This story will be in several parts. When I got my first 400, it needed lots of work just to ride. That will be resto #1. It is still in that condition, but I am preparing to restore it back to original. That will be resto #2.
The first CB400F I had was given to me (yes, for free!) during the summer of 1992. It was a total rag. The tank was smashed and had holes in it, the sidecovers were missing, there was no seat, the side stand was broken off, all the chrome had flaked off, most everything had a layer of rust on it, the gauges were broken....well you get the point!
Luckily the guy that gave it to me lived UP the street so I was able to coast it down the 2 blocks to my house. After that it was like building a Mad Max type of motorcycle - I just got it to where it would run and had enough parts to work.
My dad and I quickly learned that all was not well inside it's engine. A side by side drag with me on a CL360 scrambler had the twin pulling away from the 400. Dad kept reminding me the point of the 4 cylinders was smoothness, but I felt the four should've dusted the 360.
I still needed a fuel tank (luckily the holes were on top of the tank from a hatchet...I could still ride it), seat, sidecovers, and other parts. So I figured what the heck, if I needed all the other stuff I might as well pick up an engine at the junkyard too.
I bought all the above parts at the local bike scrapyard, and even found original 400 supersport gauges too. The engine was only $40, so I took a chance on it. It's still in the bike waiting for me to rebuild the original one. Later on this will go in a '76 frame I have for a "rider".
Now the bike was just "together" enough to rip around the neighborhood on, so I did that for the rest of the summer. When I had collected enough parts I tore it all down and did a poor-man's restoration on it. By that I mean when it was done it wasn't anywhere near perfect or original, but it was respectable enough to take to school. And the pipe was LOUD enough to make me smile!!
FIRST RESTORATION PICS TO GO HERE
During a period of low money and not very much excitement in motorcycles, I sold this bike to my brother in law Mike. He loved the little 400 and I needed cashola. Then I was able to get a better job and Mike found me a beautiful F2, which I kept for a while until I made a little money on it. I had fun cleaning it up, making a profit, and looking for more.
I kept buying nice, low mileage 400s. I'd clean them up and then sell them, always promising to keep the one I had until I replaced it with another before selling. My girlfriend kept telling me I'd sell one and not be able to replace it. She was right, all of a sudden I sold a nice Light Ruby Red '75 and bang, they all seemed to drop off the face of the earth. (I later would marry the girl for her wisdom, but that's another story.....)
So boom, I have no 400, Mike has one that's a piece of junk, and we both want to ride. Fast forward a few years....
Mike hasn't touched the bike in a LONG time. It was sporting a layer of some funky slime on it from the dust and dirt coming off the family race car. I tell my fiance "I'd like to have that back and restore it." Fast forward 2 weeks.....
I'm at Mike's helping on the race car and he says "So when are you gonna get that bike out of here?". I guess he knew it wasn't going to fix itself, and the race shop needed more room. I gave him his money back and dragged my blue bike home. Fast forward one year...
The bike is still in this condition, waiting for me to finish my '77 CB400F2 restoration job. I'm also helping Mike, my bro-in-law, finish his '75. Hopefully my own '75 project will get started next spring.
