honda CB400 - thoughts ?

[bennjamin]

hey team.

Getting fed up with old bikes.

Still on Ps (only just passed recently) but i considered at a glance - the new cb400. From all reviews it appears to be a decent naked and goes decent for both commuting and crusing or long distance work.

Anyone given one a go ? I like the look and really cant see myself opting for a crazy fairing bike once i hit fulls. The idea is to hold this for around 2-3 years as a commuter and medium distancer. Also a new bike is EFI and wont break down like my POS cbr does all the time rofl.

[Zilli]

i havent ridden one Ben, but the specs seem to be really good, apparently got some good decent poke, and theyre a great looking package too

[bennjamin]

yeah i like it. Heard good things - specs

Zill , your bike is a LAMS approved or are you fulls ?
As i stated , i am aiming to keep this bike for a few years really.



ENGINE
Type: Liquid-cooled, DOHC, 16-valve, four-stroke four-cylinder
Capacity: 399cc
Bore/stroke: 55 x 42mm
Compression ratio: 11.3:1
Fuel delivery: Electronic fuel-injection
Maximum power: 52hp at 9000rpm
Maximum torque: 38Nm at 9500rpm

TRANSMISSION
Type: Six speed

CHASSIS
Type: Steel twin cradle

SUSPENSION
Front: 41mm Showa, adjustable for preload/TD>
Rear: Twin Showa shocks, adjustable for preload
Front brake: Twin 285mm discs with four-piston Nissin calipers (or three-piston ABS)
Rear brake: Single 235mm disc with single-piston Nissin caliper

OTHER STUFF
Wheelbase: 1498mm
Dry weight: 170kg
Seat height: 770mm
Fuel capacity: 18 litres
RRP: $9990 ($10,990 with ABS) POR
Warranty: 24 mths, unlimited km POR
Testbike supplied by: Honda MPE POR

[Zilli]

nah im fulls... the VT400 is the LAMS approved version, Euroaccord13 has one

i reckon you could easily live with the 400 through p's and into fulls... im sure there are options to mod too to get a bit more power should you want it... they aint cheap though are they

[bennjamin]

ahh k cool . I guess my point in asking you - you arent bitten by the show-off full fairing bug lol.
Yeah im still keen , I actually dont mind paying $9-10k compared to $5k for a pos cbr 250.

[Zilli]

:-) it was a tough decision not buying that 848 :-) show off factor along with a 15k price difference as well as value for my skin helped along the way!

I always tend to sway towards paying a bit more to get quality and dependability, particularly if you are going to keep it for a while, so if you ride and like, it'll be a good investment... go to Sydney City Motorcycles, ask for Luke (he's the manager) they're a good mob there, at least you can get a ride, but would probably get a better deal elsewhere. In saying that mine was a demo for a great deal...

[Twincam16]

I remember looking at one a year ago at Action in the red/white/blue scheme and looked great, but the price threw me off. For some reason I think it was around $11k then.

Looks well built, but havnt ridden one.

[Zilli]

11k sounds about right, because that colour scheme is the ABS model...

[Twincam16]

Ah yeah thats the one. Ben would you opt for ABS model if you decided to get the CB400?

IMO, I'd pay the extra money for ABS, would come in handy riding in the city. Too many dickheads in a rush to get places breaking road rules

[Lepperfish]

ahh k cool . I guess my point in asking you - you arent bitten by the show-off full fairing bug lol.
Yeah im still keen , I actually dont mind paying $9-10k compared to $5k for a pos cbr 250.

Depends what you wanna go for. My CBR250RR was a gem. Never had a problem with it.

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/8003/dsc00054m.jpg

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/8608/dsc00057lv.jpg

[Twincam16]

He already has a CBR250R

[Lepperfish]

He already has a CBR250R

Didn't say he didn't did i? Was just saying that all CBR250R(RR)'s aren't POS..

[Twincam16]

Didn't say he didn't did i? Was just saying that all CBR250R(RR)'s aren't POS..

Understand that, would you bother to upgrade from a single R to a double R?

[bennjamin]

Understand that, would you bother to upgrade from a single R to a double R?



Only for the look or Relative amount of them out there. The mc19 is quicker in all aspects (only a TINY bit) and has a slight more oomph bottom end. Practically the same bike tho.

[Twincam16]

Yeah I figured, its like going from a VFR to an RVF... vfr is faster but rvf has slightly better handling... no point I guess, and if you change bikes, you probably wont want to ride something which is the same thing, you'd want a considerable change. Im selling mine at the moment and thinking about going for a motard

Ben, what about a Duke Monster? or Kawasaki ER6n?

[freakygeek]

I bought one and love it!

