My first build 1976 Honda Cb400f

[PaulBicker]

Hi everyone, joined the group the other day.

I've looking at your builds for a little while and i'm very impressed with all your work, some outstanding bikes on here.

Thought I would share my build with you. This is my first build and with no mechanical background and not a lot of spare time took me a little longer than I hoped for, then again are these projects ever really finished ;D.

Have a couple of things I will be change at some point. Will be lowering front mudguard as it currently sits a little high and will be lowering the clocks, but these can wait spring is on its way and I intend to enjoy the bike.

Well i started off with this 1976 Honda Cb400f which cost less than £300.

 

[PaulBicker]

Next up was to get the bike running. Some new fuel, plugs and battery and a little messing about the bike fired up which i was pretty happy about considering I had no air box or filter. Anyway she ran and that was a good start.

 

[PaulBicker]

I knew from the off what I wanted the finished bike to look like.

So I began pulling the bike apart making a note of where everything went using a good Haynes manual. I certainly came across a few stubborn nuts and bolts but that was to be expected from a 30 year old bike as most of you will know.

 

[PaulBicker]

Got the bike apart, and dropped the frame and swing arm off to be powder coated. Used a company called Redditch Shot Blasting in the UK. Went down and met the guys working there, had a good chat and went through all the colour options.

I knew what I wanted from the off, which I know a lot of people will not like but I'm glad i stuck to my guns.....no turning back now.

A few weeks later I went to collect the frame and swing arm, credit where its due they did a fantastic job and 100% recommend them to anyone in the UK.

Go easy on me here are the coated parts...........

 

[PaulBicker]

Next up wheels, shocks and forks.

I cleaned and painted wheel hubs. Wanted to use original rims so gave them a clean they came up ok and were certainly good enough to use. Ordered new spokes from Dave silver spares in the uk and began building the wheels while watching a few Youtube videos.

Front forks had new oil and seals and polished the lowers. Decided to buy new rear shocks, I went with Hagon and was very pleased with them.

 

[PaulBicker]

Next up, put frame and swing arm back together and mount forks, rear shocks and painted clamps. Also put tank back on to mock up the seat unit I made.

Well first attempt at using fiber glass, it was tricky but soon got the hang of it. I made a timber and foam mould to fiber glass, must admit I really enjoyed this part it was a lot of work but so worth doing.

Once I had done the fiber glass i pulled the mould and used body filer and filler primer to prep for paint.

 

[trek97]

Hey Paul welcome to DTT.
The work your doing on the machine looks really great. My brother had a 400f. It was a neat bike. He sold it, I should have bought it. :

My cb360 had the exact same crappy shocks you started with, I just installed new Hagons a few weeks ago. I am really happy with them too. 8)

Keep up the good work, looking forward to seeing more.

 

[yorkie350]

Welcome in to the madness mate great work so far, I think the colour scheme is awesome 8) look forward to more updates ime hooked on this one

 

[PaulBicker]

Thanks both, there is some really great bikes on here. Trek97 the Hagons seems pretty good so far only done about 70 miles on them so far.

Next on the list was a bit of engine work, paint, rings and gaskets etc.

New wiring loom.

Then some nice new bridgestone tyres, I wanted good tyres, not anything like firestones that might look cool but doubt they handle that well. I've not tried them but just an educated guess. I.ve used a few different tyres on my sports bikes and currently running bridgestones on my Honda VTR SP2 so stuck with what I know works well.

Fitted wheel, tank, seat, clocks and clip ons to see how the bike sat.

 

[PaulBicker]

As i was happy with the seat and tank I took it to be painted. Was a 3 week turn around which gave me time to clean carbs and think about the front brake.

Originally i rebuilt the stock brake but decided i didn't like it, so got me thinking about alternatives. Well i ended up fitting a 98 Sv650 front brake which made a huge difference and was very pleased with the upgrade.

 

[PaulBicker]

Three weeks later I went to pick up tank, seat and side panels.

 

[trek97]

Holy Shit ! In the good way!

 

[PaulBicker]

Cheers Trek97, was really pleased with the paint and the fitment of the brake'

 

[Finnigan]

Jaw dropping paint right there

 

[trek97]

At first when I saw the gold frame I was like...Hmmmm.

Then w the black and gold stripes. WOW. I can only imagine.

The brake looks great also.

 

[PaulBicker]

Ha ha yes the gold frame got that reaction when I told people about it a brave move on my behalf

 

[trek97]

Yep, you need to either post the finished pic or hurry up and get it together.

 

[PaulBicker]

Trek97 that was my next post ha ha ha.......

Since mock up I changed the motor and clocks, still need to lower front mudguard but flew through the MOT with flying colours.

Well here is the finished bike!

 

[trek97]

Wow dude that this is fantastic.

PS my brothers 400f didnt look nothing like that.

 

[yorkie350]

wow knew the paint scheme was gonna be shit hot 8) now that's a cool build, should be up for BOTM love the front brake upgrade, been working on mine today damn thing squeals its bollocks off must be binding somewhere, might give it a similar upgrade :-\