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Home » Bike builds » Honda CB400F Vintage Café Racer

Home » Bike builds » Honda CB400F Vintage Café Racer

Honda CB400F Vintage Café Racer

by Purpose Built Moto / Tuesday, 10 November 2020 / Published in Bike builds
Honda CB400F Cafe Racer

A few years ago I was given the chance to build a great brat styled Honda CB350 four. With its simple layout, and easy to work with styling we were able to create something pretty special for that client. So when Paddy asked me to bring his 1975 CB400F back from the dead I jumped in head first with a host of ideas I had that didn’t get used on our previous project. Essentially the same bike with a different tank, and bigger top end. The project felt familiar right away. The Honda CB400F had been through a crash, and a few drops in its lifetime.

Honda CB400F Purpose Built Moto

The forks needed to be repaired, triple clamp replaced and the standard bar clamps removed, welded up and finished back to make way for the new clip on bars. The engine and carbs also needed a bit of love. The vintage Honda received a full top end rebuild, carb rebuild and Dyno tune at Dynomite Moto. To make sure it gets the power to the ground properly, we also swapped out the clutch with new plates and heavier springs. With that sorted, the CB400 Super four help up the “Racer” part of its name. Now we had to take care of the styling.

Honda CB400F Fender

One thing on the bike in great condition were the headers, the old chrome was still great so we gave them a polish and clean up, then slightly modified them to suit our shorty torpedo muffler. The sound out of the small four cylinder is something to enjoy. With the rider getting a mix of the symphony between the exhaust note and induction sounds through the carbs.

Honda CB400F Vintage Cafe Racer

A real stand out on this model Honda, especially in the 70’s was the boxy tank. It makes the CB400 Super Four what it is, so I was determined to keep it. The problem comes with matching a nicely styled tail to it. My mate Justin at Popbang had moulded a CB400 tank section for a tail on one of his projects a few years back. So to save myself some time in trying to recreate it, I just hit him up and bought one. A great call. The pore-fabricated piece was mounted up and we laid in our own electrics tray, and seat pan, using the original keyed seat latch.

Honda CB400F Cafe Racer

The best part about the tail section is we didn’t have to chop the frame, that’s a first for us. Initially the project was meant to be repaired and dressed up for sale, but when I sent a few photos to the owner he decided it was looking too good to get rid of.
That kicked the project up a gear, so the old tired wheels have been striped, repaired, painted and laced to a new set of polished Excel rims. Widening the front rim to accommodate a bigger tyre. The CB400F sits on a set of Hiedenau classic K34 4.00 18’s front and back. The front fender was fabricated using our Universal fit Aluminium front fender and Mounting kit. A simple, elegant design that carries through the classic styling we wanted on the build.

Custom Fender PBM Honda

On the front end we’ve repaired the standard headlight bucket, updated it with an LED bulb and hand built a new front clip that houses the headlight, LED indicators, and twin analogue gauges. The new clip ons feature a radial master cylinder, aftermarket clutch, Custom Seat, and leather wrapped grips.

Honda CB400F Switches

The heavy lifting on the fabrication was all but done, so I turned my attention to the colourway. We maintained the chrome headers and had detailed the engine in a bright silver with a number of polished pieces. The frame I also wanted in a bright silver so I needed to find a colour to compliment that idea. After what seemed like hours, but was probably minutes pouring through colour books I found an emerald green that grabbed me. With hints of blue and gold under daylight the colour looks incredible wherever you put it.

Honda CB400F Custom

The emerald green would be laid on the front fender, headlight bucket, tank and tail. Everything else would be a raw metal finish or bright silver. Assembling the bike with the freshly coated frame, and new parts was a great process. Simplifying the electrics and including a custom loom for the PBM Black Box module. With everything functioning as it should the tins went on and the bike came alive. Our last stop was at Custom Seat to have the seat trimmed out in an antiqued walnut brown.

Honda CB400F Seat

With its fresh motor, new tyres and brakes the CB400F is a real joy to ride. A small carbureted four breathing through a set of DNA pod filters with all its glorious ticks and noises. Around town the Green Honda turns heads on every corner, and once the traffic lights disappear and the roads open up getting the CB400F up past 6000 RPM brings it to life. The engine work done has given the CB400 a great amount of usable power that begs to be twisted out of the throttle. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. There’s nothing better than riding a small bike fast.