Smooth, flexible power delivery, comfortable to commute on. What do you want to know? :)

http://www.jtfossey.com.au/img/upload/bike1.jpg

http://www.jtfossey.com.au/img/upload/bike2.jpg

http://www.jtfossey.com.au/img/upload/bike3.jpg

http://www.jtfossey.com.au/img/upload/bike4.jpg

[Zilli]

LOVE those exposed headers!

[bennjamin]

I bought one and love it!

Smooth, flexible power delivery, comfortable to commute on. What do you want to know? :)

http://www.jtfossey.com.au/img/upload/bike1.jpg

http://www.jtfossey.com.au/img/upload/bike2.jpg

http://www.jtfossey.com.au/img/upload/bike3.jpg

http://www.jtfossey.com.au/img/upload/bike4.jpg


very nice.
What are the real world figures ? Fuel economy / performance etc ?

[krogoth]

very nice bike the cb400

took one for a like a 2min spin once, lol

doesnt count for much but felt nice

only other riding experience was on a cb250 and the cb400 feelt so much more responsive and smooth

lots more grunt of course, and what i loved most is it felt really stable on the road

stable but not heavy...love nakeds, **** fairings

cruisers and nakeds ftw

[NotHisRealName]

Only just got my RE Learners with the intention of getting a CB400.

Went to a Honda dealership on Tuesday with no clear idea as to what bike I wanted to get, but as soon as I sat on the CB400, I knew what I wanted.

Now comes the agonizing wait of getting all the loan/insurance paperwork out of the way, and the process of the QRide course.

[tOniies]

This motorbike looks very nice. The thing that stands out is it doesn't have just a Vtec, its a HYPER VTEC. Crazy. Will get one if i get my bike licence and $$$.

[bennjamin]

Took one for a spin today pretty much set on it. Ex demo 2009 rego till October 30kms on it , $8,000. not bad compared to about 10k on road

[Zilli]

cant beat an ex demo mate! well done... which dealership didja go to?

[NotHisRealName]

I'm having my Blue CB400 delivered on Thursday. Got an awesome deal from the Team Moto crew. Pitty I'm working late on Thursday.

[bikie_chic]

Hi All,

I am on my fulls and have just purchased a 2010 CB400. White and Silver.
Delivery is next Saturday.
Great bike.
I'm short and petite and it suits me well because of that, but it also has the looks, the specs and the get up and go.
I had a Yamaha Virago whilst learning.
This is an amazing upgrade.
Can't wait to get on it!
Cheers,
Bikie_chic :-)

[krogoth]

its not exactly a small bike tho? lol

congrats on the purchase

[bikie_chic]

Thanks!
It's not a small bike....that's why I like it.
Strictly speaking, I am unable to buy anything bigger than a 250 due to seat height and kerb weight.
The Honda CB400 was JUST RIGHT!
I was wanting to get something more powerful, not LAMS approved, but then I run the risk of getting a bike that's too heavy.
I would hate to drop a brand new bike!
Cruisers have low seat heights but tend to be really heavy due to all the chrome.
Very happy with my choice!
Bikie_chic

[bennjamin]

Got one here - alittle heavy for it's power. But overall a decent handling bike. Keep the revs up and the bike goes hard.

[Twincam16]

Good buy - and welcome to OzHonda

[bikie_chic]

Thanks!!!

[gmon3y]

Got one and LOVE THIS BIKE - probably the best LAM approved on the market in my opinion.

Smooth power delivery, grunty enough to get you out of trouble, handling is predictable and its a bike i wouldn't mind keeping after my P's.

[pieee]

I haven't heard anything bad about the 400's besides something about the lights shorting out or something along those lines on some of them, besides that they are awesome bikes

PS Congrats on teh purchase

[rokkuchan]

Thanks!
It's not a small bike....that's why I like it.
Strictly speaking, I am unable to buy anything bigger than a 250 due to seat height and kerb weight.
The Honda CB400 was JUST RIGHT!
I was wanting to get something more powerful, not LAMS approved, but then I run the risk of getting a bike that's too heavy.
I would hate to drop a brand new bike!
Cruisers have low seat heights but tend to be really heavy due to all the chrome.
Very happy with my choice!
Bikie_chic

Most bigger bikes over $10,000 are usually height adjustable. I'm on my 4th Bike now, I went from 125cc > gsxr600 > old 01 R1 > now CBF250 . I find the CBF250 (similar size to CB400?) feels way more heavier than my GSXR600. GSXR600 is heavier obviously but because it has steering damper and better susenpion, better tyres and 2-3x more power, it feels a lot more lighter and easier to ride than the CBF!

I like CBF250 coz simple to ride long distance without hurting ur back like R1s/ GSXRs. But GOOD BUY. CB400 is good i hear.

Also, You don't have to worry about dropping if u buy oggy knobs and put spools at the rear.

