I just found out these existed about an hour ago. They seem like the long-forgotten brother to the Hawk GT, but designed to be more of a revvy GSF400 Bandit fighter than a torque monster. There's a ridiculously cheap one in need of a clutch rather close to me. Anyone ever ridden one? They don't seem to have much of a following.
I remember seeing a leftover in the corner of a tiny dealership once. I think that it was officially a CB400F. That alone should give it some collector potential.
How cheap is "ridiculously cheap"?
Fun fact: I have the engine for one sitting in my friends garage. friend bought it from a bike breaker in Philadelphia years ago, and I some how ended up with it.
The bike was only imported from 89 to 91 if I remember correctly. Every Japanese company had a 400cc at one point (250cc 4 bangers too) but not a ton made it over to America.
It's been my experience that finding parts for them is a bastard, but you might have better luck than me. Most parts on eBay I find are from Great Britain or Australia.
.......BUY IT!
Oh yeah, gear driven cams, at the center of the camshaft, just like the F1 600 cc motors. Neat!
You can look up parts prices here (I chose 1989 for the model year): http://www.bikebandit.com/houseofmotorcycles/honda-motorcycle-cb400f-cb-1-1989/o/m...
stuart in mn wrote:You can look up parts prices here (I chose 1989 for the model year): http://www.bikebandit.com/houseofmotorcycles/honda-motorcycle-cb400f-cb-1-1989/o/m...
That's a great resource. I've used it many times.
Wow! That thing looks fantastic.
I almost bought one to race, but got a mint FZR400 for the same $$. I never rode one, but raced against them in superstock and then superbike classes.
I have this fantasy that one day I will find one in pieces that I can put together and streetfighter and not feel bad about it.
Check this video for CB1 porn:
Taiden wrote:Check this video for CB1 porn:
That's one seriously straight road. Around here, the railroad tracks have more curves.
if its clean and cheap buy it, if nothing else fix it and sell
I've ridden one. If you are a real sized person they are quite slow. 45hp of fury. The problem I had was the bike looked fast, and sounded fast (High RPM 4-cyl) But wasn't. you had to wind it out to like 11K rpm to keep up with traffic and since it was geared short because it is only a 400 and sounds and looks like a 600 you'd get a lot of unwanted attention. first gear only went up to something like 30mph so you'd be riding through some neigborhood with some kid playing on a tricycle and you'd sound like your Rossi doing 100+ in this subdivision and you weren't even doing the speed limit.. Otherwise it was a fun little bike.
Small displacement in-line fours are all about high revs and big throttle input - at least in traffic. They probably not the best alternative for long distance cruising.
But, for lightweight fun and the sound, it's hard to beat a 400 I/4.
Someone mentioned the Bandit GS400F - one of my favorites:
If you can find either and the condition is OK with you, go for it!
I always liked those, and I am pretty sure that it was designed by the same designer as the hawk gt, the resemblance between the two is clear, the tank and seat look like they could inter change.
I've never ridden one, but I have ridden its suzuki counter-part the bandit 400. That engine was gutless untill you hit a certain fairly high rpm (6k I think) then you had better be holding on with both hands because it just found all 45 of its horses at once. From what nocones mentioned about his experience on the cb-1 they sound similar. Its probably a fun ride for a short and/or skinny dude. If you fit that description go for it. BTW, I am a 6' 1" and kind of fat dude and I out grew my similarly sized hawk gt.
Woody wrote:stuart in mn wrote:You can look up parts prices here (I chose 1989 for the model year): http://www.bikebandit.com/houseofmotorcycles/honda-motorcycle-cb400f-cb-1-1989/o/m...
That's a great resource. I've used it many times.
I've always had great luck with bike bandit, except on my CB-1. I needed the pulse generator and pickup, and it's no longer available. But this is one obscure part, Bike Bandit does have damn near everything else for this bike.
Woody wrote:How cheap is "ridiculously cheap"?
Approx. $600.
nocones wrote:I've ridden one. If you are a real sized person they are quite slow. 45hp of fury. The problem I had was the bike looked fast, and sounded fast (High RPM 4-cyl) But wasn't. you had to wind it out to like 11K rpm to keep up with traffic and since it was geared short because it is only a 400 and sounds and looks like a 600 you'd get a lot of unwanted attention. first gear only went up to something like 30mph so you'd be riding through some neigborhood with some kid playing on a tricycle and you'd sound like your Rossi doing 100+ in this subdivision and you weren't even doing the speed limit.. Otherwise it was a fun little bike.
How big/tall are you, for reference? My buddy has an EX500 Nin-juh, and I need something that can at least keep up with one of those. Y'know, friendly competition and such.
For $600 I will fly there and buy before you can. 
What about the clutch is busted? A motorcycle old timer clued me in that springs usually fix a slipping clutch.
ZOMG!!! BUY IT . . .
Three of my most favorite bikes in one thread!!!
I have to get off my arse and get some O-Rings for the front caliper for my GSF400
It looks great. Worth the money on that alone!
SlickDizzy . . . Did you buy it?? 
Lack of immediate funding led to it going somewhere else. Oh well, was probably a bit small for me anyways.
I had one from like '93 to '03. To date, best bike I've ever had. The gear driven cams make valve adjustment a snap, and the top end rush was like an old 2 stroke. Stone reliable, and took the times people backed over it quite well. A bike you can truly ring the neck of all the time, and it just comes back for more. My 5'8 frame was about the largest I'd recommend for it, though.
Got too excited, and didn't read all the posts...whoops
I love the looks of the CB-1...probably why I ride a 599 :)
I'm torn, I'd love my 599, but it would be nice to loose another 25lbs. It would also be nice to have more power & torque though.
