will do just a little over 95 (ramp to ramp on a local interstate). I dropped a tooth on 13 and that helped but these 400s really wake up with a better muffler and proper jetting... I cannot wait to try out the Yoshima pipe I have!

I also had to post a picture of how 13 idles... Like a gas powered sewing machine 1000 steady rpms.

[Zaipai]

Sweet way to go. You sure earned it!!!

Congratulations!!!!!!!!
.: Scott :.

[fasturd]

It never ends does it? If you ever think you are done just take a really bright LED flashlight and start looking at the nooks and crannies of your project...

So I got in a couple of test rides and 13 works just like she should. Now I have a few details to get perfect. Last night I re-bled the brakes just to make sure they were "airless" I moved the brake rod to the next hole as there was too much pedal travel vs braking. The new position is much better.


I then started looking things over. That was dumb. After seeing all those show bikes you really start to notice little things that no sane person would ever see. lol

So I made another list. Adjust that, tweek this. Clean over there...

[fasturd]

Then I started looking at the siezed up 400F in the corner, the jetted one with the yoshima pipe, safety wired bits and the owner customized wiring. Don't you love P/Os and their custom wiring? It is so butchered that I do not feel guilty at all doing ANYTHING to that bike.

I think a little track bike would be great.

[strynboen]

here is a pic,,to make you more happy for your bike...my rusty exh..hope it makes you feel better..
the good thing are ,,that i am...just as happy for my old bike as you are for your fantastic nice littel baby..
i just needs some years work...

[fasturd]

Actually that exhaust isn't too bad. I was looking at another thread and that members exhaust was gone at the collector. You should start a project thread so we can watch your progress.
Good luck.

[fastbroshi]

Wow that's a really cool shot.  I never realized they were "stepped" like that.  The amount of space between the pipes looks to be the same as the height from pipe to pipe.  Let's see that Yoshi header.

[fasturd]

I will get a couple of shots...It is in rough shape. There is a hole that needs to be fixed and it needs to be re-painted but I have a master fabricator as a best friend and a couple more bottles of Scotch should get all the (pipe's) issues solved!

The factory header is really quite efficient. The way the collector works they are almost equal length.The factory header works great with any number of slip-ons and proper jetting. My S/Os 400 is like a different bike in comparison to 13 and its just a Bassani slip-on and good jetting. It is the muffler that really slows things down. The stock muffler is rather heavy and way too restrictive. But the whole stock package is not that heavy. I am sure the Y pipe is WAY too loud for a long ride as the exit of the exhaust is pretty much pointed at your right ear. I guess so you don't miss ANY of the performance advantage!

[fastbroshi]

  Speaking of Yoshi exhaust, it's pretty much a consensus they sound great and nothing comes close, well to me anyway.  I was doing some random searching the other day and ran across an engineers forum and they were talking about analyzing sound waves from an exhaust, ways to eliminate it, and then my eyes started to glaze over but I scanned across a section that talked about the way headers were mounted.
  And it made perfect sense and it's so obvious now.  The details were that all the vibrations and sound coming through the exhaust are impacted by it's mounting pounts and how many there are, be it at the head or later on down the line.  I kept thinking, the old Yoshi exhausts are basically hanging there, almost free to do what they will and exhaust pressure waves can freely try to "straighten out" the down pipes.  Amazing.

[fasturd]

That is an interesting point. Sound tuning is all the rage now in cars and bikes. The early y-pipes were continus bend I think I have the more mass produced one with a slight straight in the front of the header tubes. I will get a picture or two this afternoon. I am sure it sounds great just might not be super pleasant for long droning work...Though I doubt I will ever be using any of these little buggers to ride to Sturgis...


Not that I would ride to Sturgis...

[jimmiejoe]

Wow a very impressive build...Esciting to read your posted doc's and those great pics... l wished l was your neighbor...
This  little Yellow Bee was my first build as well and won first place in Santa Barbara bike and car show....
Sicne then l've collected another 500 and a 550 l bought for a $100 out of a chicken coop Wished l'd taken of pic of this bike with
chicken  poop all over it....
Washed it off and stored it ........Untill l saw this beautiful Red 400 come back to life...
Thanks so much for the restoration and hot tips on this Awarded winning bike
Look forward to reading your next build #14
Mine will be .#3 after finishing a 1968 Yamaha YR2C 350 scrambler turn into a cafe'
Have a great riding season
JIMMIEJOE

[fasturd]

Jimmiejoe!

Dude your little bee bumble and the stinger is super cool. Now if American Chopper made theme bikes that looked like that maybe they would spend more time smiling and building rather than #$%*ing like a bunch of school girls (sorry school girls) and throwing stuff...

I have to admit that it would be cool to have a bunch of Honda CB neighbors. I am pretty lucky here in Minnesota there are a lot of guys into vintage stuff. But it is hard to find guys who actually RIDE them. My S/O ride old stuff all the time but when we ride with friends we usually move over to the modern stuff.

[brandon]

Congrats on the 1st place finish! I have been following this thread and obsessing over that rear Brembo brake kit since I saw your photos of it. I think I 'need' one for my CB400F! The problem is finding one! If anyone knows....!?!?

To the guy that commented on the Yoshi exhaust just hanging there: From what I understand from tuning cars is that there are other attributes that go into designing a proper flowing exhaust. The pulses of sound generated are also supposed to assist in pushing the exhaust gasses out of the pipes as well while keeping proper back pressure. It's hard for me to explain on motorcycles because I have only owned one thus far, but with cars, you see it all the time with people who will take their cars with engines that still have stock displacement/compression ratios, intake systems and fuel systems, then throw on an exhaust system that is 'supposed' to add gobs of horsepower but doesn't and simply makes that persons wallet lighter.

This is rarely the case and a serious waste of money unless significant modification has been done to the aforementioned systems. In basic basic terms, an engine is basically a glorified air pump and for the engine and exhaust to work properly, they need to be tuned to one-another so the proper back pressure and pulse are working correctly in the exhaust system.

[fasturd]

I totally agree. Pipes are just part of the system. The good thing is these old systems we not optimized like todays bikes are. It is much easier to get more HP from a pipe, air cleaner and proper jetting on these old motors. I have a Yoshima article tucked away some where that has info on starting points for jetting with a Yoshima pipe. I will start there and fine tune as I go. But I don't think I will be pulling the stock pipe off of this bike. I have another 400F that will be guinea pig for that learning curve. (NO it is NOT pretty and most likely will never be pretty...LOL).

[cb650]

Congrats!!!!!   I love you both rode it off.   

[fasturd]

I would have to say riding it away from the loading dock was the frosting on the cake!


I dug out the Yoshima pipe today for a couple of quick snap shots... Speaking of snap shots the "better" camera should be here in the not to distant future. Now that the bike is done...LOL.

Anyway, you can see how abriviated the Y-pipe is. Short as can be and still be effective. The collector is completely under the engine. The muffler (if you can call it that) takes care of bringing the exhaust out from under the bike and directly into your ear. TONS of cornering clearance compared to the stock pipe.

Mine is not perfect by any means. On of the pipes has a dime sized hole in it. But I have a fabricating whiz of a friend who I hope I can convince to do the repair. Other than that it just needs to be blasted and coated.

I know it will be too loud but I cannot wait to hear it. It is the "inspiration piece" for my next 400 build.

It may not look that short in the pictures but the pipe ends right behind the heel of your right foot.




Not super pretty but very functional.