CB400n cafe build - Uni Student - Australia

Hi All - bought the bike off ebay for $465 with the plan to build a cafe racer. Since then I have realized a few things like how the frame isn't exactly perfect for cafe style bikes and how scarce parts are for this bike in Australia! Even so I plan to try and work around this and get a decent looking bike together. I don't want to spend too much on it - all I want is a simple clean looking cafe racer.


I can't seem to find that much information on these bikes - closest I can find is the cb400t which is very similar.



I've stripped it down and found that the frame and most of the parts are in good condition. here are some pics.


I should probably give a shout out to Dad who is helping and providing most of the tools I need - Thanks!

some more pics

one more

the forks are quite pitted and rusty - it costs around $170 each to have them re-chromed! (or so im told) so I found some in perfect condition and bought them

hi
building a 250n myself so will following your thread with interest, not going for a full cafe look but something alot cleaner than original

heres where i am at the minute

good to hear someone else is using the same base! have you got a build thread?
also are you thinking of keeping the comstar wheels?

found a place to clean,blast and powdercoat the frame for only $150! now i just have to decide what tabs/bracket mounts to cut off..
decided to keep the comstar wheels. I'll get them powder coated the same as the frame - satin black. I think it would look very cool with some black rims. im told the satin black looks a little less tacky than the gloss black. Trying to get a rolling chassis together so i can try and get some ideas about what i plan for it to eventually look like. kinda hard to visualize right now as it sits in a rusty heap...

I have a cb400t which I plan on powder coating the comstars black too. I think it will look sick. As for the cafe look I decided to do a brat/cafe/tracker blend. I think it will flow better than a total cafe look. Search for Louie's CB400t that he did for someone. Love the look of that bike.

Since it already has that Euro look tank and seat and not the chubby kid look that they sold in the US, maybe a Fast Freddie look or should that be Mini Freddie look.

Superbike bars, slight re-stuffing of the seat, a coat of paint or powder and instant mini Freddie replica at a lot less cost and time than trying to make it look like a sixties or fifties BSA?Triumph/Norton. Make what you have work well.

Something like this perhaps


or


Get some stickers made up MF400-T (for Mini Freddie 400cc Twin) just to fool everyone.

i'd be well proud riding around on that if it was just restored to its former glory..

the colours are cool..love the gold wheels complimenting the black, blue and white.

change the bars to straighter ones, bin the plastic undertail thing and make it mint is what i would do....

is this one of the late ones?

cyclone:
thanks for posting - its an 1982 model - i think they named things a little different over here in oz - to Americans its still the cb400t (i think - correct me if im wrong)


Dime city cycles do some pretty cheap clip on's and I've been keen on cafe racers ever since I saw my grandads old norton - although I'm thinking about combining some of the typical tracker attributes.


teaser:
thanks for posting - the reason I'm keen to use it for a cafe is that I saw this bike (and a cb400n was on ebay at the same time for $465) and it looked fairly simple - no big frame or engine changes. just a simple and tidy cafe racer for riding to uni. I'll probably drop the forks through the triple clamp an inch or two if i can though - give it a more aggressive look

found a CB250t tank at a wreckers for $95 +postage - should be good with some nice knee indents. thinking about cutting and reversing the side panels of the fuel tank - good idea or not so smart?

JobCran92 said:

good to hear someone else is using the same base! have you got a build thread?
also are you thinking of keeping the comstar wheels?

Click to expand...

no i haven't started a build thread, keep some photos on a facebook book page for it
"honda cb twofifity"
yeah i'm keeping the comstars
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/260388_122463237838980_100002259142267_188645_8223903_n.jpg
have some pics of some that have turned out nice, still getting to grips with the best way to post them on here


ok, not like that

test

hi dude,

i live in England and i think im right in saying we had the cb400 na, nb and nc which was called a Superdream

the cb400t came before the Superdream and was called the Dream

hugely popular bikes over here and affectionately called the 'Wetdream'...ahem...

i had one for a while..only rode it once and lent it to a mate who blew the engine up...it got stripped down whilst we looked further into the engine prob...whilst stripped down it got nicked from the lock up garage...

think it was an nc which had the nice duck tail on it..this one was sprayed all black but on my repair manual (which i still have ) the bike on the cover is the same colour as yours and gives me wet dreams to this day...hehe which is why im biased to you restoring yours as is...

nice bike..good luck with the direction you go in...

in England the Superdream found fame in a soap called Eastenders ( i hate the boring shallow aggressive angry soap shit ) but about 20 years ago a cool actor , todd carty, who used to be in Grange Hill ( a cool kids programme back in the day ) moved over to eastenders and insisted he rode a bike as part of his characters act..the bike was a silver cb400 superdream with a blue stripe..he brought a bit of cool to shite tv... ;D

oh but as usual the soaps writers have to be soooooo vomit inducingly dramatic with every script so of course the superdream got crashed in a motorcycle accident as part of the script... :

the cb400t was around '78 model year

cb400n from '79 to about '85-'86??

i would say yours would have been a cb400nc if it had been imported to england...

Hey guys. Iv got a 250 superdream that Im playing about with just now. My insperation is this guys bike http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=13104.0.


Below is a couple of pics I took of mine a couple of weeks ago.











I hope it helps you man. You aint the only one out there trying to work with this kinda bike. I think it will look great once its finished.


Jazz

Seems like a popular platform. I wasn't sure what I was gonna do with mine till I saw Byrdmans black/gold CB and after seeing those pics I cant move fast enough! I think what makes his so pleasing to the eye is his tail section. Where most guys go for the boat tail or round backside, he followed the flow of the tank. Takes your eyes off the frame!

cyclone :
yeah I've heard they were pretty popular in the UK - I moved out here from Wales where my Grandad owned one a while back - my dad rode it for a while so a trip down memory lane for them!


haha of course they did. that's soapies for you. or maybe they were just sick of the wide engine, stressed member engine/frame, a rear mudguard designed for a monster truck and wanted a Norton... haha


cheers - just trying to get parts and then decide what to chop/modify off the frame.
a quick google seach confirmed - the blue/gold stripe one which i have is the nc. im hoping that there's not much difference between the models (n and t) because I've found a wreckers that has a few old cb400t's - trying to get a tank off him!




Jazzscot:
wow that's some inspiration! very tidy.
great to see someone else with the superdream! good luck with your build


the seat I'm keen on isn't in stock - wont be for 6 weeks! Thought about making one but for this price its easier to just buy it.
http://www.dimecitycycles.com/vintage-cafe-racer-caferacer-chassis-seat-parts-black-leather-wrapped-one-up-racing-seat-sr-200bk.html

Jayfromjay:
i completely agree - the tail is beautiful! it really gets some nice lines going. I would love a look like that but here in Australia we're required to have a rear mudguard - so im going to hopefully end up with something like this for my rear section but with a longer mudguard