CB400 Project

[calebacm]

Hello all!

I'm finally starting my CB400 project. Bought the bike a couple months ago and got it running well and now I want to work on cosmetic things and maybe a few performance things later down the line. First thing I want to do is lighten the whole thing up. It is completely stock aside from the handle bars right now. Any suggestions on where I should start? I plan on taking the fenders off and replacing all the lights with lower profile lights and replacing the gauge cluster with either some mini's or an Acewell. I also plan to take off those huge mufflers and put something smaller in its place. I'm not sure where to go after that.

 

[calebacm]

Totally just realized I posted the same picture twice. My bad! Anyways, any suggestions on where to start would be greatly appreciated.

 

[SONICJK]

Don't take the fenders off.
You need the front one for a fork brace.
Cut them down to the size you want instead.

Otherwise sounds like a sensible plan.
Just go one step at a time until you're happy with it.

I'd also throw a new seat in there somewhere

 

[irishbones]

It looks a nice clean example which is a great start.. make a plan based on your ability and cost and be prepared to go over budget..you should be able to shift a lot of the parts removed which helps

 

[calebacm]

I think the first thing I'll do is replace the exhaust with something smaller. And louder. That will take a lot of the weight off. Thanks for pointing that out about the front fender, I didn't realize that. I will probably cut both of them shorter.

The seat is something I'm a little hesitant about. I would love to get kind of a bratty style of seat on there but I'm super hesitant about cutting the frame and welding a new hoop on there. Since the 400T has a different kind of frame than something more sporty like the CB350 or 750, it's a little harder to put a cafe or brat seat on it. I also don't want to have to get rid of the air box because pods are just not worth it, according to experience and just about everyone else. If anyone knows where to get a good seat that will work with the bike, that would be great or if I just need to let my balls drop and do it, let me know that too.

 

[calebacm]

I would like to do something like this:

 

[nightmoves]

Looks like a super clean cb400 you got there. I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

As for the seat, a buddy of mine has dealt with the folks at motorcycle seats direct and gotten some pretty great products. The prices are a little steep compared to doing it yourself, of course, but they build a custom seat based on your specific model's oem seat pan. I personally haven't purchased anything from them, but if you're wanting a high quality professional aftermarket seat, they might be worth looking into.

http://www.motorcycleseatsdirect.com/search.php?search_query=honda+cb400&x=-325&y=-132


Good luck!

 

[calebacm]

Thanks guys! I'll keep you posted on the stuff that I do and come back if I have any more questions.

 

[calebacm]

So I've decided (now that I've gotten paid) that the first thing I'm going to do is replace the lighting and then the exhaust. I'm having trouble figuring out what I want to do with the exhaust, and part of that is incomplete knowledge. The 400T has the prechamber/transformer/converter thing that takes the two exhaust pipes and makes equal parts of each side go out each muffler. I'm pretty sure that it has something to do with low-end power. Maybe. Anyways, I would like to go to a 2-1 with a reverse cone muffler at the end. I know that will take some re-jetting (I think 1 size up?) and I'm comfortable doing that (I completely rebuilt the carbs this past summer, some screw in jets won't be a problem). I'm wondering what the down sides of this would be since I will have to take out the prechamber. And if anyone has any suggestions on where to get a 2-1 for the 400T engine, that would be great. I know DCC has the MAC one.

 

[calebacm]

I found a more accurate picture of what I want the bike to look like in the end