Another 'old' Newbie

[Dave487]

Hi all.
Just joined the forum after recently buying a CB400-4 1976.
I live in south Leicestershire and am a retired Plant Engineer from the textile industry.
I was always interested in bikes and did a bit of circuit racing back in the late 1960s but gave up and took to sailboat racing when the family came along as it seemed to be somewhat cheaper and safer.
After retiring I downsized the house and garage and needed an interest for the winter months when it's too cold to sail so I bought an 87 Yamaha TZR 250. It was almost original but in fairly poor condition so I have done a complete nut and bolt restore and got it on the road in May this year.
It,s really fun to ride short distances but I realise that I don't fold up as easily nowadays and really need something a bit more upright.
The Honda came along by chance and seems to fit the bill for another winter project so I intend to strip and restore it to as near new condition as funds will allow. The bike hasn't been on the road since 2006 and is pretty high mileage at 61k. I got it home, put a battery on it and some oil in the cylinders, gave it a few turns with the kickstart then pressed the starter button and she fired up almost at once with no nasty noises. That's as far as I've gone up to now. It's pretty tatty and will need some re-chroming but all complete as far as I can tell.
Anyway I'm looking forward to getting started and hope that some of you guys can put me right with all the issues that will come up along the way.

[mike the bike]

Welcome to the forum Dave.  You'll get lots of encouragement and advice from us who have restored 400fours, so youve come to the right place.
I hope it all goes well and keep sending in photos and progress reports to keep us entertained.

[mick]

Hi Dave and welcome to the forum  cheers Mick.

[RGP750]

Hi Dave
Welcome to the forum
Plenty of help on here ,a good friendly bunch.
Rich

[Nurse Julie]

Welcome Dave.
Lovely to see another 400/4 owner on the forum. Have fun
Julie

[philward]

Welcome Dave

[AshimotoK0]

Welcome Dave, Probably more about maintenance (oil changes) than mileage (60k a bit on the  high side  though). I stripped one 400/4 that had done 25k  miles,  8 -owners in ten years and everything was within spec,pretty perfect really. Another one had  a lot less miles but one big end trashed, cam bearing /rockers gauged /pitted, almost certain failure due to oil starvation.
 
Going to Coalville Leics. on business Wednesday and dropping off some more chroming in Hinkley.. he's the best person I have found for chroming.

Service/parts/dealer set up manuals here on my Dropbox

http://www.sohc.co.uk/index.php/topic,8884.msg60526.html#msg60526

Ash

[Trigger]

Welcome to the mad world of the SOHC. The 400 is a tough little bitch, with no problems into the red line, enjoy.