[Liza Belle]

I highly recommend the CB400 as a learner/P bike, I'm currently on my L's... I have a VTR250, but my house mate has a CB400 (also a learner rider) so from time to time I ride his bike. From my experience I must say that it's a great bike to ride! It can easily be treated as a cruiser but when you need the extra 'kick' it definately will not let you down...

It's quite heavy and the throttle is a little sensitive, but if you have good balance/throttle control then it's okay.

Over all, I can't really fault the bike. It's a great Learner/P's bike.

Liza x

[dogcrapau]

CB400 is probably the best learner legal bike in my opinion,
you got the power, the comfort, the suspension, its a HONDA, naked, easy to control, low as well.
If you can afford.. it really is a bike you wont let go.

good choice for it.

[rpm boy]

Bump this back up, is the bike ride by wire or is there still a cable from the throttle, also any other differences between the abs and non abs model apart from ..... Abs?

[freakygeek]

Bump this back up, is the bike ride by wire or is there still a cable from the throttle, also any other differences between the abs and non abs model apart from ..... Abs?

Conventional throttle cable.

No other mechanical differences apart from the ABS. Back in 2008 when I bought mine, the colour choices were different from ABS to non-ABS models. I wanted a black bike so I couldn't get it with ABS.

[rpm boy]

What type of fuel consumption does it do? And how does it compare to day a ducati 600 and hyasong 650r?

[freakygeek]

I haven't ridden a monster so I can't compare to that, but, the smooth 4cyl in the Honda feels sweet and the bike feels so much higher quality than the Hyosung. I had a ride of the Hyo 650 and was very disappointed... It feels old and heavy and uncommunicative. The Honda engine feels so much sweeter to use too. That's my opinion anyway :)

[bennjamin]

had one , great bike. Rev it out and it pokes along well.

[rpm boy]

No more Benla? What's the fuel consumption like? Can't really remember the Kms I used to get from my old mc19 but I remember It was pretty awesome

[bennjamin]

No more Benla? What's the fuel consumption like? Can't really remember the Kms I used to get from my old mc19 but I remember It was pretty awesome

Pretty much the same as any other 4 cyl Honda donk
It did get alittle rich under stop start riding , but open road it was really good.
I recall around 170-180 in heavy traffic and about 250-300 open road

[freakygeek]

I had a run up the Oxley on my CB400 with a mate on his GSXR-1000. I kept up in the very tight stuff and obviously had no hope when the road opened up a bit.

Anyway, the point is that I used more fuel than he did for the exact distance. I think I used about 1L more fuel for the same bit of road. (13 vs 12 or something like that, I don't remember the details). Where he could just gently roll on the throttle I needed to be at WOT to have any chance of keeping up. That bike taught me a lot about cornering smoothly and quickly.

[nigs]

Solid built bike but I found it kinda suffers through the top RPMs. Could probably solve that with a less restrictive exhaust. It was one of the quicker LAMS bikes but the new EX300 Ninja has taken that title with the highest HP/kg.

As for CBR250R vs.RR. The RR has better suspension, brakes and ride position. Contemplated getting rid of the R for a RR as it's a much better track toy.

The price of the CB400 really put me off. For a LAMS bike it's ridiculous.
They priced the new CBR500R and CB400F a lot better (around $9,000?)

[Hayday91]

Solid built bike but I found it kinda suffers through the top RPMs. Could probably solve that with a less restrictive exhaust. It was one of the quicker LAMS bikes but the new EX300 Ninja has taken that title with the highest HP/kg.

As for CBR250R vs.RR. The RR has better suspension, brakes and ride position. Contemplated getting rid of the R for a RR as it's a much better track toy.

The price of the CB400 really put me off. For a LAMS bike it's ridiculous.
They priced the new CBR500R and CB400F a lot better (around $9,000?)

CB400 - 39kw/168kg
Ninja300 - 29kw/172kg

I'm starting to think you work for kawasaki the way you keep praising the 300.
You should stop spewing facts you haven't researched.

[nigs]

Having ridden both. The Ninja300 felt way lighter than a CB400. I urge you to try it yourself. Also try the acceleration and throttle response in real world situations. Like stop/go or low to medium speed overtake. The parallel twin really shines over the I4.
If you still feel the CB400 is a better and quicker bike, then feel free to pay more for it ;) (considering it's age and cost)

BTW you quoted the wet weight for the EX300 but dry weight for CB400. :)

[Hayday91]

Having ridden both. The Ninja300 felt way lighter than a CB400. I urge you to try it yourself. Also try the acceleration and throttle response in real world situations. Like stop/go or low to medium speed overtake. The parallel twin really shines over the I4.
If you still feel the CB400 is a better and quicker bike, then feel free to pay more for it ;) (considering it's age and cost)

BTW you quoted the wet weight for the EX300 but dry weight for CB400. :)

You ride the bike as its supposed to. You wouldn't be puttering around at low rpm on an I4 vs the parallel twin, so your argument of low speed overtake etc. is redundant.
Re; wet vs dry, it was all I had at the time. If you want to nitpick you should reevaluate that argument if you think the slight difference in wet vs dry weight is going to drastically close the gap in p/w ratios for both bikes. :)

[bennjamin]

Guise

This thread is about the cb400 - yet again ill say i had one , great bike. One of the better LAMS bikes - as it is abit $$$ it does retain its value , and looks quite nice too. I pictured myself as some anime character ( like Golgo 13) riding around on it all jdm like. I had a Yoshi straight pipe that sounded great too - it had teh vtech noise

[SAKI]

Tried a mates one, pretty slick. Would never consider buying one though considering CB900's can be had for the same or less...

