IT IS ALMOST 50 YEARS SINCE THE WRAPS WERE pulled off one of the best-loved Japanese motorcycles ever made. The story of the Honda CB400F is one of the clearest examples of the differences in motorcycling taste in the USA and Europe. For Americans, the 400 four was a baffling motorcycle that was too small, too impractical, and too buzzy. For Europeans, it was a game changer; a fast, lightweight, sweet-handling, pocket superbike that was perfect for our environment.
The CB400F was born in 1975 as an upgraded version of the CB350F0, a US and European mainland-only four-cylinder. The CB350 was a pocket-sized version of the CB500F, with all the chrome and flash and four-into-four exhaust of the bigger bike, though using a miniaturised version of the engine. The 350 was the smallest capacity mass-produced, four-cylinder bike to that date. Britain didn’t get the 350, so perhaps Honda was not initially convinced that European buyers would get the idea of a small-capacity four, which seems unlikely, or maybe it had a stack of CB350 twins it wanted to get rid of first.
Despite the mechanical sophistication, the CB350 four was slower than its sister twins, appealing to those who wanted a machine with both visual and technical impact, as much as performance.
Honda redesigned the 350, boosting the capacity and producing the CB400 four. For the first time it offered a bike to the British and European market with café racer leanings. The brand-new look saw the CB400 four appear with a bigger yet sleeker tank and a groovy seat with big rivets. But it was what was happening down below that really caught the eye, with a striking four-into-one exhaust snaking around the oil filter housing. Beauty from practicality.
David Silver, whose company, David Silver Spares, sells more parts for CB400 fours than any other model by a margin of three to one, says: “The CB400 four was the first bike Honda designed with Europe and café racer culture in mind. “The four-into-one exhaust was something that hadn’t been seen before and made a huge impact.”
The delicious curves of the tightly
