Honda CB400NA (UK Spec) Superdream restoration project

macabethiele

macabethiele

Member
Joined
May 25, 2026
Total Posts
11
Total likes
23
Location
Derby, UK.
Here is my Honda 400NA SD bike when I purchased it back in October 2024, it's nothing like as good as it appears in the photo, it had a serious oil leak that fortunately turned out to be the top rocker cover gasket and top bolt seals.

A lot of money has been spent by a previous owner on the engine, the white paintwork is poor close up with lots of paint poorly applied to cover scratches and rust. Bike stripped to a bare frame for powder coating. Rebuild stopped in April 2025 due to my wifes ill health, I've just started to clean up the engine so it can be painted and fitted back into the frame.

PXL_20241005_110311905 by Macabe Thiele, on Flickr
 
macabethiele said:
Here is my Honda 400NA SD bike when I purchased it back in October 2024, it's nothing like as good as it appears in the photo, it had a serious oil leak that fortunately turned out to be the top rocker cover gasket and top bolt seals.

A lot of money has been spent by a previous owner on the engine, the white paintwork is poor close up with lots of paint poorly applied to cover scratches and rust. Bike stripped to a bare frame for powder coating. Rebuild stopped in April 2025 due to my wifes ill health, I've just started to clean up the engine so it can be painted and fitted back into the frame.

PXL_20241005_110311905 by Macabe Thiele, on Flickr
Click to expand...
Fascinating. I thought a CB400A might be an interesting next project- the CB200 and CB360 both being more or less ’done’ (although I don’t finish motorcycles to anywhere near that standard that you do). They seem to sell very cheaply - it would seem that £1,800 is plenty to buy a running and riding model, just in need of a bit of tidying up. I’ll see if I can find a suitable one in the autumn.

Alan :)
 
I spent £1300 on this one as a runner, it came with a lot of history, quite a few boxes of used parts plus some new parts as well.
The last owner had owned the bike for only a month before he sold it to me. (Within a couple of months he had bought a restored CB400NA).
From the service history I traced the long term PO who owned it for 13 years, he spent well over £2k on the engine before trading it in for another Honda Classic.

I found quite a few bodges on worn parts such as the rear brake pedal and gearshift shaft, someone had fitted the calipers to the wrong side so the bleed nipples were at the bottom instead of at the top of the calipers! Relative to the low prices these bikes fetch I will have spent far too much on this one when it's finished.

In todays market £1800 should buy you a decent runner & rider, as you probably know there are two dedicated Honda CB400N Superdream UK websites, one is down a lot of the time following a change of ownership. This is almost certainly my last project, at the age of 78 my own health is less than perfect. My brother in Law has said he will finish my project if I suddenly drop of the perch, at my age sucession planning is essential.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom