A new acquisition ..

soonerbillz · July 06, 2023, 07:28:35 PM

Though I love 2T primarily I'm still a big vintage whatever fan.
Always wanted one of those Honda 350/4 bikes but it never happened.
Yesterday a good friend called and asked me if I was interested in his grandfather's old bike.
I took one look and jumped!
74-75? Honda 400/4 Supersport
Complete and very low original miles. Needs a carb clean, points check and a battery.
I'll ride it a bit but really it's gonna be a bike to have around so when my son's come visit they will have something to ride.
Oh yeah!

Kawtriplefreak · July 06, 2023, 09:26:40 PM

Sweet

m in sc · July 06, 2023, 10:04:24 PM

very nice. i had one, be warned, they are disappointing. but look great. hope you enjoy it.

soonerbillz · July 06, 2023, 10:16:27 PM

Quote from: m in sc on July 06, 2023, 10:04:24 PMvery nice. i had one, be warned, they are disappointing. but look great. hope you enjoy it.

Don't expect much performance wise. If it's like all my previous 4 stroke lightweight bikes they can't push enough to be exciting. But that said.. a fun bike to ride anyways.

m in sc · July 07, 2023, 01:39:29 PM

could be a 77? they made them a few yrs. mine was a 75. like said, pretty, it was smooth as glass, handled ok.

I redid the topend on mine, put a dyna s ignition on it and it was reliable as hell.

85RZwade · July 07, 2023, 04:04:40 PM

I had one, and it was pretty and handled well.

dgorms · July 07, 2023, 07:12:27 PM

Nice score, but not one mention of the stump pulling torque they didn't have!

irk_miller · July 08, 2023, 02:27:13 PM

Honda was throwing all of their money into the Civic at that time. They put zero budget into performance on street bikes. They didn't change much outside of mechanicals until they went full DOHC(minus the 650) in 79. The 400f is literally nothing more than an overbore 350/4, but with gorgeous styling and a great looking exhaust. Fun and enjoyable can be two completely different experiences. A 400/4 is very enjoyable to ride.

soonerbillz · August 03, 2023, 06:17:46 AM

Finally actually dragged this one home.
Previous owner gave it new tires and took the carbs apart to clean them but it wouldn't start so they gave up. It needed so I've purchased new plugs, points, battery filters and a chain. The cables are 47 years old so bought new ones as well.
Finally the seat is ripped so off the upholstery shop it goes.
Otherwise I think it just needs a good detailing to clean and shine it up.

m in sc · August 08, 2023, 11:41:30 AM

suggestion: get a dyna-s for it after you get it running. they like high rpms and the points will bounce, especially aftermarket ones.

Hawaii-Mike · August 08, 2023, 04:03:22 PM

If the bodywork is original, I believe it's a 1976 model. 1977 models had locking covers over the gas cap.

I had a 1975 CB400. I bought a Yoshimura big bore kit, I think the displacement was 455cc, along with a Yoshimura cam. Kerker exhaust. The bike was fast for a 400! Faster than a built RD400? Maybe not, I didn't drag race it.

soonerbillz · August 09, 2023, 10:33:01 AM

Quote from: m in sc on August 08, 2023, 11:41:30 AMsuggestion: get a dyna-s for it after you get it running. they like high rpms and the points will bounce, especially aftermarket ones.

Thanks for the tip!

soonerbillz · August 09, 2023, 10:35:09 AM

Quote from: Hawaii-Mike on August 08, 2023, 04:03:22 PMIf the bodywork is original, I believe it's a 1976 model. 1977 models had locking covers over the gas cap.

I had a 1975 CB400. I bought a Yoshimura big bore kit, I think the displacement was 455cc, along with a Yoshimura cam. Kerker exhaust. The bike was fast for a 400! Faster than a built RD400? Maybe not, I didn't drag race it.

The bike is a 75. Head stock tag and title verified.
I may down the road do a bit of performance work. But for now I'll just enjoy as is.

m in sc · August 09, 2023, 11:17:55 AM

somebody tried talking me into doing the 3mm overbore when i had mine, i didn't see the need and didn't want the liners that thin.
The woman (who already rode) that bought it from me took some bad advice and overfilled it on oil on a ride, and killed the motor eventually. her bf at the time reached out to me asked if HE should do the big bore, i told him no to. being cheap but also not listening to my advice, he took it to a cut rate shop, and they tried to do it anyway, and then he destroyed the cylinder in the process, cracked the liner trying to bore it too much on one pass. then, they bought another motor out of a 76, swapped it, then realized that the 2nd gear int he donor motor was hit, and then had to put THAT set of cyls onto the original bottom end that i had.

mind you, i re-rung the top-end when i had the bike and it was perfect mechanically when sold, and pretty damn good cosmetically.

she still has the bike, it has head gasket leak issues. One day she'll fix it and i offered to help. its been 8? 9? years. who knows. IMHO the dyna is there for reliability, was never a performance gain i was looking for. same reason i put the dyna on the YL1. always going to be slow, but at least it will be consistent.

irk_miller · August 11, 2023, 05:34:48 AM

Make sure the advancer is .530" or .590". Honda started putting the CB750 advancers in them, so you have to get a CB750 ignition for the .590" shaft. That usually covers 75-77's. In addition to Dyna, 4-into-1 now sells their own kit. There's also the Charlie's place kit, which I just installed on a CB360.

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A new acquisition ..