 

Motorcycle Builders and Fabricators Gold Coast

 

Tagged under: cafe, Cafe Racer, CB400F, honda, vintage

About Purpose Built Moto

15 Comments to “ Honda CB400F Vintage Café Racer”

  1. Michael McCabe says :Reply
    November 20, 2020 at 10:54 pm

    Thanks Tom- yes, this is a beautiful build. The classic lines of tbe cb400f have always impressed me. I write for several motorcycle moto mags including Easyriders, Iron and Air, BUILT, Classic Bike. Can I ask the price for this build? Thank you.

    1. Tom says :Reply
      November 23, 2020 at 8:55 am

      Cheers Mike, I’ll shoot you an email.

  2. craig watanabe says :Reply
    February 21, 2021 at 5:03 pm

    Hello Tom, may I ask the colorbook i.d. number for the emerald green? Would like to use on a wristwatch dial I’m building.
    Oh, and btw, I’m in Los Angeles USA. Hope that doesn’t make matching difficult.
    Thank you very much

    1. Tom says :Reply
      February 22, 2021 at 8:00 am

      Hey Mate,

      It was a custom mixed green. I don’t have a book reference for it.

  3. Rodolphe says :Reply
    April 13, 2021 at 9:57 am

    Hi, do you think it is possible to buy te tail part ? I’m seraching for a similar one for a long time ago for my 400f. Great job btw!

    1. Tom says :Reply
      April 13, 2021 at 2:11 pm

      Sure, Send me an email mate.

  4. Rasmus Nylander says :Reply
    April 21, 2021 at 3:38 am

    Hey there. I really like what you guys have done to the bike. I am trying to achieve the same rim and tire setup like this bike. I have ordered the same rims. (EXCEL 2.15 X 18 BLACK 36H) but I got a little stock finding some spokes that will fit the setup. Any help would be deeply appreciated. Thanks in advance 🙂

    //Rasmus
    (Denmark)

    1. Tom says :Reply
      April 21, 2021 at 8:25 am

      Hi Rasmus,

      You need to find a local spoke wheel builder. he will be able to custom make the spoked for you.

  5. Dennis says :Reply
    June 17, 2021 at 11:34 pm

    Hey, impressive build. Having a little 400 myself, lovely ride. Did some customizing on it over the years as well. Where did you get those footpegs from? Did you leave the rest of the foorest system original?
    Cheers Dennis.

    1. Tom says :Reply
      June 18, 2021 at 7:28 am

      Hey Dennis,

      We used the standard linkages for brake and shifter. taking a set of aftermarket pegs and modifying them to fit the CB400F brakets

  6. Mark Taylor says :Reply
    August 9, 2021 at 2:14 am

    Great job!
    I’ve been looking at this bike for some time now looking for ideas for my 400/4 restoration.
    In particular I like the seat cowl shape mimicking the shape of the tank; genius, and too good not to copy!
    The other detail I really like is the front brake master cylinder and reservoir; I can see reference to a radial master cylinder in the narrative, would it be possible to find out more about what front brake components are fitted to this bike?
    Regards

    1. Tom says :Reply
      August 9, 2021 at 1:01 pm

      Hey Mark,

      The levers we used you can find here
      Clutch- https://purposebuiltmoto.com/product/accosato-clutch-black/
      Brake – https://purposebuiltmoto.com/product/accosato-brake/

      The reservoir uses some clear tygon tubing, you can find it at auto stores.
      Hope that helps 🙂
      Tom

      1. Mark Taylor says :Reply
        August 10, 2021 at 9:37 pm

        Tom,

        Perfect, many thanks for the info’.
        Many thanks too for the swift response.
        Summer has nearly run its course here and I need to crack on with the build to get the ‘Yellow Peril’ on the road before it’s too late!

        Regards
        Mark

  7. Sindre Nogva says :Reply
    March 17, 2022 at 6:52 am

    Wow, this is such a nice build!
    Wondering what kind of re-jetting you did to the carburetor when you switch to the pod filters. It seemed to run really nicely on the test run.

    1. Tom says :Reply
      March 17, 2022 at 7:12 am

      Hi Sindre,

      The rejetting was done to suit our climate and the bikes new rebuilt engine. your carb set up will be completely different most likely.
      Just start with a size or 2 up on the main, and a size up on the idle air, and tune from there.

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