Your Honda CB400F pic's

If you send me pictures of your Honda CB400F, I will put them up on this page, and don't be fussy about what you send me even if it's a picture of half a CB400F or a basket case which you intend to put together one day I would still like to post it on this page.

From Amberg (Germany) here is a picture of Norbert Fuger's 76 model Varnish-Blue 400/4 with only 27.000 km on the clock. Norbert tells me that his best bike is a 1977 400/4 Super Sport which he hopes to finish restoring this winter.

Well we know that Norbert is true to his word, as you can see he has restored his CB400F's, here is what he wrote.

Hello Andy,

It's finished. Here is a picture of the bikes I restored in the last 12 months:
a blue 76´400/4 with now 29000km and the yellow bike is a 77´ 400/4 "Super Sport"
(European Specification). Both run very good (more than 100mph - legal tested on
German Motorway).

Greetings from Bavaria,

Norbert Füger

I also have restored one of these nice wee bikes. I have included some pictures to let you see. I still need to replace the rear shocks and get the stickers but it is nearly finished. This is the first time I have ever done anything like this and it has taken 9 months.
I bought 3 bikes from a chap in Edinburgh on the 30th of June 2000 who had always intended to restore one of them but due to work and family responsibilities never got the time. The three bikes were really a mess and I can't quite believe that I managed to get one of them to look as good. The other two are still sitting waiting for attention but I don't know if I will ever get round to restoring them. The one that I have worked on has done 58,000 miles so it has seen a good bit of use in its time. It had lay in the chaps garage for 14 years without oil in it. Once I got the bike & engine back together and put the petrol in the tank it started on the very first push of the button. I just could not believe it.

It's a 1976 CB 400 F and as you can see It's going to need a bit of work. Rowan will send me pics as the work progresses and I will post them on this page, so keep an eye out.

I purchased the bike in February 2000 with just 9,000 miles. It was
originally yellow, but I have gone red with the restoration. My project
includes:

Powdercoat
NOS tank (David Silver)
NOS front fender (David Silver)
NOS tach & speedo (Ebay)
New tool kit (Ebay)
Correct horn and various other missing parts (CMS, David Silver, Ebay)
Stainless steel fastners (80% of the bike)
New top end gasket set to stop that damn leak
Full carburator overhaul and restoration
Re-chromed chain guard etc.
Full warning decal set from Dave's Cave in Alberta Canada
Polished engine covers
Re-painted cylinder head (tks!)
Whew!!

This winter I would still like to re-spoke the wheels and get a new exhaust,
although the one's I have are in very good condition. Thanks for the
inspiration and advice on paint. Summer has just arrived for us so I'm
looking forward to putting down some miles. Although its ready for shows,
I'll be riding this one.

05/06/2001

"This '75 Varnish blue 400 was given to me during the
winter of 1993. It was a complete basket case, having
a smashed tank and lots and lots of rust. It weezed
along but wouldn't run right. With my dad riding it,
I blew it away with a Honda 360 so I knew it needed
engine work. I thought it was special since it didn't
cost me a dime and it has a very low serial number
(1791).

I completely disassembled it during the winter and
started rebuilding it by sandblasting the frame and
swing arm. I then painted them satin black and started
sandblasting smaller pieces and painting them too.
The tank, side covers, seat, gauges, and engine came
from a local motorcycle salvage yard. I'd say they
all came from the same bike because there were no
other 400SS parts there!

The bike looked alright when it was done, but nowhere
near original. I had to use newer Honda decals as
no one was selling replacements back then, and even if
they were the internet was far in the future so I
couldn't find them anyway. The exhaust was painted
black since the chrome was bad and the muffler wasn't
original anyway. I swapped the front fender from a
CL350 and it got a lot of compliments. The bike was
'bad' and sounded great!

That's when I got stupid. I bought a beautiful '77
CB400F with 5k miles on it and sold this one to my
brother in law. He never rode it more than around the
neighborhood, but it got dirty, dusty, grimy, and he
and his brother worked on it after it sat too long.
Needless to say it was going back to a total wreck.
In the mean time I sold the '77 for a pile of money,
bought and sold several more low mileage, red '75s and
kept promising myself I'd keep a nice one (always the
next one since I was making a nice profit on each
bike). Well the last one was sold 4 years ago and I
couldn't find another nice one around here!

Finally I convinced him to sell it back 2 weeks ago,
and Andy's restoration has me convinced to restore
this one right. I'm going to repaint the frame, tank,
and side covers the right color, add original decals,
and re-chrome or replace anything that isn't close to
perfect."

Thanks Andy! I'll follow up with photos of my other
'75s and my '77 soon.

Here are a couple photos of my '77 model with the high
handlebars, forward pegs, recessed gas cap, green
kilometers on the speedo, single brace front fender,
and different "400FOUR" stickers. This is what the
last year 400F looked like in the US. This bike even
had the original Bridgestone "Super Speed" tires! It
was sold to a company that shipped it back to Japan
for a collector with around 5700 miles. I wish I had
it back.

