Last week when I was retrieving my new-to-me Montessa, I stumbled upon my old 1977 Honda CB400F Super Sport.
My cousin bought it at an auction around 1984. He rode it to Laconia for bike week, and then parked it in his mother's garage until he gave it to me when I was a broke college student in 1991. I shined it up, tuned it and rode it through the Winter. At some point in the early 90's, I gave it the cafe treatment (I was between the trendy curves on that one). It sat for a couple more years while I rode a few other bikes, then gave it to a friend of mine who was letting me use his sandblasting cabinet to restore my Mustang. He bought new tires for it, leaned them up against the wall and hasn't touched it since. It's in a storage room next to a scroll saw and belt sander, so it rests under a protective layer of Kydex dust. I had thought that he sold it a while back, so it was kind of a surprise to see it again. Not sure if he's actively trying to sell it, but I'm pretty sure that it can be saved again. It has 19,xxx miles on it, most of them with me at the throttle.
I always loved the narrow tank on this bike.
Very cool. I rode a CB 550 yesterday. I was impressed with it. It looks like that 400. Are they similar or do they just look similar?
I had a CB550F SuperSport, too. Same year. They were probably in the same sales brochure, but they were very different. The 550 had a twin tube frame and the 400 has a wishbone in front. The 550 is a 5 speed, the 400 is 6. I like the look of the 400 better, but the 550 is a much nicer bike to ride. I tried to put the 400 tank on the 550, but the 550 frame is much beefier up there. I have non digital photos of the two bikes side by side that I'll have to scan sometime.
This was my '77 CB550F Super Sport.
The 550 I rode yesterday looks exactly like the 550 above including the exhaust. Is that exhaust stock?
pilotbraden wrote:
The 550 I rode yesterday looks exactly like the 550 above including the exhaust. Is that exhaust stock?
Yes. That is a stock 550F four into one exhaust. The 550K had a four into four.
Both bikes have their stock exhaust systems. They are beautiful.
You guys aren't helping my irrational want of 70's CB of some sort. Of course, I already have a CB650, but it's a project that I don't have time for.
