Cycle News Archives
COLUMN
Eye-Candy
By Kent Taylor
“I know it when I see it,” said the late United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart. Never mind that the Honorable Justice Stewart was attempting to define hard-core pornography in a case involving the showing of a controversial film. We, the discerning motorcyclists of the world, can relate. We know that while certain motorcycles get a nod and a smile, others seem to be able to pull our eyeballs right out of our sockets. The first Ducati Monster. A Norton Commando. A Husqvarna 250 Magnum. It may be hard to explain, but they’ve got “it.” We know it when we see it.
Such a motorcycle was the 1975 Honda CB400F. Somewhere in Honda’s design lab, somebody went rogue with this one. They took the disappointing Honda CB 350F and threw out its conventional styling. The little 350F was shaped in the mold of its big brother, the popular CB750F and the CB550F. Its replacement, the CB400F, with its squared-off tank, clubman bars and luscious four-into-one exhaust, didn’t fit in. In Honda’s 1975 model lineup, it stood out like Iggy Pop in a family photo with The Osmonds.
“Son of Superhawk” was the title of Cycle News’ May 6, 1975, road test of the Honda CB400F. The Superhawk reference recalled Honda’s CB77, a mid-’60s twin that looked a whole lot faster than its 305cc. Low bars and a thin saddle positioned the rider more like a racer, a racer who looked European fast, thanks in part to the use of the engine as a part of the frame, which meant there was no front downtube to distract one from lusting after all 28 of those horses that were hidden inside the air-cooled powerplant.
But the Superhawk had been binned to make room for the more docile CB350 twin, a motorcycle that was loved by everyone who rode one and thus hated by those who wrote about them. In the 1970s, motorcycle journalists were aspiring curmudgeons, irascible beings who used most of their ink telling enthusiasts everything that was wrong with their rides of choice.
Honda added the CB350 Four in 1973, which became the 400F in 1975—a major revamp. Think of Sandy from the movie Grease. The 350F wore a poodle skirt and saddle shoes. The 400F swapped those out for leather pants and to-the-knee boots that weren’t made for walking. Never mind that the engine had barely been breathed on; the 400F was the one that you want.
“You can’t really say it vibrates,” CN wrote, almost refusing to be critical of the new Honda. “Instead, the engine makes a vaguely erotic tingle that comes and goes. It will idle down to 2500 RM in top gear…the CB400 can poke along in that mode on level ground, barely sipping fuel/air mix.”
The 400F was meant to be ridden hard. Plod along at anything below 6000 rpm, and you were rewarded with an unenthusiastic, “bluhh.” This little Honda loved to sing and its sweet spot was in the 6000-10,000 range. With its six-speed gearbox, the Honda felt right at home cruising at 80 mph, plenty fast for a motorcycle with a single disc and a rear drum to handle the stopping chores. The staff also noted that the beautiful four-into-one exhaust muffled quite nicely. “The loudest engine noise,” they wrote, “comes from the cam chain.”
The pretty red Honda said she wanted to ride fast, and she was no tease; the CN crew loved the firm chassis and the two-stage rear springs, and they gave the bike a good flicking during their road test, with only the stock tires (unidentified) and slightly limited ground clearance being the killjoys. “Drop a knee, hang off or stay put, wish it over, wish it back up, ride and never want to stop.”
The staffers loved the CB400F. Sadly, their praises fell mostly upon deaf ears, at least those ears that were attached to the heads of motorcycle shoppers. Yamaha’s RD350 and 400 would leave the 400F behind, squealing away as the Honda sucked up their undigested two-stroke smoke. Kawasaki’s 400 triple, also a two-stroke, would do the same. The Honda was a slow mover on the sales floor and disappeared from the lineup in 1977.
Before the CB400F, most Japanese motorcycles had smooth round tanks, like coffee pots, and they sported fanciful designs, pinstripes and calligraphy. Exhaust systems were doled out evenly—one pipe per cylinder and our handlebars reached out to meet us where we sat. The Honda CB400F broke all those rules. We knew it when we saw it. CN
Click here to read the Archives Column in the Cycle News Digital Edition Magazine.
Subscribe to six decades of Cycle News Archive issues
