CB400 Hawk Suspension

[TripleKing]

Back in June I bought a 1979 CB400TII Hawk with just under 11,000 miles. It was in good shape, but my goal was to do a little refurbishing, remove the touring equipment and sell it for a small profit. However, after painting it Plum Crazy Purple (an excellent choice inspired by my wife), repairing the exhaust and cleaning and jetting the carbs, the family and I have fallen in love with the little Honda. Now I am considering whether or not to take it further or to finally sell it.

The suspension is ok. The shocks are in pretty good shape considering the are almost 35 years old. They are not especially soft (they just feel like stock shocks) and they do not leak. The front forks do not have leaky seals at all, not a smudge of oil and the forks are not pitted. However they do feel a bit soft. I am considering upgrading the shocks and forks. I am not sure if I want to go with Hagons or just go with DCC shocks. I have used DCC shocks before and the work pretty well, but the only clevis to clevis shocks they have are a bit long at 13.20 inches. I was considering replacing the fork oil, but to to that on the CB400 Hawk the forks have to be rebuilt. Since the forks are not leaking I am reluctant to take them apart. Lastly, I ws thinking of installing RaceTech fork springs.

I guess I don't know how serious I want to get with this bike and I am looking for guidance.

 

[teddpage]

I guess it all depends on what you are looking to get out of the bike and how much you want to spend.

The DCC rear shocks will be better than the old, 35 year old shocks currently on the bike, but spending 200 on a set of Hagons should improve the bike more, and they are excellent shocks!

Unless the bike was cared for VERY well, chances are the fork oil has never been changed. I know on my CB450, there were drain holes on the bottom of the fork legs, and are refilled thru the top caps. The least you should do is just change the fluid. Maybe go a weight or 2 heavier if you want to "stiffen" the forks (damping really...). It really isn't that bad to "rebuild" forks though...can be done in an afternoon no problem! The only real way to stiffen the forks though is to replace the springs, and either progressive or racetech im sure could help you out in that department.