[bennjamin]

Tried a mates one, pretty slick. Would never consider buying one though considering CB900's can be had for the same or less...

You are missing the point - the CB400 is LAMS approved - If you were restricted during Ls and Ps i would strongly consider one. Then once you get your fulls get anything....a CB900 included lol

[freakygeek]

http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/207165_10150156378502694_2917945_n.jpg

http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/3299_83496682693_1109223_n.jpg

I loved my CB as a learner bike. I bought another black Honda to replace it, too ;)

http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/621697_10151012458867694_290358954_o.jpg

[Hayday91]

Oh man, you need to get yourself an aftermarket exhaust for the new baby!
Such a lovely machine though.

[freakygeek]

I like it quiet and stealth though, haha. Got a few other projects on the go right now so can't justify the spend on the exhaust I want, akrapovic...

[Hayday91]

All other projects can wait when there is a bike involved :D

[freakygeek]

The other project is even more exciting! :-)

[SAKI]

You are missing the point - the CB400 is LAMS approved - If you were restricted during Ls and Ps i would strongly consider one. Then once you get your fulls get anything....a CB900 included lol

Sorry let me rephrase - I could never justify buying a CB400 whether or not i was on my p's for the simple fact that you can buy so much more bike for the same money (regardless of whether or not i was allowed to ride it!). That's why i bought a cheap Honda Spada when i was on my P's. Also I don't think it is necessary to spend much on a LAMS bike, given the higher chance of damaging it due to inexperience.

Very sexy bike though.. and freakygeek, i remember looking at your CB400 add when it was for sale :P

[freakygeek]

Sorry let me rephrase - I could never justify buying a CB400 whether or not i was on my p's for the simple fact that you can buy so much more bike for the same money (regardless of whether or not i was allowed to ride it!). That's why i bought a cheap Honda Spada when i was on my P's. Also I don't think it is necessary to spend much on a LAMS bike, given the higher chance of damaging it due to inexperience.

Very sexy bike though.. and freakygeek, i remember looking at your CB400 add when it was for sale :P

Cheers :) I sold it to a learner rider girl in Sydney, she loves it!

I think the reason it suited me as a LAMS bike was that I left my motorcycle learning till late compared to many - I was 26 getting my Ls. So the pricing ($9750 on road) at the time didn't bother me because I felt that it represented excellent value compared to say, a GS500F. By comparison the Honda was so far in front in so many areas I didn't even consider the air cooled, carby, inline twin rubbish that is the GS500. The Honda had proper brakes, twin disc with good calipers, too.

I do agree that the CB400 is probably out of reach of many younger learner riders, but I think it fills a gap in the market that needed filling.

Also, i only lost about $2200 in resale in three years and 9500km of ownership.

[Hayday91]

An average-good condition mid 2000's CB400 will set you back 5.5-6.5k.
Pretty well priced when you compare it to other LAMS bikes imo.
I personally wouldn't spend the 6k for the (back then new) Ninja 250, or the 7k Ninja 300, but would happily pay the 6k for a CB400.
The CB is on another level when you compare it to the other newer bikes.

[SAKI]

Yeah they hold their value amazingly well. And please don't anyone think i'm telling people not to buy a CB400 - i'm simply sharing my own opinion, if you want one buy one. I was very happy with my Spada and when i sold it after nearly two years i made all my money back. I too got my L's when i was 26 btw :)

[Hayday91]

I hear so many good things about the Spada. I saw one for sale that was a cafe racer project.
Oh how I wish I could win the lotto.

[Jetblack22EG]

Noon question is the cb400 and cb400sf different bikes?

[dmad_dood]

cb400 is an old version, no fuel injection or vtec. Still a top bike thou.

I just bought a cb400 super four hyper vtec revo yada yada yada. Been looking for a new bike for quite a while and ridden a lot of bikes in the interim duke 200/390, cb500f, cbr500r, cbr250r, and of course my current bike nsr 150sp :D

Love my nsr 150 sp (really top 2 stroke bike) but i just wanted to step up to something more everyday friendly and to something that fitted me a bit better.

Im yet to pick up my new bike yet but am very excited :D :D :D