Author Topic: 1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration  (Read 4240 times)

Offline kiki.o

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1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration
« on: December 08, 2021, 12:24:12 PM »
Hi to all,

I am in the middle of the restoration process, so I have decided to join the forum in the search of some answers.

Here's the process so far... I bought the bike in 2016 as a cafe racer build, but somewhere down the stripdown process I decided to restore it. Not that have gave up on the cafe racer idea. :)

Here are a few pictures, hope you like them:

The day I bought it:



The assembly begins:



The painting process:
















First of several gloss finish





Final polish:



New rear shocks:



Front shocks restored with all available new parts:









New labels :





Some parts refurbished









Footpegs restored:









Expanded the carriers for new coils (DynaCoil 5ohm)



Refurbished the airbox bleeder housing(don't know the exact name, sorry :))









Wheels laced











Wheels finished:



On wheels now:



Instruments and headlight rebuild:



























Headlight rebuild:









New front brake



New rear brake



New blinkers:



New controls:



Engine rebuilt. Not done by me obviously, not on that level of expertise for now :)



painted cylinder studs

























And that's about it for now...

This is what it looks like for now:



Now onto the electric mess, trying to wire up everything and I do have a couple of questions but, at the moment, the wiring diagram answers the majority of them   ;D

Sorry for the long post  :)

Best regards,
Kristijan






Offline Deano400

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Re: 1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration
« Reply #1 on: December 08, 2021, 12:42:55 PM »
Hi kiki.o
Welcome and a lot of good work done there.
In the picture of the breather chamber you have the drain pipe connected to the inlet. The drain should be on the bottom stub and the rocker breather pipe on the side stub.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2021, 12:51:00 PM by Deano400 »

Offline Johnwebley

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Re: 1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration
« Reply #2 on: December 08, 2021, 12:44:56 PM »
Great build,,

Well done, and welcome

Sent from my SM-A750FN using Tapatalk

lifelong motorcycle rider,and fan

Offline taysidedragon

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Re: 1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration
« Reply #3 on: December 08, 2021, 01:15:29 PM »
Great work so far. Not much more to do. 👍
Gareth

1977 CB400F
1965 T100SS

Offline heli_madken

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Re: 1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2021, 02:43:03 PM »
Welcome to the forum, great build showing a lot of skill. Paintwork is top notch and I can see you are absolutely meticulous about everything else will make a stunning bike when finished.

Offline smoothoperator

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Re: 1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2021, 05:15:21 PM »
Excellent work there buddy, you sure are tidy. Well documented, great work on the paint, wondered where you were going with the tank lettering then it all came together. Interesting looking coating on the engine and forks.
Steve
2017 Triumph Bonneville T100
1977 Honda 400 Four Restored April 2022

Offline philward

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Re: 1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2021, 06:09:32 PM »
Great build and well documented build history - well done
Current Bikes:-
Honda CB750K2 (1975)
Honda CB500K2 (12/1972)
Honda CR750 Replica (1972)
Honda CB350K0 (1969)
Kawasaki ZZR1100D3 (1995)
Kawasaki ZZR250 (1990) Project (Going on eBay ASAP)

Offline kiki.o

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Re: 1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration
« Reply #7 on: December 08, 2021, 11:33:45 PM »
Thank you all, I am glad you like it.

There is no coat on the engine, it's just raw material, soda blasted. The forks though are RAL9006(if I remember correctly), but I am not satisfied with the color itself. I went for oem looks, but now I am not so sure... Ah well, i need to leave something for the next winter :D

Drain pipe and breather pipe are not yet connected and that will be done once the carbs are in place. Thank you for the heads up.

I started with the electrics tonight:



It seems that I have evertything sorted out in the headlight area, but still, I have couple of wtfs and I am not sure what to do next.

The headlight have two wires that seem not to be in use. Orange/white and Light blue/white. Am I right? Seems that the wiring diagram confirms that:



On the connectors by the steering stem, it seems that one wire is missing -  the Light blue one. (RH blinker one)



Here it is connected, and the cable from the switch does not have it's pair. Am I missing something here? Is there a workaround? FWIW, the main installation is new one from 4into1 and the switch is new one from Honda.



Additional question: Where does this one go? This is near the airbox.



Thanks for any input, any advice would be much appriciated.

Best regards, Kristijan




Offline taysidedragon

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Re: 1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration
« Reply #8 on: December 09, 2021, 10:25:38 AM »
I can't remember the colours right now, but there are 2 spare wires up front that are used for daytime running lights in USA.
I suspect the blue ring connector is for regulator or rectifier?
Gareth

1977 CB400F
1965 T100SS

Offline Bryanj

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Re: 1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration
« Reply #9 on: December 09, 2021, 02:40:26 PM »
And dont forget to remove the paint/powdercoat where it bolts on, same at main earth wire

Offline smoothoperator

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Re: 1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration
« Reply #10 on: December 09, 2021, 04:50:19 PM »
On mine the green earths to the top front bolt on the battery box.
Steve
2017 Triumph Bonneville T100
1977 Honda 400 Four Restored April 2022

Offline Deano400

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Re: 1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration
« Reply #11 on: December 09, 2021, 05:06:39 PM »
As stated by smoothoperator mine is on the battery box.
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Offline Deano400

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Re: 1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration
« Reply #12 on: December 09, 2021, 05:07:42 PM »
That pic is before restoration BTW.

Offline kiki.o

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Re: 1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration
« Reply #13 on: December 09, 2021, 05:39:28 PM »
Hi all,

Thanks for the input. Yeah it's the green one, the color is a little bit off, since it's photographed in dark garage by cellphone.

Deano's picture says it all. I'll strip some paint on the connection point and attach it there. Thank you very much.

Any idea on the main harness missing the light blue wire with the female connector? Before I start to torn the main harness down :D

Best regards,
Kristijan

Offline kiki.o

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Re: 1975 CB 400 Four - Restoration
« Reply #14 on: December 12, 2021, 08:00:25 PM »
I guess i found a walkaround for missing light blue connector: I'll use the unused line from the bunch to the headlight(light blue/white one), and will make a jumper connection to the blue installation in the headlight. Tried it and it seems that it works for now.

I've ordered new bullet connectors so I can make a new cables , so 'ill have to wait for that one to arrive.

In the meantime, I've put the headers on:









And recreated new main leads, the old owner was too lazy to replace the connector once it broke off







That's it for now, I have to put the carbs together and maybe give it a go?  8)

Best regards,
Kristijan


 

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