Bring back a '78 cb400t from a loooong, deeeep slumber...

[ScubaSteve]

Hokay, let's see here...  My Honda hawk 400 that I bought in high-school needs to be revived and I need something to ride, so I need to figure out if it is feasible.  I want to get it running well enough to ride and then start a bit of customizing as I go.  I will need to re-build the front brake, get an exhaust system on it, get the tank cleaned and lined, put adequate tires on, and get rear signal lights on it.  The first thing is to finish cleaning the carbs and sort out the electrical.  I am pretty sure I will need new ignition coils too, given the age of the bike (maybe I need new ignition coils for myself).  I hope the ones on it will get it running, if they do I am certain they will heat up and short out.  I have a good battery out of my four wheeler (also needing much work) but it doesn't really fit the battery box.  The terminals need to have the bolts horizontal, but it does power up the bike.  I have some lights sorta functioning, no crank though.  I have to pull apart the headlight shell and check the headlight and taillight bulbs.  I only have signal lights on the front, so I need a set off of an old bike I can plug in at the back.  I used to know all of this stuff back in highschool, but I don't even remember highschool now.

The thing I am up against right now is the condition of my workshop, I finally got some heat in there but then I had to insulate because I was getting condensation problems. All of my energy has been going towards that and it is a clutter right now...  A Mess Beyond All Reckoning ( an M-bar?) at this time..  I am gonna be on nightshift for a few weeks and then a bit of time off for spring break-up.  I hope by then to have it sorted out a bit, I get a lot done when I am up all night on the weekends.  I am almost done insulating the walls, then I gotta button up the walls and put my shelves and work bench back together...  The photos are horrifying to look at, but it is pretty organized...  Especially after the twentieth time I moved some of that crap.  I ended up starting a scrap pile outside, some stuff just has to go. It's just not tidy, YET.

[stevecrout]

There's nothing like the rush a guy gets when he opens the door to his man-cave to be met with a true smorgasbord of smells, from fresh fuel to ageing varsol to the new tires.

to be able to walk in and start working on your machine without having to worry about your flesh freezing to the raw steel every time you touch it is another bonus.

Is there a way you can supply fresh air to the wood stove though? I'd be a little concerned about buttoning the place up tight with insulation and sealed walls then using room air to fire the stove.  Just a thought.

Good luck with your rebuild! There's lots of great experience to call upon in this club. Do you have a network of parts suppliers built up yet? Maybe the club members can offer up some of their favourites?

Other than New Life Cycle in Williams Lake I'm not sure who supplies used Honda parts but I bet there's lots out there.

[ScubaSteve]

Oh yeah, the stove has an air supply.  I don't mess around when I build, I tend to really over-build things.  The workshop is just like you said, eau de varsol when the door opens.  It has been a LOT of work so far, but that is how I do things.  Blood, Sweat, Tears all the way!!  We will get this honda back to life, I will get right at it when I finish work for the season.  I expect a pretty short spring break-up this year.  Every mill in pg is desperately short of logs and we will have a lot of timber decked up by the end of March..  let's hope the weather holds!

[Olafskii]

If you don't have a shop manual I recommend that you try to find one.  There should be a few on Ebay, Clymer, Haynes and the factory manual.  I'm personally partial to print manuals and find online versions a pain in the ass.

Before replacing parts (like the coils), I'd run the tests that are recommended by the manual first.  If the tests show the coils are good, try to run them.  Similarly, check compression before doing an engine strip--it may be still good.  But, before running the engine change the oil.  I'd recommend going to a full synthetic (Shell Rotella T4 is JASO MA/MA2 rated and much cheaper than Amsoil.  But not all Rotella grades carry the JASO ratings so check the label!) and pour some oil over the camshaft instead of just into the sump.  The camshaft journals in these engines are machined into the cylinder head casting and can't be replaced.  If the engine hasn't run for decades, all the oil film may have drained into the sump.   

The Honda Hawk was one of the first engines that was designed from the ground up with CDI ignition.  My understanding is that the CDI modules work or they don't.  If it works, run it.  Our own Russ P I think has some experience with these engines.  Maybe give him a call. 

I had a '78 back in the day as well.  I recall that the exhaust had a center connector underneath the engine that rusted fairly quickly.  Your connector may be rusted too.

Olaf

[Sr.X]

I have a manual for the 1981 cb250T-400T in binder and disc. If this is something you can use we can make plans.
Bob

[Qball]

I have an extremely low milage 1979 hondamatic 400 that will be going up for sale shortly  probably not what you are after as your bike has its nostalgia, but I do believe I have a shop manual and am happy to send pictures or scans of any sections you may need.  They are pretty simple bikes but.....those damn carbs can be finicky

[ScubaSteve]

I could definitely borrow a manual from someone, it would be a real help.  Right now i have the engine full of atf, my thinking is that it will keep the seals and gaskets wet plus it has good detergent qualities.  I want to get the motor cranking and really flush it through the motor.  I have been turning it over by hand with the kick starter.  I have been soaking everything else in really good penetrating oil (krown kp53, the best shit EVER), really dosing the cylinders through the sparkplug holes.  After that has worked its magic, i wil drain the engine and start with fresh engine oil before i try to flash it up.

