Hi & hello.

[marineboy]

Hello to everyone (New to 400/4`s, not to biking),
Ive always wanted a 400/4 since being a pillion on one in the late 70`s, well, Ive purchased one, she`s a 1977 F1, she`s had new wheel rims, mudguards are excellent in the chrome department and she also sports a genuine Honda exhaust which is in A1 condition & very low mileage....... thats the good part, the bad part is this.........

Number 1 carb floods and the engine is very noisey in the camchain area.... The mileage is just over 6000 mile (not a misprint!) I can trace her history back to 1989 with all MOT`s & tax discs,which makes me believe as far as possible that the mileage is genuine.

So far Ive replaced the float needle valve of the offending carb, set the tappets, changed the oil & filter and balanced the carbs.I looked at carb 2 and the small rubber on the needle valve housing has perished so I stopped there for now.(Ive ordered 3 more sets of carb repair kits from DS to sort out the rest) Ironically,when the carbs were put back on the bike,the 2 that I hadnt played with leaked & the one / two I done didnt!!

What I cant understand is this...? for a bike with such low mileage, why is she so noisey???
I tried adjusting the camchain using the haynes manual method, (incidentally, is the clymer manual any better than the Haynes???) this has improved the matter a little, but she is still noisey... Is this normal? If the tensioner is stuck,how can you free it without taking it all to bits??? Ive tried tapping various areas around the top of the engine in an attempt to shock her a bit, even a showing of my bank balance didnt work either!!!! 

Another thing that she does is whine very very slightly in 6th gear, its only just noticeable, but it is a different sound to the other 5 gears!!! , again, Im not sure if this is characteristic for these bikes or if its something to try & sort out.

Apart from DS,where else can I get NOS parts for her in England if possible???

All in all,Im pleased with her, once Ive sorted the flooding, noise & whining out, Ill be even more pleased with her!!!

Last question She has a different colour tank to the side panels, the tank is dark blue the side panels are lighter, how do I find out the correct colour for her???

Thanks for reading my story & for all the help you can (hopefully) give me,,,,, looking forward to all those replies

Regards

[PatM]

Hi and welcome.

I can

[matthewmosse]

Most of the honda stuff on ebay seems to be bought from silvers and resold by sharks for a small profit on the item and a mark up on their postage

[pae]

Hi and welcome to the site.

Phil

[marineboy]

Blimey what a fantastic response!
Thanks for all your help, its given me food for thought, whilst England were giving their all, I took the carbs off again to await the replacement carb bits from DS.
Ive got 3 other bikes and the haynes manuals for these bikes and the car my daughter has are very good, maybe its me but I find the one on 400/4`s difficult to follow at times,for me they start off talking on one model then cross to the 550 then back to the 400`4 without any connectivity or seperation. perhaps old age is starting to take its toll. How good is the clymer one
Is there any colour codes on these bikes,mine`s the light blue I think or maybe the dark blue im not sure?
It is a F1 Im certain.

The tank is dark blue with no graphics but it has a locking fuelcap.... did the F1`s have locking fuel caps or is this wrong???
Im thinking of having it resprayed Parakeet yellow once the carb probs & noisey engine is sorted (2016!) but I need to know which tank it should have on it and whether any tank changes apart from the graphics were made to the F2 just incase it is a F2 tank (if that all makes sense!!!) and I have the wrong tank sprayed.

Cheers Guys & Girls

[SteveD CB500K0]

Are the pillion footpegs on the swingarm or the frame?

[marineboy]

Hi Steve
Their on the frame, according to the book I have they were on the s/arm until March 1976, mines registered March 1977 & the frame starts CB400F-1068...
The feeling I get is that the side panels are correct in their lighter blue colour and its the tank that may of been replaced....just a hunch though

[UK Pete]

Hi marineboy welcome to the site
Pete

[rigwit]

hi marineboy........ one thing about cam chain tensioning i used to do was to get the engine nice n warmed up then loosen the locknut slaken off bolt 1/2 turn. let it idle for a few then rev up to 6/9000rpm  then let it settle and tighten bolt till just feel resistance  then lock up the locknut......... one prob i had when i first purchased my original 400-4 was in the days before  fuel was filtered and managed as it is now if any garage were low on stock chances were you got a bit of water in with the petrol i found  light oxidisation of the inside tank would by pass the fuel filter and lodge under float needle valve  resulting in either one  2 3 or all 4 flooding  or spraying 4* from there overflow pipes  all over the rear rubber........

as an engineer by trade ive never held much in multiple guages  as to get 2 that read and act the same would be like winning the lottery ......  the only shure fire way to do it is by manomiter at atmospheric  pressure. personally what i used to do was set a fast idle  on the main adjuster  then shut off take a feeler guage reading of the slide to bottom of venturi  and see if all same  if not  adjust each carb to give same measurment then i would start up  let idle for a few to settle down  re-set a fast idle if nessesary then takeing a piece of small bore pipe i would put it in each carb intake and listen to the flow.......  never let me down this system on any multiple carbbed bike, but if not mechanicialy minded  then it can take some getting used to also  a screwdriver  plastic or wooden handle  can be used to some effect on traceing  rattles knocks and noise that is not assumed normal by putting the tip on the casting  no matter where it is and putting your ear on the handle of driver .beware  the engine you think sounds sweet will sound like a drum full of ball bearings  and again getting used to what is and is not normal takes some knowlage.  

[colin400four]

Hi marineboy and welcome,

I think the Blue that you decsribe is Known as varnish blue and another place for parts (RE-CON & NOS) for the 400/four and for that matter any of the Honda Fours & sixes is "On All Fours" which is based in Sheffield. E mail After 6.00pm to john@onallfours.freeserve.co.uk

Best Regards

COLIN.

[marineboy]

Hi again,
Thank you for all the "welcome to the site" sure seem a friendly bunch to me.
Thanks for all your tips & help especially about cam chain tensioning, I think the problem with me is that I dont like anything rattling,Im used to a quiet modern(ish) bike, I need to compare mine to another to see if Im worrying unnecessarily about different noises the old girl makes, my other bikes are a Triumph RS sprint a Er 500 (for work)& a lovely sounding SR 500 Yam with an open megaphone exhaust, not used in areas where people still put their windows in with putty i can tell you!!!
Thanks once again, Ill be back real soon