The most common things I've found with 400s are the
starter switch box goes bad, the original muffler is
almost never there, and that people usually change the
handlebars to '77 style.

Here are some pictures of my 77CB400F2. I have owned the bike for approx. 1 year. It has 5320 miles. The bike has sat in a dark shed since 1978, the original owner dumped the bike and was to scared to ride again. I replaced the handlebars (none were there), the start/kill switch, turn signal switch, both side covers, complete headlight assembly, turn signal assemblies. The fuel tank was caved in and creased on both sides. I could not locate another tank, so with nothing to loose the tank was cut in two straightened and re-welded. After many hours of sanding, grinding and bodywork you see the end result. Not 100% but it will do till I can locate a replacement. The tank was painted using a spray can. All work was done by myself except welding, as I do not own a welder so a friend did the welding. the but had not run since 1978, I changed the oil/filter and the bike started right up. I look forward to many days of riding this summer.

I bought this bike from a kid for $75US who had it in his backyard under
a decaying tarp. Engine was stuck (rusted piston - no spark plug in the
cylinder). Wheels were rusted and tank (blue) was bent and seat torn.
Friend at work had another one which I bought for $100, similar
condition although the motor was free but crack in crankcase. Totally
stripped down the original one, got new rings and gaskets for the motor,
and repainted the whole thing. Used many things off the "donor bike"
and am near to completion. Have spent about $500 for the project so
far, excluding the cost of the bikes. Have not rechromed anything as
can't afford it, but the original chrome has cleaned up very well so
other than scratches there is a minimal amount of pitting. Eventually
the bike will wear a mini fairing and I will have a cafe type front
fender rather than the original. The color of the frame is kind of a
gold tone silver and the side covers and tank are a deep metallic green.

Aaron has sent me pictures of both his 75 model CB400F's, the red one has become a parts bike for the grey one in the foreground. He tells me that both have been sitting for a while but he now has the grey one running and in his own words, its a blast!!!.

Check out Aaron's flame job on his tank, wow if you didn't live so far away from me Aaron, I would get you to come over and paint mine as well, it looks great.

Tony bought this red Honda CB400F about a month ago for 150 pounds and he hopes to restore it over summer. (4 children, wife and house move permitting) hmm, good luck Tony.

The exhaust is genuine Honda almost new, the engine runs and the wheels have stainless spokes and new tyres, he plans to completely strip for re-painting and re-build the engine as the starter clutch slips and the splines are bust on the kickstart shaft.

Have a look at Andy Meyers restoration of his 1975 Varnish-Blue Honda CB400F at his Home Page

WOW check out this 1976 CB400F sent to me by Dan, I am speechless. Here is what he wrote

Sir,

Attached below are pictures of my 1976 CB400F. I bought it from a
enthusiast in the Northeast in 1994 and even though I planned to ride it, I
got caught up in getting married and restoring our home. Thus the bike
stayed in a corner of our playroom, where I would cycle the engine through
at least once a week and wax/care for it about once a month. Even though my
wife is not a moto-head she let me keep it in the house since it is nice to
look at and clean. These pic's were taken the night before the bike was put
in a create and stored March 1998 due to my assignment in South Korea. The
bike has exactly 700 miles from new on it and has been off the road since
1979. It as perfect as it gets. It's almost bone stock except for the Koni
rear shocks and smaller sprocket, but I have the original shocks and
sprocket are in a box along with the owners manual, tool kit, etc. The
previous owner did a great job preserving it and naturally I'm trying to do
the same. I know it's shameful not to ride it, but busy weekends on the
house and Army life kept me off it.

I enjoyed your site and I hope you enjoy the pic's.

Regards,
Dan Montelongo

I must say Dan that this is the best CB400F I have ever seen, you lucky lucky man (see pictures below)

Here are some pictures of Ian Morton's Yellow 1978 F2 which he is currently restoring,

Work so far is a Stainless Steel kit from Inox, Powder coated frame and most small parts and an engine re-spray. Next will be the tank and side panels re-spray.

Below are the latest pictures which Ian has sent me, as you can see his project is really starting to take shape

Picture of the tank in the 'spray booth'. I actually put the base and top coat on in the garage and just lacquered the tank in there. The side panels are on the window sill. The pic is about two weeks old now and I've started the bike up this p.m.

A surprise was how quiet the Honda exhaust is! .The engine is a bit rustley at the moment, but the tappets need setting properly after run-up. I'm no expert at ' light sliding fits ' on tappets. So its mostly done now . The last job will be to buy and fit the tank decals. The fitting is pretty tricky I would imagine, the F2 has stripes around the tank sides, keeping them straight will be 'fun'.

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