Honda CB400 Super Four Special Edition

Age-old 400 heads into its third decade looking better than ever

HONDA today revealed a limited-edition version of its ancient-but-still-cool CB400 Super Four, but only for the Japanese market.

Just 500 of the Special Edition bikes will be made in both naked and faired “Bol D'Or” forms, going on sale in Japan next month. Despite the fact the CB400 hasn't seen a major model change since its introduction in 1992, with just occasional tweaks seeing it transform from the original NC31 form to the current NC42, it's looking better than ever.

A red frame helps transform it's style, adding an element of aggression that's missing on the stock machine.

Given the trend towards smaller, but still classy, bikes in Europe – witness the CBR250R and the rampant success of the Kawasaki Ninja 250R – you might have thought it would make sense to sell the CB400 over here, too, but at the moment it's remaining a Japan-only model, with a hefty £5800 list price for the naked version and £6300 for the Bol D'Or.