honda superdream 400 cb?

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Dark Angel
22/03/2006 at 23:37
Ok, I asked about the 250 delux and got a negetive feed back, but what about the superdream 400cb? is that any better or just as bad?
revjonty
23/03/2006 at 04:33
Yorick wrote
Jen, just as bad.

Would you buy a 20 year old car ?

probably not, so don't buy a very old bike either


well my bikes 26 years old and I love it (z550a1) but then again I once had a cb250n superdream and it was a compleat bag of shit! so I would say it depends on the bike, but imho avoid superdreams, I still have nightmares about my one
Although if you do buy one I can sell you a haynes for it, your gona need it.
K_D
23/03/2006 at 07:23
what hieght are you............serius question


if under 5'9"............you could do worse than a cb400 superfour

made for jap market hence svelte and tiny,suits girlies,has a cracking wee engine that loves being caned.....................think of it as a 4/5ths size unfaired hornet


uk.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fuk.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dcb400%2Bsuperfour%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3DFP-tab-img-t%26x%3Dwrt&w=400&h=300&imgurl=coo777.hp.infoseek.co.jp%2Fcb400superfour.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcoo777.hp.infoseek.co.jp%2Fpic.html&size=20.0kB&name=cb400superfour.jpg&p=cb400+superfour&type=jpeg&no=7&tt=35&ei=UTF-8
There are no stupid questions...only stupid people
Big Nige
23/03/2006 at 08:11
Underpowered, overweight, baaaad brakes, awful suspension, rust prone (like you wouldn't believe) not terribly reliable...but cheap.
K_D
23/03/2006 at 08:14
Big Nige wrote
Underpowered, overweight, baaaad brakes, awful suspension, rust prone (like you wouldn't believe) not terribly reliable...but cheap.



what the wetdream or the superfour?
There are no stupid questions...only stupid people
Big Nige
23/03/2006 at 08:16
K_D wrote
what the wetdream or the superfour?



The Superdream...but I ain't a fan of the 400/4 neither...always thoughts it to be over-rated.
I bought one and was disappointed in it. Didn't live up to it's legendary status.

Hey ho.
Skub
23/03/2006 at 08:20
K_D wrote
the superfour?


My little RD350 used to eat them.
byker28i
23/03/2006 at 08:21
I did 95K miles on an old 400N Superdream. Very reliable, not very sporty, crap brakes and suspension compared to modern bikes, but if all you want is a daily hack then it was great.

Change the oil regularly as mine didn't have bearings in the head for the cam - it just relied on running in a bed of oil.

The only problem I had was the bolts going into the engine casing holding the head on etc stripped their threads and I had to get them helicoiled.

The thing survived me dropping it twice, being run over by a woman parking and 6 years of commuting long distance.

The trouble is, for not a lot more you could by an old ZZR600 which is a much better bike.
'The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It's nothing of the kind. The game is about glory. It's about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.'
Pinch
23/03/2006 at 10:03
I did about 30,000 miles on a CB400N in about 18 months, and didn't have many problems (except a recurring oil leak where a previous owner had attempted to lever the barrel off with a screwdriver and damaged the mating surfaces). I commuted daily, and also toured the UK and France on it. I think most of the criticisms come from comparing it to newer, better bikes, which is really the catch - mine died about 15 years ago, and while I enjoyed it then, I wouldn't buy another one now! Nothing wrong with older bikes, though. My current bike is 21 years old and still going strong.
KingKong
23/03/2006 at 10:50
Hi, I've had both the 250 and 400 Superdream in my time, and I've got to say that the 400 is infinitely better than the 250, which is totally gutless.

Mine 400 was totally reliable, was used for winter commuting and the off longer trip, and cruised comfortably at 90 - 95mph. not bad for a few hundred quid. I can honestly mine never let me down. I only sold it because someone wanted to give me £400 for it!

They are no comparison to modern bikes of course. The brakes are crap and the handling is vague and you should certainly keep this in mind.
Stomp Box
23/03/2006 at 10:57
I still have a 400N in the garage, it was my first bike and can't bring myself to sell it. It has never let me down with anything too serious in 40,000 miles and is so cheap to run you wouldn't believe.
I agree with most comments here, the brakes and suspension are crap but you do get used to it and it does has a very lazy engine, great for commuting around town.



Never ever bloody anything ever, and I've lived my life by that.......

TSSC#4
Dark Angel
24/03/2006 at 23:49
Ok thanks every one..think i will give it a miss then.
I found a cheap one at £350 and thought it would do me untill I can get a new one (in september) just to get anothere years no clames and to get me to work and back and a couple of rides out here and there as being bikeless is driving me mad...but there is no point if brakes and suspention are useless as they're the things I most need to be ok...especially when riding in Bradford.
Pinch
25/03/2006 at 09:22
Dark Angel wrote
Ok thanks every one..think i will give it a miss then.
I found a cheap one at £350 and thought it would do me untill I can get a new one... but there is no point if brakes and suspention are useless as they're the things I most need to be ok...

If it's only £350 and it's roadworthy, you haven't got much to lose, have you? After all, you're not likey to pick up a modern sports bike for that sort of money! The brakes and suspension aren't that bad. They're poor in comparison to modern bikes, but they're perfectly adequate for what the Superdream is designed to do. Like byker28i said of his, "if all you want is a daily hack then it was great".
spanner tom
20/08/2012 at 19:12

hi there, when riding my Honda CB400N Superdream I noticed oil pumping out of the bottom of cylinder barrel on right side of engine(where barrel sits on top of crank case). Having stripped,cleaned and replaced cylinder gaskets I rebuilt and fired up. Started first time, sounded lovely, running smooth.  Took on test run after about 3 miles oil started squirting out same as before in the same place.

Any clues?

 

Edited: 20/08/2012 at 20:11
Numb Nutz
21/08/2012 at 00:34

Compression test - see if rings are blowing.

80-bikes-Rick
23/08/2012 at 19:26

No easy way around this one by sounds of it, think the top-end will have to come off again.  Before you crack the spanners out, double-check the engine oil level to make sure it isn't over full - bit of a long-shot, but worth checking.  Next, check all your barrel/head bolts are properly torqued down.  If those don't do any good, it might be time to strip the bike.  Incidentally, I'd be wary of using the bike just in case there's an oil feed blockage to the top-end.

If you do have to take her apart, try the following;

  • Use a genuine Honda gasket set (if you can get hold of one), or at least avoid very cheap sets.
  • Make sure all the O-rings and barrel locating dowels that should be in place are actually there.  I think the S/dreams also have a sealing ring which fits between the barrel spigots and the crankcase mouth.
  • Check that whatever gasket set you use, when you put the base gasket in position, it doesn't obstruct the oil feed passage that runs up the side of one of the cylinder barrel studs (could be front right, but don't hold me to that!)
  • Put a true straight-edge on the bottom of the barrel-to-crank mating face to check that A) it isn't damaged, and B) it is actually flat.  Any minor deviation from true will give you a leak.  Do the same for the crank cases.
  • Check the top-end oil feed pathways aren't obstructed; probably the only way to do this is with a high-pressure air line (I'd blow both ways, just to make sure) - though if you say the bike is mechanically quiet, this might not be an issue.
Hope that's some help,   Rick
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