My thinking, as far as the coils go, is that they are likely to have brittle insulation.  I have found that almost every old junker i have brought to life (mostly snowmobiles) ended up needing a coil.  They run good for a while untill the coil heats up and starts shorting out, then they die on ya (at least six or eight km from home).  I hope the ones one the bike will get it going, but to have something i really trust to go somewhere on i plan on replacing them.  Forty years of sitting, that is old plastic.

I saw some parts on EEEE-bay i am gonna try to get.  There is actually an exhaust plenum on there i am looking at, plus some side covers (i am missing one).  I think these twins have to have an exhaust cross-over of some sort for proper tuning.  That seems to be true of any twin where the pistons arrive at tdc at the same time (think bmw boxers), from what i observe.  If i dont get the one on e-bay, i will get something fab'ed up in town.  Harveys is good for that sort of thing..

I am still hard at it on the "workshop", just blew $800 on osb and plywood to button up the inside.  Slowly, painfully, incrementally taking shape...

[Hans]

Steve

I found a PDF manual for the CB400T.  It's too big to post, but I'll PM you a link that you can use to download it from.

Cheers

Hans

[ScubaSteve]

Thanks Man, i'll get the manual printed when i get through with work for the season.  Should be another week of nightshift, it has been going well.  I haven't missed a load in weeks, we have a LOT of wood decked up.  Some of it we are gonna haul right away so i should be going into early april this year.  I am hoping for about a month off after that.

I am buying some stuff i need for the cb400, i found a nos right side cover on ebay and bought it.  From Thailand, apparently...  So hopefully it gets here.  I found a source for carburetor kits and brake rebuild kits, partsnmore i think it is...  I'll be ordering that soon.

The workshop is coming along, the pile has crawled from one side to the other.  I have one wall properly buttoned up and rebuilt the shelf on that side (improved from how i had it before).  I am ready to close up the other side, i did a lot of work to get it ready.  As soon as i have some sheets in place, i will put up my upper cabinets then rebuild my workbench (also to be much improved)..  a lot of the stuff i am building with is left over from my days as a cabinet builder/installer, laminate countertops and whatnot.  Old random cabinets that never got used, that sorta thing.

Well, gotta go and start winding up my "day".  Probably sack out around ten am and sleep like a log!

[ScubaSteve]

Howdy Everyone, i got a little time on my hands right now so i figgered i would post something while i kick back in my toasty warm workshop watching Patton on vhs...  I just got a slew of parts in, a nice order from partsnmore.  It took less than a week, i got carb kits and rebuild parts for the front brakes plus a bunch of rubber bits.  I got a nos side cover on ebay that came from thailand.  I wish i had the other, i love the color scheme.  If i dredge waaay back into the dim, foggy regions of my memory i seem to remember reading that honda sold a lot of cb400s as police bikes in other parts of asia.  I saw some tanks and side covers on ebay years ago that had police colors on them.  They were from thailand, shoulda grabbed them...
I am still living at night, getting pretty sick of it but glad to be working.  We have about two weeks of hauling then a bit of a break.  In the meantime i am still making a lot of progress on my workshop, it is really starting to shape up.  I will post some pics when my workbench is all squared away.
I have another order coming from David Silver Spares in the UK, including a brand-new exhaust plenum and a coil.  After that i am gonna need to get going on this bike and figure out the electrics. I will definitely need some help with that part.  I also need to round up a headlight shell, get a battery, and pod filters for it. Then i will wheel my quad in here and get it all finished, but that is a whole other story for another day....

[ScubaSteve]

I am calling it "DONE!!!"....  I built this out of scraps and leftovers, some of it i have had around for a long time.  I haven't done cabinetry for seven years or so, i am glad to get this clutter dealt with.  Now i have to button up the last two corners and insulate the ceiling then the inside is done.  The outside is a whole 'nother story...

[ScubaSteve]

Well, small signs of progress...  Carbs are clean añd reassembled, i got the slides gliding as smooooth as butter. They were pretty filthy, i am lucky i had another set to pick some pieces off of.  I pulled the front brake all apart and it is a real mess too.  The piston is stuck in the caliper but when i put air to it, i can feel the piston move a tiny bit.  I will let the penetrating oil do its work for a bit.
I'm almost done on the inside of my shop for now, one more good push ought to do it.  Still on nightshift, this will be week six coming up.
Well, that's about it for now...  Still have one order of parts on the way plus a twenty gallon parts washer.